The Fourteenth Flash

This consists of two stations. The first consists of the answer to two questions.

In His Name be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.(17:44)

Peace be upon you, and God’s mercy and blessings!

My Dear and Loyal Brother, Re’fet Bey!

The answer to the question you ask about the Bull and the Fish is to be found in several parts of the Risale-i Nur. The Third Branch of the Twenty-Fourth Word contains an explanation of that sort of question, in the light of twelve important rules called twelve principles. Those rules all offer criteria for understanding the various interpretations of the Prophet’s (UWBP) Hadiths, and comprise important principles for dispelling doubts that may arise about them. Unfortunately at the moment a number of circumstances prevent my becoming occupied with scholarly matters that are not inspiration. I therefore cannot reply to your question as you asked it. I have to be busy with the inspiration when it comes to my heart, I am compelled to be busy with it. I answer some questions because they coincide with the inspirations, so don’t be offended. I cannot answer all questions as they deserve. But this time let me reply briefly to your question.

This time you ask in your question: “The hojas say that the earth rests on a bull and a fish, but geography sees it hanging in space and travelling like a star. There is neither bull nor fish?”

T h e  A n s w e r : There is a sound narration attributed to people like Ibn ‘Abbas (May God be pleased with him) which says that the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was asked: “What does the world rest on?” He replied: “On the Bull and the Fish.” (1) In one narration, he said, “On the Bull,” and on another occasion he said, “On the Fish.” Some Hadith scholars applied this Hadith to superstitions and stories taken from isra’iliyat, related since early times. Scholars of the Children of Israel who became Muslims especially applied it to stories about the Bull and the Fish they had seen in the former scriptures, altering it to mean something strange. For now I shall explain three ‘principles’ and three ‘aspects’ in connection with your question.

FIRST PRINCIPLE

When some of the Israelite scholars became Muslims, their former knowledge became Muslim along with them and was ascribed to Islam. However, what they knew contained errors which were certainly their errors and not Islam’s.

SECOND PRINCIPLE

On comparisons and metaphors passing from the elite to the common people, that is, on their falling from the hands of learning to those of ignorance, with the passage of time they are imagined to be literally true. For example, when I was a child an eclipse of the moon occurred. I asked my mother: “Why has the moon gone like that?” She replied: “A snake has swallowed it.” “It can still be seen,” I said. She replied: “The snakes up there are like glass; they show the things inside them!”

For a long time I recalled this childhood memory. Pondering over it, I would say: “How could such a false superstition come to be repeated by serious people like my mother?” Then when I studied astronomy I realized that people like her who repeated it supposed a metaphor to be reality. For when the vast circle called the zodiac, which is the circle denoting the degrees of the sun, and the circle of the declination of the moon, which is the circle depicting its mansions, pass over one another, it gives each of the two circles the form of an arc. Using a subtle metaphor the astronomers called the two arcs “the two great serpents.” They called the points of intersection of the two circles “the head” and “the tail.” When the moon comes to the head and the sun to the tail, in the terminology of astronomy, an interposition of the earth occurs. That is, the globe of the earth passes right between the two of them and the moon is eclipsed. According to the above metaphor, “the moon has entered the serpent’s mouth.” Thus, when this elevated and scholarly metaphor entered the language of the common people, in the course of time it took on the shape of a huge snake swallowing the moon.

Thus, with a sacred and subtle metaphor and meaningful allusion, two great angels were called the Bull (T. Sevr; Ar. Thawr) and the Fish (T. Hût; A. Hut), but on entering the common language from the elevated tongue of the prophethood, the metaphor was transformed and given a literal meaning, and they took on the form of a truly enormous bull and awesome fish.

THIRD PRINCIPLE

Just as the Qur’an contains allegories and comparisons, and with them teaches profound matters to the ordinary people; so do Hadiths contain comparisons and allegories; they express profound truths by means of familiar comparisons. For example, as we have described in two other places, one time in the presence of the Prophet (UWBP) a deep rumbling was heard. He said: “It is the sound of a rock which has been rolling downhill for seventy years and has now hit the bottom of Hell.” (2) A few minutes later someone arrived and reported that a famous seventy-year-old dissembler had died, thus proclaiming the true meaning of the Noble Messenger’s (Upon whom be blessings and peace) highly eloquent comparison.

For now, three ‘aspects’ will be explained in reply to your question:

T h e  F i r s t : Almighty God appointed four angels – called the Eagle (Nasr – Aquila) and the Bull (Thawr – Taurus) (3) – as bearers of the divine throne and the heavens, to supervise His dominical sovereignty. He also appointed two angels as supervisors and bearers of the earth, which is the small brother of the heavens and companion of the planets. One of them was called the Bull and the other, the Fish. The reason for His giving these names is this:

There are two parts to the earth, one is water and the other is land. Fish inhabit the part that is water, while agriculture, the support of human life, is practised with bulls and oxen, which inhabit the part of the earth that is land; agriculture rests on the shoulders of oxen. Since the two angels appointed to the earth are both commanders and supervisors, they surely have some sort of relationship with the bovine and piscine species. Indeed, “And the knowledge is with God,” the angels are represented in the Worlds of the Inner Dimensions of Things and of Similitudes in the forms of a bull and a fish. (4) Thus, alluding to their relationship and supervision and those two important species of the earth, with his miraculous manner of expression the Prophet (UWBP) said: “The earth is on the Bull and the Fish,” thus stating in one fine, concise sentence a page of profound truths.

S e c o n d  A s p e c t : If it is said: “What does the government and its rule rest on?,” it will be said in reply: “On the sword and the pen.” That is, it rests on the valour of the soldier’s sword and the perspicacity and justice of the official’s pen. In the same way, since the earth is the dwelling-place of animate beings and the commander of animate beings is man, and fish are the means of livelihood of the majority of men who live by the sea, and the majority of those who do not live by the sea live by means of agriculture, which rests on the shoulders of bulls and oxen, and fish are also an important means of trade, just as the state rests on the sword and the pen, so it may also be said that the earth rests on the ox and the fish. For man cannot survive if the ox does not work or fish do not produce millions of eggs; life would cease and the All-Wise Creator would destroy the earth.

Thus, replying in a most miraculous, elevated, and wise way, God’s Noble Messenger (UWBP) said: “The earth rests on the bull and the fish.” He taught an extensive truth with two words and showed how closely linked man’s life is to the life of the animal species.

T h i r d  A s p e c t : In the view of ancient cosmology the sun travelled and a constellation was defined every thirty degrees of its journey. If hypothetical lines were drawn connecting the stars in the constellations with one another, some take on the shape of a lion, others the shape of scales, others the shape of a bull, and yet others the shape of a fish. Names were given to the constellations in consequence of those relationships. But in the view of astronomy this age, the sun does not travel. The constellations remain idle and without work, for the earth travels instead of the sun. They assume shapes on a small scale within the annual orbit of the earth on the ground, instead of those lofty idle constellations above. Thus, the heavenly constellations are represented out of earth’s annual orbit, and each month the earth is in the shadow and likeness of one of the constellations. It is as if they are represented in the mirror-like annual orbit of the earth.

For this reason, as we mentioned above, on one occasion the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) said: “On the Bull,” and on another he said: “On the Fish.” Yes, he indicated a truly profound truth that would be understood only many centuries later, and said in the miraculous prophetic tongue: “On the Bull,” because at that time the earth was in the likeness of the constellation Taurus. And on being asked a month later, he replied: “On the Fish,” for then the earth was in the shadow of the constellation of Pisces.

Yes, he said: “On the Bull and the Fish” and alluded to an elevated truth that would be understood in the future, and hinted at the earth’s duty of motion and journeying, and the heavenly constellations being idle and without guests in regard to the sun, and that the constellations which truly work are in the earth’s annual orbit and that it is the earth which journeys and performs duties in the constellations.

And God knows best what is right.

The extraordinary and unreasonable stories in some Islamic books are either isra’iliyat, or they are allegories, or they are the interpretations of the Hadith scholars, which careless people have supposed to be Hadiths and have attributed them to God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace).

O our Sustainer! Do not take us to task if we forget or do wrong.(2:282)

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.(2:32)

THE SECOND QUESTION is about the People of the Cloak.

My brother! Regarding your question about the People of the Cloak, only one of the many instances of wisdom concerning it will be explained, as follows:

Many mysteries and instances of wisdom are found in God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) covering ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him) and Fatima (May God be pleased with her) and Hasan and Husayn (May God be pleased with them) with the blessed cloak he wore, and his praying for them with the verse,

And God only wishes to remove all abomination from you, members of the Family, and to make you pure and spotless.(33:33) (5)

I shall not discuss the mysteries, but one instance of wisdom connected with the function of messengership is this:

God’s Noble Messenger (UWBP) saw with the eye of prophethood, which penetrated the Unseen and beheld the future, that thirty or forty years later serious strife would erupt among the Companions and the generation that succeeded them, and that blood would be spilt. He witnessed that three of the people under his cloak would be the most distinguished of them. So he enfolded them in his cloak, giving the four, plus himself, the title of the Five People of the Cloak. (6) In this way he wanted to acquit and exonerate ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him) in the view of the Islamic community; to console and offer condolences to Husayn (May God be pleased with him); to congratulate Hasan and proclaim the honour he would acquire by removing through reconciliation serious discord, and his supreme value for the Islamic community; and to show that Fatima’s descendants would be pure and honoured.

For sure ‘Ali was the rightful Caliph, but since the blood that would be spilt held great importance and since in the view of the community his acquittal and exoneration were important on account of the function of messengership, the Noble Messenger (UWBP) in this way absolved him. He invited the Kharijites and the aggressive supporters of the Umayyads to be silent, for they criticized him and accused him of error and misguidance. Yes, the excesses perpetrated against ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him) by the extreme supporters of the Kharijites and Umayyads and their accusations of misguidance, and the truly tragic, distressing events in Husayn’s (May God be pleased with him) time together with the excesses and innovations of the Shi‘a and the absolving of the two Shaykhs, have all been most damaging for the people of Islam.

Thus, with his cloak and prayer, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) absolved Husayn of responsibility, and cleared him of the accusations and bad opinion of the Islamic community. So too he congratulated Hasan for the good he was to do for the community by bringing about the reconciliation. And he announced that being known as the Prophet’s Family, the blessed progeny of Fatima would be highly honoured, like those of Mary’s mother, (7) who said:

I commend her and her offspring to your protection from the Evil One, the Rejected.(3:36)

O God! Grant blessings to our master Muhammad, and to his righteous, pure, and pious Family, and to his Companions, noble and select strivers in God’s way. Amen.

Second Station

This consists of six of the thousands of mysteries contained in

“In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate”

NOTE:  A bright light from “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate” concerning divine mercy appeared to my dull mind from afar. I wanted to record it for myself in the form of notes, to hunt it down and capture it, and circumscribe the light with twenty to thirty mysteries. But unfortunately I was not able to do this at the present time and the twenty or thirty mysteries were reduced to five or six. When I say: “O man!”, I mean myself. Although this lesson addresses my own soul in particular, I refer it as the Second Station of the Fourteenth Flash for the approval of my meticulous brothers in the hope that it may benefit those with whom I am connected spiritually and whose souls are more discerning than mine. This lesson looks to the heart more than the reason, and to spiritual pleasure and perception rather than rational proofs.

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

The Queen said: “Ye chiefs! Here is – delivered to me – a letter worthy of respect. It is from Solomon, and is as follows: In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.”(27:29-30)

A number of mysteries will be mentioned in this station.

FIRST MYSTERY

I saw one manifestation of “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate” as follows:

On the face of the universe, the face of the earth, and the face of man are three stamps of dominicality one within the other and each showing samples of the others.

The First is the great stamp of Godhead, which is manifested through the mutual assistance, co-operation, and embracing and corresponding to one another of beings in the totality of the universe. This looks to “In the Name of God.”

The Second is the great stamp of divine mercifulness, which is manifested through the mutual resemblance and proportion, order, harmony, favour and compassion in the disposal, raising, and administration of plants and animals on the face of the earth. This looks to “In the Name of God, the Merciful.”

Then is the exalted stamp of divine compassionateness, which is manifested through the subtleties of divine beneficence, fine points of divine clemency, and rays of divine compassion on the face of man’s comprehensive nature. This looks to “the Compassionate” in “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.”

That is to say, “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate” is the sacred title of three stamps of divine oneness, which form a luminous line on the page of the world, and a strong cord, and shining filament. That is, by being revealed from above, the tip of “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate” rests on man, the fruit of the universe and miniature copy of the world; it binds the lower world to the divine throne; it is a way for man to ascend to the human throne.

SECOND MYSTERY

In order not to overwhelm minds by divine unity, which is apparent in the boundless multiplicity of creatures, the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition constantly points out the manifestation of divine oneness within divine unity. For example, the sun encompasses numberless things with its light. A truly extensive conceptual ability and comprehensive view is necessary to behold the sun itself in the totality of its light. So, lest the sun be forgotten, it is displayed in every shining object by means of its reflection. And in accordance with their capacities, all lustrous objects reflect the sun’s attributes, such as its light and heat and the seven colours in its light, together with the manifestation of its essence. So too, the sun’s attributes encompass all the things facing it.

In exactly the same way, “And God’s is the highest similitude”(16:60) – but let there be no mistake in the comparison – just as divine oneness and eternal besoughtedness have a manifestation together with all the divine names in everything, in animate creatures in particular, and especially in man’s mirror-like essence; so too through divine unity each of the divine names connected to beings encompasses all things. Thus, lest minds become overwhelmed by divine unity and hearts forget the Most Pure and Holy Essence, the Qur’an constantly draws attention to the stamp of divine oneness within divine unity. And that stamp, with its three salient points, is “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.”

THIRD MYSTERY

What makes this boundless universe rejoice is clearly divine mercy. What illuminates these dark beings is self-evidently divine mercy. What fosters and raises creatures struggling with their endless needs is self-evidently again divine mercy. What causes the whole universe to be turned towards man, like a tree together with all its parts is turned towards its fruit, and causes it to look to him and run to his assistance is clearly divine mercy. What fills and illuminates boundless space and the empty, vacant world and makes it rejoice is self-evidently divine mercy. And what designates ephemeral man for eternity and makes him the addressee and beloved of the Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal One is self-evidently divine mercy.

O man! Since divine mercy is such a powerful, inviting, sweet, assisting lovable truth, say: “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,” adhere to this truth and be saved from absolute desolation and the pains of unending needs! Draw close to the throne of the Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal Monarch, and availing yourself of the compassionate and rays of divine mercy, become His addressee, friend, and beloved.

All the realms of beings in the universe are purposively gathered around man and are made to hasten to meet all his needs with the utmost order and wisdom, which clearly arises from one of two situations. Either each realm of beings knows man, obeys him, and runs to help him, which just as it is completely irrational is also impossible in many respects; or an absolutely impotent being like man has to possess the power of the mightiest absolute sovereign; or this assistance occurs through the knowledge of an Absolutely Powerful One behind the veil of the universe. That is to say, it is not that the different beings in the universe know man, but that they are the evidences of a Knowing, Compassionate One who is acquainted with him and knows him.

O 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 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 should 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.

Most certainly, a mercy such as this requires universal and sincere thanks, and earnest and genuine respect. Therefore, say: “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,” which is the interpreter and expression of such sincere thanks and genuine respect. Make it the means of attaining to the mercy, and an intercessor at the court of the All-Merciful One.

The existence and reality of divine mercy are as clear as the sun. For just as a woven tapestry centred on one point is formed by the order and situation of the threads of its warp and weft coming from all directions, so too the luminous threads extending from the manifestation of a thousand and one divine names in the vast sphere of the universe weave such a seal of compassionateness, tapestry of clemency, and seal of benevolence within a stamp of mercy that it demonstrates itself to minds more brilliantly than the sun.

The Beauteous All-Merciful One, who orders the sun and moon, the elements and minerals, and plants and animals like the warp and weft of a vast woven tapestry through the rays of His thousand and one names, and causes them to serve life; and demonstrates His compassion through the exceedingly sweet and self-sacrificing compassion of mothers, plant and animal; and subjugates animate creatures to human life, and from this demonstrates man’s importance and a most lovely large tapestry of divine dominicality, and manifests His brilliant mercy; – that Most Merciful One has, in the face of His own absolute lack of need, made His mercy an acceptable intercessor for animate creatures and man.

O man! If you are truly a human being, say: “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.” Find that intercessor! For sure, it is clearly, self-evidently, divine mercy which, without forgetting or confusing any of them, raises, nurtures, and administers the innumerable plant and animal species on the earth at precisely the right time and with perfect order, wisdom, and beneficence, and stamps the seal of divine oneness on the face of the globe of the earth. The existence of divine mercy is as certain as the existence of the beings on the face of the earth, so do the beings offer evidences of its reality to their own number.

Just as there is this seal of mercy and stamp of divine oneness on the face of the earth, so on the face of man’s nature is a stamp of divine mercy that is not inferior to the stamp of compassion and vast stamp of mercy on the face of the universe. Simply, man has so comprehensive a nature he is as though the point of focus of a thousand and one divine names.

O man! Is it at all possible that the One who gives you this face, and places such a stamp of mercy and seal of oneness on it would leave you to your own devices, attach no importance to you, pay no attention to your actions, make the whole universe, which is turned towards you, futile and pointless, and make the tree of creation rotten and insignificant with decayed fruit? Would He cause His mercy to be denied, although it is as obvious as the sun, as well as His wisdom, which is as clear as daylight, and neither of which can in any way be doubted, nor are in any way deficient? God forbid!

O man! Understand 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 the importance of this ascent, look at the beginning of the one hundred and fourteen Suras of the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition, and at the beginnings of all estimable books, and at the start of all good works. A clear proof of the God-determined grandeur of “In the Name of God” is that Imam Shafi‘i (May God be pleased with him), one of the very foremost Islamic scholars, said: “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate is only one verse, yet it was revealed one hundred  and fourteen times in the Qur’an.” (8)

FOURTH MYSTERY

In the face of the manifestation of divine unity within boundless multiplicity, declaring: “You alone do we worship”(1:5) is not sufficient for everyone; the mind wanders. One’s heart would have to be as broad as the globe to observe the Single One behind the unity in the totality of beings, and to say: “You alone do we worship, and from You alone do we seek help!”(1:5) In consequence, so that the seal of divine oneness should be apparent on all species and realms of beings just as it is shown clearly on individual objects, and that they should call to mind the Single One, it is shown within the stamp of divine mercy. Thus everyone at every level may turn to the Most Pure and Holy One, and saying: “You alone do we worship, and from You alone do we seek help,” address Him directly.

It is in order to express this mighty mystery and clearly point out the seal of divine oneness that the All-Wise Qur’an suddenly mentions the smallest sphere and most particular matter when describing the vastest sphere of the universe, for example, the creation of the heavens and the earth. That is, so that the mind does not wander, nor the heart drown, and the spirit may find its True Object of Worship directly, while mentioning the creation of the heavens and earth it opens a discussion of man’s creation and voice, and the subtle details of the bounties and wisdom in his features, for example. This truth is demonstrated in miraculous fashion by the verse,

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 1 See, Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 636; al-Mundhiri, al-Targhib wa’l-Tarhib, iv, 257; al-Haythami, Majmu‘ al-Zawa’id, viii, 131; Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam, i, 172. Go back (↑)

2 See, Muslim, Janna, 12; Musnad, iii, 315, 341, 346. Go back (↑)

3 Bayhaqi, Shu‘ab al-Iman, 433; Dhahabi, Mizan al-I‘tidal, iv, 352; al-Suyuti, al-Durr alManthur, i, 329. Go back (↑)

4 The globe of the earth is a dominical ship ploughing through the oceans of space, and according to a Hadith, is the tillage of the hereafter, that is, an arable field and nursery. How fitting, then, are the name of Fish for the angel who commands that huge lifeless and unconscious ship and makes it swim through those seas at the divine command in regular, purposeful fashion, and the name of Bull for the angel who with divine permission supervises that arable field. Go back (↑)

5 This narration has various lines of transmission, see, Muslim, Fada’il al-Sahaba, 61; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 60; Musnad, i, 330; iv, 107; vi, 292, 296, 298, 304; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 416; iii, 147; al-Haythami, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id, ix, 166, 169; al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-Manthur, v, 197; Kandahlawi, Hayat al-Sahaba, iv, 105. Go back (↑)

6 See, Muslim, Fada’il al-Sahaba, 61; Ibn Abi Shayba, al-Musannaf, vi, 370. Go back (↑)

7 She was called Hanna bint Fakuz; see, al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 648, 651; al-Tabari, Jami‘ alBayan, iii, 235, 237, 241, 244, 294. Go back (↑)

8 See, al-Shafi’i, al-Umm, i, 208; al-Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur’an, i, 8; al-Ghazzali, al-Mustafa, i, 82; Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Tahqiq fi Ahadith al-Khilaf, i, 345-7; al-Zayla’i, Nasb al-Raya, i, 327. Go back (↑)