Though we cannot see humor, like faith, we perceive it all around us.

Once upon a time there was a planet in an unknown corner of the vast universe. For a long time, this planet was distinguished by having inhabitants with no sense of humor at all! This sounds like a joke, doesn’t it? But I am here to tell history, not jokes. This planet’s history was studied in three eras, each having a different state of humor: the Ancient Period, the Middle Period, and the Modern Period.

I. Modern period

The inhabitants of this planet were extremely serious, conscientious, sincere, hard-working, and moral. Besides all these good qualities, they considered humor as a pathological phenomenon. They never laughed or jested, kidded or joked. There was no room for any kind of humor.

A small minority, who had some feeling for humor, occasionally laughed and joked. However, their behavior was extremely alarming to everyone else. These few people were called “laughers,” and they were promptly hospitalized. What was so obnoxious about their behavior, aside from the strange noises they made and the peculiar facial expressions they bore while “laughing,” were the utterly pathological things they said! They seemed to lose all sense of reality. They said things which were totally irrational, indeed sometimes logically self-contradictory. In short, they behaved exactly like anyone else who was deluded or hallucinating, hence why they were put into hospitals.

More importantly, it was definitely verified that this “laughter” was somewhat contagious and that certain individuals became laughers for the first time in their life only after repeated contact with other laughers. Indeed, this was another thing which made the laughers so dangerous. They were not only hallucinating themselves, but tended to pass these hallucinations to others! Hence they had to be hospitalized, not only for their own sakes, but also for the sake of the society.

In the hospitals, doctors tried quite a number of different treatment regimens to cure their pathologic behavior. Besides many unsuccessful treatment attempts, one drug, called “laughazone,” was finally found to kill the symptoms of humor. Almost immediately upon administration, the patient would stop laughing as well as quit the verbal activity called “joking,” and would instead start screaming. The patient would just lie there screaming, hour after hour, day after day, week after week, and month after month. And the most amazing thing of all is that not once during this screaming period did the patient ever laugh or make a joke or even smile. They thought this drug was really phenomenal!

The problem with “laughazone,” though, was that its effects were temporary. After the months long treatment, the patient would, for some unknown reason, fall into a deep state of depression for several weeks, and sometimes longer. After this, he would gradually convalesce, and his original symptoms of laughing and joking would return. So, the doctors had to put the patient through the treatment again and again.

II. Ancient and middle period

The Modern Period contained no literature at all on laughter, except in textbooks and periodicals on abnormal psychology. The Middle Period, on the contrary, was chock-full of laugh-literature. This literature contained absolutely no material which contemporary laughers called “funny.” Indeed the writings were written in a wholly sane, serious, scholarly, and philosophic mood. The writings consisted mainly of analysis and commentary on the ancient texts. The ancient writings, unlike those of the middle period, were totally non-philosophical. They never spoke about laughter or anything like that. They were simply what the Middle Period called “funny.” These archaic manuscripts contained all sorts of incomprehensible and contradictory material called “jokes” or “funny stories.” Therefore, philosophers of the Middle Period extolled the Ancient Period, and referred to it as “the golden age of humor, when men could freely laugh and joke and really enjoy life.” Appreciating the ancient writings required a certain, almost mystical, faculty called “humor.” What was so puzzling was that humor could not flourish in the wholly serious and rational atmosphere of the Middle Period.

So, the Middle period witnessed many discussions on humor. One such discussion which had taken place between the mystic-humorists and the skeptical anti-humorists went as follows:

The Mystic-Humorists claimed that the only reliable way humor could be known was by direct perception: “We can see humor in many situations. Life is permeated with humor, if you can only see it.”

The skeptical Anti-Humorists said, “So, you claim you can see humor! Tell me, what color is it?”

The Mystic-Humorists laughed and said, “Humor doesn’t have any color!”

The skeptics continued: “Oh, so you can see it only in black and white! Well, then, what shape is it?”

“It doesn’t have any form or shape.”

“Then I am confused! Is humor visible or invisible?”

“Of course it is invisible!”

“But I thought you just said that you can see it. Didn’t you say that you could see the humor of certain situations?”

“Well, yes, I said that, but I didn’t mean ‘see’ in the literal sense of ‘see with your eyes.’ Ocular vision really has nothing to do with it. I used ‘see’ in the sense of directly perceive, not see with the eyes. Perception, although as direct as vision, is really through a different sense altogether.”

“A different sense? Which sense is it – hearing? If so, what does humor sound like? Or is it smell or taste or touch or what? With which of the five senses do you perceive humor, or is it a combination of more than one of them?”

“No, it is not any one of these five senses, nor is it a combination of them. It is a totally different sense. In a way, it is a nonphysical sense. We call this sense the ‘sense of humor.'”

“Good God, you literally mean a nonphysical sense? In other words, you mean it is something occult, like telepathy or clairvoyance? But scientific integrity requires us not to believe in anything occult; hence we cannot but believe that this humor is something totally unreal, a mere figment of the imagination.”

In vain the Humor-Mystics protested that there was nothing the least bit occult about humor and said: “If only once you could see what humor was, you would realize that it is the most natural thing in the world, and also that it is delightfully pleasant.”

Another thing, the “Mystic-Humorists” claimed was that the label “Mystic-Humorist” was most misleading. They claimed that there was nothing at all mystical about humor, even though it might seem mystical to those who lacked the immediate sense of humor. They said, “Why not rather call us laughers, which is, in fact, what we are.” And so, the term “Mystic-Humorist” was gradually replaced by “laugher.” Later, this term would be used in the Modern Period as explained above.

Another discussion during the Middle Period was between the “laughers” and the Faith-Humorists, who believed that reason could be somewhat helpful in understanding humor but that an act of faith was crucial. Essentially, Faith-Humorists did not take a hostile, skeptical attitude toward the laughers, but instead believed in them wholeheartedly. They knew that the laughers were in direct contact with that which the Faith-Humorists could only reason about and accept on faith. However, they were heavily criticized by the “laughers” because of their approach to the issue:

You seem to think that knowledge about laughter is somehow more important than the ability to laugh.

You take an approach which is far too objective and scientific. You read all the literature you can find on the philosophy of humor. You perform elaborate linguistic analyses of what the word “humor” could possibly mean. The only way you will ever find out what it really means is by acquiring a sense of humor.

The most insidious error of all is to try to learn humor by merely imitating the outward forms of the laughers. You must remember that the activity of laughter is only a manifestation of humor. Humor itself is something entirely within the spirit.

Another thing that you do out of mere imitation is this ridiculous practice of memorizing jokes. You commit thousands upon thousands of jokes to memory and you think you are thereby acquiring a sense of humor! But memorizing these jokes is absolutely pointless for you until, and unless, you have acquired a sense of humor.

You combine the two techniques of joke memorization and forced laughter, and then you are sure you have matured. But God Almighty, how wrong you are! You go forth into the world claiming yourselves to be authentic laughers. Nothing sabotages our cause more than this! The skeptics who meet you are almost rightfully reinforced in their belief that humor is something which is a mere sham and delusion. Yes, the pseudo-laughers like you are the major cause of the disappearance of humor from this planet.

As laughter disappeared more and more from this planet, the people of the Middle Period realized that this was a tragic loss rather than a gain, and they did everything possible to stem the tide. Only at the very end of the Middle Period did it first occur to mankind that laughter, far from being something good, could actually be something totally undesirable. People started saying: “Maybe we should stop trying to stem the tide. Maybe the tide is our greatest blessing, although we don’t know it. Maybe it is high time that this silly archaic thing called ‘humor’ should disappear. Maybe laughter was all right for savages, and we are now becoming civilized!” Then the idea fully occurred to mankind that humor was but another form of psychosis; laughter was a type of psychopathology. Thus was ushered the Modern Period.

III. Back to the modern period

As we discussed earlier, people of the Modern Period had to accept the painful fact that the laughers were not permanently curable, at least for the foreseeable future. This fact split the medical opinion into two divergent camps; hospitals, similarly, split into two widely divergent types. Hospitals of Type I were called “laugh-scream hospitals”; those of Type II were “pure-laugh hospitals.” In the laugh-scream hospitals, the doctors realized that no patient was permanently curable. Hence, once a patient was admitted, they were admitted for life. All that could be done was to administer the laughazone treatment over and over for the rest of the patient’s life. The discipline at these hospitals was ironclad: no patient was ever released, and there was to be no letup in treatment. It was better for the patient to face reality and scream than to withdraw into his fantasy world of humor and laugh.

The philosophy of the pure-laugh hospitals was, however, entirely different. They agreed with the laugh-scream hospitals that no laugher was permanently curable. But they thought: so why not let the patient enjoy his life? Was it really all that bad that he had these fantasies? Similar to the laugh-scream hospitals, patients were incarcerated for life. But they were given no treatments whatsoever! The patients in the pure-laugh hospitals were very happy. Everything possible was done for them to ensure their happiness. The pure-laugh hospitals, in the true sense of the word, were merely isolation centers. Their only function was to prevent the inmates from infecting the outside world with their laughter-psychosis.

Thus the conditions inside the pure-laugh hospitals were close to idyllic, except for one thing! Good God, the patients cried “How unfair that our brothers are screaming themselves to death in the laugh-scream hospitals while we are free to enjoy our laughter. Those doctors at the laugh-scream hospitals! They believe that they are helping their patients! They are the maddest of all! We must find a way to free our brothers so that they can enjoy laughter as we do.”

Occasionally, patients would escape from the laugh-scream hospitals, and they would immediately rush to the pure-laugh hospitals, where they were cheerfully admitted. As the patients in the pure-laugh hospitals increased in number day by day, at last, they managed to find the loopholes in the system. It didn’t take them long to organize raids on the laugh-scream hospitals, through which they freed all the laugh-wards, and brought all the patients back to the pure-laugh hospitals. The laugh-scream hospitals eventually went out of existence.

However, laughers were not satisfied with this success. They were bothered by the thought of those outside the laugh-communities who never knew the joy of laughter. What could be done for them? Just about nothing, they decided, since the old loopholes they had used to escape were taken care of. But here, providence intervened in a very remarkable way. What happened was this:

The standard of living inside the laugh-hospital communities was far higher than outside. One by one the outsiders pretended to be laughers in order that they might be incarcerated in the laugh-communities. The pretended-laughers knew perfectly that they had no sense of humor, and they couldn’t have cared less; they deliberately lied just for the purpose of joining the laugh-communities with their high standards of living. What happened was that the lying-laughers, being surrounded by an enormous majority of genuine laughers, very soon caught the laughing sickness themselves, and in but a few weeks turned completely into genuine laughers. And so one non-laugher after another lied his way into the laugh-communities, and shortly, became a genuine laugher. Then finally, even the psychiatrists succumbed, and no non-laughers were left behind. The entire planet was now one huge laugh-hospital, and the Modern Period that was devoid of humor became the funniest era ever.

This story was adapted from Richard Smullyan’s This Book Needs No Title: A Budget of Living Paradoxes by (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1980). Copyright (c) 1980 by Raymond M. Smullyan (Acquired necessary permissions from the author).

Nural is a graduate research assistant in computer science at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.

Futuwwa, defined as youth and chivalry, is really a composite of such virtues as generosity, munificence, modesty, chastity, trustworthiness, loyalty, mercifulness, knowledge, humility, and piety. It is a station on the path to God as well as a dimension of sainthood, and also signifies that altruism and helping others have become one’s second nature. It is an important, indispensable dimension of good conduct and a significant aspect of humanity.

Derived from fata’ (young man), futuwwa has become a symbol of rebellion against all evil and the endeavor for sincere servanthood to God; the following verse expresses this eloquently:

They were young men who had believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance. And We strengthened their hearts, when they rose up and declared: Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and Earth; we will not call upon any god beside Him, or then we had spoken an outrage. (18:14)

The verse We have heard a youth talk of them (the idols); he is called Abraham (21:60) expresses the position and influence of one who has achieved perfect futuwwa in his or her community, one who has sought to guide humanity to truth. By contrast, the young men mentioned in the verses: With him there came into the prison two young men (12:36) and: (Joseph) told his young (servants) to put their merchandise (with which they had bartered) into their saddle-bags (12:62) were ordinary young men without chivalry.

As many people have written on or talked about futuwwa since the Age of Happiness, the concept has been defined in many ways: not despising the poor or being deceived by the rich and riches; being fair to everybody without expecting fairness in return; living one’s life as a pitiless enemy of one’s carnal self; being ever-considerate of others and living for them; smashing all idols or all that is idolized, and rebelling against falsehood so as to be wholly devoted to God Almighty; bearing whatever evil is done to oneself, but roaring when the rights of God are violated; feeling remorse for the rest of one’s life for committing the smallest of sins, but overlooking others’ sins, regardless of how large they are; seeing oneself as a poor, lowly servant while considering others as saintly; not resenting others while maintaining relations with those who resent you; being kind to those who hurt you; serving God and the people before everyone else, but putting others first when it is time to receive one’s rewards.

Some have summed up futuwwa in the four virtues mentioned by Haydar Karrar Ali, the fourth Caliph and cousin of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings. They are: forgiving when one is able to punish, preserving mildness and acting mildly and gently when one is angry, wishing one’s enemies well and doing good to them, and being considerate of others’ well-being and happiness first, even when one is needy.

Ali was one of the greatest representatives of futuwwa. When he was stabbed by Ibn Muljam while leading the morning prayer in the mosque, his children, who saw that their father was going to die, asked him what he wanted them to do to Ibn Muljam. He did not order his execution in retaliation. During a battle, Ali threw his enemy to the ground and then released him. When ‘Ali was about to kill this man, the latter spat in Ali’s face, which angered him. Fearing that his motive for killing the man was now confused and sullied, ‘Ali released him. He felt sincere grief when Zubayr ibn Awwam, a leading Companion and his enemy in the Battle of the Camel, was killed. Since he always considered others first, even when he was in need, he usually wore summer clothes in winter and trembled with cold (because he would give away his winter clothes). It was said about him that there could be no young, chivalrous man like Ali, and there could be no sword like Dhu al-Fiqar (Ali’s sword). Ali lived with the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, and was raised by him. He lived a perfectly honest, pure life without any stain, and embodied God’s answer to Prophet Moses, upon him be peace, about futuwwa: It means that you are able to return your self to Me as pure or untainted as you received it from Me.

The signs of a fata’ (young, chivalrous one) are that the individual, created with the potential to accept Divine Unity and Islam, is totally convinced of the Divine Unity; this urges him or her to live according to the requirements of this conviction; that, without being captivated by carnal or bodily desires, he or she lives a pure, spiritual life; and that he or she always seeks to please God in his or her deeds, thoughts, and feelings. One who cannot be saved from the temptations of the carnal self, Satan, appetites, love of the world, or attachment to the worldly life cannot climb upward to the peak of futuwwa.

Futuwwa is a treasure obtainable by climbing high beyond
All the “highest mountains of the world”;
What business have those who fall tired
Even on a smooth road with such a treasure?

Notes

1. Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-Ghaba, 4:118.
2. Shamsaddin Sivasi, Manaqib Jiharyar Guzin, 258.
3. Al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, 9:150.
4. Ibid., 9:122.
5. ‘Ali al-Qari, Al-Asrar al-Marfu’a fi akhbar al-Mawdu’a (Beirut, 1986), 367.

Consider how great a source of power is a chick’s weakness, on account of which a mother hen will attack even a lion. Or how the weakness of a lion cub subjugates to itself so great a beast as a lioness, which suffers hunger to feed her baby. How remarkable is the powerful appeal inherent in weakness, and what a spectacular manifestation of Compassion for importunate beings.

In the same way, loved children obtain their goals through weeping, wishing, or making a sad face, all of which can cause mighty people to serve them. If they relied on their own strength, they would never realize any of this. On account of their weakness and powerlessness, in fact, feelings of affection and protection are so motivated in their favor that a single gesture may allow them to subjugate powerful people.

If such children become so arrogant as to deny the care and affection shown to them and say, in accusation of the protection over him: ‘I do all this with my own power, they deserve to be punished. We also will deserve to be punished if we deny our Creator’s mercy to us by attributing all that we achieve to our own power and knowledge, thereby accusing God’s wisdom in ingratitude for what Divine Mercy has bestowed upon us. We will be like Korah, who said: I have been given it [my possessions] on account of my knowledge (28:78).

This shows that our observed dominion in nature, as well as our advancement and progress in civilization and technology, have not been realized solely through our own power, effort, and success. Rather, we largely owe them to our essential weakness and helplessness, which attract Divine aid. Our poverty is the source of Divine provision, our ignorance is made up for by Divine inspiration, and our need draws Divine favors. Also, it is Divine Mercy and Affection, and Divine Wisdom, not our own power and knowledge, that have empowered us with dominion over creation and have put things at our disposal. Only Divine Authority and Compassion enable us, who are so weak that we can be defeated by a blind scorpion and a footless snake, to dress in silk made by a silkworm and to eat the honey produced by a bee.

Since this is the truth, renounce your arrogance and do not put your trust in yourself. Rather, affirm your impotence and weakness in the high presence of God 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: God is sufficient for us. Most sublime is He in Whom we trust (3:173), and ascend to the higher ranks.

Do not say: ‘I am nothing. What significance do I have that the All-Wise Creator should intentionally put creation at my disposal and demand from me universal gratitude? You are almost nothing with respect to your physical being, but your duty or rank makes 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 God’s praise, and a respected master of worshipping beings.

You are an insignificant particle, a poor creature and a weak animal as far as your physical being and soul are counted, and so are carried away by the huge waves of creation. But if you are perfected through the light of belief, which comprises the radiance of Divine love, and through the training of Islam, you will find a kingliness in your being a slave, a comprehensiveness in your particularity, a world in your small entity, and a very high rank in your insignificance. The realm of your supervision of 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 favors, and the animals as obedient servants. He has put the plants and vegetation at my disposal also, as ornaments and provisions for my home.

In conclusion, if you obey your evil-commanding selfhood and Satan, you will fall to the lowest level. But if you follow the truth and the Qur’an, you will ascend to the highest level and become the most excellent pattern of creation.

Fifth remark

We have been sent to this world as guests with a special responsibility and endowed with important potentials. We have been assigned important duties in accordance with these potentials, strongly urged to carry out those duties, and are gravely threatened if we do not. To make the mystery of ‘being the best pattern of creation more comprehensible, we summarize the essentials of the worship and duties required of us.

Our worship consists of two aspects. One is implicit and concerns reflection and consciousness. The other is visible prayer, done in direct supplication in God’s presence.

The first aspect is that we submissively confirms the Sovereignty of His Lordship over creation, and observe in amazement the works of His Beauty and Perfection. We then draw the attention of our fellow beings to the intricate, ornamented works of art that are manifestations of the sacred Divine Names. We also measure in ‘units of due perception and discernment the gems of the Lord’s Names, each of which is a hidden spiritual treasure, and evaluate them with grateful hearts.

After this, we make a close study of the pages of creation, the sheets of the Heavens and the Earth, each of which is a missive of Divine Power, and contemplate them in great admiration. As we gaze in amazement and admiration at the subtle ornamentation and refined skills in creation, we ardently desire to know their Beautiful Creator and yearn to enter His Presence, where we hopes to be received into His favor.

The second aspect is that we turn toward our Majestic Creator, Who wants Himself to be known through the miracles of His artistry. We unburden ourselves to Him in sincere belief and try to acquire knowledge of Him. By doing so, we discern that a Compassionate Lord wants Himself to be loved through the beautiful fruits of His Compassion. In response, we makes ourselves loved by Him by devoting our love and adoration to Him.

Seeing that a Generous Provider nourishes us with the best and dearest of His material and spiritual favors, we respond to Him with gratitude and praise, expressed through our works, deeds, lifestyle and, if possible, all our senses and faculties. We then observe that a Lord of Beauty and Majesty manifests Himself in the mirror of beings, and draws attention to His Glory and Perfection, and His Majesty and Beauty. In response, we proclaim: ‘God is the Greatest! Glory be to God! and prostrates before Him in wonder and adoration.

He also notices that One of Absolute Riches displays His limitless wealth and treasuries in an infinitely generous fashion. In response, we glorify and praise Him and, displaying our need, ask Him for His favors. Then, observing that the Majestic Creator has arranged the Earth like an exhibition that displays His matchless works, we appreciates them and say: ‘What wonders God has willed and created! Confirming their beauty, we say: ‘God bless them! Showing our wonder, we say: ‘Glory be to God! Expressing our admiration, we say: ‘God is the Greatest!

Also, we see that the Unique One demonstrates His Oneness in creation through His particular signs and His unique decrees, and through His inimitable stamps and seals, which He has places on each creature. He inscribes the signs of His Oneness on everything, and raises the flag of His Unity throughout the world, thus proclaiming His Lordship. We respond to this with belief and affirmation, admission of and testimony to His Unity, and with devotion and sincere worship.

We may attain true humanity by all such types of worship and reflection. We may demonstrate that we are the best pattern of creation and, through the grace of faith, become a trustworthy vicegerent of God on this Earth.

Now, those of you who heedlessly go toward the lowest level by misusing your will although you were created as the best pattern of creation, listen to me! To see how ugly is the face of the world that turns toward passions and desires, and, by contrast, how extraordinarily beautiful is its other face that turns toward the Hereafter, look at the ‘tables given below.

The First Table

(This table depicts the true spirit of the world of the heedless.)

Do not invite me to the world; I came and found it evil and mortal. Heedlessness was a veil; I saw the light of Truth concealed. All things, the whole of creation, I saw were mortal and full of harm. Existence, indeed I put it on. Alas! It was non-existence and I suffered much. As to life, I experienced it; I saw it was torment within torment. Intellect became pure retribution; I saw permanence to be tribulation. Life was like a wind that passed in whims; I saw perfection to be pure loss. Deeds were only for show; I saw ambitions to be pure pain. Union was in fact separation; I saw the cure to be the ailment. These lights became darkness; I saw these friends to be orphans. These voices were announcements of death; I saw the living to be dead. Knowledge changed into whims; I saw in science thousands of ailments. Pleasures became unmixed pain; I saw existence to be compounded non-existence. I have found the True Beloved; Ah! I suffered much pain because of separation.

The Second Table

(This table describes the true spirit of the world of the people of guidance and peace.)

Heedlessness has disappeared; I have seen the light of Truth to be manifest. Existence is a proof of Divine Being. Life is the mirror reflecting Truth. Intellect has become the key to treasuries. Mortality is the door to eternity. The spark of self-attainment has died. There is the Sun of Grace and Beauty. Life has become pure action. Eternity is pure life. Darkness is a thin membrane enclosing light. There is true life in death. All things have become familiar. All sounds are the recitation of Divine Names. All the particles in creation: Each recites God’s Names and glorifies Him. I have found poverty to be a treasury of wealth. In impotence lies perfect power. If you have found God,all things are yours. If you are a slave of the Owner of All Things,His property is yours. If you are egotist and claim self-ownership,it is endless trial and tribulation. It is infinite torment you are to experience,it is an unbearable calamity. If you are truly a slave of God,devoted to Him,it is an infinite delight. Taste its uncountable rewards,experience its boundless bliss… Glory be to You! We know nothing but what you teach us. You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. O my Lord, relieve my mind and ease my task. Loosen a knot from my tongue so that they may understand my speech. O God, bestow peace and blessings on Muhammad, his pure, unique essence, who is the light revealing all the mysteries, the manifestation of light, the point upon which manifestations of God’s Majesty are centered, the pivot around which the world of His Grace and Beauty revolves. O God, for the mystery of him in his relation to You, and for his journeying toward You, secure me from my fears, protect me from falling, diminish my sorrows, and purify me of my passions. Be with me, take me away from myself unto You, favor me with effacement from myself. Do not leave me obsessed with my self and veiled by my feelings. Unveil to me every mystery. O Eternally Living and Self-Sustaining, O Eternally Living and Self-Sustaining, O Eternally Living and Self-Sustaining! Have mercy upon me, upon my companions, upon all believers, and upon all the people of the Qur’an. Amen. O Most Compassionate of the compassionate, O Most Generous of the generous! The conclusion of their call will be: All praise is due to God, the Lord of all the worlds.

Adapted from Bediuzzaman’s Twenty-third Word, Second Chapter.

There was a peaceful silence and was pouring light upon light

Things were being done with the precision of clockwork;

Centuries-old confusions disappeared one after the other.

All were respectful to each other and behaved in sincerity;

Water of life was flowing through taps of porphyry.

Holy ones were as if on parade with faces bright with faith

As they walked, they gave strength to our hopes.

People were busy with founding a new world;

The earth was so luminous as if to compete with the sky.

When those heroes with penetrating sight passed by me,

I came to understand that mankind were in the time promised.

I saw young men with clear signs on their faces and concluded

They were those promised to come toward the end of time

I continued my way without stopping, nor becoming tired;

I met those who had absorbed light from the ‘grand fountain’.

Some, full of gratitude, were walking arm-in-arm;

Finally all reached their destination, which is the Pure Path.

See what is written in these luminous missives of Wisdom:

They are all delivering together this beneficient discourse:

“Each of us is a radiant proof

for the majestic sovereignty of an All-Powerful One of glory.

We bear witness to the existence of the Maker

and also to His Unity and Power.

We are His subtle miracles gilding the face of the skies,

for the angels to make excursions on.

We are the innumerable discerning eyes of the heavens Directed to Paradise, and overseeing the earth.

We are the exquisite fruits

Attached to the heavenly branch of the tree of creation;

And to the twigs of the Milky Way, attached by

The hand of wisdom of the Majestic, All-Gracious Being.

For the inhabitants of the heavens, we are travelling mosques,

revolving houses and exalted homes, light-diffusing lamps, mighty ships, planes.

We are miracles of the Power of the All-Powerful One of Perfection, the All-Wise One off Majesty;

each of us is a wonder of His creative art, a rarity of His Wisdom, a marvel of His creation, a world of light.

To the man who is truly human,

We present hundreds of thousands of proofs in hundreds of thousands of tongues;

The eye of the atheist, may it be blind, never sees our faces,

nor do his ears hear our speech; we are signs that speak the truth.

On us is the same stamp and seal.

We obey our Lord and glorify Him, and mention Him in worship.

We are ecstatic lovers in the widest circle of the Milky Way, the circle reciting our Lord’s Names.

(Said Nursi, The Words I, pp. 293-4.) 

V. Tunniclife was quoted in The Fountain, Jan. Mar. 1996, No 13, p.36:

All life requires energy, nearly all life on earth looks to the sun as the source. But solar energy not the only kind of energy available on the earth. Consider the energy that drives the movement and eruption of the planet’s crust. When you look at an active volcano, you are witnessing the escape of heat that has been produced by radioactive decay in the earth’s interior and is finally reaching the surface. Why should there not be biological communities associated with the same nuclear energy that moves continents and makes mountains? And why could not whole communities be fuelled by chemical, rather than, solar energy?

Most of us associate the escape of heat from the interior of the earth with violent events and unstable physical conditions, with extreme high temperatures and the release of toxic gasses-circumstances that are hardly conducive to life.

The notion that biological communities might spring up in a geologically active environment seemed fantastic. And until recently, few organisms were known to survive without a direct or indirect way to tap the sun’s energy. But such communities do exist, and they represent one of the most startling discoveries of 20th-century biology. They live in the deep ocean, under conditions that are both severe and variable.

This ‘startling’ discovery of modern biology contains clues to some other realities, which sciences should consider. The Qur’an declares:

Surely, We have adorned the world’s heaven with lamps, and We have made them missiles for the devils. (al-Mulk, 67.5)

The ‘startling’ discovery of biology suggests that just as the earth does, the heavens should also have inhabitants of their own. Indeed, reality also requires it to be so, for, as Said Nursi writes (The Words 1, Izmir 1997, pp. 233-42), despite its small size and relative insignificance, the earth being alternately emptied and filled with living and conscious beings suggests-rather, it shows evidently-that the heavens too, which have magnificent constellations and are like decorated palaces, must also be filled with conscious and percipient beings. For the Creator has embellished and ornamented the universe with innumerable decorations, beauties, and inscriptions, and this evidently requires the existence of contemplative and appreciative eyes that will observe and be delighted. Certainly, beauty requires a lover, and food is given to the hungry. Men and jinn are able to perform only a millionth of this boundless duty, this glorious viewing, and this comprehensive worship. This means that countless sorts of angels and spirit beings are necessary to perform these infinite and diverse duties and acts of worship.

The Creator Who continuously creates subtle life and enlightened, percipient beings from dense earth and turbid water, must certainly have created conscious beings from light and even from darkness which are worthier to have a higher life and spirit, and created them in great abundance. In the language of Islam, those inhabitants of various kinds are called angels.

The earth and the heavens are connected to each other like two countries under one government. There are important relations and transactions between them. Things necessary for the earth like light, heat, blessings, and forms of mercy like rain, come, rather, are being sent, from the sky. Also, as unanimously confirmed by all the heavenly religions, which are founded on Revelation, and as is agreed upon by all the saintly scholars who unveil the secret truths of creation on the basis of what they have witnessed, the angels and spirit beings descend to the earth from the heavens. From this, it may be concluded almost as certainly as if it were directly sensed that for the inhabitants of the earth there is a way to ascend to the heavens.

Indeed, everyone can always travel to the heavens through his mind, vision and imagination. So too, freed from or purified of the gross heaviness of their carnal and material being, the spirits of the Prophets and saints travel there by God’s leave, and the spirits of the ordinary people do so after their death. Since those who are lightened’ and have acquired ‘subtlety’ and spiritual refinement travel there, for sure, certain inhabitants of the earth and the air who are clothed in an ‘ideal’ body or energetic envelope or immaterial form, and are light and subtle like spirits, may go to the heavens. Since there is journeying between the earth and the heavens, and important necessities for the earth are sent from the heavens; and since pure spirits travel to the heavens, for sure, imitating the pure spirits, the evil spirits too will attempt to travel to the heavenly abode. For, physically, they are light and subtle. However, they will certainly be repulsed and repelled, for by nature they are evil and unclean. Again, as the silence and tranquillity, the order and serene regularity of the heavens, and their vastness and radiance, show, their inhabitants are not like those of the earth; they are all obedient to God and do whatever He commands them.There is nothing to cause quarrels or disputes among them because they are innocent, their realm is vast, their nature is pure, and their stations are fixed. So, when devils or evil spirit beings attempt to ascend the heavens, the pure inhabitants of the heavens are mobilized to repel them from the heavens.

Without doubt, there must be a sign or reflection in the visible, material world of this important interaction and contest. For the wisdom of the sovereignty of Divine Lordship requires that the Lord should put a sign, an indication, for conscious beings, particularly for man, whose most important duty is witnessing, supervising, and acting as a herald to, His significant disposals in the realm of the Unseen. This is just as He has made rain a sign for men to explain, in physical terms, His countless miracles in spring, and also made apparent (natural) causes the pointers to the wonders of His art, so that He may call the inhabitants of the visible, material world to witness them, indeed to attract the attentive gaze of all the inhabitants of the vast heavens and the earth to that amazing exhibition. That is, He displays the vast heavens as a castle or city arrayed with towers on which sentries are posted, so that those inhabitants of the heavens and earth may reflect on the majesty of His Lordship.

Since wisdom requires the announcement of this elevated contest, there will surely be a sign for it. However, other than some stars being used as ‘missiles’ against the devils, no event among those of the atmosphere and heavens seems to be appropriate to this announcement. For it is evident how suitable for the repulsion of the devils are these stellar events, which resemble missiles and signal rockets fired from the formidable bastions of high castles. Further, unlike other events taking place in the heavens, no other function is known for such stellar events. In addition, this function has been known widely since the time of Adam, and witnessed by those who know the reality of things and events.

Like angels and other creatures, stars also have many different varieties. Some are extremely small, and some are extremely large. Everything that shines in the sky can be called a star. One sort of stars the Majestic Creator, the Gracious Maker, has created as a sort of jewels on the face of the sky or like the shining fruits of a vast tree. He has also made them the places of excursion or mounts or dwelling-places for His angels. He has made one sort of small stars missiles to drive off devils and kill them. Thus, firing these shooting stars to repulse devils may have three meanings:

The first: It is a sign that the law of contest is in force also in the most vast sphere of existence.

The second: It indicates that in the heavens there are watchful guards and obedient inhabitants, Divine forces, who do not like the earthly evil-doers to mix with and eavesdrop on them.

The third: The spying satans, who are the representatives of the foulness and wickedness on the earth, attempt to soil the clean and pure realm of the heavens inhabited by pure beings, and spy on the talk of their inhabitants in the name of evil spirits [unbelieving jinn and their human companions trying to mislead people especially through sorcery, mediumship and soothsaying]. Shooting stars are fired to prevent them and repulse them from the doors of the heavens.

The Perseid meteor shower observed in almost every year suggests that those meteors are shot for certain, important purposes. For they surprise observers by showing great diversity. The observations made as recently as 1993, demonstrate that the structure of the shower is yet poorly known.

According to information given by the International Meteor Organization about the events of the 1993 shower (Astronomy, October 1993), the first results posted for the night of 11/12 August came from Japan. Up to 20:30 (all times UT), 11 August, the meteor rates were found to be normal. A zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of 40 meteors per hour (m/h) was tentatively assigned to the shower at this time.

Preliminary data from European observers indicated that the rates had gradually increased to ZHR of order 100 m/h between 20:00, 11 August and 01:00, 12 August. Observers in France reported a noticeable increase in rates after 00:30, 12 August, with the rate being about twice that of ‘normal’. The rates continued to climb between 01:00 and 03:00. A preliminary ZHR of 200 50 was ascribed to this period. The rates appeared to reach a maximum between 03:00 and 03:30. The ZHR at maximum was estimated to be of the order of 500. Observations from the Canary Islands indicated that the rates began to decline after 04:00.

Higher than normal rates were also reported from many observers in the United States and Japan. As commented by Martin Beech in Astronomy, p.11, the results clearly indicated that the shower did not behave as predicted. Speculation about a possible meteor storm proved incorrect. Another unexpected feature in 1993 was the high number of bright fireballs observed. Observers reported something like five times the normal level of Perseid fireballs on the night of 11/12 August The Perseid shower once again demonstrated how difficult it is to predict meteor shower activity.

A. Cressy Morrison (Man Does Not Stand Alone, New York, 1945, p.100) mentions, as a typical human characteristic, the reluctance to give up fixed ideas, the stubborn resistance to accepting unfamiliar truths. The early Greeks knew the earth was a sphere, but it took two thousand years to convince men that this fact is true. New ideas encounter opposition, ridicule and abuse, but truth survives and is verified. Neither scientific studies nor developments in science can offer any excuse not to accept God. What we observe in nature and what we obtain from it must encourage us to know Him more closely and see the strong bridge between science and religion, the world and the Hereafter, and between the reason and the spirit.