Addendum to the Tenth Phrase of the Twentieth Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
For verily, in the remembrance of Allah hearts do find their rest.
Allah sets forth a parable: A man belonging to many partners [all of them] at variance with one another.
Question: You have said in many places that in divine unity there is an infinite facility and in multiplicity and associating partners with Allah the Most High, endless difficulties; that there is such ease in divine unity that it is necessary and such difficulty in associating partners with Allah the Most High that it is impossible. Whereas, the difficulties and impossibilities that you demonstrate are also present with unity. For example, you say that if particles were not officials, it would be necessary for either all‑encompassing knowledge or absolute power or innumerable immaterial machines and printing-presses to be present in every particle. This of course is completely impossible. Even if those particles were divine officials, it would still be necessary for them to bear the same qualities so that they would be able to accomplish their endless orderly duties. Could you unravel this problem for me?
The Answer: We have expounded and proved in many Words that if all beings are attributed to a single Maker, they become as easy and effortless as a single being. If they are attributed to numerous causes and to nature, a single fly becomes as difficult and arduous as the heavens, a flower as the spring, a fruit as a garden. Since this mattter has been proved in other Words, we refer you to them and here only explain three comparisons, by means of three indications, which will reassure the soul and set the mind at rest in the face of that truth.
First Comparison
For example, a tiny transparent glistening speck cannot of its own accord situate itself within a light the size of a match‑head even, and neither can it be the source of it. It is able to have as much light, in its own right, as a tiny particle, in accordance with its capacity and to the extent of its own mass. But if the speck is connected to the sun, if it opens its eyes and looks at it, it will be able to comprehend the immense sun together with its light, seven colours, heat, and even its distance; it will display a sort of greater manifestation. That is to say, if the particle remains on its own, it will be able to perform a function only to the extent of a particle, whereas if it is deemed to be an official of the sun, and is connected to it and is a mirror to it, it will be able to demonstrate certain partial examples of the sun’s functioning, the same as the sun itself.
Thus, And Allah’s is the highest similitude, if all beings, all particles, are attributed to multiplicity, causes, nature, themselves, or to anything other than Allah the Most High, then each of them must either possess all‑embracing knowledge and absolute power, or innumerable immaterial machines and printing-presses must take form within each, so that it can carry out its wonderful duties.
However, if the particles are attributed to the Single One of Unity, each of them, each artefact, becomes connected to Him; it is as though each becomes His official. Its connection allows it to display His manifestation. And through this connection and state of being a manifestation, it relies on an infinite knowledge and power. Thus, by reason of the mystery of the connection and its reliance, it performs functions and duties far beyond its own power, through the power of its Creator.
Second Comparison
For example, there were two brothers, one brave and self‑reliant, the other patriotic and devoted to his country. When a war broke out, the one who relied on himself did not form any connection with the state; he wanted to perform his service on his own. He was compelled therefore to carry his own sources of power, and to transport, as far as his strength allowed, his equipment and ammunition. In accordance with his petty individual strength, he was only able to fight with one corporal of the enemy army; to do more was beyond him.
The other brother did not rely on himself; he knew himself to be weak and powerless so established a connection with the king and was enrolled in the army. Through this connection, the huge army became a source of support for him. And because of this support, he was plunged into war with the moral strength of an army behind him under the auspices of the king. When he encountered an eminent field marshal of the defeated enemy army’s king, he declared in the name of his own king: “I take you prisoner! Quick march!” He captured him and handed him over.
The meaning of this situation and the wisdom in it is this:
Since the first, independent, man, was compelled to carry his equipment and sources of strength himself, the service he was able to perform was extremely insignificant. Whereas the one who was an official did not have to carry his source of strength; indeed, the army and the king carried him. Just like connecting his receiver to existing telegraph and telephone lines with a tiny wire, the man, through the connection he formed, connected himself to an infinite power.
Thus, And Allah’s is the highest similitude, if all creatures, all particles, are attributed directly to the Single One of Unity and if they are connected to Him, through the power of the connection and through of its Lord, at His command, an ant can demolish the Pharaoh’s palace; a fly can kill off Nimrod and consign him to Hell; a germ can despatch an iniquitous tyrant to the grave; a seed the size of a wheat grain becomes the workshop and machinery for producing a pine‑tree the size of a mountain; and a particle of air is able to operate efficiently and systematically in the different functions and structures of all flowers and fruits. All this ease and facility self-evidently arise from the connection and state of being an official.
If the being in question reverts to independence, if it is left to causes, multiplicity, and to itself, if it travels the road of associating partners with Allah the Most High, then the service it will be able to perform will be only to the extent of its physical entity and to the degree of its consciousness.
Third Comparison
For example, there were two friends who wanted to write a geographical and statistical work on a country they had never seen.
One of them formed a connection with the king and entered the telegraph and telephone office. With a piece of wire worth a few kurush, he connected his telephone receiver to the state lines and was able to communicate with everywhere and receive information. He wrote a perfectly composed and well‑arranged work of geography and statistics.
As for the other man, either he would have had to travel continuously for fifty years and see everywhere and learn of every event with great difficulty, or else, spending millions of liras he would have had to become the owner, like the king, of a telegraph and telephone system as extensive as that of the state so that he could write a perfect work like his friend.
Similarly, And Allah’s is the highest similitude, if innumerable things and creatures are attributed to the Single One of Unity, through the connection each becomes a place of manifestation. By displaying the manifestation of the Pre‑Eternal Sun, it acquires a connection with the laws of His wisdom, the principles of his knowledge, and the decrees of His power. Then, through divine strength and power, it displays such a dominical manifestation that it acquires an eye that sees all things, a face that looks to all places, and words that have weight in all matters.
If the connection is severed, the thing will also be cut off from everything else, it will be squeezed into the smallness of its own bulk. In which case, it would have to possess absolute divinity so that it could perform the functions described above.
In Short: The easiness and facility on the way of divine unity and belief make it necessary, while the difficulties on the way of causes and assigning partners to Allah the Most High make it impossible. For one person may, without trouble, put numerous objects into a single situation and obtain one result. But if it is left to the objects themselves to bring about the situation and obtain the result, they could do so only with great trouble and much activity.
For example, as is stated in the Third Letter, every night, every year, a glittering expedition and passage glorifying Allah (May His glory be exalted!) is accomplished through setting in motion the army of the stars in the field of the heavens under the command of the sun and the moon. This is the alluring and captivating situation of the heavens. The alternation of the seasons and other momentous affairs are brought about; and this is the exalted and purposeful result of the motion of the earth. If the situation of the heavens and result of the revolving earth are ascribed to divine unity, the Pre‑Eternal Monarch may easily appoint a soldier like the globe of the earth as commander of the heavenly bodies for the situation and the result to be achieved. After it has received its order, the earth will rise up with joy at its appointment to whirl and mention Allah the Most High’s names like a Mevlevi dervish. With slight expense that graceful situation will be obtained and the significant result come about.
However, if it is said to the earth: “You stop where you are, do not interfere!”; and if to obtain the result and situation, it is referred to the heavens; and if the road of multiplicity and associating partners with Allah the Most High is taken rather than that of divine unity, it will be necessary, every day and every year, to set in motion millions of stars which are thousands of times larger than the globe of the earth and to cover a distance of millions of years in twenty‑four hours and a year.
Conclusion: The Qur’an and the believers ascribe limitless creatures to One Maker. They attribute every matter directly to Him. They travel a road so easy as to be necessary, and urge all towards it. While the people of rebellion, who ascribe partners to Allah the Most High, by attributing a single creature to innumerable causes, travel a road so beset with dificulties as to be impossible. In which case, those on the way of the Qur’an are together with all creatures, and those on the way of misguidance, with a single creature. Or to put it another way, the issuing of all things out of one is infinitely easier than the issuing of one thing out of many. In the same way that an officer commands a thousand soldiers as easily as one soldier, if the command of one soldier were to be assigned to a thousand officers, it would become as difficult as commanding a thousand soldiers, it would cause chaos.
Thus, this mighty verse hurls this truth at those who assign partners to Allah the Most High, shattering their unbelief:
Allah sets forth a parable: A man belonging to many partners [all of them] at variance with one another, and a man belonging wholly to one person: can the two be deemed equal as regards their condition? [Nay] all praise is due to Allah [alone]; but most of them do not understand this.
All glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All‑Knowing, All-Wise.
Allah! Grant blessings and peace to our master Muhammad to the number of the particles of the universe, and to all his Family and Companions. Amen. And all praise be to Allah, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.
Allah! O Unique One! O Single One! O Eternally Besought One! Other than You there is no god, You are One, You have no partner! Yours is the dominion and the praise! Granter of life and Dealer of death! All good is in Your hand! O One powerful over all things! It is with You that all things have their end! Through the truth of the mysteries of these phrases, appoint the propagator of this treatise and his friends and companions to bliss among the perfected affirmers of divine unity and the strictly veracious scholars and the believers conscious of Allah. Amen.
Allah! Through the truth of the mystery of Your oneness make the disseminator of this book disseminate the mysteries of the profession of Your unity and make his heart a place of manifestation for the lights of faith and his tongue speak of the truths of the Qur’an.
Amen. Amen. Amen.