فَنَادَى فِى الظُّلُمَاتِ اَنْ لاَ اِلهَ اِلاَّ اَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ اِنِّى كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ ٭ اِذْ نَادَى رَبَّهُ اَنِّى مَسَّنِىَ الضُّرُّ وَاَنْتَ اَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ ٭ فَاِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَقُلْ حَسْبِىَ اللّٰهُ لاَ اِلهَ اِلاَّ هُوَ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَهُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ ٭ حَسْبُنَا اللّٰهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ ٭ لاَ حَوْلَ وَلاَ قُوَّةَ اِلاَّ بِاللّٰهِ الْعَلِىِّ الْعَظِيمِ ٭ يَا بَاقِى اَنْتَ الْبَاقِى ٭ يَا بَاقِى اَنْتَ الْبَاقِى ٭ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا هُدًى وَ شِفَاءٌ1

[This first section of the Thirty-First Letter comprises six Flashes that will demonstrate one of the many nûrs of each of the above blessed phrases (kalimât al-mubârakah) which have great fadhîlah when recited thirty-three times every time, especially between Maghrib and 'Isha.]

The First Flash

The du’â of Hazrat Yûnus ibn Matta ‘Alâ Nabiyyinâ and ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm2 is one of the greatest du’âs and the most significant means for the acceptance of the du’â.

A summary of the well-known story of Hazrat Yûnus ‘Alayhissalâm: He was thrown into the sea, and a large fish swallowed him. While he was in a state where the sea was stormy, the night tempest and dark, and hope faded from all sides, the du’â ofلاَ اِلهَ اِلاَّ اَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ اِنِّى كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ3 instantly became his means of salvation. The great mystery of this du’â is this: In that state, causes became entirely futile. Because, in that state, such a One, Whose command was to be obeyed and carried out by both the fish and the sea and the night and the sky, was needed to save him since the night, the sea and the fish were united against him. One Who subjugates the night, the sea and the fish to His command could disembark him to the shore of salâmât. Even if all creation were to become his servants and helpers, they would still not be any help. It means that causes have no effect. Since he saw to the degree of ‘ayn al-yaqîn that there could be no refuge other than the Causer of Causes4, and since the mystery of ahadiyyah unfolded within the nûr of tawhîd, that du’â suddenly subjugated the night, the sea and the fish. His du’â transformed the belly of the fish into a submarine through that nûr of tawhîd. The sea, amidst the terror of the quaking mountainous waves, became a safe plain, an arena for wandering and a place of excursion for him through that nûr of tawhîd, and it swept the clouds from the face of the sky through that nûr and placed the moon over his head like a lamp. The creatures pressing and threatening him from all sides showed him a friendly face from every direction. So he reached the shore of salâmât and witnessed that Rabbânî favour beneath the yaqtîn5 tree.

Thus, we are in a state that is one hundred times more terrifying than the first state of Hazrat Yûnus ‘Alayhissalâm. Our night is the future. Our future is a hundred times darker and more terrifying than his night when looked at with the eye of ghaflah. Our sea is this bewildered globe of the earth of ours. There are thousands of corpses on each wave of this sea; it is a thousand times more frightening than his sea. The desires of our nafs are our fish; through squeezing our eternal life, it works to destroy it. That fish is a thousand times more destructive than his because his fish destroys a hundred-year life. As for our fish, it works to destroy hundreds of millions of years of life.

Since this is our true state, through following Hazrat Yûnus ‘Alayhissalâm, we too should turn our face away from all the causes and take refuge directly in our Rabb, Who is the Causer of Causes, and we should say, لاَ اِلهَ اِلاَّ اَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ اِنِّى كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ , and understand with ‘ayn al-yaqîn that the One Who will repel the harm of the future, the world and the desires of nafs, which unite against us because of our ghaflah and dhalâlah, can only be The One under Whose command is the future, under Whose rule is the world, and under Whose dominion is our nafs. Is there any cause other than Al-Khâliq of the samâwât and earth, Who will know the most subtle and secret thoughts of our heart, who will lighten the future for us by creating the âkhirah and save us from the hundred thousand overwhelming waves of the world? Hâsha! Apart from Al-Wâjib Al-Wujûd, nothing, in any way, can give aid and salvation without His permission and irâdah.

Since this is the haqiqah of the situation, just as his fish became a mount and a submarine, and his sea became a safe plain and the night took a beautiful form with moonlight for Hazrat Yûnus ‘Alayhissalâm as a result of that du’â. So, through the mystery of that du’â, we too should say, لاَ اِلهَ اِلاَّ اَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ اِنِّى كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ . With the sentence لاَ اِلهَ اِلاَّ اَنْتَ6, we should attract His gaze of mercy upon our future, with the word سُبْحَانَكَ7, upon our world, and with the phrase اِنِّى كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ8, upon our nafs so that our future can be illuminated by the nûr of îmân and the moonlight of the Qur'an, and the terror and wilderness of our night can turn into a friendly familiarity and sightseeing excursions. And on our world and ground thrown into non-existence by boarding infinite corpses on the waves of the years and centuries through the continuous alternation of life and death, we can safely travel on that sea by embarking on the haqiqah of Islam, which is a ma’nawî ship made in the dockyard of Al-Qur’an al-Hakîm, and the duty of our life can finish by disembarking to the shore of salâmât. Instead of fear and terror, the storms and quakes of that sea can pleasingly caress and illumine the view of tafakkur and admonition by refreshing the views of the excursion, like cinema screens. Furthermore, with that mystery of the Qur'an and through the tarbiyyah of Furqân, our nafs will not ride us but become our mount; it will make us straddle on itself and be a powerful means for us to gain our eternal life.

In Short: Just as malaria causes man to suffer pain due to the comprehensiveness of his essence, so do the quakes and tremors of the earth and the great quake of the universe at the time of qiyâmah. And just as he fears a microscopic microbe, so does he fear the comet that appears among the celestial bodies. Just as he loves his home, so does he love the enormous world. Just as he loves his small garden, so does he ardently love the infinite and eternal Jannah. Such a man's Ma’bûd, Rabb, refuge, saviour and aim can only be The One Who the entire universe is in the grasp of His control, and particles and planets are under His command.

Indeed, such a man is constantly in need to say, like Yûnus (as),لاَ اِلهَ اِلاَّ اَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ اِنِّى كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ .

سُبْحَانَكَ لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا اِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيم