We have a book written in golden letters lying in front of us. The decoration of the pages is attractive and impressive.. the small diamonds that are spread out over the pages are so shiny.. the cover is attractive.. the pages are velvety like a rose.. the colors are lively and bright.. the letters have been written by a talented calligrapher and are so harmonious; each one is a work of art.. While one may be interested in the book and its material another will find understanding what has been written and its content more compelling…

We recognize and perceive that which exists and evaluate that which is happening around us by using our natural senses, intelligence, and experience; as a result we are able to make inferences about the world through methods of deduction or induction. Positivism claims that the only true and valid knowledge is that which is based on actual sensual experience. According to materialism, the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is matter. In general, in analyzing matter and physical phenomena the deterministic approach is employed; all events are thought to be unavoidable consequences of the preceding sufficient causes. Sometimes the deterministic descriptions and formulations may end up in chaos. Chaos theory deals with the chaotic character of such formulations qualitatively. The quantum theory could also be interpreted as a deterministic tool that describes physical phenomena, more specifically, the behavior of matter and energy, within a range of probabilistic likelihood.

Some philosophers tend to include other factors in the cognitive faculties and the means that shape human perception and cognition: for example, emotions and intuition (e.g. Kant, Bergson). This apparently is a diversion from materialism and the deterministic point of view. The human being is not only an elegant combination of atoms; we also have a part that is not a function of matter or time: and this is the soul. If we restrict ourselves only to the natural senses and matter, as the positivist and materialist approaches do, then severe limitations on human perception are imposed, as demonstrated below. In general, it is not possible to perceive the truth completely without using all of one’s cognitive faculties. The question is then, how can a new program of reasoning be systematized to combine the senses and mind along with the emotions and intuition in a coherent manner? This novel program, which is called qualitative inference, is defined in this article using examples; however, first there is a brief introduction to a related topic, known as qualitative reasoning.

Qualitative reasoning is a relatively new approach in the estimation of possible solutions to real-world problems through non-quantitative reasoning. This approach provides a program to reason about the behavior of physical systems, such as the physiology of the human body, automobiles, etc., especially in the case of inexact or incomplete data, or when there is a lack of the precise quantitative information that is required by conventional methods. Qualitative models are more able to express states of incomplete knowledge about continuous mechanisms than traditional models which have been developed for the analysis of physical phenomena, as the former guarantees the ability to find all possible behaviors consistent with the knowledge in the model.

To get a flavor of what is meant by qualitative reasoning, consider this everyday scenario: You are confronted with a water-filled pan on a lit stove. You can easily predict that the pan will warm up, which will warm the water. At some point, the water will start to boil, and the pan might eventually become empty. To make these predictions, the exact values of the variables involved, such as the amount of water, the temperatures of the stove and the water, or the boiling temperature need not be known.

Observing pouring rain and a river’s steadily rising water level is sufficient to make a prudent person take measures against possible flooding-without knowing the exact water level, the rate of change, or the time the river might flood.

Qualitative inference is a program of qualitative reasoning that extends inference to the non-physical aspects of physical information, including reason, the relation between subjects and objects, etc. The universe itself is a great set of information, but this may not be exact or complete enough for metaphysical inductions. Needless to say, any such possible inductions should be consistent with known physical information. Consequently, in qualitative inference, the two key points we are referring to, namely the use of incomplete or inexact data and consistency with physical knowledge, are crucial.

While the deterministic approach could be considered to be the interpolation of existing physical knowledge and information in order to justify what is known or to discover what is unknown, qualitative inference can provide a tool for the extrapolation of existing physical knowledge and information. It can be used to reach what is unknown, physically unobservable, or even impossible to validate, regenerate, repeat, comprehend, or completely embrace by using standard scientific techniques.

Qualitative inference

With some examples we will explain how qualitative inference can be applied to everyday, real life experiences for inferences and inductions that are beyond our physical world.

A coincidence or a gift?

Let us take the example of a package sent to a person in the mail. Let us specify that it is a shirt. Let us further specify that the color of the shirt is the favorite color of the receiver, it fits him very well, the design is his preference, and the brand and the fabric of the shirt are those that he generally chooses. Based on this information, as it is incomplete, it would be difficult to answer questions about the possible relationship between the sender and receiver, the purpose of this shipment, etc. from a positivist or deterministic point of view. Through qualitative inference one could conclude, however, that the sender is someone who knows and is close to the receiver, who would like to please him likely because the sender likes him, and that the shirt has been mailed as a gift. This inference is obviously consistent with the known information. If we were to exclude the sense of love, enjoyment, pleasure, and closeness between two people it would not be possible to make these conclusions.

The apple

The apple is one of the most abundant types of fruit on the earth. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” goes an old saying. Doctors in modern times agree that the apple is important as a nutrient. An apple with its skin includes about 4 grams of dietary fibers. Potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and selenium are minerals that can be found in an apple in different amounts. It also contains small amounts of iron, manganese, copper and zinc. The vitamins contained in an apple include vitamins A, C, E, and folic acid, which is an important nutrient during pregnancy. While eating an apple, one also strengthens the gingiva gums often without being aware that this is happening. The different colors of apples are very pleasant, as are their smell. How many artists have used the apple as their subject, due to its compelling beauty? It leaves a pleasant taste on the tongue and in the mouth. Many cuisines would be severely handicapped without the apple as an ingredient. The size is just right to grasp in the hand, and its flesh is succulent to bite. Different types of apples give the feeling of experiencing a new thing, yet remaining within the limits of our acquaintance. Apples are attractive and important sources of nutrients for animals as well. There is so much more to say about the apple and its importance to human and animal life, about how it is a very good source of nutrients that matches our needs, and addresses our tastes and pleasures.

With this information, the positivist perspective looks at the apple itself, its attributes, nutritional value, material properties, as well as the physical functions of the human being, and their need for the nutrients that are naturally included in the apple. This physical information, although valuable, is incomplete in understanding the perfect correlation between not only the need of the human being, but also our sense of taste and the apple, as we have briefly summarized above. Through qualitative inference, however, one could conclude that apple is a gift not only to the human being, but to most other living creatures, much like the shirt that was sent as a gift in the example above. This conclusion does not include any contradictions with the known, but incomplete, physical information. Although the sender of this gift is not known, one can infer that such a being exists and this being knows the human very well and is able to make and send this gift via the trees; this being possibly likes human beings and others who benefit from the apple, and likes to please them. However, without reference to the senses of love, enjoyment, and pleasure, it would not be possible to derive such conclusions.

Robot vs. mother

Now, we will consider another event, that in which a mother prepares food for her child. If she is feeding the baby with a formula, the steps she is likely to follow are sterilizing the bottle, boiling the water, refrigerating the water or waiting for the water to reach the appropriate temperature to mix the formula with the water, and stirring it carefully and thoroughly to make this a pleasant experience for her baby. From time to time, the order, attention of the mother, and duration of the steps may change without a clear difference in the underlying conditions. If one were to study this case scientifically, from a positivist perspective, then one would study the temperature of the water, the hygiene of the bottle, the actions of the mother, etc. for some possible inferences. But, these would be far from being a complete account of the situation and cannot reflect the entire picture or truth. The main point that a prudent person can derive from these scenes is clearly the mercy, compassion, and love of the mother towards her baby. This is the fact and main motivation that ensures that the mother take the actions mentioned above voluntarily, willingly, carefully, and repeatedly.

The Earth’s circulatory system

With this example in mind, let’s now review what we learned in high school about the earth’s circulatory system, a wonderful mechanism that purifies, cleans, and processes the water, the most important factor of the life. Human beings can survive for only a few days without water. Water is stored under the ground in natural reservoirs, whose formation alone is the topic for a series of scientific articles. Although the temperature increases as one approaches the center of the earth, sometimes the water comes to the surface at very cold temperatures; such cold clear water is the most desired substance on a hot, sunny day. Rain drops in their natural form are pure water and do not have a pleasant taste. These rain drops and the water used by people or animals is processed, that is, the water is cleaned, filtrated, and purified under ground. Minerals essential to human and animal life and some chemicals that naturally exist in the soil mix with the water. The addition of all these substances is good not only for the water’s nutritional value, but also creates a more pleasant taste. It is with these constituents that water becomes an essential nutrient for human beings and animals. Some of these additions are fluorine that strengthens the bones, fluoride, which is beneficial in low concentrations, sodium, potassium, and chloride, all of which play a role in the metabolism of the body. When the water comes to the surface as hot water, it can be used as a treatment for some diseases. The water is not processed only under the ground, as we have described here, but surface water is also atomized for the ultimate purification. When water evaporates, the vapor rises to a certain location in the atmosphere, accumulates there and forms clouds (which are a subject matter for poets, due to their beauty, especially when they appear on a sunny day). When water is condensed and catalyzed by the wind, the vapor returns to the earth as rain drops to complete the cycle.

Each step in the mechanism of circulatory system mentioned above can be analyzed scientifically, from a positivist perspective, to attain useful and important information. On the other hand, these results will never allow us to make inferences about the reason behind the perfect correlation between the needs of human beings and other living creatures and the availability of water in its most useful form as an essential nutrient with a pleasant taste, or the continuous availability of clean, fresh water for the living creatures who have no control over never-failing mechanism of the circulatory system, or the availability of water with the perfect chemical combination that allows coexistence of water in three different physical forms (ice, water, and vapor). On the other hand, using such incomplete physical information, namely the perfect match between the nature, properties, and availability of water, and the needs, the sense of taste of living creatures, a sensible person could easily infer that there is a hidden mercy and compassion acting behind the scenes, just as with the case of the mother preparing food for her baby. Without this qualitative inference, which is consistent with the known physical information and refers further to the sense of mercy and compassion, the entire picture of this phenomena and the truth can never be captured, regardless of scientific developments, the technology used in labs, or the computer systems that can carry out extremely complicated computations.

Conclusion

Qualitative inference leads us to arrive at conclusions about the non-physical or metaphysical aspects of physical phenomena. This program of reasoning considers physical phenomena and the universe as an incomplete source of information for understanding the metaphysical aspects of the physical world, helps us to make inferences that are consistent with this incomplete physical information, and to use all our cognitive faculties, including intelligence, senses, intuition, and even emotions, to arrive at non-physical inferences. Qualitative inference leads one to consider the apple as a gift and the availability of the fresh water through the natural water cycle as an indication of universal compassion and mercy for all living creatures; no living creature would be able to carry out such a process on their own. Without this reasoning, as exemplified above, only a very limited portion of natural phenomena can be understood sufficiently; the main points will always be missing or overlooked.

Through the same program of reasoning, a gift necessitates a loving sender, universal compassion and mercy requires a being that is compassionate and merciful. Just like the case studies presented above, all real life events have similar messages that can be understood by those who do not restrict themselves to physical nature. All physical events, for example, indicate a universal consciousness that implies the existence of someone who is conscious of everything. Such a being should be able to do all these things according to His will, so He is All Mighty… These examples shed light onto some of His attributes, such as His mercy, compassion, will, might, and consciousness. When other phenomena are analyzed in a similar manner, one can discover other essential attributes of this Supreme Being. As a result, qualitative reasoning not only proves the existence of the Supreme Being, it provides a useful tool in understanding His attributes.

Similarly, the rebirth of trees, insects, and the earth as a whole every spring after their death in the winter is a physical phenomena that we have all experienced. This information, through qualitative inference, can lead us to understand the Hereafter, that is, the resurrection of all human beings in another world. All the attributes of the Supreme Being mentioned above also support this inference. Mercy cannot be absolute and universal, for example, if the oppressed people and tyranny are treated the same; unfortunately, this is what seems to be happening in this world.

In brief, positivist and materialist approaches impose severe limitations on human perception. In reality, all the cognitive faculties of the human being play roles in our evaluation of our being, our position and role in this world, and our relation to others. The truth can only be obtained by a person through the systematic use of all such faculties. Qualitative inference suggests a program for doing so. While the positivist approach puts mankind into the position of being an observer of the things they can touch or see by invalidating all other sources of knowledge, qualitative inference allows one to address the non-physical or metaphysical aspects of the physical phenomena by freeing all of our cognitive faculties, and in particular allows to be a believer while observing the universe in a similar manner.

The heart is the home of God; purify it from whatever is other than Him
So that the All-Merciful may descend into His palace at night.

The word “Qalb” (heart) has two meanings. One denotes the body’s most vital organ, which is located on the left side of the chest. With respect to its structure and tissue, the heart is different from all other bodily parts: it has two auricles and two ventricles, is the origin of all arteries and veins, works by itself, like a motor, and, like a suction pump, moves blood through the system.

In Sufi terminology, the spiritual heart is the center of all emotions and (intellectual and spiritual) faculties, such as perception, consciousness, the senses, reasoning, and willpower. Sufis call it the “human truth”; philosophers call it the “speaking selfhood.” An individual’s real nature is found in the heart. With respect to this intellectual and spiritual aspect of existence, one is able to know, perceive, and understand. Spirit is the essence and inner dimension of this faculty; the biological spirit or the soul is its mount.

It is one’s heart that God addresses and it is this that undertakes responsibilities, suffers punishment or is rewarded, is elevated through true guidance or debased through deviation, and is honored or humiliated. The heart is also the “polished mirror” in which Divine knowledge is reflected.

The heart both perceives and is perceived. The believer uses it to penetrate his or her soul, corporeal existence and mind, for it is like the eye of the spirit. Insight may be regarded as its faculty of sight, reason as its spirit, and will as its inner dynamics.

The heart or spiritual intellect, if we may so call it, has an intrinsic connection with its biological counterpart. The nature of this connection has been discussed by philosophers and Muslim sages for centuries. Of whatever nature this connection may be, it is beyond doubt that there is a close connection between the biological heart and the “spiritual” one, which is a Divine faculty, the center of true humanity, and the source of all human feelings and emotions.

In the Qur’an, religious sciences, morals, literature, and Sufism, the word “heart” signifies the spiritual heart. Belief, knowledge and love of God, and spiritual delight are the objectives to be won through this Divine faculty. The heart is a luminous, precious ore with two aspects, one looking to the spiritual world and the other to the corporeal, material world. If an individual’s corporeal existence or physical body is directed by the spirit, the heart conveys to the body the spiritual effusions or the gifts it receives through the world of the spirit, and enables the body to breathe with peace and tranquility.

As stated above, God considers one’s heart. He treats men and women according to the quality of their hearts, as the heart is the stronghold of many elements vital to the believer’s spiritual life and humanity: reason, knowledge, knowledge of God, intention, belief, wisdom, and nearness to God Almighty. If the heart is alive, all of these elements and faculties are alive; if the heart is diseased, it is difficult for the elements and faculties mentioned to remain sound. The truthful and confirmed one, upon him be peace and blessings, declared: There is a fleshy part in the body. If it is healthy, then the whole of the body is healthy. If it is corrupted, then all the body is corrupted. Beware! That part is the heart. This saying shows the importance of the heart for one’s spiritual health.

The heart has another aspect or function, one that is actually more important than those already mentioned: The heart has points of reliance and the seeking of help ingrained in it, as well as in human nature, by which the heart enables the individual to perceive God as the All-Helping and All-Maintaining. That is, the heart always reminds one of God in terms of need, seeking help and protection. This is vividly expressed in a narrated Prophetic Tradition, which Ibrahim Haqqi relates as follows:

God said: “Neither the heavens nor the earth can contain Me.”

He is known and recognized as a “Treasure” hidden in the heart by the heart itself.

The individual’s body is the physical dimension of his or her existence, while one’s heart constitutes its spiritual dimension. For this reason, the heart is the direct, eloquent, most articulate, splendid, and truthful tongue of the knowledge of God. Therefore, it is regarded as more valuable and honored than the Ka‘ba, and accepted as the only exponent of the sublime truth expressed by the whole of creation to make God known.

The heart also is a fortress in which one can maintain sound reasoning and thinking, as well as a healthy spirit and body. As all human feelings and emotions take shelter and seek protection in this fortress, the heart must be protected and kept safe from infection. If the heart is infected, it will be very difficult to restore it; if it dies, it is almost impossible to revive it. The Qur’an, by advising us to pray: Our Lord! Do not cause our hearts to swerve after You have guided us (Al Imran 3:7), and our master, upon him be peace and blessings, by his supplication: O God, O Converter of hearts! Establish our hearts firmly on Your religion, remind us of the absolute need to preserve the heart.

Just as the heart can function as a bridge by which all good and blessings may reach the believer, it can also become a means by which Satanic and carnal temptations and vices can enter. When set on God and guided by Him, the heart resembles a projector that diffuses light to even the furthest, remotest, and darkest corners of the body. If it is commanded by the (inherently evil) self, it can become a target for Satan’s poisonous arrows. The heart is the native home of belief, worship, and perfect virtue; a river gushing with inspiration and radiation arising from the relationships among God, humanity, and the universe. Unfortunately, innumerable adversaries seek to destroy this home, to block this river or divert its course: hardness of heart (losing the ability to feel and believe), unbelief, conceit, arrogance, worldly ambition, greed, excessive lust, heedlessness, selfishness, and attachment to status.

Notes

1. Bukhari, Iman, 39; Muslim, Musaqat, 107.
2. Tirmidhi, Qadar, 7; Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 6 vols. (Beirut, 1969), 6:302.

The Universe and the “perfect human” are a “created Book.” The Book is the “revealed universe and the perfect human.” They represent different expressions of the same meaning with a different corpus. This school does not split the heart from the mind; the reason faculties of the mind and the heart are thus named is due for the need of a description. In fact, the faculties that are concerned with the mind are nothing but the functions and actions of the heart, to the extent that even the carnal self becomes a mount for the heart, until the heart is purified and becomes a perfect self. Modern humans have positioned their hearts on one side and their minds on the other.

Nevertheless, all individuals are essentially addressees of the divine call and they represent God Almighty on Earth, although most are not aware of their value. This ignorance does not legitimize a disregard of their essential quality to be “the best of all creation.” The lead article in this issue, Respect for Humankind, reminds us of the fact that we are all heading toward the same destination and we have to learn to respect the different modes of travel each has chosen.

Professor Sheremet examines the blind alley that science has found itself in, inviting people to a reacceptance of Almighty God as the main agent of every phenomenon we see around us.

Professor Hasgul joins us in this issue with an interesting article on the Virgin Birth and how we can learn from this miracle.

Ahmet Cokol discusses some interesting theories on why civilizations collapse, while Mustafa Armagan presents a sample from the history of eastern-western interaction as a valid model of perspectives of contemporary objectivity in Montaigne and the Ottomans.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi makes a very significant argument for the necessity of positive interaction between the People of the Book, while Professor Yildirim goes back in time to wipe the dust off the invaluable Madina Charter-and we look forward to more comprehensive research on this historical document. Alcohol does not stay “as it looks in the bottle.”

Kathleen St. Onge describes how a simple liquid can be such a danger to the individual and to society, and reminds responsible believers to make it known that they do not drink it, because it is forbidden by their faith. Enjoy reading while thinking!

With respect to action and bodily endeavors, we are no more than weak animals or helpless creatures. The realm at our disposal is so limited that our fingers can touch its circumference. Our weakness, impotence, and indolence are so great that even domesticated animals are influenced by them. If any domesticated animal is compared with its undomesticated counterpart, great differences will be observed.

But as passive, recipient beings who need to pray and petition, we are worthy travelers allowed to stay for a while in the guesthouse of this world. We are guests of a Generous One Who has put the treasuries of His infinite Compassion at our disposal, and subjugated to us His peerless works of creative power and His special servants. Also, He has prepared for our use and pleasure such a vast arena of things that its radius is as far as sight or even imagination can reach.

If we rely on our physical and innate abilities, taking the worldly life as our goal and concentrating on its pleasures, we will suffocate within a very narrow circle. Furthermore, our bodily parts, senses, and faculties will bring suit and witness against us in the Hereafter. But if we know that we are guests and so spend our lives within the limits approved by our Generous Host, we will lead a happy and peaceful lives and reach the highest rank. We will be rewarded with an everlasting life of bliss in the Hereafter, and all of our bodily members and faculties will testify in our favor.

Our wonderful faculties have not been given to us so that we can use them in this trivial worldly life; rather, they have been given for our eternal life. We have many more faculties and senses than animals do, but the pleasure we derive from our physical lives is much less than what an animal derives. Every worldly pleasure bears traces of pain, is spoiled with past sorrows and fears of the future, and the pleasure’s ultimate disappearance. Animals, on the other hand, experience pleasure without pain, enjoyment without anxiety, and have no past sorrows or anxiety about the future. They enjoy comfortable lives and praise their Creator.

We have been created in the best pattern. If we concentrate on this worldly life, we are far lower than a sparrow, although we have far more developed faculties than any animal. In another treatise, I explained this fact in the form of a parable, as follows:

A man gives his servant 10 gold coins and tells him to have a suit made for himself out of a certain cloth. He gives another servant 1,000 gold coins and sends him to the market with a shopping list. The former buys an excellent suit of the finest cloth. The latter acts foolishly. He neither notices how much money he was given nor does he read the shopping list. Thinking that he should imitate his friend, he goes to a shop and asks for a suit. The dishonest shopkeeper gives him a suit of the very worst-quality cloth. The unfortunate servant returns to his master and receives a severe reprimand and a terrible punishment. Anyone can see that the 1,000 gold coins were not given for a suit, but for a very important transaction.

In the same way, our spiritual faculties, feelings, and senses are much more developed than those of animals. For example, we can see all degrees of beauty, taste all varieties of a food item’s particular tastes, penetrate the many details of visible realities, yearn for all ranks of perfection, and so on. Animals, on the other hand, with the exception of a particular faculty that reaches a high state of development according to its particular duty, can realize only a very slight development, if any.

Our senses and feelings, which have developed a great deal owing to our mind and intellect, require that we have many faculties. Our many needs have caused us to evolve different types of feelings, and to become very sensitive to many things. Also, due to our comprehensive nature, we have been given desires turned to several aims and objectives. Our senses and faculties have greatly expanded because of the diversity of our essential duties. Furthermore, since we are inclined and able to worship, we have the potential to realize all kinds of perfection.

Obviously, such rich faculties and abundant potentialities cannot have been given to us for an insignificant, temporary, worldly life. They were given to us because our essential duty is to perceive our obligations, which are directed to endless aims; to affirm our impotence, poverty, and insufficiency via worship; to study by our far-reaching sight and penetrating understanding; to bear witness to creation’s glorification of God; to discern and be grateful for the All-Merciful One’s aid sent in the form of bounties; and to gaze, reflect upon, and draw warning from the miracles of His Power as manifested in creation.

O world-worshipping one charmed by the worldly life and ignorant of the meaning of your nature as the best pattern of creation! Once I saw the true nature of this worldly life in a dream, as follows:

I was on a long journey. My God had caused me to set out on this journey. He gradually gave me some of the 60 gold coins he had allotted to me. This went on for some time. After a while, I arrived at an inn that provided some entertainment. I gambled away 10 gold coins in one night of entertainment and frivolity. When it was morning, I had no money for the provisions I would need at my destination. All I had left was pain, sorrow, and regret left by sin and illicit pleasure.

While in this wretched state, a man said to me: “You have lost everything, and so deserve to be punished. Moreover, you will go on to your destination with no money. But if you use your mind, the door of repentance is open. When you receive the rest of the money, keep half in reserve and use it to buy what you will need at your destination.”

My selfhood did not agree, so the man said: “Save a third of it then.” Still, my selfhood balked. The man insisted: “Then a quarter.” I realized that my selfhood would be unable to abandon its addictions, so the man turned away in some indignation and disappeared.

At just this moment, I found myself on a train traveling at a high speed through a tunnel. I was alarmed, but there was no escape. To my surprise, I saw very attractive flowers and tasty-looking fruits alongside the track, hanging out from the sides of the tunnel. I foolishly attempted to pick some of them. But all around them were thorns that, because of the train’s speed, tore at my hands and made them bleed. What I tried to hold on to them, they slipped from my grasp.

Suddenly an attendant came beside me and said: “Give me 5 cents, and in return I’ll give you as many flowers and fruits as you want. Otherwise, with your hands all cut up, you will lose a 100 instead of 5. Besides, there is a punishment for picking them without permission.”

Depressed by this condition, I looked out the window to see when the tunnel would end. But there was no end in sight. The tunnel’s walls had many openings into which passengers were being thrown. Suddenly I caught sight of an opening just opposite me with a gravestone on either side. When I peered out, I made out my name, Said, written in capital letters on the gravestones. I gave a cry of bewilderment and repentance.

Unexpectedly, I heard the voice of the man who had advised me at the inn, asking : “Have you come to your senses?” I replied: “Yes, but I am in despair and there is nothing I can do.” He told me to repent, and trust in God, to which I replied that I would. Then I woke up and I found myself transformed into the New Said; the Old Said had gone away.

I will now interpret some aspects of this dream: The journey is your life, a journey from the incorporeal world of eternity, passing through the stages of mother’s womb, youth, old age, the grave, the intermediate world, Resurrection, and the Bridge. The 60 gold coins are the 60 years of an average lifetime.

I was 45 when I had this dream. Only God knows when I will die. A sincere student of the Qur’an showed me the true path so that I might spend half of the remaining 15 years for the Hereafter. The inn, as I came to understand, was Istanbul. The train represents time, and each railroad car is a year. The tunnel is the worldly life. The thorny flowers and fruits are illicit pleasures and forbidden amusements that make the heart bleed with the idea of separation at the very moment you reach for them. The disappearance of pleasure increases sorrow, and besides, being unlawful, cause one to suffer punishment.

The attendant on the train had said:

“Give me 5 cents, and in return, I will give you as many flowers and fruits as you wish.” This means that the permissible tastes and pleasures, obtained in lawful ways, are enough for ones satisfaction. There is no need to pursue illicit ways.

You can interpret the remaining details for yourself.

Adopted from Bediuzzaman’s Twenty-third Word, Second Chapter

Besides searching for new techniques to substitute man in the fields of labour, modern scientific inquiry is also directed to finding analogues for human mental activities. Since their assumption is that man is merely a physical-material entity (a complex of physical, biological and chemical processes) many scientists are hopeful that they can produce a complete copy of human functions. It is their assertion that since at least nothing in existing physical theories accounts for the existence of non-computable processes in the brain, all of man’s intellectual activities can be computed. However, Roger Penrose, the famous Oxford mathematician, argues against this assertion. He argues from Godel’s theorem which states that for every consistent formal system that has the power to do arithmetic, there will always be a true statement. That is, a formal system is a set of logical or computational rules; termed consistent if it never produces contradictory statements. Yet, as human beings can see that that statement is true, this constitutes a sign that our minds can go beyond the powers of any formal system. However, since Penrose himself (like many others who share his opinions) cannot free himself from the confines of (materialistic) physics and nothing in existing physical theories accounts for non-computable processes, in order to be able to find a physical foundation for his theory, he pins his hopes on future elaborations of the theory of quantum mechanics. In his attempt to explain human consciousness, Penrose notes that the biggest mystery of all is how electrical activity in the brain gives rise to the experience of consciousness. It is hard to understand why an inner life should arise from the mere enactment of a computation, no matter how complex. However, his alternative is not more convincing that what he rejects. He tries to explain human consciousness with quantum processes in microtubules – collapsing quantum wave functions (the mathematical functions describing the position and momentum of a particle) in protein structures found in the skeletons of neurons.

The main problem arises from accepting the physical body as the origin of all activities of mans intellect. The problem is also true for the expectations from Artificial Intelligence. Dr Aksoy has a simple but meaningful objection to the assumptions underlying those expectations: ‘A man-made system can be very smart and artificially very intelligent but no such system so far has been awarded a prize for its innovative abilities. It is the human being who made it who wins the prize. What is prized, what is of higher worth, is not the system but its maker or builder.’ Another more simple objection can be raised here. For example, after doing a spell-check on a word-processor. you may come across many mistakes which the software has not recognized. Any sentence can be written in several ways in which the words are correctly spelt but are not the words you intend to use. For example, if we type the sentence ‘What is prized is not the system but its maker or builder’ as ‘What is priced is not the system but its make or build’, most people who know the language will recognize it immediately and effortlessly as nonsense. But the software’s spell-check and grammar-check will pass the sentence as OK. Such examples can be multiplied for a great variety of tasks requiring experience and understanding which cannot be analogued or translated for Al machines but which humans cope with quite easily.

According to what we are asked to believe, the brain continually self-organizes, learns and adapts throughout our lives. Understanding how millions of neurons self-organize through non-linear feedback interactions requires that we have a full grasp of the mathematics of neural networks and of how this mathematics helps us to understand the link between brain and behaviour point to mention concerning man’s intellectual activities relates to the issue of learning and education.

Materialistic approaches attribute all of man’s intellectual activities to his brain. According to the theory of evolution, if taken literally, more developed animals must also be more developed in using their senses and faculties or their brains. But this is not the case. As Dr Yilmaz points out (‘Perfection and Primitiveness, The Fountain, Vol. 2, No. 19, p. 34), compared with a shark which can smell a drop of blood in the sea from a distance of about 25,000 feet, man is very much less developed. If we judge the degree of development according to the sense of smell, in place of men or monkeys, sharks will be at the top of the chain. Whereas, with respect to the sense of seeing, eagles are much more developed than sharks, as well as more than men and monkeys: an eagle can spot a rabbit on the ground from a height of about 6,000 feet. Would it not be true for a honey-bee to say of us: Those clumsy ones can draw with tools and only after calculations the hexagons that I can make so easily and exactly identical to one another. They cannot make so sweet and healing a substance as honey that 1 produce. Again, according to the literal logic of the theory of evolution, must a more developed animal not inherit the abilities of one less developed than itself? In this case, must man not have the abilities of all animals and must apes not have the abilities of all other animals ‘lower’ on the evolutionary ladder than themselves? Also, if man was evolved from apes, should the first man evolved not have inherited all the abilities and knowledge of all apes? However, we see that while all other animals are born as if educated and instructed already in all the information they will need to survive, man is born knowing next to nothing of what he needs to know to survive. And while all other animals come to the world with the same information or knowledge their predecessors had and there is negligible (if indeed any) difference between the amount of knowledge and abilities that the members of a species have, a man’s knowledge cannot be inherited by his progeny. Consequently, human beings vary hugely in their intellectual and artistic capacities and the amount or level of their knowledge.

Materialistic and evolutionist psychology consider learning either as a matter of behavioural patterning by reinforcement or the storage and use of knowledge. The first view is called behaviourism, while the latter cognitivisim. However, both are agreed that it is the brain or neural systems which learn. That is, the intellectual dimension of man’s being consists in his brain. They confuse how a man learns with what it is that does the learning. What they want us to believe with respect to man’s intellectual faculties is not different from defining how a factory works. According to their logic, it is the factory itself which built itself and works according to the laws pre-determined by either itself or the collective being of factories. Although they use personal pronouns such as ‘I’ or ‘You’ or We’ in referring to those who learn, speak, think, reason, decide and so on, forgetting that the brain does not know itself or what it is doing and also forgetting that it is we – humans – who study, speak about, comment on and even operate on the brain, they regard it as scientific to attribute all man’s intellectual activities and faculties, and therefore his conscious existence, to the brain, If that is so, why do we not concentrate our efforts merely on the brain and adjust it as a way of adjusting or educating individuals rather than go to the trouble and expense we currently go through to educate and bring our fellow members of society? Again, does attributing man’s intellectual activities to the brain mean that whatever man will need in life and also his desires, expectations, feelings, pains of the past and anxieties of the future, etc. were pre-encoded in his brain and that according to the situations or the stimuli coming from the outer world, the brain brings them forth as responses?

According to what we are asked to believe, the brain continually self-organizes, learns and adapts throughout our lives. Understanding how millions of neurons self-organize through non-linear feedback interactions requires that we have a full grasp of the mathematics of neural networks and of how this mathematics helps us to understand the link between brain and behaviour. Is it not compounding our ignorance to attribute to a heap of blind, deaf, ignorant flesh, blood and neurons unconscious of themselves, of their existence and what they are doing or why, all of man’s intellectual faculties and activities with all their complexity, all of our consciousness and culture, religious life? Does this make sense? And does not doing so entail a denial of man’s free will? Although some psychologists such as Tolman and Kohler are of the opinion that at least in some cases learning appears to be purposeful and animals and people have an awareness of what is being acquired and they actively interpret the stimuli they sense from the environment, since they too attribute this to the brain by asserting that there must be more than one system in the brain involved in learning, the point on which all materialistic approaches are agreed (consciously or unconsciously) is that man is an animal whose acts consist in the automatic responses of his brain, an animal that has no free will to direct and control his life.

The activity of learning is remarkably easy as both behaviourists or cognitivists assert. Yet it is nevertheless extremely complex. Besides senses, many human faculties such as imagination, conceptualization, reasoning, comparing, retaining, remembering, confirming and conviction, have a share in it. Each of these faculties give its colour to what is learnt. For example, only imagination gives rise to falsehoods, while conceptualization is ambiguous as to what passes through it. Reasoning does not have an established view of what comes to it, while capable of confirming partiality or prejudices pleasing to the one doing the reasoning. Surely the materialistic approach has no right to that degree of conviction achieved by impartial reasoning and study of real evidence and which is worthy to be called scientific knowledge. Rather, what materialist and evolutionist psychologists suggest may only be the product of imagination or partial (i.e. biased) reasoning.

Bibliography 

• KOHLER, W. (1925) The Mentality of Apes. Translated by E. Winter, New York.
• CRICK, Francis (1994) The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul, Charles Scribners Sons. PENROSE, Roger (1994) Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness, Oxford University Press.
• PENROSE,Roger(1994)Shadows of the Mind:A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness,Oxford University Press.
• AKSOY, M.S. (1993) ‘Artificial Intelligence: A Different Approach, The Fountain, Oct.-Nov, 1993, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp.9-11

Man, with respect to action and bodily endeavors, is no more than a weak animal, a helpless creature. So limited a circle is the realm at his disposal in this respect that his fingers can touch its circumference, and such are the weakness, impotence and indolence of man that even the domestic animals are influenced by them. If, for example, domesticated goats and asses are compared with their wild counterparts, great differences will be observed between them.

But as a passive, recipient being who needs to pray and petition, man is a worthy traveller allowed to stay for some time in the guest-house of this world. He is the guest of a Generous One, Who has put the treasures of His infinite Compassion at his disposal, and subjugated to him His peerless works of creative power which are his servants. Also, He has prepared for the use and pleasure of His guest such a vast area of spectacle that its radius is as far as sight or even imagination can reach.

Now then, if man, by relying on his physical capacity and innate abilities takes the worldly life as his goal and concentrates on the pleasures of this life, he will suffocate within a very narrow circle. Furthermore, the parts of his body and his senses and faculties will bring suit and witness against him in the Hereafter. But if he knows himself to be a guest and spends his life within the limits approved by his generous Host, he will lead a happy and peaceful life and attain to the highest rank among the creation. In the Hereafter, he will be rewarded with an everlasting life of bliss, and the members of his body and all his faculties will bear witness in his favour.

All the wonderful faculties of man have not been given him so that he might use them in this trivial worldly life, but they have been given for an important life of eternity. When compared to animals, man is seen to have many more faculties and senses whereas the pleasure he can take from merely physical life is much less than that of an animal. Every single pleasure of the worldly life bears the traces of thousands of pains, and is spoiled with the sorrows left from the past, the fears of the future, and the disappearance of the pleasure itself. But this is not the case with an animal. Its pleasures are free from pains and its enjoyments are without anxiety. Neither is it affected by the sorrows of the past, nor can anxieties for the future prevent it from the enjoyment of its life. It leads a comfortable life, and praises its Creator.

To conclude, if man, who has been created on the best pattern, concentrates on the worldly life, he is reduced to a rank a hundred times lower than a sparrow, although he has a hundred times as many and developed faculties as an animal. In another treatise, I explained this fact in the form of a parable. I will now repeat it, as it is related to the subject.

A man gives one of his servants ten gold lira and orders him to have a suit made for himself of some particular type of cloth. He gives a thousand gold lira to another servant of his and sends him to the bazaar with a shopping list. The former has an excellent suit made for himself of cloth of finest quality. The latter acts foolishly. He does not notice how much money was given to him, nor reads the shopping list, but thinks he should imitate his friend. Therefore, he goes to a shop, and gives all of the thousand gold lira in exchange for a suit. That unfortunate servant then returns to his lord and recieves a severe punishment and a terrible torment.

Anyone with a bit of intelligence perceives that the thousand gold lira were not given to the servant to buy a suit, but for a very important transaction.

Similarly, the spiritual faculties and the feelings and senses with which man has been endowed, are much more developed than those of animals. For example, his eye can identify all degrees of beauty; his sense of taste, his tongue, can distinguish the various tastes of all kinds of food, his intelligence can penetrate into the many details of visible realities; his heart yearns for all ranks of perfection, and so on. Whereas, the faculties of animals (with the exception of some one particular faculty which greatly develops in each animal according to its particular duty) can realize only a very little development, if any.

The reason why man has so many faculties is that man’s senses and feelings have developed very far owing to his mind and intellect. The large variety of his needs has caused him to evolve different types of feelings, and to become very sensitive to all kinds of things. Also, due to his comprehensive nature he has been given such desires as are turned to several aims and objectives. Because of the diversity of his essential (natural) duties, his senses and faculties have greatly expanded. Furthermore, since he has an inclination and capacity to perform all types of worship, he has the potential to realize all kinds of perfection.

Obviously, this kind of richness in faculties and abundance of potentialities can by no means have been given to him for an insignificant, temporary, worldly life. They exist in man because his essential duty is to perceive his obligations that are directed to endless aims, to affirm his impotence, poverty and insufficiency in the form of worship, to study by his far-reaching sight and penetrating understanding and to bear witness to the glorification of Allah by all creation, to discern and be grateful for the aid of the All-Gracious One sent in the form of bounties, and to gaze and, reflect upon, and draw warning from, the miracles of the Power of the Lord manifested in His works of creation.

O world-worshipping man, who are charmed by the worldly life and ignorant of the meaning of your nature as the best pattern of creation! Once I saw the true nature of this worldly life in an imaginary vision, as follows:

I happened to be on a long journey. My Lord had caused me to set out on this journey, and had assigned to me sixty gold lira, which would be given to me in instalments on different occasions. This went on for some time and after a while I arrived at an inn where an entertainment was going on. I gambled away my last ten gold lira there in one night of entertainment and notoriety. When it was morning, I had no money to buy the provisions that I would need at my destination. All that remained to me of my allowance was pains and sorrows and regrets left by sins and illicit pleasures.

I was in that wretched state, when a man turned up and said to me: ‘You have lost all you had, and hence you have deserved punishment. Moreover, you will go on to your destination with no money. But the door of repentance is not closed, if you use your mind. Save the half of the fifteen gold lira which will be given to you as the rest of your allowance, and buy with that the (necessary) provisions you will need at your destination.’

My selfhood was not content with putting aside half, so the man said, ‘Save a third of it then.’ But with this also my seltbood was not content. The man insisted ‘then a quarter.’ I realized my selfhood would not be able to abandon it addictions, so the man turned away in some indignation and disappeared.

At just this moment, I found myself on a train speeding down a vertical tunnel. I was alarmed, but there was no way to escape. To my curious surprise, I saw that there were very attractive flowers and tasty-looking fruits alongside the track, hanging out from the sides of the tunnel. I foolishly attempted to pick some of them. But all around them were thoms which hurt and cut my hands as I touched them; what I tried to hold slipped from me because of the speed of the train. I could take hold of only a few and not for long. An attendant came beside me and said: ‘Give me five pence, and in return I will give you as many flowers and fruits as you want. Otherwise with your hands all cut up, you will lose a hundred instead of five. Besides, there is a punishment for picking them without permission.’

Depressed by this condition, I looked out from the window to see when the tunnel would end. But there was no end in sight. I observed many openings in the walls of the tunnel into which passengers from the train were being thrown. Suddenly I caught sight of an opening just opposite me with a gravestone on either side. When I peered out I made out my name, SA’ID written in capital letters on the gravestones. I gave a cry of bewilderment and repentance. Unexpectedly, I heard the voice of the man who had given me advice at the door of the inn, saying to me:

– Have you come to your senses?

– Yes, I have. But I am in despair and there is nothing I can do.

– Repent, and trust in Allah.

– I do.

Then I woke up and I found myself transformed into New Sa’id; the Old Sa’id had gone away.

I will now interpret some aspects of this imaginary vision:

The journey is man”s life, which is, in fact a journey from the incorporeal world of eternity, passing through the stages of mother”s womb, youth, old age, the grave, the intermediate world, resurrection and the Bridge. The sixty golden lira are the sixty years of an average lifetime. I was forty-five years old when I saw that imaginary vision. Only Allah knows when I will die. A sincere student of the Holy Qur’an showed me the true path so that I might spend half of the remaining fifteen years for the Hereafter. The inn, as I came to understand, was Istanbul for me. The train represents time, and each wagon, a year. The tunnel is the worldly life; the thorny flowers and fruits stand for illicit pleasures and forbidden amusements that make the heart bleed with the idea of seperation at the very moment you reach out for them. Disappearance of pleasures increases sorrow, and besides, being unlawful, they cause one to suffer punishment. The attendant on the train had said: “Give me five pence, and in return, I will give you as many flowers and fruits as you wish.” This means that the permissible tastes and pleasures, obtained in lawful ways, are enough for one”s satisfaction; they leave no need to have recourse to unlawful ways. You can interpret for yourself the remaining details of the vision.

Fourth remark

Man, among the creatures, is much like a tender child. His strength originates in his weakness and his power in his impotence. It is on account of this want of strength and power that the whole of creation has been subjugated to him. If, therefore, man perceives his weakness and becomes a humble servant to Allah through his prayer, his words and actions, if he recognizes his impotence and seeks Allah”s help, he will then have fulfilled the obligation of gratitude for the subjugation of nature to him. Besides, Allah will enable him to reach his goal and realize his aims in such a way that if it were left to his own powers he could not succeed in one hundredth of it. Sometimes, he mistakenly attributes to his own achievement what he gets through his active prayer, that is, through acting in accordance with the Divine laws of life and nature. Consider how great a source of power is the weakness of a chick, on account of which the mother hen will attack even a lion. Or how the weakness of a lion cub subjugates to itself so great a beast as the lioness which itself suffers hunger to feed its baby. How remarkable is the powerful appeal inherent in weakness, and what a spectacular manifestation of Compassion for importunate beings! In the same way, a loved child obtains his goal through weeping, or simply wishing, or making a sad face, and can cause mighty person to serve him. If, otherwise he relies upon his own strength, he could never realize even one thousandth of this. On account of his weakness and powerlessness, in fact, feelings of affection and protection are so motivated in his favour that a single gesture of his hand may suffice for him to subjugate powerful persons to himself. If a child like this becomes so arrogant as to deny the care and affection that is being shown to him and says, in accusation of the protection over him, “I do all this with my own power”, he will certainly deserve a slap. Similarly, man will also, deservedly, receive a punishment if he denies the mercy of His Creator towards him and accusing Allah”s wisdom in ingratitude for what Divine Mercy has bestowed upon him, attributes all of his achievements to his own power and knowledge like Korah who said: “I have been given it (that is, my wealth) on account of knowledge I have” (Qur’an, 28.78). This shows that man”s observed dominion in nature, his advancement and progress in civilization and technology have not been realized solely through his own power, effort, and success. He largely owes them to his essential weakness and helplessness which attract Divine aid; his poverty is the source of Divine provision, his ignorance is made up for by Divine inspiration; his need draws Divine favours. Also, it is Divine mercy and affection, and Divine wisdom, but not his own power and knowledge, which has empowered him with dominion over the rest of the creation, and has put things at his disposal. It is again the Divine authority and compassion which, alone, enable man, so weak as to be defeated by a blind scorpion and a footless snake, to dress in silk through a worm and to eat the honey of a poisonous insect. Since this is the truth, o man, renounce arrogance and do not put your trust in your self! Rather, affirm your impotence and weakness in the high presence of Allah by asking for His help, and by praying and entreating Him. Declare your poverty and insufficiency, and show that you are His true servant. Then say, “Allah is sufficient for us. Most sublime is He in whom we trust” (Qur’an 3:173) and, in saying so, ascend to the higher ranks. Don not say, “I am nothing; what significance do I have that the All-Wise Creator should intertionally put the whole of the creation at my disposal and demand from me universal gratitude?” You are indeed almost nothing with respect to your physical being, but concerning your duty or rank, you are an attentive observer of this magnificent universe, an eloquent tongue of beings declaring the Divine wisdom, a perceptive student of this book of creation, an admiring overseer of the creatures that glorify Allah”s praise, and a respected master of worshipping beings. You are, o man, indeed an insignificant particle; a poor creature and a weak animal as far as your physical being and incarnate soul are counted and, therefore, you are being carried away by the huge waves of all creation. But if you are trained by Islam toward human perfection, that is, being a slave to Allah alone, you will find a kingliness in your being a slave, a comprehensivness in your particularity, a world in your small entity, and a very high rank in your insignificance. Also, the realm of your supervision of the rest of the creation will be so broad that you can say, “My Compassionate Lord has made the world a home for me. He has given me the sun and the moon as lamps, spring as a bunch of roses, summer as a banquet of favours, and the animals as obedient servants. He has put the plants and vegetation at my disposal also, as ornaments and provisions to my home.” In conclusion, if you obey your evil-commanding selfhood and Satan, you will fall to the lowest of the low. If you follow the truth and the Qur’an, you will ascend to the highest of the high and become a perfect pattern of creation.

R. Nur Collection (23rd Word)

First comment

Man has some relationship with, and stands in some need of, most of the species of creation. His needs spread throughout all parts of the cosmos, and his desires extend to eternity. As he desires a flower, so he desires a whole spring. As he wishes for a garden, so he wishes for eternal Paradise. As he longs to see a friend of his, so he longs to see the Graceful One of Glory. As he needs to knock at the door of his beloved friend in order to visit him, so he needs to take refuge in the court of an Omnipotent One Who will close the door of his world and will open that of the hereafter, Who will remove the world and establish in its place the world – to – come, in order that he should be delivered from unending separation from the ninety-nine per cent of his friends who have departed for the intermediate world.

The true object of worship of a being in this position can only be an Omnipotent One of Glory, a Compassionate One of Perfection, in Whose Hand are the reins of all things, in Whose possession is the provision for all things, in Whose sight everything, and in Whose presence everywhere, is, unbounded by space or time, free of all weakness or deficiency. For the one to meet the limitless needs of man can only be One with infinite power and all-embracing knowledge. Thus, He is the sole One worthy of worship.

Now, o man, if you see yourself as a servant of His, and of none else, you will acquire a rank above all creation. If you refuse to be such, you will become a mean slave to powerless creation. Or, if you rely on your selfhood and strength abandon prayer and trust in God, and arrogantly claim to have power, then you will fall lower than a bee or an ant, and become weaker than a spider or a fly, with respect to positive acts and constructiveness. In negative acts and destructiveness, however, you will weigh heavier than a mountain and be more harmful than an epidemic disease. This is your being; it has two aspects: one of them is positive and active and has to do with constructiveness, invention, existence and goodness; the other is negative and passive and has to do with destructiveness, non-existence and evil.

Regarding the first aspect of your being, you cannot in yourself match a bee or a sparrow, nor have the strength of a fly or a spider. Regarding the second aspect, you surpass mountains, even earth and the heavens, for you bear a burden from which they hold back because of lack of strength; and your acts therefore show their effect in a wider realm than theirs.1 When you do an act of goodness, or construct something, this does not go beyond the reach of your hand and your strength. Your evil and destructive acts, by contrast, are aggressive and expandable. For example, unbelief is an evil, a nonexistence of affirmation, and is destructive. Though it seems a simple, single sin, it implies an insult to all creation, an aggression against all the Divine Names and an affront to all mankind. For all beings in creation have lofty ranks and important tasks in virtue of their nature as letters of the Lord, mirrors of His orders. Unbelief denies them the rank bestowed by these functions, reduces them to the state of instruments of coincidence, to the degree of insignificance, valuelessness and nothingness, and makes them perishable objects doomed to decay and separation. An unbeliever denies and thus offends the Divine Names, Whose beauties, impressions and manifestations are observed on the mirrors of beings throughout the cosmos.

Man is a work of poetry, praising God’s wisdom and beautifully displaying the manifestations of all the Divine Names, a manifest miracle of Power like a seed that contains the members of an eternal tree, holding the rank of the Divine vicegerent on earth, superior to angels and in ascendancy over mountains, over the earth and the heavens by virtue of the trust he holds. Unbelief throws him into a degree that is lower than that of the lowest animal, more helpless, and impotent, and more wretched, and degrades him to the state of a speedily perishable tablet on which are scribbled meaningless, confused things.

To conclude: the concupiscent soul can commit numerous crimes in wrongdoing and destructiveness; but it has little power in goodness and constructiveness. It can destroy a city in a single day, but cannot build one in a hundred. However, if it abandons selfhood and requests from God goodness and fertility, if it turns from arrogance, wrongdoing and destructiveness, and accepts the form of a perfect slave of God, it then becomes the referent of the Qur’anic verse: ‘God will change their evil into good’ (25.70).

The infinite capability for wrongdoing inherent in man then changes into an infinite disposition to goodness, and he thus ascends to the highest of the high, and gains the value of the best pattern of creation.

Now, o heedless man! Behold the grace and munificence of God Almighty: while it would be perfect justice on His part to do the reverse, He records a single sin only once, and records a single act of goodness as ten, or seventy, or seven hundred, or seven thousand. Also draw from this comment, some understanding that to enter Hell is the punishment of crime and mere justice, but to enter Paradise is the result of His perfect grace.

Second comment

Again, man has two faces: one is related to his selfhood and turned to the worldly life; the other concerns his nature as a slave of God and gazes upon the eternal life. With respect to the former, he is so wretched a creature that he has nothing of free will beyond a brief and fast-ending period, and nothing of existence beyond a small, decaying body. In this state, he appears as no more than one of many feeble members of just one of the innumerable species that are spread over all levels of the whole of creation. With respect to his other, better nature, however, and by virtue of the impotence and poverty that lead him to worship, man has a comprehensiveness and a great importance. Indeed, the Wise Creator has purposefully included in him infinite impotence and poverty so that he should be a large and comprehensive mirror for the endless manifestations of the infinite power of the Compassionate One and the infinite richness of the Munificent One. In other words, man resembles a seed that is given ideal and important faculties by Power, and a delicate, precious programme by Destiny, in order that it will work under the ground to leave that narrow world of soil and enter the wide world of the air, request from its Creator through the tongue of its disposition to become a tree and to reach the perfect state that will befit it. If that seed, because of its bad temperament, employs the faculties that are given to it in attracting some harmful substance contained in soil, it will soon decay in that narrow place and become nothing. If, in compliance with the cosmic decree expounded in the verse- “It is God Who causes the seed-grain and the date-stone to split and sprout” (6.95), it uses its ideal faculties in their proper places, it will then emerge from that narrow world, become a big, fertile tree, and thus its small, particular nature will take the form of a great, comprehensive truth. The nature of man is likewise equipped with important faculties by Power and with precious programmes by Destiny.

If he wastes his spiritual means on this narrow world, under the ground of the worldly life and for the sake of his desires, he will leave from this world with a burden on his unfortunate soul that will be his responsibility before God. If, on the other hand, man waters the seed of his disposition with Islam, feeds it in the soil of worship, exposes it to the Qur’anic decrees, directs his spiritual means to their true purposes, he will of a certainty become a seed containing the essentials of a permanent truth and of an everlasting tree that extends its branches in the physical and intermediate worlds and yields endless blessings in the hereafter and in Paradise. He will, in fact, become a blessed, luminous fruit of the tree of creation. The actual progress of man is possible only by turning his heart, spirit, intelligence, imagination and other inner faculties to the eternal life, so that each of them will be occupied by its own kind of worship. For what the misguided imagine to be progress, which is to put one”s faculties at the disposal of the concupiscent soul in order to penetrate into all the details of the worldly life and to taste all its lowly pleasures, is not progress, but decline. I once observed this truth in a vision that was as follows: I was in a large city full of big palaces. Outside some of the palaces were spectacles to attract and entertain everyone.

As I came close to one of them, I saw that the master of the palace was at the door, playing with the dog. Women were absorbed in sweet conversation with young strangers, and grown-up girls were supervising children”s play. It was when I was the doorkeeper acting as the head of all the other people that I realized the inside of the palace was empty, and the important posts in the palace, obviously, had become so corrupted that their officials had left their duties and appeared in such a state outside the palace. I then came across another large palace. This time, a faithful dog was lying at the door, and beside it was standing a doorkeeper with a serious, stern and calm appearance. The palace seemed so quiet that I wondered why it was so, while the other palace was not. I entered the palace, and saw that the inside was, contrary to the outside, a scene of activity: one floor on another, different people with different, intricate tasks on each floor. Those on the first floor were conducting the management of the palace. On the second floor, girls and small children were studying; on the third were ladies occupied with fine arts and beautiful embroidery. On the top floor, the master of the palace was corresponding with the king in order to maintain the well-being of his people, and was also performing his own noble duties for his advancement and progress. As they did not see me, no one stopped me, so I was able to walk about. After I had left the palace, I realized that everywhere in the city there were palaces of these two kinds. I asked about this, and I was told that those palaces with empty insides and crowded outsides belonged to the notorious ones among the unbelievers and the people of misguidance, and the others to upright, eminent Muslims. Afterwards, I encountered another palace that attracted my attention, as my name Said was written on it. When I looked at it closely, I felt as if I were seeing my own shape on it. I was so bewildered that I began to cry, and at this point I woke up. I will now interpret this vision, may God make its outcome fortunate! That city is the social life of humanity and the terrain of human civilization. Each palace is the faculties and organs, such as eyes, ears, heart, spirit and intelligence, the self, desires, the sense of anger and carnal appetites. Each faculty of man has a different task in worship; it has also different pleasures and different sorrows. From among them, the soul and desires, the sense of anger and carnal appetites are like doorkeepers and dogs in the palace of the being of man. Thus, to put the other lofty senses at the disposal of the self and desires, and to cause them to forget their innate duties, is by all means a decline, not progress. You may now interpret for yourself the other details of the vision. R. Nur Collection (23rd Word)

References

1) The burden is described as the trust in the following verse: —Verily We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof. But man undertook it; he was indeed unjust and foolish— (Qur’an, 33:72), and one of its aspects concerns self as explained in detail in the Thirtieth Word. [Tr.]