In the eyes of those who have reached the stage of the soul at rest, all things, all colors and forms disappear with their peculiar features. They continuously think of and utter the truth of “There is no deity save God,” and while doing so, they feel only Him as the true Self-Existence, they live surrounded by the light of this Existence, and experience with delight all creation as the manifestation of His Knowledge and Existence. In this state of pleasurable experience, they pronounce “There is no truly existent being save God,” in the sense that every other existent being comes into existence by His giving it existence. This implies neither the Unity of Being nor the Unity of the Witnessed. It is a state of pleasure which those who do not experience it cannot perceive, and those who experience it cannot describe fully. In the hearts of the travelers who have risen to this point, all else save Him disappears under the light of His Existence, and the Holy Acts, Names and Attributes begin to appear wherever they look. The travelers who go on further and further become intoxicated with new signs of meeting with Him at every step, and feel that everything belongs to Him alone due to a certainty based on observation. These travelers attempt to make presents out of their existence which they see as a borrowed garment they have been made to wear, pronouncing: “I have found the most genuine, sweetest honey, so let my existence be plundered!”

These travelers are such that if they are asked to offer their souls, they stretch out their necks like a sheep in order to be sacrificed. They follow in the footsteps of Prophet Ishmael, who is mentioned in the Qur’an, (Ishmael) said: “Father, fulfill that which you are commanded, and you will find me patient, by God’s will. So when they both (Abraham and his son Ishmael) wholly submitted (to God’s will), and Abraham laid him prostrate on the side of his face (for sacrifice) (37:102–03). They are extremely tender-hearted and unburden themselves with tears. They love everything, smell and caress everything, and feel a heart-felt interest in human beings, as they are polished mirrors that reflect the Creator. They exchange greetings with His manifestations in every color, taste, scent, and sound, and every exchange of greetings causes them to think and feel new things. They put the brake of self-possession and wakefulness on their pleasures and zeal. Fearing that they may fall into the error of thinking that all the spiritual pleasures, joy and delight that seethe in their spirit and pervade their whole being in waves originate in themselves and therefore belong to themselves, they pay no attention to these feelings, although many tend to sacrifice their souls for the same, but rather pursue only God’s good pleasure and approval in every word and act of theirs. Like Yunus Emre, they always say: “I need and want You, only You.”

At this point of the soul at rest, God’s gifts begin to pour abundantly on those with special capacities. In addition to several other characteristics, this rank is also the stage where those who have reached it are tested with spiritual discoveries and wonderworking. Sincerity requires that all spiritual discoveries and wonders which the travelers encounter should have no worth in their sight. They should even fear that these discoveries and wonders may cause their gradual perdition if they attribute them to them- selves. At exactly this juncture, where a second nature begins to grow in them, the travelers’ hearts expand and discover newer and newer truths and many secrets are revealed to them. At this stage, the veil is removed from their eyes with the result that the truths beyond things and events begin to appear in their own colors and dimensions, and where some become dazzled and feel dizzy, travelers with insight hasten to take refuge with the Sunna of the master of creation, and think and talk according to the fundamental principles of religion. They continue their journey, guided by the reflectors of the way which the Messenger and his Companions followed. Formerly, in the times after the Universal Teacher and Perfect Guide, upon him be peace and blessings, perfected guides who represented the way established by the Book and Sunna brilliantly and fully used to show the way to travelers. However, during times that have been deprived of such guides, many have deviated and many others have been left stranded halfway.

The rank of the soul at rest is also the station where an initiate journeys with or in the company of God, and the station which attracts particular Divine gifts. Some express these gifts with words that suggest incarnation and union; this is only because of a lack of suitable words or expressions. But it may cause a loss that leads the travelers to fall. Even though they may be at a summit, they can still fall into the abyss. Summits and abysses exist side by side. The higher one’s rank, the deeper the abyss into which one can fall. One who falls from the apex of the tower of sincerity will fall into an extremely deep abyss. For this reason, as one covers distances along the way, reaching higher and higher points, one should become more and more self-possessed and wakeful. When the horizon or destination is within sight, travelers should supervise themselves more strictly, they should be more aware of their nothingness before God, and be conscious that whatever favor and blessing they enjoy is from Him and that they are only mirrors that reflect the same. They should turn more sincerely and deeply to the Source of those favors and blessings; they should affirm that the greatest favor and blessing is servanthood, and do so with a deep feeling and perception of their poverty, neediness, and helplessness; and they should pray in the manner of Uwaysu’l-Qarani:

You are the Creator, and I am the one created.
You are the All-Providing, and I am the one provided.
You are the Master and All-Owning, and I am the one owned. You are the All-Mighty, and I am the one humble and abased. You are the All-Wealthy, and I am the one impoverished.

According to some verifying scholars of Sufism, the final rank in the spiritual journey is the soul at rest. Other ranks, such as being pleased with God, God’s being pleased with the traveler, and perfection or purity, are different manifestations or evolved forms or dimensions of being at rest. It is better to view these as the manifestations of feeling attracted toward God rather than different ranks or degrees.

However, it is viewed or whatever it is called, travelers who have reached the final point of being at rest receive fully—fully according to the capacity of each traveler—the manifestation of the Divine Name the All-Living and become a polished mirror of It, only pursuing God’s good pleasure as a requirement of the second nature that they have acquired. This summit is that of being pleased with God. Having attained this spiritual profundity, where they welcome with the same contentment whatever comes from Him—whether it be favor or retribution—the travelers are freed from the influence of all the features of their corporeality, and gain a new existence in all its fresh aspects. This is the existence that comes with sobriety after self-annihilation, subsistence after annihilation, and certainty based on observation after certainty based on knowledge. In the sight of such a traveler, every particle becomes a voice which mentions Him in all the circumstances in which it exists. Every voice or sound is a tune that echoes from Him in a different way that is peculiar to it. Every color pours into the eyes and hearts, as if they were smiles from a clime of holiness. The traveler breathes with the truths of There is none to be desired save Him and There is none to be worshipped save Him. In proportion to their position, they take in these blessed words as if they were oxygen for their spiritual life, and send out, as if carbon dioxide, everything else that arises in their bodily existence that occasionally makes itself felt because of human nature. The travelers calm their nerves and irritations, things regarded as the remnants of the carnal soul. When they feel stressed under the pressure of struggling with those remnants, they turn to their eternal Goal with supplicating tears, and experience their accomplishments as favors of God, saying as Muhammad Lutfi Efendi said:

That which I have—I am not worthy of it;
This favor and grace—why are they bestowed on me?

Their every word, act, and manner reveal the sincerity and depth of their being pleased with God the Almighty. Every day they refresh the thought of resignation to God’s will, without even being aware of the beauties that flow into the eyes of their hearts from the heaven of the feelings of attraction and being attracted toward Him. They whisper:

Whatever comes from You—
be it suffering from Your Majesty or a favor from Your Grace; Both are a pleasure for my soul; both are pleasant—
whether this or that is from You.

Having set up their thrones in such a world of approach and feeling, heroes of truth—those servants of the Ultimate Truth— advance through the manifestations of the Divine Names and Attributes toward the final point of certainty based on knowledge. Beyond this lies the peak of God’s being pleased with them. Here they feel His pleasure and approval with the signs peculiar to this state, and which they know as witnessed by their sound, pure consciousness. This summit has been called by different names, such as “certainty based on knowledge” which has the color of certainty based on experience, the rank of ahadiya (of God’s special manifestation of His particular Names) or “absorption within absorption.” Those who have reached it continue their journey on the summit of journeying from God in deep wonder and self-possession. With the Almighty acting as their eyes with which they see and their ears with which they hear, they can always see and hear correctly and they act endowed with most praiseworthy qualities. They overlook the evils done to them, ignore the imperfections they see in others, never cherish an ill-opinion of believers, embrace everyone with affection, and live in peace with all people because they know that they are all creatures of God. They always feel happy in their inner world (even though suffering with the afflictions of others) because they are pleased with God, Who is also pleased with them, and they convert everything into a confection in the workshop of their hearts, offering it to others in abundance. With their hearts always indicating God’s good pleasure, they act in all places as those who direct people’s hearts to the One Who is pleased with them. They love for God’s sake, embrace for God’s sake, smell for God’s sake, and try to fulfill what is required by such a great favor, which is regarded as the beginning of the rank of the Truth of Muhammad (or Muhammadan Truth), and to deepen their relation with this rank.

The ultimate, indescribable point of the soul at rest is the soul perfected. Travelers at this point feel that Divine manifestations have pervaded all the created worlds to give them their color, and all other colors, forms and qualities have been wiped out, and they experience transformation after transformation in their inner world of pleasures and visions.

This highest summit, where travelers continue their journey in journeying with God and experience unity in multiplicity and multiplicity in unity, belongs, first of all, to the Prophets. The pure scholars succeeding the Prophets in their duties can feel in their hearts only a reflection of this in loyalty to the Prophets. The most important characteristic of these scholars is wakefulness. They are aware of their place—where they are and why and with what mission. They distinguish between the whole and the parts, the universal and the particular, the origin and the shadow, and the ones who are leading and the ones who are led. They never fall into confusion. They are seen to neither make utterances of self-pride that are incompatible with the rules of Shari‘a, nor do they display affectations such that God’s attention may be drawn to themselves. Neither do they see them- selves as superior to others nor do they expect privilege. They attribute to Him whatever they have that is worthy of appreciation, and regard every effort to preserve the same as thankfulness to God for those things. They are exceptionally humble and modest. Without expecting anything in return, they are ready to shoulder further tasks and responsibilities.

The souls with such a degree of purity fulfill all their responsibilities in the manner and solemnity of performing their duties of worship and they cause every moment to overflow with a new delight in meeting with Him in the depth of their being. Their breaths, which reflect the breezes of His nearness and friendship, cause peace and serenity wherever they blow. Their silence is a deep reflection that uncovers the meanings of things and events, and their words are sparks of wisdom from Prophetic psalms. Numerous eyes search for them. Their manners remind people of the Creator, and wherever He is remembered and mentioned, hearts are aroused to self-supervision, and boil like magma, burn like a furnace, and cry aflame:

O nightingale crazy with love, do you cry again in pain?
Do you head for a rose once more shedding such profuse tears?
You hasten into fire like moths throwing themselves to light to burn; or have you constantly been burning in the fire of love?

Besides the stages of the carnal self or soul, the Sufi scholars have also mentioned some degrees or ranks of depth and purity for the spirit. The inward dimension of the spirit is “secret (sir),” and the inward dimension of “secret” is “secret within secret.” The most important dimension of “secret within secret” is “private (khafi),” and its deepest aspect is “the more private (akhfa’).”

What is meant by “inward” is the essence or substance of a thing. Only one of these faculties is from the realm of creation, while the others are from the pure realm of Divine commands. The deepest, most abstruse and impenetrable of these faculties is the “more private.” It is in the center of the spiritual realm of human existence. The “private” envelops the “more private” with its aspects belonging to the realm of Divine commands. “Secret within secret” surrounds them like a wall, and the spirit embraces all these faculties like an atmosphere and connects them to the heart. The development of these faculties depends on possessing a deep spiritual life to govern the human daily life. For this reason, it is not possible for unfortunate ones who have not been able to save themselves from their corporeality and to discover their real human faculties to feel the gifts that flow into those who have risen to high levels of spirituality. The minimum conditions of feeling such are to have the necessary capacity and to make the required efforts to develop it, and then to be able to be saved from the domination of corporeality through periods of suffering.

May God guide us and you to the right, sound path. And let God’s blessings be on our master Muhammad, who was tender-hearted and compassionate, and on his Family and Companions, the noble, honorable and godly ones.

Sincerity or purity of intention (ikhlas) and perfect goodness or excellence (ihsan) are the two bases and the most important sources of power for journeying and initiation. When the initiates’ heart beats with a feeling of sincerity and the consciousness of perfect goodness, they sometimes utter There is no deity but God, while having in mind several of the Divine Names, and therefore meaning “There is no Creator, no Provider, no Shaper… but God.” At other times they open a window in the heart for each Name of the Bestower of Life, and set out to observe what is beyond the door that has been opened by the consciousness of perfect goodness. On occasion also they travel

through reflection on the harmony of the qualities (color, scent, form, taste, sound, harmony) manifested on things, or on the horizon of Some faces that Day shall be shining and radiant, gazing toward their Lord (75:22-23), and they burn with the zeal of meeting with Him. With a deep, mysterious desire of observation, which is impossible for any mental faculty to make, they try to rise to the heaven of knowledge of God from the launch-pad of belief. Then their love develops into a passion, which is strengthened with zeal. They fly into the depths of eternality on the wings of attraction and, with the feeling of being attracted by Him, rise toward the high towers of the angels, being welcomed by spiritual beings, reaching points that few can reach, seeing amazing things that few can see. But aware that what they seek in no way has any form, they regard every scene that greets their eyes only as a picture, a tableau, and remain devoted to the truth beyond:

He is neither of bodily nor accidental existence, nor a substance, nor composed;
He does not eat, nor drink, nor is contained in time: He is high above all such features.
He is absolutely free from changing, transformation, and also from having colors or a form:
All of these we spell out so that we can clarify what God is not.

Whatever level they reach, they always feel humble in acknowledgment, We have been unable to know You as knowing You requires, O the One known, and stress that the Divine Being cannot be perceived. To whatever extent they fulfil the demands of devotion to God, they admit: We have been unable to worship You as worshipping You requires; and however deeply and sincerely they mention Him, they whisper their inability, saying: We have been unable to mention You as mentioning You requires, O the One mentioned.

These travelers regard respect for God’s commandments as the first and foremost means of approaching God, and piety and righteousness as the most blessed equipment for the journey. They train their souls and purify their spirits in devotion to the rules of Islam. They consider every effort for training and purification that is opposed to the rules of Shari‘a as falling away from the religion, and if anything out of the way occurs at their hands, they see it as a sign that they are going to perdition. In every stage of journeying and initiation, the travelers pay exceptional attention to the safety of the journey and see this safety in their devotion to the essentials of the religion and religious life, and know that their worth in God’s sight lies in piety and righteousness, and that only the pious, righteous ones can find God. “The final destination of the God-revering, pious will be Paradise, and their drink, the drink of Paradise.”

The author of Gulshan-i Tawhid expresses this truth beautifully as follows:

If you seek safety, know that piety and a righteous religious life are the safest stronghold against all fears and danger.

Self-training, or the training of the soul, has been accepted as an extremely important element of all religions. The self or the soul mentioned here is the human soul or self, which is also mentioned as the speaking self, and is dealt with in seven stages according to some Qur’anic allusions to it:

If the speaking self or soul lives only a life of ease in the swamp of carnal appetites, it is the Evil-commanding Soul; if it falters time and again while following the way of religion to attain piety and righteousness, but each time that it falters it criticizes itself and turns to its Lord, then it is the Self-condemning Soul. The soul which always resists evil in devotion to God and is favored with certain Divine gifts in proportion to its purity, is called the Soul Inspired or Receiving Inspiration. When it reach- es the point where it has a relation with its Lord in perfect devotion and sincerity and when its consciousness is at rest, it is the Soul at Rest. If it has reached the station where it abandons all its choices and is a representative of Divine will, it is the Soul Well-Pleased with God. When its greatest aim is acquiring God’s good pleasure and approval and when it is always acting to this end in consideration of, “I am pleased with You, so be pleased with me,” then it is the Soul Pleasing to God. Finally, the soul which has the capacity to be completely adorned with the full manifestations of Divine qualities and Prophetic willpower and resolution is called the Soul Perfected or the Soul Pure.

A believer with an evil-commanding soul is either unaware of the sins he or she commits or lives an uncontrolled life. Even if such believers perform the daily Prayers and sometimes do supererogatory acts of worship, they are neither conscious of what obedience to God entails nor aware of what committing sins signifies. Such persons need to be assisted, aroused to become aware of the balance between fear and expectation, and made to deepen their knowledge, love and awe of God. It is the beginning of the major or greater jihad (striving) that such believers heed advice, engrave their errors in the memory so that they frequently criticize themselves, and are determined to regularly fulfill their religious duties and resist sins. So long as they continue to strive, some changes will begin to occur in their feelings and thoughts. They begin to see that not even their best deeds are sufficient and criticize themselves even for the least of their evil deeds. This is the second step in the soul’s journey, which is called the Self-Condemning Soul.

Those who have reached the stage of self-condemnation intend to set out toward Him in their heart. However, they falter, making errors that stain their good deeds, and beautiful things follow ugly ones in their life. But whenever they stumble and fall, they pull themselves upright in remorse for the evils committed, cleanse themselves of sin by sincerely asking God for forgiveness and by trying to uproot their inclinations toward evil through prayer. Not content with these, they continuously reprove them- selves, and suffer pangs of conscience. A time comes when they express these pangs with sighs from the depth of the heart, and when they put these feelings into invocations and tears in seclusion. Those with a self-condemning soul advance along the intermediate corridor between carnal appetites and sins, and spiritual peace. They show great care in keeping their hearts upright in devotion to God and their thoughts travel between the outer and the inner worlds. They utter “There is no deity but God,” they turn toward Him and display their yearning for Him, saying “There is none to be desired save Him,” and continuously whisper “He is the Truly Desired One” and “the only One deserving worship.”

In the sight of the self-condemning travelers who have deepened in spiritual attainment and reflection, the smallest errors and omissions begin to seem to them the greatest and most perilous lapses. When they rise to this point, they can more easily distinguish dark from light and good from evil, and when they think of the ugly face of sins, they feel repugnance, and when they think of good deeds, they moan with remorse and regret for not having done them. However, they are always hopeful and determined. It is of the souls that have attained this point that God says: “Those who strive for Our sake—surely We will guide them to the ways to lead to Us. Assuredly, God is with those of perfect goodness who act consciously that We always see them (29:69).” God inspires in them all that is good and beautiful, and the things He approves of together with how they can attain them. The soul that has traveled so far in order to reach God and has come to the point of receiving this inspiration is the soul receiving inspiration.

Travelers who have attained this stage are preoccupied with Him and with consideration of Him. They breathe with observations everywhere of the matchless beauty of His making and look on everything as a beautiful scene of wonder, and they overflow with feelings of appreciation. While saying “There is no deity but He” with their voices, their hearts beat with the truth, “There is none deserving worship save He.” Without being able to find the words to express their wonder in Him and His works, they can only utter “He,” and begin to fuel the love and zeal in their hearts with every breath they inhale and exhale. While their spirit burns, their voices petition Him with the words,

O cup-bearer, in the fire of love I have burnt away,
so give me some water!

Since I fell in love with a beautiful one, I have burnt away, give me some water!

In addition to the world losing its attractions, even those aspects of the Hereafter that do not directly look to the Divine Being Himself, become of secondary importance to them. They seek welcome by Him in His Presence, they adorn their speech with yearning for Him and make their words more meaningful by arousing a yearning for Him in the hearts of others. They fill themselves with gifts that come from Him and try to distribute these, pouring the honey in their spirits into the hearts of those who yearn for Him. They frequently say, as Lamakani Huseyin Efendi¹³¹ said,

Clean the fountain of your heart when it is filled,
keep your eyes open when your heart becomes an eye for your heart.
Drive out denial, and put the pitcher of your heart against that fountain;
so that the pitcher may be filled with its exhilarating water.

When they get filled to the extent that they continuously overflow with the gifts coming from God, they pour them into the hearts of those around them, calling them as Muhammed Lutfi Efendi did:

O you who are seeking God’s gifts, come and join this circle (of dervishes)!
O you who are passionately pursuing God’s light, join this circle (of dervishes)!

Travelers who have attained this point eat, drink, and sleep little, and always feel wonder. Their interest in and occupation with worldly affairs is only because they live in the realm where cause and effect have a certain part. Fulfilling the responsibilities that are inherent in their rank and being thankful for the gifts of the Ultimate Truth, they sometimes breathe with the manifestations of the Divine Names and sometimes with those of the Acts. However, if they cannot strictly continue their spiritual journey under the guidance of the Prophetic way or if they do not take refuge in the guidance of those who represent the Book and the Sunna, they may, due to the depth of their devotion, go so far as to make utterances of pride that are incompatible with the rules of Shari‘a; also they may display affectations instead of maintaining humility and self-possession in their relationship with God.

The final point that a soul who receives inspiration can reach is the ultimate point of certainty based on knowledge and the beginning of certainty based on observation. Until travelers reach this point, their belief that everything is from God is only a theoretical assertion. When they reach this point, they confess with all their being that everything is from God. Every time they make this confession, they feel new breezes of contentment and begin to taste every commandment of God and everything pleasing to Him as if it were a dimension of their nature. This means that they are at the threshold of attaining the soul at rest.

When God Almighty stated that He would place the human as His vicegerent / steward on earth, the angels endeavored to understand the truth of the matter. They asked, “Will You set therein one who will cause disorder and corruption on it and shed blood?” (al-Baqarah 2:30). This verse is followed by God’s teaching Adam the “names” (talim-e asma) in order to “clarify the supremacy of humankind and the wisdom in their being created and made vicegerent on the earth,” quoting from Ali Unal’s commentary on 2:31 [1].

Nursi stated that the miracle of the teaching of the Divine Names is intended to make the angels acknowledge the merit of humanity’s stewardship [2]. The stewardship bestowed upon humanity means they are to execute God’s commandments and enforce His laws on earth, and this depends on knowledge, hence the teaching of the “names.” God Almighty bestowed Prophet Adam an exalted nature, a lofty capacity, a sublime conscience, and equipped him with comprehensive emotions. He also equipped him to perceive and delve into the truth of all things and taught him all the “names.” Hence, Prophet Adam and his descendants were created with the apt willpower and ability for all the sciences that later developed. The human being, who acquired the ability to comprehend the truth of things having learned the “names,” could discover the laws God has established in the universe. Different branches of science have thus developed, and humanity has progressed materially and spiritually.

In his book Reflections on the Qur’an, M. Fethullah Gülen explains that the interlocutor in this incident was not only Prophet Adam, but the whole of humanity, and that all the things taught to him were in the form of seeds. Gülen also states that thanks to the feelings of neediness and obligation—and the desire to learn—God placed in humanity’s essence, humans have the ability to comprehend both the “names” and the things that correspond to them [3].

It can be said that the teaching of the Divine Names—and specified as the reason for the superiority of Prophet Adam over the angels—demands that humans combine information and events to reach conclusions and constantly develop new things. Thanks to this ability, which God Almighty bestowed upon Adam, humans learned the names of objects, perceived the relationship between cause and effect, as well as the mechanisms of their occurrence, and attained new compositions and continuous innovations. Humanity’s discovery of the laws of creation and order in the universe, and the technological innovations based on them reflects this miracle. Accordingly, when humankind discovered the existence of gravity and the buoyancy of water, or when they traveled into space, they traveled in the shade of this miracle. Nursi drew attention to the fact that all scientific and technological developments registered by humans are expressed through the “teaching of the Divine Names” [4].

Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır, stated that the phenomenon of the teaching of the Divine Names did not occur in a flash, but gradually, consistent with proper education and nurturing (tarbiyah). He explained that what is meant by the Names is not only the names of things as uttered in a language, but also their properties as well as the knowledge derived from them. In his own interpretation, Yazır comments that “teaching the names” includes their meanings and implications. He also emphasizes that it was not because Adam’s stewardship that he was taught the names, but he was given stewardship after he was taught the names [5].

God wishes appreciators and contemplators to appreciate and contemplate the universe He has decorated with His perfect arts [6]. Therefore, we can say that the secrets placed in the universe and human beings will be discovered, to a great extent, by scholars and scientists seeking the truth so the value of these secrets will be realized and appreciated.

As a doctor I observe the human being every day and see how a marvelous creature it is. As a part of my job I listen to the patient, analyze their complaints, and try to reach a diagnosis. Reaching a diagnosis happens after a complex cognitive processing, and I can do this, just as all doctors do, with the cognitive capacity I am given as a result of learning the “names.” I remember how amazed I was when I witnessed one of my colleagues manifesting this capacity in an emergency situation early in my career.

It was one of my first shifts as a doctor in the emergency room. I was nervous because I had no real-life experience. I had read many articles about triaging emergency patients, but being in the ER is different than just reading about it. At one point, I saw the ER door being opened quickly and a young patient with blood oozing from his mouth was brought in on a stretcher. Trying to remain calm, I learned the patient’s complaints: chest pain and shortness of breath. I took his blood pressure and pulse rate and examined him. I checked his basic blood tests, EKG, and chest x-ray. The chest x-ray showed a smooth, circumscribed mass, but I could not decide what it was. Due to a general lack of experience and a little panic, I could not put together the information I obtained and reach a conclusion. I consulted a senior specialist. He asked the patient if he had wounds in his mouth and genital area and acne-like lesions on his body. When he received a positive answer, he said, “This is an enlargement and ballooning of the main lung vessel [a pulmonary artery aneurysm] due to Behçet’s disease.” We admitted the patient to the ward, started treatment, and his condition started to improve soon. As an inexperienced physician, I was impressed by how my senior colleague diagnosed the disease so quickly based on myriad findings.

Many advances in medicine have been accomplished by accurate interpretation of patient findings and treatment results. For instance, the vitamin folic acid was first isolated by Subbarow, an Indian scientist, in the 1940s. It was discovered that folic-acid deficiency in humans caused anemia and that the symptoms improved with folic-acid treatment. Later on, since similar findings were observed in childhood leukemia patients with folic-acid deficiency; folic-acid treatment was also tried on them. The results were disappointing, as the rate of disease progression increased dramatically after folic-acid treatment. However, Dr. Sidney Farber, a pathologist at Boston Children’s Hospital who dedicated his research to the treatment of patients with childhood leukemia, turned this tragedy into an opportunity. According to Farber, if folic-acid treatment accelerated the growth of cancer cells, a treatment that reduced folic acid should stop cancer cells. Folic acid is a molecule that plays a fundamental role in the syntheses of DNA and RNA, which are critical for cell survival and proliferation. It is also essential for rapidly dividing cancer cells. With Farber’s encouragement, Subbarow developed a drug from a molecule that stops the synthesis of folic acid. Farber first used this drug in 1947 on children with leukemia and revealed that when folic-acid starvation was induced, the division of rapidly multiplying cancer cells was disrupted, and many patients recovered [7]. Drugs that stop the synthesis of folic acid are still used in medicine to treat certain types of cancer and inflammatory rheumatism.

We humans are unique in the way we think, analyze, diagnose and in all other cognitive processing we are able to do. Having the inborn knowledge of the “names” is what makes us unique and able to treat patients and produce healing drugs.

References

1. Ünal, Ali. 2006. The Qur’an With Annotated Interpretation in Modern English, NJ: Tughra Books.
2. Nursi, Bediüzzaman Said. 2007. İşârâtü’l-İ’câz [Signs of the Miraculousness], İstanbul: Şahdamar Yayınları, 2007, pp. 207.
3. M. Fethullah Gülen, Kur’ân’dan İdrake Yansıyanlar [Reflections on the Qur’an], İstanbul: Nil Yayınları, 2011, pp. 54.
4. Bediüzzaman Said Nursî, Sözler [The Words], İstanbul: Şahdamar Yayınları, 2010, pp. 279.
5. Elmalılı Muhammed Hamdi Yazır, Hak Dini Kur’ân Dili [The Language of the True Religion of the Qur’an], İstanbul: Eser Neşriyat, 1992, pp. 297–312.
6. Bediüzzaman Said Nursî, Sözler [The Words], İstanbul: Şahdamar Yayınları, 2010, pp. 187.
7. Anand N. Malaviya, “Landmark papers on the discovery of methotrexate for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other systemic inflammatory rheumatic diseases: a fascinating story”, Int J Rheum Dis, 2016, 19:844–51.

Thinking of the heavenly days …

Days promised by the Prophets and dreamed of by the saints…

Days testified by the truthful witnesses of the sun rising…Thinking of those days with full confidence in the eternal power of the Sublime Creator, we imagine a future with its true colors and form. Our hopes are revived again, and we feel as though we are soaring towards the heavens that we once lost, our beings interwoven with the spirit of nature, and our hearts knitted closely with the mercy and embrace of faith.

Indeed, the signs that emerge with every new dawn are heralding the years ahead to be more heartfelt, more sincere, and brighter than the days that have come and gone. Supposing that a poisonous wind does not blow our way, and that the dawns whose signs have already started emerging are not shrouded by the dust and smoke of our own faults, our society will soon become more prosperous, the world will become more enchanted, life will be more magical, and existence as a whole will exhibit a more divine appearance. They will be what we call “days of God” which arise every so often in the cycle of historical recurrences—the exceptional days when, we hope, our souls will flourish to their fullest and will be colorful enough to have our hearts feel the spirit of eternity.

Some may disagree, yet whenever we observe the past and present from atop high towers, we feel like we are experiencing those days with our own eyes and ears—as if we are living in them. What we hear are the echoes of becoming anew. What we see are the glories of our civilizations embroidered on the canvas of the past. We witness collecting ourselves together and our self-esteem restored. We see a magical period of time that bursts into color as we find ourselves in the midst of global matters discussed and pondered by all nations. We sense the delicacy, air, inspirations, and wonders of such a period, or maybe the feelings of faith, hope, perseverance, and intuition that seep into our hearts and effervesce in the form of excitement.

Think of the spring: it comes with the colors, aroma, tastes, and warmth unique and special to itself. Roses, all kinds of flowers, the grass … they empty their meanings into our souls and leave their magnificence to the appreciation of our hearts. In the same way, the days to come, nurtured in our feelings, thoughts, and behavior, present us with all their flavors and take us on a journey beyond our imagination.

Alongside this faith, hope, and perseverance, the most powerful harbinger of these heavenly days is, without a doubt, the pain and enthusiasm during the days of suffering. Such suffering is tantamount to the crushing of the seed in the heart of the soil, helping it to come into leaf and existence. The suffering of these days is how this time will be remembered and celebrated. Indeed, the cheer, the joy, and delight of the future will always be remembered as a warming air, a lively dancing light, and a colorful bud opening with grace, over and against the suffering, agony, and hardship of the past. We will remember as our hearts will palpitate with their immensity.

Since we can feel in our consciences the signs of an emerging dawn for such a spring, then we can, from this point on, experience it in the depths of our souls as if it has already come. We can see it through the windows that open into our hearts and welcome it in. By way of such a welcome, we can do away with the most heartbreaking events and survive with joy.

This brilliant world is a colorful mirror reflecting the Divine names and is considered the mysterious corridor leading into the eternal world. We will not be able to sample all the beauties of it, nor will we remain here forever to experience its most magnificent periods. Yet we can shape our lives according to our faith and hope in eternity. With our faith and hope we can soar on the wings of love and zeal and will experience a hundred, maybe a thousand, times over the timelessness we once lost.

Through such a spiritual state and a mindset that is centered around belief in the eternal, we will be able to feel and experience many things: our every expectation, our collective ideals, the strategies through which we will achieve those ideals, the cause and purpose to which we devote our lives, the happiness we always long for, and our pleasures that we are always after. If we are going to experience all this bliss in the form of beautiful scenes and flowing heavenly waters projected against the hillsides of our hearts, then what more do we have left? Such a promise of bliss—is it not better than the thousands of foggy blessings we now have? It seems to me that if we were to sacrifice all our current pleasures and delights in exchange for the profound bliss that emerges in our hearts and encompasses our scope of expectation, it would certainly be worth it.

In fact, if those who live with the love of the All-Merciful and are troubled for His cause, forgot all other troubles and fill their hearts with a desire to unite with Him, they would feel the sense of eternity deep within themselves. They would reach endless pleasures of the soul and would say that one lifetime is not enough to hold such delight.

Indeed, our love and zeal towards Him, our gaze that searches for Him everywhere and at all times, our tendency to convey a tenderness towards our surroundings through that gaze, our compassionate embracing of everything through this spirituality, and our loving with kindness are such profound pleasures of human existence that I believe those who have tasted them once will not bear any other pleasure in their souls—apart from the desire to reach the genuine state of these pleasures in eternity.

Nowadays, as our lives take a different route compared to past times, the love and zeal flowing from believing hearts and the frenzy of revival felt in every soul are almost always side by side.  As such, thousands in every valley are breathing life into petrified thoughts with their breaths of flame, and the world is gliding into an atmosphere radiating with light. As long as these breaths of Khidr keep breathing life like this, and the world continues on its course, every heart in need of light will, sooner or later, see these bright faces and hear their heart-penetrating words. Just as the moths that dwell in the darkness run to the light when they sense it—and as the flowers that always turn towards the sun—they will run to this light whose source is as old as eternity but is at the same time made anew through its transformation through the eras. As time goes by, every heart will overflow with the same excitement, all souls will revive once again, and the world will turn into a carnival with windows open to the worlds beyond.

Amidst the silence and approval of the millions who either surround them or run towards them from afar, these saintly ones will always shout out the feelings they have nurtured in their hearts open to divine light—not only on behalf of themselves but with an effervescent and profound feeling of responsibility. It is as if they were expressing these feelings on behalf of all holy beings that have come and gone and who are yet to come, wanting to have their voices heard from a higher pitch crying out at the tops of their lungs to announce the meanings coming from the depths of their souls—even to those who are lying in their graves.

Indeed, these people, who have awakened to spirituality with their inner world as a whole and have been satisfied with the benefits of the spiritual realm, will break through even the most rigid feelings, will open the rustiest of locks, and will soften even the most hardened of hearts. They will do this by means of a characteristic derived from experience coming from the voices that rise from their souls, the love flowing out of their words, and the feelings overflowing from their inner realms. They will soften those hearts, and through the spiritual and profound melodies of the divine, they will whisper the harmony of their own souls, the tunes of their love and enthusiasm and will, on behalf of all humanity, bring to voice their faith, hope, excitement, longing for the eternal home, and desire for reunion once again. It is as if their every call, every turn, their every hope and prayer for the future is an invitation to eternity—the expression, the voice, the interpretation of things that we have wanted to say up to this day but have not been able to. They are the things we have wanted to announce but have not been able to, as well as the matters we have left unfinished.

Surely, the people of that era will turn towards each other with deeper feelings than we have. They will speak to each other with transcendent voices and will express the same love and enthusiasm, all together. After all, ever since the past and into the present, in such holy and divine times, there have always been those who have loved and those who have been loved. During those times, when lovers were all Majnun and the loved were all Laila, every love, beauty, zeal, and order were all shadows, having passed many curtains of the shadows of the Eternal Beauty. Thus He, the true source of everything, was loved before all else. Then according to their degree, everything that followed behind was loved, breathed in, embraced, and sanctified with His seal. And the fortunate people of such periods lived their lives filled with the feeling of love and being loved, and by accepting all hardship as a spiral staircase to be climbed in order to attain eternal bliss, they breathed with relief and comfort. And with the drive of certain motivations—knowledge of God, love, and excitement—awakened in the hearts their souls took wing, as if setting sail into eternity, and with a state beyond time and place, they became like Fuzuli, saying:

O, how much I wished I, a heartbroken lover, had a thousand lives,
so that I could sacrifice each one for Your Sake.

After a certain point, the souls that rise to their feet through their own power and prosperity, the feelings that gain their freedom of expression, the logic and judgments that view creation as a thousand and one doorways leading to Him, will reach such a transcendence that matter will cease to stand as a barrier or an obstacle in front of the metaphysical. It will refine to become more lucid and will virtually become an accessory to meaning itself.

The feelings, thoughts, hopes, expectations, joys, and comforts that we seek to express are—just like the single drops of water within an ocean—merely a few drops from a new era of light in which many of our ideals will come true. Indeed, faith will deepen through knowledge and wisdom, knowledge will transform into love and zeal, and love and enthusiasm will turn into pleasures for the spirit… They are merely a few drops that represent the vast ocean. Though the realm of dreams may seem far away from where we stand today and which may seem different from person to person according to the individual’s ability and capacity, there is no doubt that it is emerging within the frame of a collective feeling and understanding. Let every individual keep to this formation in accordance with their own perception, understanding, and depths of heart. The days in which faith and perseverance will turn the impossible into the possible, straighten out the curves, lower the hills, and turn the pathways into avenues…Those divine days are close.

It seems to me that, even those primitive souls who have been turned into banal beings through materialistic thought—so long as they do not hand over to their obstinacy the humanistic values blessed unto them by God—will, in this period of faith, love and zeal, comprehend the refreshing power of connecting with God. They will let themselves go into the drive of this collective formation and will drink these heavenly days in as the water of life.

When the novel coronavirus Covid-19 started to spread across the world at the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, it challenged not only people but also systems. As Necip Fazil Kisakurek warned in his poem Destan, “Stop, you masses; this street is a dead end!” The Covid-19 pandemic has forced humans to change their lifestyles. Health, finance, and education systems could no longer preserve their status quo and were obliged to change to survive.

During this unprecedented situation, I tried to turn challenges into opportunities and asked myself: “What can I do during isolation for my personal and spiritual development?” Besides reading, watercolor painting, participating in spiritual and professional meetings via Zoom, learning daily Arabic words, and virtually visiting the British Museum to see the Pharaoh’s body mentioned in the Holy Quran (10:92), I took a free online course titled Fundamentals of Neuroscience – Part 1: The Electrical Properties of the Neuron from Harvard University on the edX platform [1]. With little background knowledge but lots of interest, I took this course to explore the beautiful names of God (Asma ul Husna) manifested in neuroscience. It was a self-paced, 5-week-long course with video lectures, quizzes, discussion board topics, and virtual field trips.

I really enjoyed the course. It made me think of and thank God “the most glorified” because of the amazing nervous system He bestowed upon me. It helped me to overcome my negligence and be aware of this magnificent creation. I witnessed the Divine Wisdom when a cadaver’s brain was examined in a video lecture recorded at the Harvard Medical School. As a very delicate organ, the brain was so well protected that it reminded me of one of the names of Allah (SWT)—Al-Hafız, or The Preserver, which means, “The One whose power preserves the heavens and the earth. The One who is the guardian and preserver of all the worlds. The One who protects and preserves all of creation from perishing. The One who is vigilantly guarding every detail of all that has been created. The One who remembers and preserves all that has ever been and all that is, while keeping under Divine protection the knowledge of all that shall be” [2].

The skull, which is an incredibly tough structure, encloses the brain like a chest. Then, there are three layers of meninges which protect the soft tissue of the brain from traumatic injury. The thickest and toughest layer is called the “dura mater,” which translates to “tough mother” [3]; (originally derived from medieval Latin, literally “hard mother,” which is a translation of Arabic al-‘umm al-jafiya “coarse mother”). Since it embraces the brain for protection, it reminded me of the name Al-Raheem (The All-Merciful).

Another delicate organ, the spinal cord, is protected by bony pieces called vertebrae. Along the spinal cord are a huge number of little nerve fibers. They carry information to various muscles and ultimately bring sensory information back to the brain. Both the brain and spinal cord are bathed in fluid known as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) [4]. This fluid’s duty is not only to carry nutrients to tissue and remove toxins and waste but also to protect the brain and the spinal cord [3]. It is not hard to see the manifestation of the name Al-Hafız (The Preserver) in this excellent creation. Cerebrospinal fluid is held inside layers of the meninges which surround the brain and spinal cord. In addition to the dura mater, the other two meningeal layers are called the pia mater and arachnoid mater. The dura mater, the outermost layer, is a tough connective tissue. However, heritable disorders and injuries that may happen during medical procedures such as epidural injections may lead to a hole or tear in the dura. When the spinal dura has a hole or tear, the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks out. These defects can be small or large, and often result in a low volume of CSF remaining around the brain and spinal cord. Among the symptoms of a leak or tear are severe positional headache and rarely, dementia, stroke, coma, and even death [4].

If you look at the entire nervous system in context, you will see how armored everything is. The skull, vertebrae, and cerebrospinal fluid are all created as an armor to protect the brain and spinal cord. However, despite this armoring, damage does sometimes occur. Because of concussive injuries, the brain sloshes around in the head which may result in some damage or swelling [3].

When the brain’s armor is breached, there are lessons to be learned. Phineas Gage (1823–1860), an American railroad construction foreman, is a famous case of someone who survived an accident in which a large iron bar went through the left side of his face, through his eye and straight through the top of his skull taking a significant portion of his brain’s left frontal lobe with it. He was in a coma for a while until he amazingly woke up. The accident affected his personality and behavior over the remaining 12 years of his life‍ in such a way that his friends said he was “no longer Gage.”  ‌Gage influenced 19th-century discussions about the mind and brain and was perhaps the first case to suggest the brain’s role in deter­min­ing per­son­al­ity, and that damage to specific parts of the brain might cause specific mental changes [3, 6].

The virtual field trip to the Warren Anatomical Museum in Harvard Medical School’s Countway Library of Medicine was among one of the many exciting activities included in the course. In that museum, Phineas Gage’s skull is exhibited. Seeing his skull was like rabita al-mawt (contemplating death) for me. As human beings, we may suffer from ineffable pains while we live, but patience, submission to God, and consent to the tests we face are some of the essentials for turning pain into gain in the hereafter.

Phineas Gage’s incident made me contemplate another aspect of God’s flawless creation. Everything that we see on one side of the brain is replicated on the other side. So, despite damage on one side, it can still be possible to not have major deficits. Even though Gage became less capable, he was still highly functional: he travelled abroad and held a job. From the neuroscience perspective, our brains make us who we are. The frontal lobe of the brain is responsible for governing human behavior, such as speech production, problem solving, and planning, and is remarkably larger in humans when compared to other animals [3].

The brain’s physical structure is also amazing. We possess more brain folds, sulci (like valleys) and gyri (like mountains), than any other species. These folds make it possible to fit the brain into skull. It is like the way that human intestines, which can range from 7.5 to 8.5 meters (25 to 28 feet) in length [7], crumple in on themselves to be able to fit inside the abdominal cavity. This similarity encourages me to contemplate more about creation of the One and Only Deity, Who is Al-Ahad (The Unique), Al-Wahid (The One), Al-Khaliq (The Creator), Al-Baari’ (The Originator), and Al-Musawwir (The Fashioner).

During this course, I had a chance to learn more about our nervous system and the neurons (nerve cells) which use electrical signaling to communicate and allow our nervous system to function. How can such tiny and unconscious neurons (we have about 86 billion of them in our brains [8] work in harmony without the knowledge of physics, mathematics, chemistry, and electricity to make us talk, walk, think, feel, etc.? It is because they are obedient soldiers of The All-Knowing, The All-Wise, and the One to Whom all praise is due.

References

1. edX: a massive open online course provider founded by Harvard and MIT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdX#cite_note-3
2. AsmaulHusna, http://www.asmaulhusna.in/?99BeautifulDevineNamesofAllah&AsmaulHusna&name=AL-HAFIZ,
3. edX Harvard University, https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:HarvardX+MCB80.1x+2T2020/course/
4. Spinal CSF Leak Foundation, https://spinalcsfleak.org/about-spinal-csf-leaks/overview/
5. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, 25^th Flashes, 7^th Remedy, http://www.erisale.com/?bookId=203&locale=en&pageNo=265#content.en.203.270
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage
7. Length of a Human Intestine, The Physics Factbook, https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/AnneMarieThomasino.shtml
8. Kendra Cherry, How Many Neurons Are in the Brain, https://www.verywellmind.com/