بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

وَ بِهِ نَسْتَعِينُ

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَ الصَّلاَةُ وَ السَّلاَمُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَلَى آلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ اَجْمَعِينَ

DISSIPATION-SAFAHAT – 2

1. Ananiyyah and addiction to safahat lead man to dhalâlah. As an example for this state, the explanation of the âyah (14:3) from the First Ray:

الَّذِينَ يَسْتَحِبُّونَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا عَلَى اْلآخِرَةِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللّٰهِ وَيَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًا اُولئِكَ فِى ضَلاَلٍ بَعِيدٍ1

Through its three phrases, this âyah, too, looks both to the way of Risale-i Nur and the way of mulhids regarding the conformity of its meaning and certain ma’nawî connections, and it says with its first phrase, “Through the guidance of some people of îmân (even though they have their îmân) and some people of ‘ilm (even though they perfectly know the âkhirah) joining them, those wretches knowingly and willingly prefer the life of the world over religion and the âkhirah, like preferring glasses worth five cents over the diamond, even though they know the diamond and have found it; they obstinately prefer a life of dissipation over religious feelings and take pride in irreligion. This phrase has a special connection with this century because no century has shown such a feature. In the former ages, the people of dhalâlah did not know the âkhirah and denied it; they did not know the diamond as a diamond and preferred the world.

And with its second phrase, which is 2 وَ يَصُدُّونَ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللّٰهِ , the âyah says, “Since those wretches’ dhalâlah was born out of obstinacy and love for life, they do not remain harmless but transgress. With hostility, they want to dry up the sources of the religion they know and their ancestors are tied to; they want to destroy its foundations and close its doors and roads."

And with its third phrase, which is وَيَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًا3, the âyah says, “Since their dhalâlah arose from science and philosophy, it gave them bizarre pride, a strange state of the pharaoh and a terrible ananiyyah that spoilt their nafs. They want to see both the rays of the laws of Allah that administer the universe and the principles of those haqiqahs in the world of mankind (Hashâ, hashâ!) as crooked, wrong and incomplete since they do not consider them to be suitable to the inferior appetites and desires of their nafs."

Thus, just as in a ma’nawî manner, this âyah, with its three phrases, looks to a terrible group of dhalâlah in this age and exclusively looks to that group among many of its alikes with a perfect ma’nawî tawâfuq and through its indicative meaning (ma’nâ al-isharî), it also points to them through the tawâfuq arising from its jafr value. Yes, the jafr value of the first phrase الَّذِينَ يَسْتَحِبُّونَ with the calculation of jafr is 13274; if ل with shaddah and ب counted twice, its value becomes 13595; with perfect tawâfuq, it looks to the period of the severe attacks of that rebellious group. Since tanwin is a ن , the jafr value of وَيَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًا is 12096; with perfect tawâfuq, it looks to the year when the idea and attempts to establish the Western laws in the judicial system as a conspiracy against the Sharî’ah of Islam.

The First Ray/3rd Âyah

2. Due to the effect of safahat and the love of the world that become widespread under the name of fashion, modern culture, freedom, new world order and civilisation, at the last period of the âkhirzaman, the ears are employed in listening to music that flatters the nafs, the eyes are made to work at the command of the nafs and to view haram things; as a consequence of this state, the ears cannot hear the haqq words and the eyes cannot see Allah’s arts in the exhibition of the universe and cannot perform tafakkur, and the heart dies in a ma’nawî manner. In a community composed of such people, sins are called civilisation, freedom and modernity; they are commended, and the religious life is disapproved and criticised.

Thus, the Prophet (asm) repeatedly warned the ummah about the fitnah that will cause them to fall into this situation. He decreed in a hadith:

Narrated Abu Hurayrah:

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ ، قَالَ : قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : تَأْتِيكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِي أَرْبَعُ فِتَنٍ ، فَالرَّابِعَةُ مِنْهَا الصَّمَّاءُ الْعَمْيَاءُ الْمُطْبِقَةُ ، تُعْرَكُ الأُمَّةُ فِيهَا بِالْبَلاءِ عَرْكَ الأَدِيمِ ، حَتَّى يُنْكَرَ فِيهَا الْمَعْرُوفُ ، وَيُعْرَفَ فِيهَا الْمُنْكَرُ ، تَمُوتُ فِيهَا قُلُوبُهُمْ كَمَا تَمُوتُ أَبْدَانُهُمْ

After me, there will be four fitnah. When the fourth fitnah comes, the ears will be deaf, the eyes will be blind; the fitnah will be everywhere; the ummah will suffer a calamity to the extent that truth will be rejected and evil will be accepted as truth; in this fitnah, their hearts die in the way that the bodies die.

Ramuz Al-Ahadis page-2477

The following part can be related to the fourth fitnah that was mentioned in the hadith:

In the riwâyât, it was mentioned that "Dajjal's first day is a year, his second day a month, his third day a week, and his fourth day a day."

8 لاَ يَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ اِلاَّ اللّٰهُ , it has two ta’wîl:

…

Its Second ta’wîl is this: There are three days in the meaning of three periods of despotism of both the Great Dajjal and the Dajjal of Islam. With an extremely elevated balâghat, he (asm) informs his ummah that "on his first day, that is, in his first period of government, he will carry out such large-scale works that cannot be performed in three hundred years. On his second day, that is, in his second period, he will make others carry out such works in one year that cannot be carried out in thirty years. On his third day and period, the changes he will bring about in one year cannot be accomplished in ten years. His fourth day and period will be reduced to ordinary; he will do nothing but work to maintain his position."

The Fifth Ray-Twelfth Matter

It is understood that, at the fourth period of the fitnah of the âkhirzaman, in order to control nations and maintain their positions, sharr currents follow the way of spreading and propagating safahat in the community and corrupting it from inside. This is exactly what is seen now in the entire world, especially in the Islamic communities.

3. Muslims should not imitate the European lifestyle:

O you, who are asleep while awake! And you who think you are awake while asleep!

Do not approach civilised people through tolerance in religious matters and by resembling them. You think that you can be a bridge and fill the valley between us and them. By no means! Because the distance between mu’mins and kâfirs is infinite, and the valley between us is extremely deep; you cannot fill it. Rather, you would join them or fall into a deep dhalâlah.

Al-Mathnawî Al-Nûrî- 276

 

O sons of this land9! Do not imitate Europeans! I wonder, after the immense cruelty and enmity committed against you by Europe, with which mind do you follow and trust their dissipation and bâtil ideas? No! No! You, who dissolutely imitate them! You do not just follow them but rather execute yourselves and your brothers unconsciously by joining their side. Be cautious that the more you immorally follow them, the more you lie in the claim of patriotism! Because following them in this way is despising your nationality, and it is ridiculing the nation!

17th Flash-Fifth Note

4. Vile civilisation that corrupts society wants to stupefy mankind by means of fantasies:

O Europe, corrupted by dissipation and dhalâlah and distanced from the religion of ‘Îsâ ‘Alayhissalâm! With your blind genius having a single eye like the Dajjal, you gifted this Jahannam-like state to the rûh of mankind. Then, you understood that it is such a disease that has no cure; it casts man from the a’lâ ‘illiyyin to the asfal sâfilîn and lowers him to the most unfortunate level of animals. The remedy you have found for this disease is the attractive playthings, sedative desires and fantasies of yours that serve to numb the senses temporarily. May this remedy of yours kill you, and it will kill! Thus, the path you have opened up for mankind and the happiness you have given them resemble this comparison.

17th Flash-Fifth Note

5. We should not let the secret enemies of religion who want to alienate Muslims from their religion deceive us by encouraging the dissipation of civilisation:

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

فَلاَ تَغُرَّنَّكُمُ الْحَيَوةُ الدُّنْيَا وَلاَ يَغُرَّنَّكُمْ بِاللّٰهِ الْغَرُورُ10

Oh, brother! If the enemy is outside, one can deal with them without being armed; however, if the enemy enters the fortress and hides, then it is necessary to be armed against that enemy, to wear armour, to be very careful and to be extremely persistent so that he can save his eternal life from disguised blows.

Oh, brother! The arm and armour are the salâh and taqwâ. Hold firmly the chain of the Qur’an! Listen to its words! Do not let others deceive you! To those who invite you to abandon shaâ’er and invite you to the civilisation of the world among the ghâfil drunks of the time, say, “… Oh, ghâfil! If you can kill death, remove departure from the world and eliminate man’s impotence and poverty; if you have found a remedy that will block the way leading living beings, especially mankind, to eternity, then you can intercept mankind’s way and invite them to abandon religion and shaâ’er of religion. If not, shut up, oh fool! Listen to what the Qur’an Great in Dignity says!”

Nurun İlk Kapısı 143-146

6. A religious family should not fall into the lifestyle and fantasies of civilisation:

Furthermore, in one part of the Risale-i Nur, it was said: Happy is the man who imitates his sâliha wife so as not to lose his eternal companion; he, too, becomes sâlih. Also, happy is the woman who sees her husband as pious, and she, too, becomes pious so as not to lose her eternal friend and companion; within her happiness in this world, she attains her happiness in the âkhirah. Unfortunate is the man who follows his wife who fell into dissipation and does not try to make her give it up; he, too, joins her. Unfortunate is the woman who sees her husband's fisq and imitates him in another way. Alas for the wife and husband who assist one another in throwing each other into the fire! That is, they encourage each other in the fantasies of civilisation.

24th Flash - A conversation with women

7. The damage modern civilisation inflicts on mankind by promoting luxury, waste, fantasies and dissipation:

Second question: Previously, while you were visiting the nomadic tribes of the east, you used to encourage them to embrace civilisation and progress. Why did you withdraw from current civilisation for nearly forty years, calling it “Vile,” and submerge yourself in seclusion?

The Answer: Since the current Western civilisation acts contrary to the samâwî fundamental laws, its evils outweigh its good; its errors and harms outweigh its benefits. The general comfort and the happiness of worldly life, which are the true aims of civilisation, are spoilt. Since wastefulness (israf) and dissipation have taken the place of frugality (iqtisâd) and contentment, and laziness and inclination for luxury have taken the place of endeavour and service and have prevailed over them, the Western civilisation has made wretched mankind very poor and very lazy. The fundamental law of the samâwî Qur’an 11 لَيْسَ لْلاِنْسَانِ اِلاَّ مَا سَعَى٭ كُلُوا وَ اشْرَبُوا وَ لاَ تُسْرِفُوا decrees: "The happiness of mankind is in frugality and endeavour for labour and work, and through them, the upper and lower classes can make peace with each other." Since this principle has been explained in the Risale-i Nur, I will briefly say one or two subtle points:

The First: During the nomadic period, mankind was in need of three or four things. Out of ten people, only two were unable to acquire these three or four needs. Through misuse and waste by inciting the desires of nafs, making inessential needs essential, and due to custom and addiction, the current cruel Western civilisation makes today's civilised man needy for twenty things instead of the four things he actually needs. Out of twenty people, only two can obtain those twenty needs in a completely halal way; the eighteen remain in need. It means that the current civilisation makes man very poor. In respect of those needs, it has urged mankind to dhulm and gain haram earnings. It has always urged the helpless lower class and the upper class to fight. By abandoning the Quran's sacred fundamental law of zakat being wâjib and interest (ribâ) being haram that establishes obedience of the lower class to the upper class and the compassion of the upper class for the lower class, the current civilisation has compelled the bourgeoise to tyranny and the poor to revolt. It has destroyed the peace of mankind!

Second Subtle Point: Since the wonders of the current civilisation are the ni’mah of Ar-Rabb, they require a true shukr and to be used for mankind’s benefit. However, we now see that these wonders shatter the enthusiasm for work because they encourage a significant number of people to laziness, dissipation and follow the desires of nafs amidst comfort by giving up labour and work. By way of lack of contentment and frugality, these wonders encourage dissipation, wastefulness, dhulm and haram.

For example, as The Key of Nur12 in the Risale-i Nur says, “Although the radio is a great ni’mah and requires a ma’nawî shukr offered by using it for the benefit of mankind, it encourages laziness and following the desires of nafs by listening to it because four out of five of it is used for the desires of nafs and unnecessary trivial things; it shatters the enthusiasm for work and abandons its true duty. Even I myself saw that although certain very beneficial and wondrous devices should be used for labour and work and the actual benefits for mankind’s needs, eight out of ten of those wondrous devices compel mankind to indulge in pleasure, amusement, desires and laziness, while only one or two out of ten are used for essential needs. Like these two minor examples, there are thousands more.

In Short: The current Western civilisation has made mankind poor by increasing their needs because it does not completely heed samâwî religions. By destroying the foundation of frugality and contentment, it has increased wastefulness, greed and envy and opened the way to dhulm and haram. By encouraging mankind to the instruments of dissipation, it has also threw mankind into extreme laziness. It shatters the enthusiasm for work and labour and makes people waste their lives fruitlessly on the desires of nafs and dissipation. It has also made sick mankind, who is needy and became lazy, and caused the spreading and transmission of hundreds of types of illnesses through misuse and wastefulness.

Furthermore, due to the three intense needs, the inclination towards dissipation, numerous sicknesses that bring death to mind at all times and the currents of irreligion being spread into this civilisation, the current Western civilisation shows death, which is in front of awakened mankind’s eyes, as an eternal execution; it threatens mankind and gives a kind of Jahannam torment to them.

Now, the awakened mankind awaits, pleads and seeks from the rahmah of Allah, and it is understood from the signs and indications of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition that in response to this terrifying calamity of mankind, through the awakening of four hundred million students of Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm, the Qur'an will once again heal these three terrifying wounds of mankind with the samâwî and sacred fundamental laws of four hundred million people within the Qur'an as it did thirteen hundred years ago, and, if qiyâmah will not break out soon, the Qur'an will cause mankind to gain both the happiness of life in this world and the âkhirah and will demonstrate that death is a discharge paper for entering the ‘âlam of nûr, not an eternal execution, and show that the goodness in civilisation, which emerges from the Qur’an, will completely prevail over the evil of civilisation and it will make civilisation a servant and a helper to itself and the samâwî laws but will not give some part of the religion as a bribe in order to gain some part of this civilisation in the way it has been for now.

اَلْبَاقِى هُوَ الْبَاقِى

Said Nursî

Emirdağ Addendum-2 (99-101)

 

There is another matter. It is also very important. According to the judgment of the Qur’an, as a result of the demands of vile civilisation, essential needs have risen from four to twenty in this age. Due to addiction, custom and habit, inessential needs became essential. Although they have îmân in the âkhirah, people prefer this world over the âkhirah for the benefit of the world and due to the struggle for livelihood by thinking and supposing that there is dharûrah.

Forty years ago, a commander-in-chief sent some commanders and even some hojas to me in order to accustom me a little to the world. They told me, “At this time, we have no choice. According to the rule: اِنَّ الضَّرُورَاتِ تُبِيحُ الْمَحْظُورَاتِ 13, we are now compelled to imitate some of the methods of Europe and some of the demands of civilisation.” So I said to them, “You are seriously deceived. If dharûrah arises from the misuse of the will, it certainly is not right. It does not make halal what is haram. If it does not arise from the misuse of the will, that is, if dharûrah has not occurred due to haram, it is not harmful. For example, if, through the misuse of the will in a haram way, a man gets himself drunk and commits a crime while he is drunk, the judgment will be made against him. He will not be considered excused and will receive a penalty because this dharûrah has occurred due to the misuse of his will. But if an insane child shoots someone in a state of insanity, he is excused; he will receive no penalty because it was not within his will.”

Thus, I said to that commander and those hojas, “What other dharûrahs are there other than the essential needs like eating bread and living? Actions born of the misuse of the will, illicit inclinations and haram behaviours cannot be a reason to make halal what is haram. If one has become addicted to things like cinema, theatre and dance, it cannot be a reason for making halal what is haram because there is no absolute dharûrah, and such addiction arises from the misuse of the will. Human laws have also taken this point into consideration and differentiated the judgments concerning the actions arising from definite dharûrah that are outside of the will and the actions arising from the misuse of the will. In the laws of Allah, these principles are differentiated in a more firm and fundamental manner.

Emirdağ Addendum-2 (242)

8. The danger of preferring dissipation and insignificant worldly benefits to religion and the life of the âkhirah and plunging into worldly pleasures and the desires of nafs:

The Second Matter: In the explanation of the indication of the Thirty-third âyah, in the discussion of 14 يَسْتَحِبُّونَ الْحَيٰوةَ الدُّنْيَا , it was said: a characteristic of this age is such that it makes one prefer the life of the world over the eternal life knowingly. That is, it has become a principle for people to knowingly prefer a piece of glass soon to be shattered over eternal diamonds. I used to be amazed at this. It has been warned in recent days that:

Just like when a human organ is ill or is injured, all other organs partly hold off their own duties and run to its aid. In the same way, a device belonging to man placed in his fitrah that carries the greed for life and its preservation, the pleasure of life and its love have been injured due to many reasons. It has started to degrade all other faculties by preoccupying them with itself and is trying to make them forget their own actual duties.

And if there were an attractive, dissipated and glamorous intoxicating entertainment, and if people occupying high positions and even covered women, like children and layabouts, were to suspend their actual duties and participate in the entertainment by being drawn to its attraction. In the same way, man’s life in this age, his social life in particular, has taken such a terrifying, but attractive and grievous, yet curious state that it drags man’s elevated subtle faculties, his heart and his mind to follow his nafs al-ammarah and, like a propeller, pushes them into the fire of fitnah.

Indeed, in order to preserve the life of this world, there is rukhsah in the Sharî’ah for temporarily preferring the life of this world over some of the matters of the âkhirah on the condition that it is at the degree of dharûrah. However, as a consequence of only a simple need or harm that will not cause a person to perish, this preference cannot be made; there is no rukhsah. Whereas this age has injected that into the man’s vein to such a degree that for the smallest of needs and the most insignificant harm to worldly life, he abandons the matters of religion, which are like diamonds.

Yes, in this age, through the barakah being withdrawn and the rise of poverty due to wastefulness, the lack of frugality, discontentment and greed, mankind’s vein of living and device for preserving life have been wounded, and that vein is harmed to such an extent due to the conditions of livelihood becoming heavier15, and the people of dhalâlah have consistently made this temporary world the centre of attraction and drawn people’s attention to themselves to such a degree that the most insignificant need of this worldly life is made to be preferred over important matters of religion.

In response to this strange illness and terrible disease of this bizarre age, the Risale-i Nur, which is the herald of the panacea-like remedies of the Quran of Miraculous Exposition, can withstand it; its firm, steadfast, sincere, loyal and sacrificing students can resist it. Thus, in order to save themselves from the effects of this strange illness, one must foremost enter the circle of the Risale-i Nur and adhere to it with loyalty, perfect steadfastness, utmost ikhlas and complete trust.

Kastamonu Addendum-104

 

Just as through the mystery of the miraculousness of Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm, the Risale-i Nur, which is a true tafsir of it, demonstrates that there is a ma’nawî Jahannam in dhalâlah in this world, so does it prove that a ma’nawî Jannah is present in îmân in this world. It shows the ma’nawî excruciating pains within sins, evil and haram pleasures and proves that there are ma’nawî pleasures, like the pleasures of Jannah, in good deeds, good moral qualities and in the practice of the haqiqahs of the Sharî'ah. Among the people of dissipation and the people who have fallen into dhalâlah, it saves those who still have their minds. Because at this time, there are two terrifying conditions:

The First: Since man's feelings, which do not see consequences and prefer an ounce of present pleasure to tonnes of future pleasures, have prevailed over the mind and reason, the only means to save the people of dissipation from dissipation is to defeat their feelings by showing them the pain present in their pleasure. And through the indication of the âyâh يَسْتَحِبُّونَ الْحَيَوةَ الدُّنْيَا عَلَى اْلاٰخِرَةِ16, in this time, the only means to save the mu’mins from the danger of following the people of dhalâlah while being the people of îmân due to the above mystery and the love of the world and the danger of choosing pieces of worldly glass soon to be shattered, although they know the diamond-like ni’mahs and pleasures of the âkhirah, is showing pains like torment of Jahannam even in this world. This is the way the Risale-i Nur takes. Otherwise, in response to the obstinacy of dhalâlah arising from science and the addiction of dissipation and kufr al-mutlaq of this time, perhaps only one in ten or even twenty can receive a lesson by the way of dissuading from evil and bad deeds through proving the existence of Jahannam and its torments after introducing Janâb-i Haqq.

After he receives the lesson, he says, "Janâb-i Haqq is Ghafûr and Rahîm, and Jahannam is a long way off," and may continue to his dissipation. His heart and rûh are defeated by his feelings. Thus, by showing the excruciating and frightening consequences of kufr and dhalâlah in this world, the Risale-i Nur, with most of its comparisons, makes even the most obstinate people, who worship their nafs, feel disgusted at dissipation and those inauspicious pleasures that the Sharî'ah does not permit; it leads those among them who still have their minds to tawbah. From those comparisons, the short ones in the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Words and the long one in the Third Stopping-Place in the Thirty-Second Word frighten the most dissipated man, who takes the way of dhalâlah, and cause him to accept its lesson.

The introduction to the translation of the Arabic lesson called Al-Khutbah Ash-Shâmiyyah  (Damascus Sermon)

 

(This is an addendum to the two parts previously written about preferring worldly life over the life of the âkhirah.)

This bizarre age has made life and living everyone's greatest aim and purpose at all times by burdening the life of the world and making the conditions of livelihood heavier, as well as making inessential needs essential due to custom and making people addicted and dependent on those inessential needs. With these, this bizarre age builds a barrier against religious life, eternal life and the life of the âkhirah, or reduces them to the second or third degree of priority. As a penalty for this mistake, it received such a terrible slap that turned their world into Jahannam.

Thus, in this terrible calamity, even the people of religion fall into the abyss, and they partly do not understand.

In short, I saw that some individuals from among the people of religion and the people of taqwâ had a great regard for us. I saw in those individuals that they desire religion and like to practice it so that they can be successful in their worldly life and gain fortune in their work. They even desire tarîqah for the sake of kashf and karâmât. It means that they make the desire for the âkhirah and the fruits of religious duties pertaining to the âkhirah a pedestal and a stepping stone to gain the life of the world. They do not know that wordly benefits arising from the haqiqahs of religion, which are the means for happiness in this world as well as happiness in the âkhirah, can only be at the degree of encouragement and cause of preference. If they rise to the level of being the real cause (‘illah) and if that benefit becomes the purpose of that good deed, it will annul the deed. It will at the very least shatter ikhlas; the sawâb of that deed will vanish.

Forty-thousand witnesses can attest that the most proven saviour from the calamity, plague, tyranny and darkness of this sick, cruel and unfortunate age is the nûr disseminated from the scales and comparisons in the Risale-i Nur. It means that if those who are close to Risale-i Nur's circle do not enter it, there is a great risk of danger.

Kastamonu Addendum-109

9. The value of contentment and frugality at the age of fitnah:

Yes, ahl ad-dunyâ, especially the people of dhalâlah, do not give their money cheaply; they sell it at a high price. Sometimes, in return for a property that will help a little towards a year of worldly life, they cause one to destroy an infinite eternal life. Through that filthy greed, he draws the wrath of Allah on himself and works to gain the pleasure and acceptance of the people of dhalâlah.

Oh, my brothers! If ahl ad-dunyâ’s bootlickers and munâfiqs among the people of dhalâlah entrap you due to greed, which is a weak vein of humanity, think the above haqiqah and take this poor brother of yours as an example to follow. I assure you with all my strength that contentment and frugality maintain your life and ensure your rizq more than a salary. Especially, the haram money that is given to you will demand a price a thousand times higher from you in return. It can also be an obstacle to the Qur'anic service, an hour of which can open an eternal treasure for you, or it can cause you to lose your zeal. This is such a loss and emptiness that even if thousands of salaries were given to you every month, it cannot fill its place.

Twenty-Ninth Letter/The Sixth Section, which is the Sixth Risale/Third Wile

 

Yes, there are many causes that call and drive man to the world; there are many who invite him, foremost the nafs and its desires, and needs, his senses and feelings, his shaytan, the superficial pleasures of the world and bad friends like you. While those who call to the âkhirah, which is everlasting, and to the long eternal life are few. If you possess even an iota of patriotism towards this helpless nation17 and the exalted patriotism you talk pretentiously about are not lies, you should help the few who help for eternal life. Otherwise, if you silence those few inviters and help the many, you will be shaytan’s friend!

Seventeenth Flash-Seventh Note