Fana (annihilation), which is the opposite of permanence, has connections with some of the other concepts in Sufism. For example, sincere repentance requires annihilating one’s resistance to acknowledging sin, asceticism requires annihilating carnal pleasures, the highest point of loyalty and love is the annihilation of the expectation for a pleasing life in both this and the other world, and absence (ghayba) as a result of intoxication is apparent annihilation. Each of these is an attitude, a feeling and state of pleasure for a traveler on the way to God, while being at the same time, with respect to the Divine Being, Attributes and Names, manifestations of the lights of the Divine Oneness in the sphere of contingent things and beings. Initiates live in tides of existence and non-existence due to these manifestations. This life is known as devastation (sahq). Their melting away before the Existence of the Ultimate Truth is known as destruction (mahq), and their feeling that their deeds are mere shadows of the Acts of the One Who does whatever He wills is known as effacement (tams). Devastation, destruction, and effacement are dimensions of annihilation. They remind one of the fact that everything other than He is a shadow of the True Existence and Knowledge, having no essential value inherent to itself. These states also function as a bridge between the relativity of truth and human perception, feeling and understanding.

The absolute truth never changes; it is always what it essentially is. Neither the assumptions of union or incarnation on the part of the Divine Being nor human absolute annihilation in God bear anything of the truth. Things and events are created by God. Human beings are His created servants, and He possesses absolute Existence and Knowledge. Every existent thing is a ray of the manifestation of His Existence and Knowledge, and humanity feels, witnesses, and interprets these manifestations. But humans can make mistakes, which should be corrected. Humankind are like the conductors of choirs singing the praises of the Creator. They interpret what constantly pours into their horizon or is presented to their view, reviewing it, and adding new melodies taken from the depth of their emotions and sensations. These melodies are sometimes in accord with the truth being played, but sometimes it happens that the states, pleasures, perceptions, and feelings of individuals are in discord with the truth in existence with the result that the accord and harmony in existence is spoilt in their mirrors of perception and consciousness. This gives rise to a confusion of views of Divinity, the Divine Oneness and multiplicity in contingent existence. Utterances such as “I am the Truth” (attributed to Hallaj al-Mansur), or “I am a denier if I pray, and an unbeliever if I do not” (attributed to ash-Shibli), and “The Lord is the servant, and the servant is the Lord, so I wish I knew who is responsible for God’s commandments” (attributed to Muhyi’d-Din ibnu’l-‘Arabi), and “Who is the criminal, and what is the punishment?” (attributed to Yunus Emre), are all examples of this confusion.

God knows the true intention and purpose behind such utterances. However, as far as I understand, while preparing for the Prayer, ash-Shibli was surrounded by multiplicity. When the lights of the Divine Oneness surrounded him during the Prayer, he, as an obedient servant who is seeking God but has been enveloped by the lights of Divine Oneness and has felt annihilated in the One sought and obeyed, he might have voiced his feelings of wonder and astonishment with the phrase mentioned above. The utterance of Ibn u’l-‘Arabi, which is apparently incompatible with the Shari‘a, must have been an expression of the pleasure of a similar state. Some common people among the Sufis, who are closed to such states of spiritual pleasure and the manifestations of the Divine “Facial” Light and who take such utterances as literal truth, without considering the state in which they are uttered, might suppose that people, after they have reached a certain level of spiritual awareness, are no longer answerable according to the Divine commandments. This view is nothing but a deviation from the true path. It is also wrong that certain people have accused of heresy and unbelief the great saints who made such utterances, which are the product of being lost in a state of spiritual bliss and which accordingly need to be interpreted.

If such words are the expressions of a mood of self-devastation and destruction that is beyond love and is identified with the pleasures of annihilation in God—and I believe that to be the case—the persons mentioned above who uttered such phrases should not be held to account for such words; these words must be interpreted. Those heroes of intense love should be viewed and perceived from the perspective of their care in practicing the religion. It was reported that Hallaj al-Mansur used to perform a hundred rak‘as of Prayer every night, and that the others were also deeply devoted to the Almighty. Their words, which are apparently incompatible with the rules of the Shari‘a, should be interpreted according to the basic principles of the Qur’an and the Sunna, and if they have uttered anything that cannot be reconciled with those principles, then a Muslim must, obviously, follow the guiding words of the Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings. However, these great persons are excusable because of the states that they were in when uttering such words; others who willfully imitate them, without sharing the same mood and spiritual state, will be held accountable. The author of the Lujja says:

If you are not together with the good ones in all your deeds, what use will it be to you that you bear the same name as them.
One of the two Messiahs restores the eyes of the blind while the other is one-eyed. [1]

Doing as the Prophets did in one’s manners and acts is the way of saints, while blind imitation and following those who lead the way to the precipice is bound to end in spiritual death.

Jalalu’d-Din Rumi expresses the same thought as follows:

Do not compare pure, virtuous characters to yourself;
though the words milk and lion are composed of the same letters (shir), they are not at all the same.
If a perfected one holds dust in his hand, it turns to gold;
while if another, defective one holds gold in his hand, it becomes ashes.

Self-annihilation in God has been dealt with in the following categories by the Sufi scholars:

• Annihilation in God’s Acts: Travelers to the Ultimate Truth who have reached this horizon feel in every act that there is no true agent other than God. On the face of all their moments or conditions of poverty, weakness, helplessness, and need, they discern the traces of His Power and Wealth. They hear constantly the voice of the points of reliance and seeking help ingrained in the depth of their
• Annihilation in God’s Attributes: Initiates who have reached this point feel that all lives, all knowledge and power, all speech, will, hearing and sight are rays of His Attributes of Glory and reflections of their Seeing themselves without any innate power or strength, they are greatly astonished by the lights of the All-Holy One called by the All-Beautiful Names, and experience extreme wonder at feeling the All-Sacred One having All-Sacred Attributes, and always aspire to meet with Him beyond all concepts of modality.
• Annihilation in the Divine Being: A person of truth who has reached the point of attaining a new existence in which all the directions are united into one direction falls into such a state that he or she cannot help but utter, “There is no really existent one save ” Those who have attained this state see all space and time as having existence in His Knowledge and proceeding from His Knowledge and perceive all existing things as manifestations of the lights of His Existence. Enraptured with the spiritual pleasures, they utter with every breath that everything is from Him, and regard annihilation in the light of His Existence as the price of being favored with existence.

Thus, as declared in the verse (37:96), God has created you and all that you do, travelers to the Ultimate Truth receive the first signal of annihilation with respect to the realm of acts. Saying, “Everything is from You, and You are the True Agent,” they advance toward self-possession. Then, as pronounced in the Divine declaration (8:17), When you threw, it was not you who threw but God who threw, they perceive their nothingness, melt away in the shadow of His Attributes and become mirrors reflecting them. Some even rise to the point where people and jinn begin to turn around them. If they are able to go further, they will go on as far as the realms beyond, as stated in, “There was God without there being anything that existed with Him. Now He is as He was before” [2]. They feel themselves to be in an indescribable and all but unattainable state of pleasure, wherein their existence is transient and where they have wholly annihilated themselves on the way to permanence. Such a feeling is akin to that where a drop admits what its origin, capacity and end really is with respect to the ocean. It also denotes that everything subsists by His being the Self-Subsisting by Whom all subsist and that nothing can come into existence or maintain its existence without being dependent on Him. So, transience and decay are essential to human nature—a fact of which everybody should be aware, while Permanence is necessary to the Self-Subsisting. When the journey comes to the end where the servants perceive this essential part of their nature and existence, the All-Holy Sovereign and Owner rewards them with permanence. In the language of Sufism, this favor is called “annihilation in God” and “subsistence by God with or in the company God.”

The heroes that follow the way of the people of the Sunna wa’l-Jama‘a and who are able to base all their views, words and manners on God’s absolute Oneness and Uniqueness, have always viewed annihilation in the endless ocean of Divine Knowledge and Existence according to the above considerations. They have meticulously observed the rules that issue from the Sphere of Divine Lordship, and the manners required by self-possession and wakefulness, even in states of intoxication and absence. Any extreme words or manners contrary to self-possession are not seen in their words and acts, even though they are under the overpowering influence of the state and spiritual pleasure in their acts. One of them says:

The moving tunes that come from the wooden instrument and which the singer plays come in fact from Him.

This means that that hero of annihilation and self-possession sees that all things other than He are but drops from the endless ocean of the Divine Existence, although he cannot distinguish the drop from the ocean, a particle from the sun, a mirror from what is reflected in it because he is deeply immersed in God’s Existence. As was once said,

O beloved, you have become a river ending in this ocean; how difficult it is to distinguish between the ocean and the river!

he becomes lost in the ocean or in the heaven of the Divine Oneness or Unity into which he has been immersed. Overpowered by the irresistible waves of the ocean or the depths of the heaven, he can neither see the shore nor find in himself the power nor consciousness to come ashore.

Another one among those intoxicated ones, those who reached the horizon of annihilation in God and was favored with the gift of a new existence by the Lord, saw all existence like a mirror in which he was looking upon himself and in which he was intoxicated, said:

Sometimes He has condescended to appear arrayed like Layla, and sometimes He has honored us in the form of Majnun.
When the Beloved has stepped out of the privacy of the meeting room,
The decoration and ornament of the interior has become most apparent.

The heroes of immersion who have reached this highest point express their sensation of Divine Existence and Oneness, joy and pleasure, they express the favor of God’s company, and the excitement of feeling Him by sometimes crying or screaming, sometimes by losing themselves and fainting, and sometimes by going into ecstasies and dancing. All of these happen during the spiritual journey on the hills of the heart. One of those who dove deeply into this ocean expressed himself in the flood of the ecstasies of his heart as follows:

I am such a falcon of love that
I have no place in either world.
I am such a phoenix of secrets that
I no longer display any trace of my essence.
I hunted the two worlds in a pleasant way with my eyebrows.
Look and know that
I have neither an arrow nor a bow.
I have become a voice to speak
and an ear to hear every language,
and an ear to listen.
But how strange it is,
for I have no ears nor a tongue.

The leading Sufi scholars have also dealt with annihilation in the following four categories:

• Annihilation in renunciation of people: an initiate is saved from fear of people and from having expectations of them.
• Annihilation with respect to the desires: this is the renunciation of selfishness and all worldly desires, aspirations, and bodily
• Annihilation of will-power: total submission to God’s
• Annihilation of reason: this is reason’s submission to God in the face of the manifestations of the This annihilation comes along with the astonishment and amazement which initiates feel, due to which they are unable to observe the criteria of thinking, judging, and acting that are valid in the sphere of causality. They usually cannot help but voice this astonishment and amazement.

For example, Junayd al-Baghdadi says: “For a certain time, the inhabitants of the earth and heaven wept for my amazement, and sometimes it occurred that I wept for their amazement. Now I am in such a state that I am aware of neither myself nor of them.”

The amazement or wonder of Gedai is also worth noting:

I did not know myself as I see me now, I wonder whether He is me or I am Him?
This is the point where lovers lose themselves; I have burnt away, so give me water!
The words of the author of al-Minhaj demonstrate a deeper aura of love and amazement:
I do not know whether I am myself or Him.I am in bewilderment, but I am sure I am not myself.
Am I a lover or the one loved or love itself?
I am intoxicated from the cup of Oneness, and I am not myself.
What am I? Am I a phoenix with no fame or mark? I am away from my home, and I am not myself.
I am transient in soul but permanent by the Beloved.
I am flying high, and I am not myself.

If we consider what annihilation is, these words are natural for a hero of annihilation. Annihilation means that travelers to God see, according to their level, none save God and set their hearts on Him alone. When they advance to the point where their inner and outer worlds, perception, and consciousness are illuminated with the knowledge of truth, then they begin to see clearly Who holds the reins of everything, and they always turn to Him in Whose Hand lie their existence and subsistence. Then, while they become more deeply immersed in truth by concentrating all of their thoughts on Him and endeavoring to reach Him, then they perceive that all existence is a manifestation of the light of His Existence. They reach the horizon of viewing all things and events differently with the consideration of Unity, and they are favored with being able to feel and interpret everything with their essential characteristics that the veil of corporeality hides.

Travelers on the way to the Ultimate Truth take a further step and are able to perceive with the certainty of conviction that all the events in the universe, including human acts and endeavors, depend absolutely on God’s Names and Attributes, and that everything has come into existence and has blossomed in the heart of these Sources. They also perceive that whatever happens happens by His Power and Strength and see more clearly the limits of their willpower in all of their deeds. Abandoning all shadowy existence, they take shelter in the protection and ownership of the Truly Existent One, and gain a new existence by Him.

If the traveler can take a further step, then he or she can feel with some certainty, a certainty that comes from experience, that all things and/or beings with their being, attributes and characteristics are transferred from their existence in God’s Knowledge and clothed in external existence by His Power as a manifestation of His Existence. Becoming more profound in their feelings, the travelers are immersed in the vision of the truth that everything exists and subsists by Him. They perceive in their consciousness that the truth of (55:26), All that is on the earth (and heavens) is perishable (except He), undulates throughout the universe like a flag, and everything created is bound to decay, and is maintained by the manifestation of God’s being the Self-Subsisting by Whom all subsist. They also feel in their consciousness that if a being suffers a moment’s interruption of this manifestation, it will perish, and they reach a further horizon of perception of the Divine Oneness.

The first step belongs to the verifying scholars, the second to those traveling on the way to the Ultimate Truth who have strong, inflexible willpower, and the third to those who have true knowledge of God and vision.

Those who are at the first step are annihilated to the extent of the depth of their consciousness of God and enter the way to “a revival after death.” Those who have left this step behind experience absence and immersion with respect to their inner world by means of a spiritual vision and discovery; they find seclusion in crowds and silence in noise and uproar. Others, who have reached the third step, renounce all human desires and aspirations, and wherever they look are immersed in the manifestations of the Divine Knowledge and Existence; they feel fully surrounded by His signs, as stated in (2:115), To whatever direction you turn, there is the “Face” of God. Whatever they see, they feel awe when enveloped by His rays, and whatever they observe they feel astonished at the burning manifestations of His “Facial” Light and they mention Him with many allegories.

When travelers to the Ultimate Truth have gone beyond all these steps and have become heroes of annihilation in God, the colors of subsistence by God begin to appear to them from all horizons. At every moment during their journey they go beyond one dimension of “there is no deity” (i.e., no one truly existent, no one truly witnessed, no creator, no provider, etc.) Every new dimension they go beyond confronts them with a new dimension of “but God.” Due to their taking larger steps and due to the uninterrupted shower of Divine favors, the universal Lordship and complete Subsistence begin to manifest themselves on their horizon. A time comes and they feel that His Throne has embraced the whole universe, and rising by the stairs of repentance, penitence and contrition, which comprise the way of turning to Him completely, they are immersed in the lights of His Divinity. They drown in the extraordinary pleasures of feeling awe and fear of Him in their acts of worship. They take a great pleasure in listening to the Divine Speech—the Qur’an. Finding themselves sometimes in the clime of self-possession that is embedded in fear, and sometimes on the hills of alertness that are embedded in awe, and sometimes in the oceans of mercy, they experience fear and hope or expectation, sadness and rejoicing, all together at the same time, and try not to fall away from His door. Unburdening themselves to Him in every thought, concept, utterance and breath, they become heroes of following the Divine commandment (15:99), Worship your Lord until certainty, which is bound to come, comes to you, and without being content with their worshipping, they advance further and further. They know that when they stop, both the way and the journey will come to an end, and they can no longer have the ambition of reaching their destination. For the journey is toward the Infinite One, and unending endeavor in this world is reflected as endless favors from the realms beyond.

O God! Guide us to the Straight Way, the way of those whom You have favored, not of those who have incurred (Your) wrath (punishment and condemnation), nor of those who are astray. And bestow blessings and peace on our master Muhammad, and on his Family and Companions, all of them.

Notes

1. The poet refers to Jesus the Messiah, and the Dajjal who will appear before the end of time as a fierce opponent of Islam. The fact that he has one eye is usually interpreted to mean that he is blind to religion and the Hereafter. (Tr.)
2. al-Bukhari, “Tawhid,” 1; Ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, 4:431.

According to truth-seeking scholars, yaqin means certainty or conviction of the truth expressed in the essentials of faith, including primarily one’s doubt-free belief in God’s Existence and Unity. It is also defined as reaching that conviction through observing or experiencing the essence or truth of those essentials in which regular people believe, and discerning or penetrating the realms beyond this material one.

Certainty may also be regarded as a point, final in one respect and initial in another, reached by using all sources of knowledge and ways of observation and discernment. A traveler who has reached this point frequently sails for what is eternal, realizing ascension in his or her heart and reaching the horizon of: His sight swerved not, nor did it go wrong (53:17). He or she travels amidst Divine manifestations in the material and immaterial realms, and is favored with a tongue to speak, eyes to see, and ears to hear the truths contained in the Supreme Sign.¹ That is, repeated observation and study of the book of the universe, of the things and events contained in it, allows the traveler to eternity to perceive the meanings of the inimitable signs special to God.

By repeatedly observing and reflecting on the scenes presented for study in the outer world, as well as those in his or her inner world, truths beyond the visible realm are unveiled to the traveler. Also, by living in the brilliant, mysterious climate of Divine Revelation, namely the Qur’an and the Sunna, and the inspirations coming from the worlds beyond, one feels the manifestation of the Hidden Treasure in his or her heart. The believer becomes aware of and experiences the tokens and signs issuing from the prism of his or her conscience, which reflects the rays of Divine gifts coming from the outer world, his or her inner world, and the Divine Revelation, and sends them to his or her senses and faculties. Certainty, in this meaning and degree, is a gift with which God favors those near to Him.

Even in its least degree, certainty is so strong that it fills the heart with light, removes the mist of doubt from the mind, and causes breezes of joy, satisfaction, and exhilaration to blow in one’s inner world. As pointed out by Dhu’n-Nun al-Misri, certainty causes the heart to overflow with the desire to reach eternity. This engenders the desire to live an austere life, for asceticism allows one to think and speak with wisdom. One who takes the wing of asceticism and flies to the realm of wisdom never forgets what the end will be, always thinks of the afterlife, and always feels God’s company, even when with other people.

In the early steps of certainty, the veil between the material and immaterial sides of existence begins to be removed and, a few steps further, the traveler discerns the realm beyond this material world. With his or her heart filled with Divine manifestations, which result in the attainment of peace and satisfaction, the believer is freed absolutely from all doubt about the truths of faith. Like ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him, some who have attained this degree of certainty have declared: “Even if the veil between the seen and the Unseen were to lift, my certainty would not increase.”² A few steps further on is the station where one journeys in the pure realm of Divine gifts, which eyes have never seen, ears have never heard, nor have minds ever conceived.

To gain certainty, an initiate beginning the journey must try to do what is necessary to reach certainty. However, one can only reach this station when God bestows it as a blessing and gift. Without acquiring due knowledge of God, one cannot reach certainty. Knowledge of God is acquired through a correct view of and perspective on objects and events; the ability to think in a correct and balanced manner; purity of intention; the study of the signs of God’s Existence and Unity; and finally knowledge of God is required through reflection on His Acts and the manifestations of His Names and Attributes. Knowledge of God is a light illuminating the initiate’s inner and outer worlds, a light shining from all corners of existence. Under the rays of this light, the initiate sees everything as it really is and, being freed from the confines of multiplicity (of objects and events), discerns Divine Unity and is enraptured with indescribable spiritual pleasure.

Although an initiate may feel uneasy during the early stages on the way to certainty, he or she will be lost in inconceivable pleasure and peace in the end. Those who cannot distinguish between what is felt in the beginning and what is experienced in the end wrongly conclude that certainty is risky; however, those who constantly feel God’s company and the resulting spiritual delight enjoy peace and security from all spiritual trouble and possible deviation. Uneasiness and trouble are felt only in the beginning. As for certainty being risky, all stations confront the traveler with some degree of risk. Even the Prophet himself, upon him be peace and blessings, declared: Even I could not be saved (from Hellfire or God’s punishment through my own actions), if God did not embrace me in His mercy.³ As for being secure from trouble and deviation and gaining peace, these are the fruits that God causes certainty to yield.

As referred to in some verses of the Qur’an, Sufis classify certainty in three categories:

– Certainty coming from knowledge: Having a strong, firm belief in or conviction of all the essentials of faith, primarily in God’s Existence and Unity, acquired through correct observation and study of the relevant signs and evidence.

– Certainty coming from direct observation or seeing: Having an indescribable degree of certainty and knowledge of God acquired through unveiling and observing the immaterial truths invisible to ordinary believers and on which the essentials of belief are based.

– Certainty coming from direct experience: Being favored with God’s constant company, without any veils and in a way that only the one receiving this favor can perceive. Some have interpreted this as self-annihilation in God and gaining subsistence by Him. These three degrees of certainty can be summed up in the following examples: A person’s knowledge of death (before he or she dies), acquired by observing or studying the body in a biological context, can be an example of certainty coming from knowledge. Witnessing some metaphysical phenomena, such as seeing the angel who has come to take one’s soul and catching glimpses of the intermediate world of the grave, may be regarded as a kind of certainty coming from direct observation. The certainty gained by actually experiencing death is a certainty coming from direct experience.

Certainty about abstract truths such as God’s Names and Attributes, which arise from vision or experience, pertains to one’s personal experience. It is therefore beyond my ability to explain this.

O God! Show us the truth as being true and enable us to follow it, and show us falsehood as being false, and enable us to refrain from it. And bestow blessings and peace on him who has the perfect certainty—our master Muhammad, the noblest one, and on his Family and Companions, all of them.

1. “The Supreme Sign” is a Qur’anic expression that is generally held to be the greatest or most comprehensive sign by which God is known most clearly. It can be reached after physical or mental or spiritual or both physical and mental and spiritual travel throughout or an overall study of the whole universe and spiritual vision of God with His Acts, Names and Attributes. What God’s Messenger saw during his Ascension was the Supreme Sign (53:18). Everyone can reach it according to their own capacity. (Tr.)
2. Abu Nu’aym, Hilyatu’l-Awliya’, 10: 203; ‘Alliyu’l-Qari, al-Asraru’l- Marfu’a, 193.
3. al-Bukhari, “Riqaq,” 18; Muslim, “Munafiqun,” 71–78.

No, not all of us.

Jill Carroll presents us with a legendary example of hope from our recent past, showing us that there can always be a solution, even at the cold touch of the barrel of a weapon, or with the blood-chilling knowledge that your town has been targeted. In this issue, she shares with us a truly interesting story she was told last summer in Fuzine, a village in Croatia’s Gorski Kotar district.

Croatia, now an independent state, was one of the six republics which formed the former country of Yugoslavia, a country that was devastated after a war in the ’90s. We shiver when we remember the massacres of Bosnian civilians before the eyes of the entire world, under the so-called protection of UN forces, when some had proclaimed that we had reached the zenith of human civilization. The massacre of Srebrenica, the fifteenth anniversary of which was marked last July, has no doubt left indelible stain not only in the lives of its victims-at least, those who survived-but also in the conscience of all of us who could do nothing more than pray. One observer who participated in the ceremony last July described Srebrenica as a town in which “the dead are more alive than the living, the living more dead than the dead; the dead visiting homes at night, the living visiting the dead during the day.” The story Jill reports from Gorski Kotar, Croatia features civil leaders and media members who heroically acted “faster than the dead” and perhaps saved their towns from being another Srebrenica – despite the consequences they faced in the years that followed.

The lead article describes another story of heroism, which is displayed at a global level. Gulen praises those educational activists who have gone all around the world and built schools and dialogue centers in hundreds of countries. The people Gulen describes are filled with love for humanity regardless of race, color, religion, and language, and they are convinced that universal peace can only be realized by overcoming ignorance. Gulen calls this volunteer movement “A Movement Originating Its Own Models,” perhaps because they are so precious to Gulen that he cannot compare them with any other social movement in the world, and perhaps because these volunteers truly come forward with an authentic approach for engaging our modern world and times.

The first group of people carry a “pump” in their chests, but it cannot be said that they have hearts. The second group of people live in the cloudy, misty atmosphere of their surmises and doubts, separate from God, and are unable to reach their destination. The third group of people, those who have traveled some distance toward the destination, are at risk because they have not yet reached the goal. They advance falteringly, struggling on the way of God, experience cycles of defeat and success, and spend their lives trying to climb a “hill” without being able to reach the summit.

On the other hand, those who have a firm belief live as if they see God and in the consciousness that God sees them, enjoy complete security and are under God’s protection. They study existence with insight, penetrate the nature of existence, discover their reality through the light of God, and behave soberly and with self-control. They tremble with fear of God, full of anxiety and hope concerning their final goal, and pursue His pleasure by seeking to please Him and living in a way that shows their love for Him. In return, God loves them and causes other believers to love them. They are loved and esteemed by humanity and the jinn, and receive a warm welcome wherever they happen to be.

Prophet Joseph, upon him be peace, the truthful hero of Sura Yusuf, is mentioned five times in this sura as a man of perfect goodness and deep devotion. All of creation, including the Creator and the created, friend and foe, Earth and the heavens, testified to his strict self-control and self-supervision: When Joseph reached his full manhood, We bestowed on him wisdom and knowledge. Thus do We reward those who are perfectly good [worshipping and acting in consciousness of being always seen by God] (Yusuf 12:22). Here, the Almighty states that Prophet Joseph was a man of perfect goodness and self-control at the age of puberty. During his imprisonment in Egypt, every prisoner, whether good or evil, discerned the depth of his mind and purity of his spirit, and appealed to him to solve their problems: Tell us the interpretation of events, including dreams, for we see you [to be] among those who are perfectly good (Yusuf 12:36). Joseph succeeded in every trial he faced, and won a place in everyone’s heart, both friend and foe.

Once more God mentions him as a man of perfect goodness, a perfect embodiment of goodness, as his character did not change when appointed to a high government post: Thus We established Joseph in the land, to take possession of it where he pleased. We reach with Our mercy whom We will, and We never cause to be lost the reward of those who are perfectly good [worshipping and acting in consciousness of being always seen by God] (Yusuf 12:56). When his brothers, who had always envied him, acknowledged his goodness and truthfulness even before they discovered that the charitable minister in the royal palace of Egypt was Joseph. They said: O exalted sir. He has a father, aged and venerable; so take one of us instead of him, for we see that you are among those who are perfectly good (Yusuf 12:78).

Lastly, as a man perfectly matured and having acquired full spiritual contentment, Prophet Joseph himself testified to God’s blessings on him: God has been indeed gracious to us. Whoever acts in fear of God and full submission to Him and is patient, surely God does not waste the reward of those who are perfectly good (Yusuf 12:90).

It is inconceivable that an individual with such a sound heart could deviate or be deprived of God’s blessing. Such a heart has the same meaning with respect to its owner as God’s Supreme Throne has with respect to the universe, and is a polished mirror in which the Almighty looks in full appreciation. Such a mirror is not something to be discarded or allowed to break, for it is the essence and spirit of human reality and is praised by God.

In the following couplets, Rumi recalls this:

The Truth says: I consider the heart,
Not the form made from water and clay.
You say: I have a heart within me, whereas
The heart is above God’s Throne, not below.

The Process of Discovery

Kamerlingh Omnes, a Dutch physicist dedicated to achieving ultracold refrigeration, opened this field in 1908 by liquefying helium at -452 F (4 K or -269 C).(1) This achievement enabled scientists to cool materials to very low temperatures and study their properties.

Scientists knew that a metal’s resistance fell as the temperature was lowered, but did not know what the limiting value would be when 0 K (the absolute minimum temperature) was approached. In 1911, Omnes began investigating the electrical properties of metals at very low temperatures. Many contemporaries, including Lord Kelvin, believed that resistance eventually would level off to a nonzero value. While passing a current through a very pure mercury wire whose temperature was being steadily lowered, Omnes noticed that its resistance vanished at 4.2K. He remarked: “Mercury passed into a new state, which on account of its extraordinary electrical properties may be called the superconducting state.” This marks the birth of superconductivity.

Scientific and commercial potentials were obvious. A resistance-free metal wire could carry current for a long time without any loss. Omnes tried to determine the amount of such a loss. After letting a superconducting loop run for a year, he determined that there was no significant current loss. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1913 for his discovery.

In 1933, Walter Meissner and Robert Ochsenfeld discovered that superconductors are both perfect conductors and perfect diamagnets, for magnetic fields cannot penetrate a superconductor’s interior. When a material is superconducting and a field is applied, the current flowing on the superconductor’s surface generates a magnetic field that cancels the applied field inside the superconductor (the Meissner effect). Since the magnetic field generated inside the superconductor opposes the applied field, superconductors are diamagnetic. This shielding of an applied magnetic field occurs only if the applied field is not very large. Superconductivity is destroyed at a certain point.

Theoretical Progress and Surprises

Theoretical progress was much slower, however, almost as if superconductivity had been discovered too early. The scientific community’s incomplete understanding of quantum mechanics made it impossible to understand the mechanism behind superconductivity. Some phenomenological theories were developed during the 1930s and 1940s, but a clearer picture only began to emerge in 1957.

Three American physicists, John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and Robert Schriffer, used quantum field theory and many-body physics to develop the BCS theory, which explains superconductivity for elements and some alloys.(2) In essence, the theory states that a superconductor’s electrons condense into a quantum ground state and move together coherently. Pairs of electrons (Cooper pairs)-not single electrons-achieve current transfer. These physicists received the Noble Prize in 1972.

Another milestone came in 1962. Brian Josephson, a Cambridge University graduate student, predicted that an electrical current could flow between two superconductors separated by thin insulating barrier. He made a suitable device (the Josephson Junction) by inserting an insulating material between two superconductors. Sending current through one superconductor, he saw it pass through to the other one. Known as the Josephson effect, it is one of the most important components in superconducting electronics. Josephson was awarded a share of the Nobel Prize in 1973.

In 1986, Alex Miiller and Georg Bednorz of IBM Research Lab (Switzerland) synthesized a ceramic compound that superconducted at 30K (-243C), the highest superconductor temperature ever reached. This compound contained lanthanum, barium, copper, and oxygen. Scientists do not know why it super-conducts, for it insulates at high temperatures and conducts electricity very poorly before it superconducts. Bednorz and Miiller received the Noble Prize in 1987.

This discovery inspired many researchers to combine elements to achieve superconductivity at higher temperatures. In January 1987, researchers at the University of Alabama replaced the lanthanum in the Bednorz-Miiller compound with yttrium and reached a transition temperature (Tc) of 92K. As a result, the much cheaper liquid nitrogen could replace liquid helium as a coolant. By trial-and-error experimentation, a Tc of 138K was reached in a compound consisting of mercury, thallium, barium, calcium, copper, and oxygen.

These new materials all contain layered copper and oxygen planes with other elements in between the crystal structure. Superconductivity occurs on the planes, and the rest of the crystal serves as a charge reservoir. The magnetic field gradually penetrates these new materials (called High Tc superconductors), causing a mixed state between the normal state and the superconducting state.

In 1997, existing theories were shattered when an alloy of gold and indium was used as a superconductor and a magnet. This is expected to have an important effect on magnetic data storage.

The most recent surprise came in November 2000. About 10 years ago, scientists learned that carbon-60 could superconduct at near absolute zero. By expanding the lattice structure, a Tc of 52K was reached. About a month later, the same group reached a Tc of 90K. Many believe that this temperature could reach well over 100K. Carbon-60 is the only material that has reached such high Tcs without having copper and oxygen planes in its structure.

Applications

Superconductors do more than just conduct electricity. Other important functions are as follows:

• The Korean-developed SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) can detect magnetic field changes that are 100 billion times smaller than Earth’s minute magnetic field, and uses the most fundamental properties of superconductors and quantum mechanics. Medical researchers use SQUIDs to study the human brain. Systems in which hundreds of SQUIDs are arranged in a helmet-like configuration containing liquid helium are commercially available. These systems detect the magnetic field produced by thousands of neurons. Although neurons produce huge fields when compared to the SQUID’s sensitivity, a magnetically shielded room is required to filter out fields produced by TVs, computers, cars, and so on. In these rooms, external stimulation applied to the patient’s brain enables specialists to locate tumors or other ill-functioning areas by mapping the brain’s functions. The human brain has two types of responses: stimulated and self-generated (spontaneous). By using the SQUID’s fast temporal response, one can locate non-invasively the epileptic loci, which causes some diseases. Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s research also use SQUIDs at the detection level.

• Magnetic levitation became possible after scientists built superconducting magnets. Since superconductors have no resistance, a small voltage can generate huge currents and, therefore, magnetic fields large enough to float vehicles on these superconducting magnets with almost no friction. In 1999, a train in Japan reached a speed of 343 miles per hour. Japanese researchers are studying the possibility of a mag-lev linear motor car.

• Superconducting magnets have been used extensively in particle accelerators since 1987. Particle physics requires the acceleration of subatomic particles to speeds very close to the speed of light. This necessitates high magnetic fields that, in turn, need high currents-something for which superconductors are ideal. One event that made superconducting better known is probably the American Congress’ cancellation of the multi-billion Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) project in 1993. A European consortium is now pursuing this research field.

•Superconducting wires improve an electric generator’s efficiency by more than 99 percent. In addition, such generators are about half the size of conventional ones. General Electric estimates that there is a potential $20-30 billion global market for superconducting generators. Unfortunately, the high costs of cooling systems rules out using this technology to supply cities with electricity. But the moment sufficiently high Tcs are reached, superconductivity’s impact in this area will be immeasurable.

•Other applications are high-performance and high-capacity electronic filters (currently used in some cellular phone systems); a petaflop-computer (1,000 trillion floating point operations per second-1,000 times faster than today’s computers); mine and submarine detection (the U.S. Navy); and storing energy to enhance power stability (American Superconductor Corp.); satellites; telescopes and other light detection instruments; and Internet routers.

Footnotes

1. F (Fahrenheit): A temperature scale registering water’s freezing point as 32F and boiling point as 212 F at one atmosphere of pressure. K (Kelvin): A unit of absolute temperature equal to 1/273.16 of the absolute temperature of the water’s triple point; equal to one Celsius degree. C (Celsius): A temperature scale registering water’s freezing point as 0 C and boiling point as 100 C under normal atmospheric pressure.
2. Quantum field theory: A body of physical principles that accounts for subatomic phenomena. Quantum many-body physics: The branch of theoretical physics that studies the new collective phenomena or “elementary” constituents of a many-particle system and the underlying quantum mechanics that determines their behavior.

References 

• Clarke, J. “Superconductivity: A Macroscopic Quantum Phenomenon.” Beam Line 30, no. 2 (summer/fall 2000): 41-48.
• Dull, R. W. and H. R. Kerchner. “Applications of Superconductors.” A Teacher’s Guide to Superconductivity for High School Students (1994). Online at:
• www.ornl.gov/reports/m/ornlm3063r1/pt4.html.
• Gunnarsson, O. “C60: The Hole Story.” Nature 1408 (30 Nov. 2000): 528-29.
• http ://superconductors .org
• Tinkham, M. Introduction to Superconductivity. 2d ed. McGraw-Hill Higher Education: 1995.