Verily, when He intends a thing, His command is “Be!” and it is.¹

As this verse indicates, creation is through a command. The treasuries of Divine Power are in the Kaf. and Nûn.² Several of the many aspects of this subtle mystery have been mentioned in various places of the Risale-i Nur. Here, in order to make more comprehensible in this century’s materialist view Hadiths about the characteristics, qualities, and material effects of the Qur’an’s letters, and particularly the ‘disjointed letters’ at the start of some Suras, we shall illustrate this mystery with a material example.

The All-Glorious One, the Owner of the Sublime Throne, has four Thrones by which He directs the creatures on the earth, which is like a centre of the world and heart and qibla of the universe:

One is the Throne of Preservation and Life, which is earth. This is the manifestation of the Divine Names of Preserver and Giver of Life.

The Second Throne is the Throne of Bounty and Mercy, which is the element of water.

The Third is the Throne of Knowledge and Wisdom, which is the element of light.

The Fourth is the Throne of Will and Command, which is the element of air.

We see with our own eyes that from simple earth, the minerals and innumerable various plants are formed, through which are met the innumerable needs of animals and human beings—boundless multiplicity from unity with perfect order, an infinite variety of species from a simple element, innumerable regular embroideries on a plain page. And while water, and especially the sperm of animals, is a simple fluid like water, innumerable miracles of art become manifest through it in the many various animate creatures. This shows that like these two Thrones, despite their simple nature, light and air too are the places of manifestation of the wondrous miracles of the pen of knowledge, command, and will of the Pre-Eternal Inscriber, the All-Knowing One of Glory.

For now we shall leave aside the element of light, and in connection with our question here, try to unveil a little the wonders and marvels of Command and Will within the element of air, which is for the globe of the earth the Throne of the Divine Command and Will.

With the air in our mouths, we sow letters and words which at once sprout and send forth shoots. That is to say, in a instant, in no time at all, a word becomes a seed in the air, sprouting in the surrounding air. It produces the shoots of innumerable instances of the same word, great and small, in the air all around. We consider the element of air and we see that it is so obedient and subjugated to ‘the command of “Be!” and it is’ that it is as if like a soldier in a regular army, each of its particles is all the time awaiting its orders, demonstrating its compliance with and submission to commands manifested from ‘the command of “Be!”, arriving instantaneously from another particle far off.

For example, the fact that human speech may be heard in any place whatever in the air by means of radio transmitters and receivers—on condition there is a receiver—everywhere on earth, at the same moment, instantaneously, demonstrates how perfectly each particle of air obediently conforms to the manifestation of ‘the command of “Be!” and it is.’ In respect of sacredness and in accordance with this mystery of compliance, the letters, which have an unstable existence in the air, may manifest many external effects and material qualities.

Innumerable signs like these show that since letters, which are the beings of the air, and especially sacred and Qur’anic letters, and in particular the letters of the Divine cyphers at the beginning of some Suras, are well-ordered and infinitely sensitive, and as though listening to the instantaneous commands and acting accordingly, they surely make the particles of air submit to their material qualities and wondrous properties, which reflect the manifestation of ‘the command of “Be!” and it is’ and of Pre-Eternal Will.

It is as a consequence of this mystery that sometimes the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition describes the works of Divine Power as though they proceed from the attributes of Will and Speech, meaning that apart from utter speed of creation, submission of things and subjugation of beings, they govern like power. That is to say, the letters proceeding from the creative command govern in the existence of beings like a physical force. And the creative command is manifested identically with Power and Will.

Yes, the works of Will and the creative command appear to be identical with Power in beings of this sort whose physical existence is extremely hidden, like the air, which is semi-material and semi-immaterial; indeed, they are identical with Power. It is as though the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition decrees,

Verily, when He intends a thing, His command is “Be!” and it is

in order to attract attention to beings which are ‘an isthmus’ between the material and the immaterial.

It is thus in keeping with the sacred letters of the Divine cyphers like Ha. Mim. Ta. Sin., and Alif. Lam. Mim. that they should each be switches among the particles of the air for causing the wires of the hidden, subtle relations to vibrate and so be the means of the immaterial sacred wireless and telecommunications between the earth and Divine Throne; it is entirely reasonable that this should be their function.

In addition to the duties of each and every particle of the air spread through all parts of the world conforming to the commands in connection with such things as wirelesses, radios, telephones, and telegraphs, and acting as receivers and conductors of subtle forces such as electricity, I conjectured, and observed even, a further duty in the blossom of my almond-tree. The state the tree acquired through the touch of the air in the blowing breeze—with its particles like receivers conforming to the same command at the same instant—and all the trees on the face of the earth like an orderly army, afforded me a conviction as certain as two plus two equals four.

That is to say, the air is a swift and agile servant on the face of the earth, tending the guests of the Most Merciful and Compassionate One. Like radio and telephone receivers and soldiers under orders, all its particles deliver the sacred commands of that Most Merciful One to the plants and animals. At ‘the command of “Be!” and it is’, they carry out numerous orderly duties, like being fans for those creatures, aiding their respiration; that is, after performing the duty of purifying their blood, the water of life, and kindling their bodily heat, the fire of life, they emerge from them and are the means of forming words in their mouths.

It is as a consequence of this quality of the air that when letters, the beings of the air, acquire sacredness, that is, when they take up the position of being receivers—that is, they take up the position of receivers because they are letters of the Qur’an—and become like switches, and even more so when the letters at the start of some Suras become like the sensitive central switches of those hidden relations, just as their existences in the air possess this quality, so do their existences in the mind, and even as inscriptions, have a share in it. That is to say, like physical medicines, healing cures and other aims may be achieved through reading and writing those letters.

S a i d N u r s i

FOOTNOTES

1. Qur’an, 36:82.

2. The two letters of the Arabic alphabet in the word “Kun!”, that is, “Be!” [trans.]