For this tree, the seed is intelligence, water is determination, air is patience, and effort is excitement. One thing to consider is that imagination and fantasy are not the same concept. Whereas imagination is the seed of realistic, logical plans and projects designed in accordance with long term goals regarding life and the future, fantasy involves short term projections out of proportion with reality, emotion, and rational thought. In this sense, there is no imagination that does not sprout its roots towards the goal and does not disperse the seeds of excitement to the human soul. This is because imagination is like a pile of emotions that sustain us in the years ahead. It is the energy that powers the heart, the mystery juice which injects excitement into our minds, a framework of desires that bind us to life. It helps us to believe that one man’s expectations for life are as good as his dreams; his earnings will match his excitement. Imagination and the resulting “excitement” is a great blessing that brings out treasures, love, and skills hidden inside us. Above all, imagination can help us to achieve success in all of our endeavors. This is true of science, too.

Defining scientific success can be tricky. It requires effort, hard work, and observation to achieve scientific success. But most importantly, it requires intelligence which is a blessing. Just like a licensed driver controlling a car, the brain’s performance improves with the skill of its driver. To maximize the brain’s potential, it is very important to integrate the heart and conscience with the use of intelligence.

Can we explain the reality that there is only a limited number of scientists because they were born as such or inherited this quality genetically? The reality is thousands of babies are born with brain capacities similar to that of scientists’ in terms of anatomy, histology, physiology, and biochemistry. Even though human intelligence is partly determined by inheritance, there are other factors. If the case was as simple as inheritance, would Einstein say, “I do not have any special skill, but I am passionately curious”? When Thomas Edison said, “1% of genius is inspiration and 99% is sweat,” he captured perfectly that one needs more than just intelligence to achieve success – one also needs to maximize that intelligence through hard work.

Scholar Bediuzzaman Said Nursi summarized the stages of knowledge development of the human mind in seven steps. “One first imagines something (tahayyul), then conceives of it, and clothes it in a form (tasawwur). Afterwards, one reasons and reflects on this thing (taaqqul), then confirms it (tasdiq), and then has full conviction of it (iz’an). Then they fully support it (iltizam); then they become committed or devoted to it (itiqad)” (The Words, Gleams of Truth).

Each of these stages is subject to different rulings. They form the ladder to higher meanings. Thus, if a person is unaware of the step occupied, he/she ends up remaining in the lower stages and acts according to the necessities of that particular level.

Therefore if we do not want to leave our scientific approach at the dimension of “sophistry,” which starts with imagination (tahayyul), we have to continue our intellectual and ideological journey all the way to the end. Imagination, which is often overlooked, bears the seed of intelligence, which is a blessing offered from the infinite ocean of God’s wisdom. Imagination is the unprinted photo of our intellectual aptitudes. How do you like to print and uncover your dreams?

“It’s very hard to grow a tree,” he said. “Just like it’s very hard to grow a person.”

“Well” my brother said, “if you and mom could grow me, I can grow a tree.” He was eleven at the time.

By the end of the summer, only one of his sprouts was still alive. He’d forgotten what kind of tree it was – in his enthusiasm, he hadn’t time for labels. On a Sunday in early September, after church, my family went out to our backyard with hand shovels and a rake. On our hands and knees, we took turns digging in the soft, wet earth. It was a warm day, and the late-season sun spilled like gold filigree through the leaves of our large oak tree. My brother and father, rich earth worked into the fissures of their hands, tenderly planted the sapling. I could tell, by my father’s face, that he didn’t give the tree a chance. But my brother believed completely, and when the planting was finished to his satisfaction, he stood and said a prayer, a brief benediction and blessing for our house.

He spent that autumn tending to the sapling. He would water it daily, and measure its progress with a ruler. Against all odds, it continued to grow.

So, too, did my brother. As the years passed, and the tree grew thicker, my brother grew taller. He fell in love, had his heart broken, lost his way. By the time he left home, seven years later, the tree had grown into a healthy, albeit small, tree. It had claimed its unceremonious space in our backyard. But it hadn’t borne fruit, and we had mostly forgotten to notice that the tree was there. We still had no idea what kind of tree it was.

“A defective tree,” my father said one night, bitterly. “A tree incapable of growing fruit.” My brother had been gone a year then, and we heard word of him sparingly – a postcard from Louisiana, or a phone call from a hotel in Oklahoma. I left home the next year. I took my first trip to Paris, where I fell in love with the city, and a woman, my future wife. Another year passed, and my brother and I did not speak.

When I received word that my brother had died in a car crash in Texas, I was living in the south of Spain with my wife. She was pregnant by then, a small sapling growing inside her, and when I hung up the phone on my father, the first thing I thought of was what my brother had said all those years before: There’s a whole tree in this little seed. I looked at her and thought: There’s a whole person in this little seed. Then, naturally, I cried.

It was late June. We arrived in Philadelphia just in time for the funeral. It was a small affair at a church outside the city, on a small plot of land overlooking a creek. The grave had already been dug, the fresh earth piled high beside it. I remembered my brother’s small hands, their crevices grooved with dirt. Afterwards we returned to our house. It had grown quiet in the years since my brother and I had left, and my parents would soon sell it.

That night at dusk, my father took me out to the backyard. “I have something to show you,” he said. We walked barefoot through the grass, the cicadas murmuring in the dense, sultry summer air. When we got to my brother’s tree, I noticed something moist and wet beneath my foot. I knelt down. It was a plum. There were plums all over the ground, and more on the tree.

“It’s the first year it blossomed,” my father said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

We roamed through the gloaming, prospecting the luscious, purple globes from the low branches, biting into the soft flesh, the juices spilling down our chins. They tasted good. As I ate, I picked out the seeds, put a few of them in my pocket. They came with me on the plane back to Spain. I planted them in cups all over our house, much to my wife’s amusement. I watered them diligently, checked them daily for growth. When we planted one of the seedlings at the end of the summer, my wife’s stomach was already large, and while I worked in the earth, she sat on our porch and watched. “It will never grow,” she called out to me. “Seedlings never grow.”

As I write this, our son is playing in our backyard, his small, growing body shaded by the small, growing branches of a plum sapling.

The heart is the home of God, clean it of others than Him,
So that the All-Merciful may descend into His home at night.

The couplet above, recorded by Ibrahim Haqqi of Erzurum in his Ma’rifetname (Book of Knowledge), expresses the intention of obtaining true love and His pleasure, and tells how to realize it. It concisely describes the way between decision and resolution and from resolution to destination. The only way to obtain peace of mind and be at rest without going to extremes and being exposed to spiritual trouble and pain is to seek the love and pleasure of God, and then order one’s life around this aim. Rumi says:

A heart devoid of the Friend and seeking Him cannot be freed from trouble and pain. [As for] a head in which there is no love of the Friend, do not attempt to find any meaning and value in it, for it consists of bones and skin.

Those who have set their hearts on Him and have decided to reach Him never neglect to follow a way toward Him and to meet the necessities of traveling on it. [1] Even if they turn their eyes from Him for a single moment to look to others, they sigh for a whole lifetime. How unfortunate is the one who lives unaware of a way leading to Him. What a great loss, impossible to compensate, it is to fall and get stuck on the way after taking it.

Decision first appears and develops in the heart, grows firmer and stronger as a feeling, and then becomes a very powerful drive directing one toward his or her destination. In this context, decision signifies an intention and resembles a seed sown in the heart’s soil. If the one who has this intention or seed in his or her heart receives help from God Almighty, the seed germinates and grows into an elaborate, fruitful tree. After a few steps traveled in decision, one finds resolution, which is defined as being determined to do something, steadfast in one’s pursuit, and consciously fulfilling all responsibilities undertaken. Resolution is the first step toward the “heavens” of reliance and surrender. The Qur’an describes this step and the final point to be reached: When you are resolved, rely on (or put your trust in) God (3:159). If this first step can be taken through reliance on and submission to God, then the road becomes level and easy to walk on, and one travels it as if flying through the air.

Decision and resolution are two important dimensions or functions of willpower. Every traveler who intends to make a long journey must stop at the station of decision and resolution to receive the permit or visa, given by God, in order to progress to higher stations. Only after this does the journey truly begin. One who has taken the wings of decision and resolution feels attracted toward the goal and, no longer advancing by his or her own power, is taken to it. A friend of God says: Whoever overflows with the desire to meet with God, despite his inability to fulfill the requirements of the way leading to his goal, God Himself comes to him. God then becomes his or her eyes with which to see, ears with which to hear, and tongue with which to speak.

For the traveler who flies along on the wings of decision and resolution, meeting with God means finding subsistence in or through annihilation. For those with whom God wills and desires to meet, it means subsistence within subsistence, [2] and they suffer no trouble or pain in the “virtuous circle,” [3] where they encounter good after good. In this circle pain changes into pleasure, and wrath or chastisement are manifested as favors. One who has reached this point always utters in pleasure: Whatever comes from You, whether it be a favor or punishment, is good. With a cup of resignation in one’s hand, he or she sips whatever comes from God, the Truth, as if it were the water of Paradise.

Notes

1. There is more than one way to God. It is said that there are as many ways or paths to God as there are breaths of people. Such a statement is said to express the differences in people’s temperaments and moods. In addition, spiritual orders use different rituals to help their initiates make progress on the spiritual path.
2. This phrase denotes the concept of compound subsistence, defined as a “firmer subsistence” and as “being well-versed or grounded in subsistence.”
3. This is the opposite of the “vicious circle” that so many people encounter in their daily lives.

A sudden vibration I feel above the earth; a rhythmic beat, like a marching band. A caressing and tranquil harmony permeates from all around. It is no stranger to me; I seem to recall this experience previously. My parents, from whose fruit I was spawn, told me stories of merciful droplets that would fall from the sky. Several miles high they would come to our aid. They were the answer to our prayers. Now, I alone, a single seed destined to beget my own clan of many fruits rejoice for the coming of rain. I wonder if the rain knows that it will allow me to fulfill my potential. Nevertheless, all that really matters is that there is an All Knowing One who brings me my sustenance from an unexpected and contrasting place – miles high in the sky.

I feel an eruption within me as the cold, parched earth moistens from all around. Although given no mouth, I have the required faculties to absorb the moisture through my rotting shell. Waiting to break free and penetrate the earth above, I first ensure that my presence is firmly established and stable by means of sprouting deep within the earth – how else would I bear the weight of my future children. Like the umbilical cord of a human child, I too draw my sustenance (earth/water) by means of my intertwined roots deep within the earth. Two miraculous and contrasting elements are earth and water. Complete opposites which do not compete but work in unison. No taste and hardly any color. There are no visible workers in sight or artists holding paint brushes in their hands, but my first sprout, which has now penetrated the earth, has various shades of green.

I sprout out of the earth in prostrated form and in awe of the events thus far. An act to acknowledge His all encompassing Power and Compassion; I am humbled by Thee. The more I accept my insufficiencies and impotence compared to His Might, the more I am nourished and sustained. Now there is a new guest which visits me at length each day. Its warmth caresses my newly formed leaves and energizes my zeal to extend and expand – the sun. Yet another contrasting force from where my roots spread deeper into the earth. The sun’s light, from millions of miles high, synergizes with the earth, air, and water to give me the strength I need to grow. I’m sure none of these causes (earth, air, water, and light) are aware of each other. If they were, they would most certainly be in conflict with each others’ will. The display of solidarity between them could only be explained by the Power of Authority and Unity, Who has Governance and Command over all. None fall out of their jurisdiction. All these causes are but only a veil to my Makers Dignity and Grandeur; however, His Divine Unity and Glory does demand that I be observed from beyond these superficial causes and acknowledge that He is the True Cause. All these conflicting elements become subservient to my needs. Indeed, He is the Creator of all things.

It has been quite some time now since my inception from within the womb of the earth. I stand tall with several arms branching out, adorned with leaves like open hands constantly asking for nourishment from my Maker. In return, He wants me to attract others to His fine display by means of decorating me with luscious flowers, neatly and purposely laid out petals side by side. Within my flowers I carry the pollen required to sustain and fulfill the purpose of other creatures and life forms. Just another piece of the ecological jig saw, which becomes un-puzzled when looked through the rational eyes of belief. No harm is inflicted to me as I hear the buzzing of wings circling my ornamental, soft, colorful, and tasty bloom. A poisonous bug pilots his landing delicately on a petal which is now fully blossomed. A succulent feast I offer to this creature that carries a toxic sting, but produces very sweet, multipurpose nourishment for its own clan and various other life forms.

I have now matured, ready to display the next work of art my Maker had preordained within my core. I must bear fruit to fulfill various other acts of wisdom; to continue my species, to act as a source of sustenance to other life forms, and once again to attract and amaze all consciously observing eyes to the Mercy, Compassion, Art, Knowledge, and Wisdom that my Creator has displayed. A picture does tell a thousand words; however, I also speak in as many tongues as there are languages. I have become a vessel to translate My Designer’s subtle but prominent messages.

My fruit, like a human child, has various stages of growth and formation. My children, too, start off as a humble seed but I fulfill my potential within a very short period of time. All my cousins and relatives follow a similar process; however, we are all commanded to bear our offsprings at different times to cater to different needs. Take, for example, the orange or apple, whose trees usually bear their fruit during autumn and winter months. They contain various nutrients and vitamins to nourish their consumers and assist in the preventing of (or aid in the healing of) common ailments that humans are susceptible to during these months.

My fruit is now mature – ready to bedazzle its observing audience and tantalize its consumer as a delicious culinary delight. It is fashioned and conserved with an outer layer to protect it from harmful outside elements. It is painted with various shades of a variety of colors and endowed with a succulence not to be found within the earth, water, air, or light! I feel so honored in being given the opportunity by my Maker to be a demonstration of His Might and Art, however small I may be in the big scheme of things. I have had no control over any of my faculties or attributes in developing into a fruitful tree, nor did any of the elements which have assisted me to grow. I have become a means in consolidating and manifesting many of my Designer’s beautiful Names and Attributes.

The time has now come for me to rest and experience my own resurrection. With all my offspring now either consumed and having given nutrition to other life forms or fallen to the earth where it had originated from, I shed my leaves. They too will fulfill another purpose by being a nutrient to the earth and the creatures within. I give praise to my Sustainer, Who has looked after and catered to all my needs; from being a humble seed to a fruitful tree bearing my own seeds. I have served many purposes, both physical and metaphysical. In conclusion I do ask all that have witnessed my journey: “Then which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?”

Many important characteristics exist in seeds. Seeds are equipped with all the necessary information about the branches and leaves of the plant which they will become, as well as the number and shape of these leaves. Within the seed is programmed the color, fineness or thickness of the bark, the number and width of the tubes that carry food and water, whether the plant will bear fruit or not, and if it bears fruit, the taste, smell, shape and color of this fruit. Even information about how the plant will react to a negative condition in the environment during normal development is registered in this program. For example, a plant that would normally develop under ideal climatic conditions is programmed to produce seeds in a short term to protect reproduction under unsuitable conditions like drought and great heat. God is He Who splits the seed-grain and the fruit-stone (so that they germinate by His command). He brings forth the living from the dead, and He is One Who brings forth the dead from the living; such is God: how then are you turned away from the truth and make false claims? (An’am 6:95)

If we consider the growth process of the plant from a seed that is equipped with perfect information, we can see that once the appropriate conditions have been created the seed first germinates and then the body and leaves are formed on this stem. When the time is right, flowers form in keeping with the divine order. The flowers that later form the fruit and seeds for further plants are either brought together with their own pollen (cleistogamy or self-pollenization) or with other pollen from another plant of the same type (cross-pollination) in a perfectly organized system. Self-pollenization occurs either before the flower opens or after the pollen has developed. Because the pistil and stamens of some plants are hidden by some other parts of the plant, it is difficult for the pollen to reach here, so the plant obeys what is ordered and self-pollinates.

In cross-pollination, plants use the pollen from another plant of their own species. Pollen transportation occurs with the help of the wind, rain or insects that visit flowers.

The flowers of many plants that are pollinated by the wind and rain are very modest in appearance, but they have been created in a way to produce pollen in abundance. Although most of the pollen that is carried away by the wind and rain are destroyed, this lost pollen organically enriches the soil and at least some of this pollen will find a flower to pollinate. Our Lord has bestowed those flowers that are pollinated by insects with various colors and shapes to attract these visitors. During pollination, the pollen of flowers that have less pollen than the self-pollinating flowers are carried by bees and other insects, whose legs, wings, and antennae have been created specifically for this task, as they have been inspired (Nahl 16:68–69). Nectar and pollen are the reward for these insects which provide pollination.

Bees are the most important group among the insects that carry out the task of pollination. When bees are mentioned, most people think of the honeybee, but bumblebees also serve mankind. In addition to the products they offer to us, bees are indispensable for their contributions to plant reproduction.

Bees store the nectar they have sucked from the flowers in a “honey stomach” and then empty this nectar into a honeycomb as honey. The bees legs, granted to them by the Creator, allows them in their duty of collecting pollen. The back legs of the bees are different from that of all other insects. The long hairs that are aligned on these stocky legs act almost like a basket to collect the pollen.

Of the 82 plant types that meet 90% of the human food needs around the world, 63 (77%) are pollinated by bees; without bees it would be impossible for these plants to produce seed. Bees are absolutely necessary for the formation of seeds in plants that we eat, like apples, pears, peaches, apricots, cherries, melons, watermelons or pumpkins, or indeed in those used in industry, like sunflowers, safflowers, rapeseed, cotton, or sugar beets, or those used for feeding livestock, like clover, sainfoin, red clover, or vetch. This task carried out by bee pollination every year throughout the world is much more important than the production of honey. Moreover, bees make life possible for animals from thousands of species who use these plants as food or shelter. We should not forget the connection Einstein drew between the disappearance of the bees from the ecosystem and Doomsday.

Another vital mission entrusted to bees is the prevention of erosion. Plants that need the pollination of bees, like members of the Asteraceae, Boraginaceae, Brassicaceae, Campanulaceae, Compositae and Fabaceae families, are widespread in areas were there are serious threats of erosion. Similarly, feed crops, which are very important in feeding livestock and preserving the ecological balance, also need insects for pollination. In plants like clover, the upper side of the flower organs is covered by a membrane; in these plants, bees break this membrane to get at the pollen; if it were not for bees, the pollen would remain trapped.

It is by Divine guidance that bees take nectar and pollen from the same type of plants all day. Even if there are other plants which contain more nectar and pollen, bees only stop at the type of flower that it first visited. The fact that bees collect nectar and pollen from the same type of plants all day long shows that this is not something they do randomly.

Like many other living things in the universe bees are in service to mankind, operating under the rules set by the Lord of the Worlds. However, activities that are carried out without investigating the meaning of the universe and the wisdom behind the creation of the living things, such as unplanned industrialization, which in turn has lead to an increase in air pollution, or the careless use of chemical materials, are the reason for a decrease in the population of bees, day by day. Never mind the wars and fires started by mankind, any venture that may cause the bees to disappear could lead to the destruction of mankind; if the bees become extinct, mankind will face many disasters, like erosion, desertification and the extinction of plants which are food for us and for the animals we raise.

Some personalities are like bamboo, very hard, very tough; they wait, they make one wait, but eventually they compensate for their slow start very quickly.

For some people, accepting Islam or undertaking and accomplishing an exalted mission resembles growing bamboo. Why? We can best answer this question by looking at how bamboo grows: First the grass seed is sown, watered, and fertilized. No change can be observed in the seed during the first year. The seed is watered and fertilized again. The bamboo does not send forth any shoots from the soil during the second year either. The same actions are repeated for the third and fourth years too; the seed is watered and fertilized, but the resilient seed does not send forth any shoots during this period either. The farmer carries on watering and fertilizing the bamboo with great patience during the fifth year too. At last, towards the end of the fifth year, the bamboo starts to sprout and within a very short period, about 6 weeks, it reaches approximately 27 meters in height.

The first question that comes to minds here is: Has the bamboo reached a height of 27 meters in 6 weeks or over 5 years? The answer to this question is, of course, 5 years. If the seed had not been watered and fertilized for five years, if a great deal of patience and persistence had not been employed, we would not be able to talk about growth at all; indeed the bamboo would not even exist. Therefore, it is that five-year long process of waiting, slowly softening, constantly feeding the chemical and physical elements of the soil, adding water, letting the Sun warm the seed that formed the embryo of the bamboo. Of course, this did not happen spontaneously; it has most certainly happened and continues to happen because The Causer of all Causes, God, has brought all the causes together and given the order to sprout; it is His and life-giving breath that has caused the seed to grow.

Some personalities are like bamboo, very hard, very tough; they wait, they make one wait, but eventually they compensate for their slow start very quickly. This period can last anywhere from 3 to 30 years-they make others wait, or perhaps they are waiting themselves. They absorb our teardrops, our sweat, and our effort, like an infinite vacuum, until the right time comes and they rise with such speed that they overtake those that were in the lead. Like athletes, as they come closer to the finish line, their immense effort is enough to close any gaps; they finish the race first.

How long a person makes others wait or how long that person waits themselves before accepting the truth is dependent on that person’s will power, character, and their current situation. But of course, character plays a role here. If people are not nurtured by what they require, that thing which is most dominant in their character, then they will not feel satisfied. For example: If a person’s dominant character is that which is reflected in the name of God, the Affectionate and the Loving, then before they can accept anything or invite another into their heart, they need and seek love; this is the key to their making any changes. They will only relent if enough love is shown to them. If this does not happen, then they will not give in.

This can be observed in the conversion of some people to Islam. Sometimes, after a long period of investment, it can be observed, with great surprise, that these people have accepted the religion, yet this seems, on face value, to have been caused by a trivial event. Any small matter may set off this great transformation; it is not for us to know what is the key. Our concern is only to continue with the investment, to keep watering, feeding, and nurturing by representing the fundamentals of our religion . . . Most likely, those who are among the first to carry out such actions are those who expend the greatest amount of energy and those who suffer the most.

There are many unsung heroes of service; they have watered the seeds of the future with their tears and with the sweat of their brow. These people are not mentioned anywhere, nor have they ever been heard of. They do not rest, they do not take time to smell the flowers, or to eat the fruit of their labor; they make an effort merely for the sake of God. A tiny movement, the slightest effort may sometimes bear fruit; but it is not just the person who picks the fruit who will get the credit. All of those who contributed to the growth of the tree and the ripening of the fruit will be given credit. God, the Just, the All-Wise does not judge only according to physical appearance, He judges in accordance with the essence and the reality, and it is for this reason that He does not overlook anyone, He does not forget anything, and recompenses everyone’s effort completely.

The Makkans that became Muslims after the conquest of Makka on 11 January 630 (8 Hijri, 20 Ramadan), are, in a way, the bamboo of Islam. The Prophet invited them to belief over 13 years in Makka, from 610 to 622. He watered their hearts with his holy tears and the sweat of his brow. Then, he waited in Madina with patience for eight years. At last, in 630, that is to say, after 21 years had passed since the beginning of the revelation, in those rock-hard hearts that were looked after and watered by the Prophet and his honorable companions with relentless zeal and effort, the seed of belief came to life; it grew branches and blossomed and eventually produced fruit. Bamboo is said to take five years to grow, but those unbelievers took nearly 21 years to start to sprout. Thank God that they began to grow and were able to learn about Islam from the Prophet.

In conclusion, you reap what you sow. We should not aim to be the person who gathers the fruit; that is not our role. We are the one who shall tend the seed and water it with loving care. Putting effort and time into guiding others to the right path will please God; this should be our ultimate aim. Those who are prepared to wait for a person to mature, that is 21 years, patiently hoping to conquer the heart to bring that person to the right way are indeed following the way of the Prophet, the way of informing and invitation. One who embarks on this journey without patience will achieve nothing.

In his great works, the main precept of his philosophy was that God had sent people two kinds of books; one that is written and one that is created. Namely, these two books are the Qur’an and the Universe. Since both of these came from the same God as guidance for humanity, there can be no conflict between them. Indeed, it is impossible to understand one of them without the other, because they reveal and explain one another. While the universe can be compared to a book that is filled with multiple manifestations of God’s exalted names and attributes, which are displayed for all existence, the Qur’an can be compared to a manual that guides us through these manifestations on the path to finding God. Therefore, believers should make no distinction between the Qur’an and the universe. In short, the Qur’an and the universe can be called, if I may coin a term, books of coexistence.

In his writings, Nursi examines the universe in the way indicated by the Holy Qur’an, that is reading it for its meaning, learning The Divine Names and Attributes, and other truths of belief. The purpose of this book is to describe its Author and Maker, and to subscribe all evidence of life in the universe to their Creator. Thus, an important element when studying the writings of Nursi, the Risale-i Nur, is to reflect or contemplate, i.e. to ‘read the Book of the Universe in order to increase one’s knowledge of God and to affirm faith in His existence’. By using this method Bediuzzaman solves many mysteries of religion in the Risale-i Nur, such as bodily resurrection, Divine Destiny, man’s will, the riddle of the constant activity of the universe and the motion of particles.

Once one understands that the books of coexistence concept is the central point in Nursi’s philosophy, it is quite possible to see traces of that idea in all his works. In this essay, I will establish the connections between the books of coexistence and Nursi’s Concept of Prayer. This will serve as an appendage to Nursi’s writings on the Concept of Prayer.

The Idea of Prayer within the Books of Coexistence

According to Nursi’s perspective, existence is divided into two parts. The first is that of God, whose source of existence is Himself, while the second is the rest of all existence, created by God Himself. In other words, the first part is the Creator and the second is the creation. Since every single thing in the universe has a purpose, the entire universe must have a purpose too. The purpose of its existence is to display God’s attributes and to worship and praise Him. In that sense, even though the average person does not understand the prayer of creation in a profound way, everything, even every particle in the universe, worships and prays to God in its own language. Like all sentient beings, each particle says “In the name of God” at the start of a motion, and it raises loads infinitely exceeding its strength. For example, a tiny seed carries the weight of a huge pine tree. Upon completion of its duty, a particle says “All praise be to God.” By exhibiting an art that is beautiful and full of purpose and a beauty that is fine and beneficial, astounding to all minds, it displays a work of art like an ode in praise to the Glorious Maker.

In every facet of every motion of every single particle the light of Divine Unity shines like the sun. If a particle is not a representative of God, acting with His permission and under His authority, and if it is not undergoing change within His knowledge and limitless power, then it must have eyes that see everything, a face that looks to all things, and authority over all things. For every particle within each of the four elements acts, or can act, in an orderly fashion, in harmony with all animate beings. The order within things and laws according to which they are formed differ from one thing to the next. If this order was not known to the particles, the particles could not act, or even if they could act, they could not act without error. Nevertheless, we see that everything acts without any error. In which case, the particles which are performing their duties are either acting with the permission and the command, and within the knowledge and at the will of the Owner of an all-encompassing knowledge, or they themselves must have such an all-encompassing knowledge and power.¹

“Those in the heavens and on earth prostrate themselves to God willingly or unwillingly, and so do their shadows, mornings and evenings.” (Qur’an 13:15)”The seven heavens andthe earth, and all beings therein, declare His glory: there is nothing but celebrates His praise; And yet you understand not how they declare His glory! Verily He is All-Clement, Most Forgiving .”(Qur’an 17:44)

After stating Nursi’s point about the purpose of all beings, considering them as worshippers of God, it is then necessary to make clear that this point of view comes from the Qur’an. In other words, Nursi looks at nature, the universe, and the creation from the perspective of the Qur’anic verses. According to him, as the Qur’an is the revealed version of God’s created book, that is, of all of existence, one who desires the most beneficial knowledge concerning existence should read this revealed version. And this is what Nursi continuously does, even though sometimes he does not cite the Qur’an directly. In this sense, the following verses could be considered as the basis of what he takes from the Holy Book, the Qur’an:”Those in the heavens and on earth prostrate themselves to God willingly or unwillingly, and so do their shadows mornings and evenings.” (13/15) “See you not that to God bow down in worship all things that are in the heavens and on earth, -the sun, the moon, the stars; the hills, the trees, the animals; and a great number among mankind? …” (22/18) “And the herbs and the trees both prostrate themselves to God.” (55/6) “There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Gracious God as a worshiper.” (19/93) “The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein, declare His glory: there is no a thing but celebrates His praise; And yet you understand not how they declare His glory! Verily He is All-Clement, Most Forgiving.” (17/44) The Concept of Prayer in Nursi’s Works Nursi divides prayer into two main groups: The prayer of all existence, including human beings, and the prayer of human beings, the first of which is subdivided into four.

a. The Prayer of Movement and Cessation

According to Nursi, when we look casually at the universe, we can see that every particle is either moving or at rest. Each particle, be it moving or at rest, is working in an orderly fashion with the other particles in the universe. In other words, even though every particle is, at any given time, either moving or resting in a connected environment with all other particles, there is no chaos that can be observed in the universe. There can be two explanations for this situation; either every particle in the universe knows exactly when every other particle is going to move or cease moving and acts in a manner that takes these factors into account, or every single particle is a representative and worshiper of God, acting with His permission and under His authority, and saying “In the name of God” before every movement and “All praise be to God” before stopping and resting; that is, it is acting with the permission of God and in an orderly manner. Nursi finds the second explanation more reasonable than the first and he regards every movement and cessation of every single particle as a type of prayer; this prayer I have termed the prayer of movement and cessation.²

b. The Prayer of Ability

All creatures pray to God through their language of need. For instance, a sprouting seed prays to God and virtually says: “O my Lord! To be able to display Your Attributes and Names, I need to grow. Please make me grow and give me a chance to reflect your divine names in a detailed fashion. Allow me to become a tree.” Moreover, Nursi sees cause and effect as a prayer of ability. He gives the example of a seed again, and says that when water, the light of the sun, and soil come near a seed, they all pray to God to make the seed grow into a tree. As they do not have the power to make the seed into a tree, the only thing that they can do is to pray to God; they pray to God in their own languages. Therefore, water, sunlight and soil are not the true cause of the tree. As the Qur’an states, even if we do not understand their prayers and their worship, these things are no more than worshipers. The real cause of the tree is God. Otherwise, one would have to admit that water knows how to get help from the sun, and the sun knows the needs of the seed, and the seed knows how to grow into an orange or apple tree.

c. The Prayer of Need

Nursi says that every living being prays to God to get what it needs in the language of need. As living beings do not have the authority or the ability to get what they need, such as water, air, and light, with their own power, that is, they cannot create what they need, they must therefore pray to God in the language of need in order to attain what they require. When we look at nature, we can observe that living things get their needs in an appropriate season in an appropriate amount. They get water from the heavens at the appropriate time in the appropriate amount. They get light from the sun at the appropriate time in the appropriate amount. They get all the oxygen or carbon dioxide they need to breathe from the atmosphere. Does a tree have the power to make clouds bring rain? Does a flower have strength enough to command the sun to shine? Can an animal tell the trees to produce oxygen? Actually, the only power these things have is the power of the prayer of need.³

d. The Prayer of Inability

According to Nursi, when one is in a difficult situation, such as finding oneself in poverty or in distress, helpless, inadequate, or not able to change one’s situation, then this will lead to another kind of prayer, the prayer of inabi-lity. According to his perspective, if a living being is in a difficult situation, such as when a whale is beached and is unable to rescue itself, the inability of that creature becomes a form of prayer to God in its own language, begging to be rescued from the difficult situation.⁴ The best example we can select from the Risale-i Nur concerning the prayer of inability is the story of Jonah. As stated in the Qur’an, Jonah was sent to a town as a prophet. Preaching over many years, he realized that the people of the town were not going to believe him. He then left the town, without first asking the permission of God, and went to sea. While traveling, a hurricane came and he fell into the dark sea. After all these things had happened, he then recognized and accepted that no one could rescue him except God; he had no power to help himself. At that time, his inability, his weakness, his distress became a prayer and then a whale came and swallowed him. Finally, the whale spat him out on the land; it was a miraculous rescue. From Nursi’s point of view, neither Jonah nor the whale had the power to solve the problem. Nevertheless, Jonah’s distress was a prayer to God in its own language and God had the whale help him.⁵

The Prayer of Human Beings

a. The Prayer of the Tongue

The prayer of the tongue is a prayer of human beings in their own languages to attain what they need or what they seek. For instance, a sick person may say “O my Lord! I would love to be healthy,” and beg for such a cure from God. In which case, God will either give this person exactly what he/she was seeking, such as a cure, as he/she had requested, or whatever he/she needs, such as staying unhealthy, if being healthy and full of bodily desires may lead this person to a rebellious life style. Actually, the main purpose of prayer is merely to worship God, to establish a good relationship with Him, and to seek His good pleasure. The earthly effects of prayer are the unintentional effects of the prayer and God’s gifts to the worshiper. Because prayer is the main worship of God, there cannot be any intention in it except to please God. Therefore, the needs of the human being are secondary to the glorification of God. For instance, farmers pray to God for rain at a time of drought, or sailors pray to God when a storm strikes to seek the protection of God. Nevertheless, neither the rain nor the protection of God is the main purpose of such prayers. On the contrary, the drought is the correct time of prayer for farmers and the storm is the correct time of prayer for sailors. In short, every need of a human being is a right cause and time to pray to God and to establish a good relationship with him, but these are not the main purposes of the prayer.⁶

b. The Prayer of Conscious Action

Human beings always have a goal that they are trying to reach. Students attempt to pass their examinations, businessmen attempt to make greater profits, engineers seek to improve product quality, and so on. What these people have in common is that they are trying to attain their goals. Students study to pass the examinations, business men work harder to make greater profits, and engineers put greater effort into their work to produce better quality products. It is at this point that the prayer of conscious action emerges, according to Nursi. In his eyes, every action and the effort of every human being to reach their goal is a kind of prayer in the language of conscious action. The studying of students is a prayer to God in a special language, a prayer to help them pass their examinations, the efforts of businessmen are a prayer to God in a special language, a prayer to gain them greater profits, and the efforts of engineers are a prayer to God in a special language to improve product quality; all these actions are prayers addressed to God to help these people reach their goals.⁷ The roots of this concept are actually hidden in Nursi’s perspective of cause and effect.

Although Nursi’s ideas about cause and effect require a separate article to discuss them in detail, we can shed a little light on them here. Nursi has stated that the causes in nature cannot be the real causes of effects because the causes are not conscious of their effects. Moreover, they do not have the power to create the effects, and they do not always cause their effects. If it were otherwise, there would be as many different powers as there were causes. The result of this would necessarily be chaos in nature. However, the only reality in nature is unity. If there is unity in nature, there must be unity in power too. The only power is the power of God. Therefore, the real cause of the effects is God. Since the causes usually appear before the effects, people think that the cause dictates the effect. Nevertheless, there is no order of cause and effect, but there is just the previous and the next order. As this is the order that God put in nature, a human being must give importance to that order. If people do not respect and follow what God put in nature as an order, they will receive the punishment of nature, which is failure. In short, every action of every human being to reach his/her target is a kind of prayer to God, a prayer that shows respect to the order God has instilled in nature.⁸ In conclusion, Nursi looks at all of existence as a created existence, all of existence that is except God. Since there is just the Creator and the Creation, there can only be one type of relationship between them; this relationship is worship and prayer, and every scene witnessed in nature is a different sort of prayer. As stated in the Qur’an: “The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein, glorify Him and there is not a thing but glorifies His Praise. But you understand not their glorification. Truly, He is All-Clement, Most Forgiving.” (17/44)

Footnotes

1. Sozler, Nursi, Said, Envar Nesriyat, Istanbul, 1989, pp. 547-548.
2. Ibid, p. 549.
3. Mektubat, Nursi, Said, Istanbul, Envar Nesriyat, 1991, p.299.
4. Ibid., pp.299-300.
5. Ibid., p.300.
6. Lem’alar, Nursi, Said, Istanbul, Envar Nesriyat, 1990, pp.7-10.
7. Sozler, Nursi, Said, p.318.
8. Ibid., p.318.

In this article, we will delve a little deeper into this magnificent miracle of God: the mathematics of nature.

FLOWERS:

For example, look at the pictures given below. For 1-petalled flowers, we offer white calla lilies; for 2-petalled flowers, we offer the very rare euphorbia; and for 3-petalled flowers trilliums, lilies, and irises.

<cellpadding=”15″ cellspacing=”15″>White Calla Lilly

Trilliums

Did you ever wonder why 4-petalled flowers are so rare, and why everyone gets excited when they find a 4-leaf clover? The reason for this is because such flowers are very rare, for 4 is not a Fibonacci number. Some violets and bluets also have 4 petals.

Flowers with 5 petals are rather common. Among them are buttercups, wild roses, larkspurs, and columbines.

Examples of 8-petalled flowers are bloodroots and delphiniums. Examples of 13-petalled flowers are ragworts, corn marigolds, and cinerarias; those with 21 petals are daisies, asters, and chicories; and those with 34 petals are oxeye daisies, sunflowers, plantains, and pyrethrums.

Some families of daisies, such as the michaelmas daisies from the asteraceae family, have 55 and 89 petals.

Seed and flower heads

The echinacea purpura is a member of the daisy family native to the Illinois prairie. You can see in Figure 1 that the orange œpetals seem to form spirals curving both to the left and to the right. At the edge of the picture, if you count those spiraling to the right as you go outwards, you will notice that there are 55 spirals (a Fibonacci number). A little further toward the center, you can count 34 spirals (another Fibonacci number). If you count the spirals going the other way, you will see that the pair of numbers (counting the spirals curving toward the left and toward the right) are neighbors in the Fibonacci number series.

The same happens in many seeds and flower heads, among them sunflower seeds, daisies, pineapples, and pine cones. The reason for this is that such an arrangement packs the optimal number of seeds so that no matter how large the seed head is, the seeds are always packed uniformly at any stage. As they are the same size in any given area, there is no crowding in the center and no scarcity at the edges.

The spirals form a pattern: The œcurvier ones

appear near the center, while the flatter ones, which are more numerous, appear the further out you go. Thus the number of spirals we see in either direction differs according to the size of the flower’s head. On a large flower head, we see more spirals further out than we do near the center. The numbers of spirals in each direction are (almost always) neighboring Fibonacci numbers!

Let’s observe the spirals in these beautiful arts of the Infinite Artist. Consider the daisy. In the close-packed arrangement of tiny florets in the daisy blossom’s core, you can see the phenomenon in an almost two-dimensional form. As shown in Figure 2 there are 21 (a Fibonacci number) counterclockwise spirals and 34 (another Fibonacci number) logarithmic or equiangular spirals. In any daisy, the combination of counterclockwise and clockwise spirals generally consists of successive terms in the Fibonacci sequence.

The Math Behind It

Botanists have shown that plants grow from a single tiny group of cells right at the tip of any branch or twig belonging to a growing plant or tree. This tip is called the meristem. They grow in size after their formation, but new cells are formed only at such growing points. Cells further down the stem expand, and thus cause the growing point to rise. This means that a growing plant produces seeds at the flower’s center, and that those seeds then push the other seeds outward. Each seed settles into a location that turns out to have a specific constant angle of rotation relative to the previous seed. This constant rotation forms the spirals.

Consider the following case. There are n seeds in the arrangement. The nearest seed is seed 1, the next one is seed 2, and so on. If each seed has an area of 1, we have a total area of n and a circle with a radius of from the area formula (Area= ). Given this, the distance from the center to each seed is proportional to the square root of its seed number. If we call this angle alpha, the angle of seed k will be alpha*k. So we can easily describe the location of any seed in polar coordinates with and theta=k*alpha.

If we chose an angle of 0.15 (54A) the result will be far better. But we will be done again after 20 seeds, for 20*0.15=3, so after 3 complete turns we will be back on the same line. If we choose 0.48, which is a little bit better than 0.15, we will come back to the original line in 25 rotations.

Therefore, speaking logically, if we choose an irrational number we will not return to the original line. Of course we will get close to it, since every irrational number has some kind of rational approximation. In nature, we mostly observe the so-called golden ratio, an irrational (1.618 = ), which is the root of the equation , which is the limit of the ratio of two consecutive Fibonacci numbers.

With this angle of rotation, each seed is rotated approximately 1.618 revolutions from the previous seed (i.e., 0.618 revolutions or 0.618*360=222.5A). Notice how well distributed the seeds appear; for there is no clumping and very little wasted space. Although the pattern grows quite large, the distances between neighboring seeds appear to stay constant. In nature, you can see that plants grow their seeds simply where there is the most room.

It is really amazing that a single fixed angle can produce the optimal design no matter how large the plant becomes. For example, once a leaf’s angle is fixed, that leaf will œdo its best not to obscure the leaves below and œdo its best not to be obscured by any leaves that will grow above it. Similarly, once a seed is positioned on a seed head, the new seeds continue to push the older ones out in a straight line. However, it retains the seed head’s original angle. The seeds will always be packed uniformly on the seed head regardless of the head’s size. The principle that a single angle produces uniform packing no matter how much growth appears thereafter was proved mathematically only in 1993 by the French mathematicians Douady and Couder.

We frequently observe the golden ration in nature. In addition, we can try flowers and flowers, at least mathematically and as models.

Conclusion

We look at nature and see God’s creation. Most people just look at the general design, but others also study the seeds and their designs. As the Qur’an’s first verse tells us to œRead, in the sense of reading the signs in nature (the Qur’an was revealed to a largely illiterate people who had no significant body of written literature), we should understand this as an indication to analyze nature.

As a mathematician, I see that God has arranged everything in nature according to a mathematical order. He puts the maximum number of seeds in a minimum area. Bees use hexagons to store the maximum amount of honey in a minimal space. This fact is even mentioned in Qur’an 16:68: Your Lord revealed to the bee. Those who believe in evolution say that the picture is very clear. But there is a great art in front of us, one which is very well balanced and in perfect accord with mathematical harmony. This shows that there is no luck or chance in the world, and that everything is based on the rules that God has laid down for His creation.

Footnote

1. Fibonacci (Leonardo da Pisa, c1175-1250): The son of a Pisan merchant who also served as a customs officer in North Africa. He travelled widely in Barbary (Algeria) and was later sent on business trips to Egypt, Syria, Greece, Sicily and Provence. In 1200 he returned to Pisa and used the knowledge that he had gained on his travels to write Liber abaci, in which he introduced the Latin-speaking world to the decimal number system. Fibonacci numbers begin with 1,1 and the next term is the sum of the two previous terms. The first ones in the series are 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,

References

Mathematics Magazine 75:3 (June 2002): 163-73.

http://ccins.camosun.bc.ca/~jbritton/fibslide/jbfibslide.htm.

G. J. Mitchison, œPhyllotaxis and the Fibonacci Series, Science 1965, 270-75.

P. Stevens, Patterns in Nature (New York: Little Brown and Co.,1974).

[Humanity has been created on the most excellent pattern and given the most comprehensive abilities. As a result, all of us have been cast into an arena of trial and examination in which we may rise from the lowest of beings to the highest, from the Earth to the Divine Throne, from minute particles to the sun. We have been sent here as a miracle of Divine Power, the result of creation, and a wonder of Divine art. Each of us must choose a path leading either to infinite ascent or to infinite descent.]

First Remark

Our needs do not differ markedly from those of all other beings, to which we are connected. Our needs spread throughout the world, and our desires extend to eternity. Just as we want a flower, we want the spring. Just as we desire a garden, we desire everlasting Paradise. Just as we long to see a friend, we long to see the All-Beauteous One of Glory. Just as we travel to visit our beloved, we need our Beloved’s door to be opened. Just as we seek to visit the 99 percent of our friends who have saved themselves from eternal separation by traveling to the intermediate realm, we need to seek refuge at the Absolutely Powerful One’s court. This One will close this world’s door and open that of the Hereafter, which is an exhibition of wonders. He will remove this world and establish the Hereafter in its place.

For those people in this position, the only True Object of Worship will be One Whose hand holds the reins and treasuries of all things; Who sees all things, is omnipresent, beyond space, All-Powerful, and without fault or defect; an All-Powerful One of Glory, an All-Compassionate One of Beauty, and an All-Wise One of Perfection.

O humanity, if you serve Him alone you will earn a place superior to all creatures. If you do not, however, you will become an abased servant to impotent creatures. If you rely on your own ego and power, thereby abandoning reliance on God and supplication, you will deviate into pride and boasting. In such a case, you will fall lower than an ant or bee in regard to goodness and creation, and become weaker than a spider or a fly.

O humanity, you have two aspects. The first one is that of creation, good, acts, and positivity; the other is that of destruction, non-existence, evil, negativity, and passivity. In regard to the first aspect, your capabilities cannot exceed those of a bee or a sparrow, and your talents are weaker than those of a spider or fly.

In regard to the second aspect, you surpass the mountains, Earth, and skies. You agreed to assume a burden after they said they could not do so and so shrank from it. You assumed a sphere that is more extensive and vaster than they are. When you do good, you can do so only to the extent of your own power and strength, and to the degree your hand can reach. When you commit evil and destruction, your evil is overwhelming, and your destruction spreads.

For example, unblief is an evil, a destruction, an absence of affirmation. A single sin as it may seem, it implies an insult to all creation, debasement of all the Divine Names and degradation of the whole of mankind. For the whole of creation has a sublime rank and important task, each being a massive of the Lord, a mirror of His Glory and an official of His Divinity. Unbelief denies them the rank bestowed by those functions, and reduces them to the state of play-things of chance, to the level of being insignificant, unless and worthless objects doomed to decay and decomposition.

Unbelief, through denial, also insults the Divine Names, even though their inscriptions, manifestations, and beauties are seen throughout the universe and in the mirrors of beings. It makes humanity more abased and weaker, more powerless and needy, than the lowliest transient animal. And this despite the fact that humanity is God’s vicegerent on Earth.

Unbelief denies that humanity is a well-composed ode of wisdom proclaiming the Sacred Divine Names’ manifestations; a seed-like self-evident miracle of Divine power containing within itself an entire eternal tree; and that part of creation that assumed the “Supreme Trust” and thus rose to a higher level than the Earth, sky, and mountains-and even gained superiority over the angels. Unbelief reduces this glorious creation a common sign-board without meaning, something confused and decaying swiftly.

In short: The evil-commanding soul may commit infinite harm through its destruction and evil, whereas its power for creativity and good is extremely small and partial. It may destroy in one day what it took 100 days to build.

However, if the soul gives up egoism and seeks good and existence from Divine assistance, foregoes evil and destruction and relying on itself, and seeks forgiveness so that it can become a true servant of God, it will manifest the meaning of the verse: God will change their evil into good (Qur’an 25:70). Its infinite capacity for evil will be transformed into an infinite capacity for good. It will acquire the value of the Most Excellent of Patterns and ascend to the highest of the high.

O heedless humanity, see the Almighty’s munificence and generosity. Although it would be entirely just to regard an evil as 1,000 evils and a good deed as one or perhaps nothing at all, He records one evil as one and a good deed is multiplied by 10, and sometimes by 70 or 700 or even 7,000. You also will understand from this Remark that being sent to Hell, which is so dreadful, is a just retribution for the evil deed, while being sent to Paradise is pure generosity.

Second Remark

Humanity has two faces. One is the human ego, which looks to the life of this world. The other is that which worships and serves God and looks to eternal life. In the first case, we are beings with a partial freedom of choice, a very weak power, a fast-dying flame of life, a very brief and fleeting lifespan, and a swiftly decaying physical body. Thus we are delicate, weak individuals among innumerable other individuals of the various beings inhabiting the universe. In the second case, especially with regard to our impotence and poverty that are turned toward worship, we have a truly great breadth and vast importance. The All-Wise Creator has included in human nature an infinitely vast impotence and boundlessly large poverty. He has done so that we can be extensive mirrors containing the innumerable manifestations of an All-Powerful and Compassionate One with infinite power, an All-Generous and All-Rich One with boundless wealth. Humanity resembles a seed. This seed has been given a great potential by Divine Power, and a subtle, valuable program by Divine Destiny. Using these, it may work underground and, emerging from that narrow world, enter the broad world of the air. At this point, it asks its Creator in its own way to be a tree so that it can find a perfection worthy of it. If, due to bad temperament, the seed uses its potentialities to attract harmful underground substances, soon it will rot and decay in that narrow place without benefit. But if the seed conforms to the creational command of: God is the Splitter of the seed-grain and date-stone (Qur’an 6:95) and uses its potentialities correctly, it will emerge from that narrow world and, by becoming a large fruit-bearing tree, its tiny particular reality and its spirit will assume the form of an extensive, universal reality. Similarly, great potentialities and valuable programs have been deposited in our human nature by Divine Power and Destiny. If we use them to pursue our soul’s desires and on minor pleasures under the soil of this life in the world’s narrow confines, we will decay and decompose amidst difficulties during our brief life in a constricted place, just like the rotten seed. Then we will load the responsibility on our unfortunate spirit and depart from this world. If, however, we nurture the seed of our abilities with the water of the right path and light of belief, and under the soil of worship and servitude to God, and in conformity with His commands and turn our faculties toward their true aims, we will produce branches and buds in the World of Similitudes and the Intermediate Realm. We will be seeds of great value, shining machines containing the members of an everlasting tree and permanent truth that will lead us to innumerable perfections and bounties in Paradise. And, we will be blessed and luminous fruits of the Tree of the Universe. True progress is to turn the faces of the heart, spirit, intellect, and even of the imagination and other subtle human faculties toward eternal life. Each item should be occupied with the particular duty of worship worthy of it. Progress does not consist, as the misguided imagine, of plunging into this material life as deeply as possible to taste every pleasure, even the basest; to allow our evil-commanding soul to command all our subtle faculties, and the heart and intellect, to assist it. This is not progress; it is decline.

Consider the following analogy. I entered a large town that was full of palaces. At the doors of some palaces was merry-making that resembled a brilliant theater. It captured and held everyone’s attention. I looked carefully and saw that the palace owner was at the door playing with a dog. Ladies were flirting with ill-mannered youths, women were organizing children’s games, and the doorkeeper was directing the others. I then realized that the palace’s interior was completely empty, for its refined duties were not being done. The morals of its inhabitants had declined so much that they had taken on these roles at the door. I passed on until I came to another palace. I saw that a faithful dog was stretched out at the door to serve as a stern and taciturn doorkeeper. Its appearance was undistinguished. I wondered what was going on, so I went inside. I saw that the inside was very merry. Its inhabitants were busy with their particular refined duties. The men in the first apartment were overseeing the administration and running of the palace. In the apartment over it, girls were teaching children. Above that, ladies were occupied with fine arts and beautiful embroideries. On the top floor, the owner was exchanging news with the king. In addition, he was busy with his own elevated duties connected with maintaining the peoples’ tranquillity and his own attainments and progress. They did not stop me, since they could not see me, and so I wandered around. Then I came out and looked around.

Everywhere in the town resembled the inhabitants of one or the other palace. I asked about this, and was told: “The palaces that appear happy but are empty inside belong to those foremost in unbelief and misguidance. The others belong to honorable believers.” Then in one corner I came across a palace bearing my name. I was curious. I looked more closely, and it was as if I saw my image on it. Calling out in utter bewilderment, I came to my senses.

And now I shall interpret this for you. The town was humanity’s social life, and civilization. Each palace was a human being with its various inhabitants: such subtle human faculties as eyes, ears, heart, inner heart, spirit, intellect, and things like the carnal soul and passions, desires, and anger. Each human faculty has a different duty of worship, and different pleasures and pains. The carnal soul and passions, desires and anger, are like the doorkeeper and the dog. If you make the elevated subtle faculties subject to the carnal, thereby causing them to forget their fundamental duties, this must be considered decline, not progress. You can interpret the rest for yourself. Adapted from Bediuzzaman”s Twentythird Word, Second Chapter

Before proceeding to go into details relating to the subject of Divine Decree and Destiny, we had better give the translation of some relevant verses:

With Him are the keys of the Unseen. None but He knows them. He knows what is in the land and the sea. Not a leaf falls but He knows it, not a grain amid the darkness of the earth, naught of wet or dry but it is in a Manifest Book. (al-An’am, 6.59)

There is nothing hidden in the heaven or the earth but it is in a Manifest Book. (a1-Nanzl, 27.75) It is We Who bring the dead to life.

We record what they send (of their lives and conduct to the Hereafter) and what is left of them. All things we have kept in a Manifest Record. (Ya Sin, 36.12)

They say: ‘When (will) this promise (be fulfilled), if you are truthful?’ Say: ‘The knowledge is with God only, and I am but a plain warner.’ (al-Mulk, 67. 25-6)

Nay, but it is a glorious Qur’an. On a Preserved Tablet. (al Buruj, 85. 21-2)

In a sense, Decree and Destiny are of the same meaning, but in another, Destiny means pre-determination or pre-ordinance, while Decree means execution of this ordinance or putting it into effect.

To define more clearly and elaborately, Destiny means that from the microcosm (atoms) to the macrocosm (the universe as a whole), from particles to galaxies, God Almighty, Who knows everything down to the minutest and Whose Knowledge includes all space and time while Himself is absolutely beyond all time and space, gives existence in His Knowledge to all things or beings and assigns to each a certain shape, life-span, function or mission and certain particularities. This can be understood by an analogy-God’s is the highest comparison, and He is absolutely beyond all comparisons and different from whatever a man conceives of Him -with an author’s having the full and exact knowledge of the book he will write and arranging it in his mind in chapters, sections, paragraphs, sentences and words before writing it. In this sense, Destiny is almost identical with Divine Knowledge or Destiny is a title of Divine Knowledge, and is also called the Manifest Record or the Supreme Preserved Tablet.

Destiny also means that God makes everything according to a certain, particular measure and in exact balance. The Qur’an declares:

God knows what every female bears and what the wombs absorb and what they grow. And everything with Him is measured. (Al Ra’d, 13.8)

The sun and the moon are made punctual according to a calculation. The stars and the trees adore, in subservience to Him. And the sky He has uplifted; and He has set the balance, that you exceed not the balance, but observe the balance strictly, nor fall short thereof. (al-Rahman, 55. 5-9)

The exact balance and harmony in the universe clearly show the existence of Divine Destiny; that is, the universe, as a whole and with all the individual things or beings in it, which display an exact measure, balance, order and harmony, shows that everything is determined, measured, created and governed by God Almighty. Assertions like determinism, which is upheld by many, including even the supporters of the Marxist ideology, in explaining the order and operation of the universe including the human kingdom, are a tacit admission of Destiny, even though absolute determinism is incompatible with Islam in explaining the actions of man.

All seeds, fruit stones, measured and proportioned forms, and the extraordinary order and harmony of the universe, and its operation for billions of years without displaying the slightest breakdown or deviation in any part of it, all this demonstrates that everything takes place according to the absolute determination of God Almighty, Who is the All-Knowing and the All-Powerful. Each seed or fruit stone and even each ovum fertilized by a male sperm is like a case formed by Divine Power into which Divine Destiny has in-built the future life-history of a plant or an animal being. Divine Power employs atoms or particles according to the measure established by Divine Destiny as building blocks in growing the particular seed into the particular plant and the particular fertilized ovum into the particular being. This means that the future life-history of that plant or the animal being and the principles to govern its life are pre-recorded in the seed or the fertilized ovum as determining factors and processes.

Although the basic materials from which plants and animal beings, including human beings, are formed are the same, there is an almost infinite variety between species and individuals. The plants and animals that grow from the same constituent basic elements display such harmony and proportion, and yet such abundant diversity, that man cannot help but conclude that each of them is individually given its particular form and measure. It is Divine Destiny which establishes this measure.

A single seed displays Destiny in two ways: one by demonstrating the Manifest Record (Imamun Mubin), the other by displaying the Manifest Book (Kitabun Mubin). The Manifest Record is, as was pointed out above, another title for Divine Knowledge and Command, comprehensive of the universe both as a whole and with all its parts, big or small, and all the events in it. As everybody knows, the seed of a plant is also its ‘memory’. That is, a plant which grows from a seed also results in multiple seeds, in which the entire life-history of the plant have been recorded so that they can grow into new plants, which are almost identical with the original because plants do not have conscious spirits endowed with free will. Thus, besides demonstrating the Manifest Record and therefore Divine Destiny and Knowledge in which everything is present or exists with all its individualized particularities, a seed also indicates the Supreme Preserved Tablet (Lawhun Mahfuz) and corresponds to human memory in the human kingdom. By the way, since it indicates that the life-histories of creatures are recorded, a seed also points to afterlife.

The Manifest Book is another title for Divine Will and God’s creational and operational laws of the universe. If we call the Manifest Record Destiny Formal or Theoretical, the Manifest Book can be referred to as Destiny Actual. The future full- grown form of a plant or an animal being, which displays all the content of the seed or fertilized ovum, can be understood as its Destiny Actual.

In short, like seeds or plants or fertilized ovums and animal beings, everything in the universe clearly points to Divine Destiny, determining, judging, giving measure, particularizing and individualizing. True dreams which bring news of certain future events, are another, undeniable indication of Destiny or Divine ‘pre-determination’.

Question

Why is belief in Destiny included among the essentials of faith?

Answer

Because of self-conceit and the weakness of devotion, man tends to attribute to himself his accomplishments and good deeds and feels proud of himself. Whereas, as the Qur’an explicitly states, God creates you and what you do (al-Saffat, 37.96), it is the Divine Compassion which demands good deeds and the Power of the Lord which creates them. Whoever ponders over his life, he will realize and confess to himself that God has directed him to good acts, usually prevented him from doing wrong deeds and by endowing him with the sufficient capacity, power and means required for any accomplishment, favoured him with many accomplishments and good deeds. God guides man to good deeds and makes him succeed in willing and doing them, so the real cause of a man’s good deeds is the Divine Will. A man can possess and own them by means of faith and sincere devotion and by praying to God to be able to deserve them, consciously believing in the necessity of doing them and being pleased with what God has ordained for him. He can never be boastful of his good deeds and accomplishments and put on airs among people; what behoves him is to always be thankful to God and humble.

On the other hand, while attributing to himself his accomplishments and good deeds, man likes to absolve himself of his sins and misdeeds by ascribing them to Destiny. However, since God never likes a sin or wrong act, nor approves it, it is man himself who causes sins and commits them by his free will. Yet it is God Who creates sins (in the sense of enabling them to take place or giving them external existence) as well as good acts, simply because if He did not do so, the free will with which He has endowed man, would be annulled. Man wills to commit his sins. As was explained earlier, God calls man to good deeds, guides him to them and always inspires them in him, but man commits sins of his own free will and disobeys his Creator. Therefore, man is completely responsible for his sins and misdeeds. However, in order to protect himself against sins and the temptations of Satan and his carnal self, man must both try to remove his inclinations towards sins through repentance and asking forgiveness for them, and direct and exhort himself to do good deeds through prayer, devotion and trust in God.

In short, man has free will and is enjoined to follow the religious obligations and refrain from sins and wrong deeds. He cannot by any means ascribe his sins to God. Divine Destiny exists so that the believer does not grow proud of his good deeds by ascribing them to himself. Rather he must be thankful to God because of them. Man has free will so that the rebellious carnal self does not rid itself of the consequences of its sins by ascribing them to Destiny.

A second, important point to mention is that man usually complains about past events and the misfortunes that have struck him. Worse than that, he cannot save himself from falling into despair and abandoning himself to a dissipated life. He may even go so far as to complain against God. However, Destiny exists so that a man should relate past events and misfortunes to it in order not to be driven to despair and provide himself with relief, security and consolation. On the other hand, as will be discussed below, since Destiny does not exclude human free will, man is responsible for his future life and whatever he does consciously and intentionally.

In sum, whatever is (including misfortunes) should be considered in the light of Destiny, and what is to come, and sins and questions of responsibility, should be referred to human free will. In this way, the extremes of fatalism (jabr) and the denial of the role of Destiny in human actions (i’tizal, the view of the Mu’fazila) may be reconciled.