Gems From Risalah Nur -- 1

Bismillah, In the Name of God, is the start of all things good. We too shall start with it. Know, O my soul! Just as this blessed phrase is a mark of Islam, so too it is constantly recited by all beings through their tongues of disposition. If you want to know what an inexhaustible strength, what an unending source of bounty is Bismillah, listen to the following story which is in the form of a comparison. It goes like this: Someone who makes a journey through the deserts of Arabia has to travel in the name of a tribal chief and enter under his protection, for in this way he may be saved from the assaults of bandits and secure his needs. On his own he will perish in the face of innumerable enemies and needs. And so, two men went on such a journey and entered the desert. One of them was modest and humble, the other proud and conceited. The humble man assumed the name of a tribal chief, while the proud man did not. The first travelled safely wherever he went. If he encountered bandits, he said: "I am travelling in the name of such-and-such tribal leader," and they would not molest him. If he came to some tents, he would be treated respectfully due to the name. But the proud man suffered such calamities throughout his journey that they cannot be described. He both trembled before everything and begged from everything. He was abased and became an object of scorn. And so, my proud soul! You are the traveller, and this world is a desert. Your impotence and poverty have no limit, and your enemies and needs are endless. Since it is thus, take the name of the Pre-Eternal Ruler and Post-Eternal Lord of the desert and be saved from begging before the whole universe and trembling before every event. Indeed, this phrase is a treasury so blessed that your infinite impotence and want bind you to an infinite power and mercy; it makes that impotence and want a most acceptable intercessor at the Court of One All-Powerful and Compassionate. The person who acts saying, "In the Name of God," resembles someone who enrolls in the army. He acts in the name of the government; he has fear of no one; he speaks, performs every matter, and withstands everything in the name of the law and the name of the government. At the beginning we said that all beings say, "In the Name of God" through the tongue of disposition. Is that so? Indeed, it is so. If you were to see that a single person had come and had driven all the inhabitants of a town to a place by force and compelled them to work, you would be certain that he had not acted in his own name and through his own power, but that he was a soldier, acting in the name of the government and relying on the power of a king. In the same way, all things act in the name of Almighty God, for minute things like seeds and grains bear huge trees on their heads; they raise loads like mountains. That means all trees say: "In the Name of God," fill their hands from the treasury of Mercy, and offer them to us. All gardens say: "In the Name of God," and become cauldrons from the kitchens of Divine Power in which are cooked numerous varieties of different foods. All blessed animals like cows, camels, sheep, and goats, say: "In the Name of God," and become fountains of milk from the abundance of Mercy, offering us a most delicate and pure food like the water of life in the name of the Provider. The roots and rootlets, soft as silk, of all plants, trees, and grasses, say: "In the Name of God," and pierce and pass through hard rock and earth. Mentioning the name of God, the name of the Most Merciful, everything becomes subjected to them."" Indeed, the roots spreading through hard rock and earth and producing fruits as easily as the branches spread through the air and produce fruits, and the delicate green leaves retaining their moisture for months in the face of extreme heat, deal a slap in the mouths of Naturalists and jab a finger in their blind eyes, saying: "Even heat and hardness, in which you most trust, are under a command. For, like the Staff of Moses, each of those silken rootlets conform to the command of, And We said, O Moses, strike the rock with your staff, 1 and split the rock. And the delicate leaves fine as cigarette paper recite the verse, O fire be coolness and peace 2 against the heat of the fire, each like the members of Abraham (UWP). Since all things say, "In the Name of God," and bearing God's bounties in God's name, give them to us, we too should say, "In the Name of God." We should give in the name of God, and take in the name of God. And we should not take from heedless people who neglect to give in God's name. ----------------------------------------- Oh man! Come to your senses! Is it at all possible that the All-Glorious One, Who causes all the varieties of creatures to turn towards you and stretch out their hands to assist you, and causes them to say: "Here we are!" in the face of your needs, is it possible that He does not know you, is not acquainted with you, does not see you? Since He does know you, He informs you that He knows you through His Mercy. So, you know Him too, and with respect let Him know that you know Him, and understand with certainty that what subjugates the vast universe to an absolutely weak, absolutely impotent, absolutely needy, ephemeral, insignificant creature like you, and despatches it to assist you is the truth of Divine Mercy, which comprises wisdom, favour, knowledge, and power. ------------------------------------ Oh man! You should know that there is a way to ascend to the throne of Divine Mercy, and that is, In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. If you want to understand how important this way of ascent is, look at the beginning of the one hundred and fourteen chapters of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, and at the beginnings of all estimable books, and at the start of all good works. And a clear proof of the God-determined grandeur of In the Name of God is that the very foremost Islamic scholars like Imam Shafi'i (may God be pleased with him) said: "Although In the Name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate is one verse, it was revealed one hundred and fourteen times in the Qur'an." --------------------------------------------- Divine Mercy is the means to an All-Glorious Sovereign in Whose army both the stars and minute particles serve together in perfect order and obedience. And that All-Glorious One and Sovereign of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity is self-sufficient, He is utterly without need. He is rich without limit being in no respect needy of the universe and beings. The whole universe is under His command and direction, utterly obedient beneath His majesty and grandeur, submissive before His sublimity. That is Divine Mercy for you, Oh man! It raises you to the presence of the One absolutely lacking any need, the Eternal Sovereign, and makes you His friend, addressee, and well-loved servant. But just as you cannot reach the sun, are far from it and can no way draw close to it, although the sun's light gives you its reflection and manifestation by means of your mirror, in the same way you are infinitely distant from the Most Pure and Holy One, the Sun of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, and cannot draw close to Him, but the light of His Mercy makes Him closer to us. And so, O man! He who finds this Mercy finds an eternal unfailing treasury of light. And the way to find it is through following the Practices of the Most Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace), who was the most brilliant example and representative of Mercy, its most eloquent tongue and herald, and was described in the Qur'an as a 'Mercy to All the Worlds.' And the means to this embodiment of Mercy who is a Mercy to All the Worlds is to utter the prayer calling down God's blessings upon him. Indeed, the meaning of this prayer is Mercy. As a prayer of Mercy for that living embodiment of Divine Mercy, it is the means of reaching the Mercy to All the Worlds. So, make this prayer the means to the Mercy to All the Worlds for yourself, and at the same time make Him the means to the Mercy of the Most Merciful One. The whole Muslim community in all their great numbers uttering this prayer which is synonymous with Mercy for the Mercy to All the Worlds proves in brilliant fashion what a valuable Divine gift is Divine Mercy, and how broad is its sphere. To Conclude: Just as the most precious jewel in the treasury of Mercy and its doorkeeper is the Prophet Muhammed (Upon whom be blessings and peace), so too is its first key In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. And its most easy key the prayer for the Prophet. Oh God! Through the truth of In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate grant blessings and peace to the one whom You sent as a mercy to all the worlds as befits Your Mercy, and in veneration of him, and to all his Family and Companions. And grant us Mercy so as to make us free of want for the mercy of any other than You from among Your creatures. AMEN. Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us. Indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.