The First Discussion of The Twenty-Sixth Letter

بِاسْمِهِ سُبْحَانَهُ وَاِنْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ اِلاَّ يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

1 وَاِمَّا يَنْزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ نَزْغٌ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللّٰهِ اِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

A Proof of the Qur'an Against Shaytan and His Followers...

The First Discussion, which defeats iblîs in argument, silences shaytan and the people of rebellion: it is an event that decisively refutes a terrible wile of shaytan within impartial reasoning. I described a summary of that event ten years ago in The Lemeât2. It is as follows:

Eleven years before this risale was written, in the noble Ramadhan, I was listening to the hâfidhs in the noble masjîd of Bayezid of Istanbul. Suddenly, I did not see him, but it was as if I heard a ma’nawî voice. It turned my mind to himself. I listened with my imagination. I looked at it; it was saying to me:

"You consider the Qur'an to be extremely elevated and brilliant. Reason impartially, then consider it again. That is, suppose it to be a word of man, then look at it. I wonder, will you see those excellences and adornments?"

In truth, I was too deceived by him. Supposing it to be the word of man, I looked at it so. I saw that, just as everywhere falls into darkness when the electric switch of Bayezid is turned off, so the brilliant lights of the Qur'an began to hide with that supposition. At that time, I understood that it was shaytan speaking with me. He was throwing me into the abyss.

I sought help from the Qur'an. Suddenly, a nûr came to my heart and gave me decisive strength for the defence. Then a debate against shaytan began. It is as follows:

I said, "O shaytan! Impartial reasoning is a position between two sides. Whereas, what both you and your disciples among men call impartial reasoning is the iltizâm of the opposing side. It is not impartiality but a temporary irreligiousness. Because considering the Qur'an to be the word of man and reasoning it in that way is to hold the opposing side as the fundamental principle. It is the iltizâm of bâtil. It is not impartial reasoning but the partiality of bâtil."

Shaytan said, "In which case, say it is neither the word of Allah nor the word of man. Suppose it is in the middle, and then look."

I said, “It cannot be either. For if there is a property on which there is a dispute, and if the two claimants are close to one another and there is proximity in place, the property will then be left in a place in such a way that someone other than them will hold it or both can reach it. Whoever proves his ownership will take it. But if those two claimants are far apart, one in the east and one in the west, then according to the rule, it will be left with the one who possesses it because it is not possible to leave it somewhere in between. Thus, the Qur'an is a valuable property. These two sides are as far, even infinitely, from each other as the man’s word is from the word of Janâb-i Haqq. It is not possible to leave it between the two sides, which are as far apart as the Pleiades and the ground. Also, there is no middle ground. For they are opposites like existence and non-existence and the two contrary things. There cannot be a middle ground between them. In which case, for the Qur'an, the one who possesses it is the side of Allah. In which case, its being in His hand will be accepted, and then the proofs will be considered. If the opposing side refutes one by one all the conclusive arguments concerning it being the word of Allah, it can reach out to it. Otherwise, it cannot. Alas! This magnificent diamond, which was riveted to al-‘arsh al-‘âdham by the thousands of rivets of conclusive arguments, what hand can cause it to fall by pulling out all those rivets and cutting off those pillars?"

"Thus, O shaytan! Despite you, the people of justice and haqq reason in this manner of truthful reasoning. They increase their îmân in the Qur'an with even the most minor evidence. As for the way you and your disciples showed, if just once it is supposed to be the word of man, that is, if that mighty diamond fastened to the ‘arsh is thrown to the ground, a conclusive argument, which possesses the strength of all the rivets and the firmness of many conclusive arguments, becomes necessary to raise it from the ground and rivet it to the ma’nawî ‘arsh. So that it can be saved from the darkness of kufr and reach the nûrs of îmân. But it is extremely hard to achieve. Therefore, at this time, due to your wile, many people lose their îmân under the veil of impartial reasoning."

Shaytan turned and said, "The Qur'an resembles the word of man; it is in the form of man’s conversation. That means it is man's word. If it were the word of Allah, it would be in a form that is suitable to Him and wondrous in all aspects. Just as His art does not resemble man's art, so His word also should not resemble man's word."

I said as a reply, "Just as our Prophet remained in the sphere of humanity in all his actions, states and conduct apart from his miracles and special attributes, and he submitted and obeyed to ‘Âdâtullah and His takwinî commands like other human beings. He, too, suffered from the cold and pain and so on. A wondrous state was not given to all of his states and conducts, so that he could be an imam to his ummah through his actions, a guide through his conduct, and could give lessons through all of his behaviour. If he was wondrous in all his conduct, he could not himself be an imam in every aspect. He could not be the absolute murshid to everyone. He could not be rahmah to all ‘âlams'3 through all his states.

In just the same way, Al-Qur'an Al-Hakîm is the imam to the conscious beings, the murshid to jinn and men, the guide to the people of perfection and the teacher to the people of haqiqah. Therefore, being in the form of man's conversation and style is a necessity and certainty. Because men and jinn take and learn their du‘â from it; they speak of their matters through its language and learn the adab of social behaviour from it, and so on, everyone has recourse to it; therefore, if it were in the form of the kalâm of Allah, which Hazrat Mûsâ ‘Alayhissalâm heard on Mount Sinai, man could not endure listening to and hearing it, nor had recourse to it. An ulu'l-‘azm prophet like Hazrat Mûsâ could only endure hearing a few words. Mûsâ ‘Alayhissalâm said, اَهكَذَا كَلاَمُكَ قَالَ اللّٰهُ لِى قُوَّةُ جَمِيعِ اْلاَلْسِنَةِ4

Shaytan turned and again said, "Like the matters of the Qur'an, many people speak of those kinds of matters in the name of religion. Is it not possible, therefore, that a man did such a thing in the name of religion?"

Through the nûr of the Qur'an, I said as a reply:

Firstly: Out of love of religion, a religious man can say, “The Haqq is thus; the haqiqah is this. The commands of Allah are these.” But he cannot make Allah speak as he pleases. By transgressing his limits to an infinite degree and imitating Allah, he cannot speak in His place. He trembles from the principle فَمَنْ اَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ كَذَبَ عَلَى اللّٰهِ5.

And Secondly: It is in no way possible for a human being to do such a thing on his own and to be successful in it. Indeed, it is impossible a hundred times because individuals who are close to one another can imitate each other. Those of the same kind can enter into one another’s form. Those who are close to each other in terms of status can imitate one another's rank. They temporarily deceive people but cannot deceive them forever because, in any case, the pretences and artificialities within their conduct and states will show their dishonesty to the attentive people. Their artifice will not continue. If the one who dishonestly tries to imitate is very far from the other, for example, if an ordinary man wants to imitate a genius like Ibn Sina in knowledge, or a shepherd assumes the state of a sultân, of course, he cannot deceive anyone. He would rather be a laughingstock. Every state of his will shout, “This is an impostor!”

Thus, Hâsha!6 A hundred thousand times hâsha!... When the Qur'an is supposed to be man's word: How can a fire-fly appear to the astronomers as a real star for a thousand years without pretence... and a fly display the complete form of a peacock before observers for a year without affectation... and an impostor common private assume the behaviour of a famous exalted marshal, sit in his position and remain there a long time and hide his deception... and a slanderer, liar and unbelieving man display the quality and state of the most loyal, trustworthy and believing person before the most investigative people throughout his life without haste, and his pretence be concealed before the geniuses!... As for this, it is impossible a hundred times. No reasonable being can say that it is possible. In the same way, supposing it is even to talk nonsense like supposing that something evidently impossible has happened.

In just the same way, supposing the Qur'an to be the word of man necessitates that the essence of Al-Kitâb Al-Mubîn, which is accepted as a most brilliant star of haqiqah perpetually scattering the nûrs of haqiqahs that are seen by eyes, rather, a sun of perfection in the samâ of the Islamic world, hâsha, should be a firefly, a superstitious sham of a pretending man, and those who are closest to it and look to it most carefully should not realise this and should always consider it to be a sublime star that is a source of haqiqah. Together with being a hundred times impossible, if you go a hundred times further in your evil, O shaytan, you cannot make anyone accept the possibility of it. You cannot deceive any uncorrupted mind! You only deceive people by making them look from a great ma’nawî distance. You show a star as small as a firefly.

Thirdly: Also, supposing the Qur'an to be the word of man necessitates that the hidden haqiqah of the most spirited and life-scattering, the most truthful and happiness-bringing, the most comprehensive Furqân of Miraculous Exposition, which is gilded with exalted qualities of the world of mankind through the testimony of its works, effects and results, hâsha, should be the pretence of a single unaided and unlearned man's base and dishonest thought, and that the great minds and exalted geniuses who observe it closely and pay attention to it curiously should never see any trace of dishonesty or pretence in it in any aspect and they should always find earnestness, sincerity and ikhlas!

As well as being a hundred times impossible, supposing the one who, throughout his life, showed and taught trust, îmân, trustworthiness, ikhlas, seriousness and istiqâmah through all his states, words and actions, and who raised siddiqîn and is accepted as the possessor of the highest, most brilliant and elevated virtues, to be the most untrustworthy, insincere and unbelieving is nonsense talk of kufr, which even would shame shaytan such as considering an utter impossibility having occurred. Because there is no middle ground in this matter.

If — we take for granted an impossibility — the Qur'an is not the word of Allah, it will decrease from the ‘arsh to the ground as though falling. It cannot remain between the two.  While it is the centre of haqiqahs, it becomes the source of superstition. And if — hâsha! Again and again, hâsha! — the one who shows that wondrous decree is not the Rasûl of Allah, it becomes necessary to descend from the a’lâ ‘illiyyin to the asfal sâfilîn, and from the degree of being the source of perfections to the rank of being a source of wiles. He cannot remain between the two. For one who slanders and lies in the name of Allah falls into the lowest of degrees.

How impossible it is to see a fly as a peacock permanently and to observe the attributes of a peacock in the fly permanently. This matter is impossible to that extent. Only someone drunken, lunatic, or lacking the mind by fitrah may regard it as possible.

Fourthly: Also, supposing the Qur'an to be the word of man necessitates accepting hundreds of impossibilities by supposing the Qur'an, a sacred commander of the ummah of Muhammad (asm), the largest and most magnificent army of sons of Âdam, — hâsha! A hundred thousand times hâsha! — to be a powerless, valueless, baseless sham although, it evidently has given the order to such a huge army, has regimented and equipped it both materially and ma’nawî, and according to the degree of each individual in that army, it has trained their minds, given tarbiyyah to their hearts, subjugated their rûhs, purified their consciences, and employed and utilised their limbs and members to a degree that will conquer both worlds through its powerful laws, sound principles and penetrating commands... It also becomes necessary to accept hundreds of impossibilities at once by supposing the one who throughout his life teaches sons of Âdam the laws of Haqq through his serious acts, instructs mankind the principles of haqiqah through his earnest behaviour, and shows and establishes the ways of istiqâmah and happiness through his sincere and reasonable words, and through the testimony of his biography, who greatly feared the punishment of Allah, and who knew Allah and made Him known more than anyone else, and who rules a fifth of mankind and half the globe of the earth for one thousand three hundred and fifty years with perfect splendid, and who raises outcry in the universe, and through his well-known qualities who is in truth the means of pride of mankind, rather, of the universe — hâsha! A hundred thousand times hâsha! — to be an impostor and a man at the lowest degree of humanity who neither fear Allah nor know Him and His dignity. Because there is no middle ground in this matter. Because if we take for granted the impossibility that the Qur'an is not the Kalâm of Allah and falls from ‘arsh, it cannot remain between the two. Indeed, it has to be accepted as the property of a liar on the ground. As for this, O shaytan, even if you were a hundred times more shaytanic, you cannot deceive any uncorrupted mind or persuade any unrotten heart.

Shaytan turned and said, "How can I not deceive them? I made the majority of mankind and the famous geniuses of man deny the Qur'an and Muhammad."

The answer:

Firstly, the greatest thing can be seen as the smallest thing if it is looked at from a great distance. It can be said that a star is as big as a candle.

Secondly: Also, something extremely impossible can be seen as possible if it is looked at with a secondary and superficial view. One time, an old man looked at the sky to see the crescent of Ramadhan. A white hair fell on his eye. He supposed it to be the moon. He said, “I have seen the moon.” Now, it is impossible that the crescent may be the white hair. But because he purposely and directly looked at the moon and saw the hair indirectly and secondarily, he accepted that such an impossibility was possible.

Thirdly: Also, to not accept is one thing, but to deny is something different. The non-existence of acceptance is indifference; it is to close the eyes and not make a judgement ignorantly. In this way, many impossible things can hide within it. His mind is not occupied with them. As for denial, it is not the non-existence of acceptance but an acceptance of non-existence. It is a judgement. His mind is compelled to occupy. In that case, a shaytan like you takes his mind away, then makes him swallow the denial. And O shaytan, through shaytanic wiles like ghaflah, dhalâlah, false reasoning, obstinacy, misleading arguments, pride, deception and custom, which show the bâtil as haqq and the impossible as possible, you make those miserable animals in human form swallow denial and kufr, which produce the consequence of numerous impossibilities.

Fourthly: Also, supposing the Qur'an to be the word of man necessitates imagining a book that evidently guides asfiyâ, siddiqîn and aqtâb, who shine like stars in the samâwât of the world of mankind, evidently and continuously teaches haqq and truth, sidq and fidelity, faith and trustworthiness to every level of the people of perfection, provides the happiness of the two worlds through the haqiqahs of the pillars of îmân and the principles of the pillars of Islam and is necessarily haqq, sincere, pure haqiqah, absolutely right and most serious, to consist of the opposites of its own qualities, effects and nûrs — hâsha! Again and again, hâsha! — and regarding it as a collection of fabrications and slanders of an impostor. Together with being a detestable delirium of kufr, which will shame even the Sophists and shaytans and cause them to tremble, it also necessitates supposing a person who, through the testimony of the religion and Sharî'ah of Islam that he demonstrated, through the indications of his extraordinary taqwâ and sincere and pure ‘ubûdiyyah unanimously he demonstrated throughout his life, through the requirement of the fine moral qualities unanimously seen on him and through the affirmation of all the people of perfection and haqiqah whom he raised, was the most believing, the firmest, the most trustworthy and the most truthful — hâsha! Again and again, hâsha, a hundred thousand times hâsha! — to be in a most untrustworthy state, lacking belief and not fearing Allah. It also necessitates perpetrating the ugliest and most loathed form of impossibility and the cruellest and darkest way of dhalâlah.

In Short: As it is said in the Eighteenth Sign of the Nineteenth Letter, the ‘âwam class possessing ears says about the understanding of the miraculousness of the Qur'an, “If the Qur'an is compared with all the books we have listened to and compared with the other books that exist in the world, it does not resemble any of them, and it is not at their level. So, the Qur'an is either below or has a degree above all of them. The option of being below them is together with being impossible, no enemy, not even shaytan, can say or accept it. So, the Qur'an is above all other books; so, it is a miracle. In just the same way, with absolute proof called sabr wa taqsîm7 in the sciences of method and logic, we say:

O shaytan, and O disciples of shaytan! The Qur'an is either the Kalâm of Allah, which has come from Al-‘arsh al-â’dham and Al-ism al-â’dham, or — hâsha! Again and again, hâsha! A hundred thousand times hâsha! — it is a sham of an impostor, an unbelieving man on the ground who neither feared Allah nor knew Him. As for this, O shaytan, you could not say, cannot say, and will not be able to say it against the above proofs; therefore, necessarily and without any doubt, the Qur'an is the Kalâm of Al-Khâliq of the universe. Because there is no middle ground, and it is impossible and cannot be. Just as we have decisively proved, you, too, have seen and heard it.

Also, Muhammad ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm is either the Rasûl of Allah and the perfect of all Rasûls and the most superior of creatures in terms of fadhîlah or — hâsha! A hundred thousand times hâsha! — it becomes necessary to suppose him to be a man without belief, having fallen into the asfal sâfilîn because he lied concerning Allah, did not know Allah, and did not believe in His punishment. {Note: Relying on Al-Qur'an Al-Hakîm mentioning the kufr and rude expressions of the kâfirs in order to refute them, I, too, have been compelled to use tremblingly these expressions in the form of taking for granted an impossibility in order to demonstrate the complete impossibility and rottenness of the idea of kufr of the people of dhalâlah.} As for this, O Iblîs, neither you nor the philosophers of Europe and munâfiqs of Asia on whom you rely can say it, and you could have not said, and you will not be able to say, you have not said, and you will not say it. Because there is no one in the world who will listen to this option and accept it. It is because of this that the most corrupt of those philosophers and the most lacking in the conscience of those munâfiqs of Asia say, “Muhammad the Arabian (asm) was very clever. He had very good moral qualities.”

Since this matter is restricted to these two options, since the second option is impossible and no one at all sets up a claim to this, and since we have proved with decisive proofs that there is no middle ground between them. Evidently and through haqq al-yaqîn, despite you and the followers of shaytan, Muhammad the Arabian ‘Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm is the Rasûl of Allah, the perfect of all Rasûls and the superior of all creatures in terms of fadhîlah.

عَلَيْهِ الصَّلاَةُ وَالسَّلاَمُ بِعَدَدِ الْمَلَكِ وَاْلاِنْسِ وَالْجَانِّ8

A Second, Small Objection of Shaytan

While reciting surah ق وَ الْقُرْآنِ الْمَجِيدِ9

مَا يَلْفِظُ مِنْ قَوْلٍ اِلاَّ لَدَيْهِ رَقِيبٌ عَتِيدٌ وَجَاءَتْ سَكْرَةُ الْمَوْتِ بِالْحَقِّ ذلِكَ مَا كُنْتَ مِنْهُ تَحِيدُ وَ نُفِخَ فِى الصُّورِ ذلِكَ يَوْمُ الْوَعِيدِ وَ جَاءَتْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَعَهَا سَائِقٌ وَ شَهِيدٌ لَقَدْ كُنْتَ فِى غَفْلَةٍ مِنْ هذَا فَكَشَفْنَا عَنْكَ غِطَاءَكَ فَبَصَرُكَ الْيَوْمَ حَدِيدٌ وَ قَالَ قَرِينُهُ هذَا مَا لَدَىَّ عَتِيدٌ اَلْقِيَا فِى جَهَنَّمَ كُلَّ كَفَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ10

While reciting the above âyahs, shaytan said, "You find the most important eloquence of the Qur'an in its fluency and clarity. But in these âyahs, it passes over from where to where. It passes from the sakarât to the qiyâmah, from the blowing of the Trumpet to the completion of the Judgement. From there, it mentions the entrance into Jahannam. Within these strange passes, what fluency remains? The Qur'an connects subjects like these, which are far from each other in most of its parts. Where is the fluency and eloquence with such an irrelevant state of it?”

The Answer: After its balâghat, one of the most important fundamental principles of the miraculousness of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition is conciseness. Conciseness is one of the firmest and most important fundamental principles of the Qur'an's miraculousness. This miraculous conciseness is so numerous and beautiful in Al-Qur'an Al-Hakîm that the people who minutely examine it are in astonishment before it. For example:

وَ قِيلَ يَا اَرْضُ ابْلَعِى مَاءَ كِ وَيَا سَمَاءُ اَقْلِعِى وَغِيضَ الْمَاءُ وَقُضِىَ اْلاَمْرُ وَاسْتَوَتْ عَلَى الْجُودِىِّ وَقِيلَ بُعْدًا لِلْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ11

With a few short sentences, it declares the immense event of the Flood and its consequences so concisely and miraculously that it has caused many versed people in balâghat to prostrate before its balâghat. And, for example:

كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ بِطَغْوَيهَا اِذِ انْبَعَثَ اَشْقَيهَا فَقَالَ لَهُمْ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ نَاقَةَ اللّٰهِ وَسُقْيَيهَافَكَذَّبُوهُ فَعَقَرُوهَا فَدَمْدَمَ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُمْ بِذَنْبِهِمْ فَسَوَّيهَا وَلاَ يَخَافُ عُقْبَيهَا12

With such few short sentences and with a miraculousness within the conciseness, it declares the strange and important events concerning the tribe of Thamûd, their consequences and their bad end, with a fluent and clear style that does not spoil the understanding. And, for example:

وَذَا النُّونِ اِذْ ذَهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَظَنَّ اَنْ لَنْ نَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ فَنَادَى فِى الظُّلُمَاتِ اَنْ لاَ اِلهَ اِلاَّ اَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ اِنِّى كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ13

Here, many sentences have been folded from the phrase اَنْ لَنْ نَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ to the phrase فَنَادَى فِى الظُّلُمَاتِ . As for the sentences that are not mentioned, they neither spoil the understanding nor harm its fluency. It mentions the important principles in the story of Hazrat Yûnus and refers the rest to the mind.

Also, for example, in surah al-Yûsuf, from the phrase 14 فَاَرْسِلُونِ between the يُوسُفُ اَيُّهَا الصِّدِّيقُ15, seven or eight sentences have been skipped with conciseness. It neither spoils the understanding nor harms its fluency. There are numerous miraculous concisenesses of this sort in the Qur'an; they are very beautiful as well.

As for the âyah of surah al-Qâf, the conciseness within it is so extraordinary and miraculous. For, one by one, it points out the future of the kâfirs, which is so terrifying and long, and one day of it is fifty thousand years, and it points out the important and grievous events that will happen to the kâfirs amidst those dreadful future events. It makes the thought travel over them like lightning. It shows such a long time, like a single present page to the eye. Referring the events, which are not mentioned, to the imagination, it declares them with an elevated fluency.

وَاِذَا قُرِئَ الْقُرْآنُ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ وَاَنْصِتُوا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ16

Thus, O shaytan! If you have anything to say, now say it!

Shaytan says,"I cannot oppose these. I cannot defend. But there are many fools; they listen to me; there are many shaytans in human form; they assist me; there are many pharaohs among philosophers; they take their lesson from me concerning matters flattering their ananiyyah. They prevent the dissemination of your words like these. Therefore, I shall not lay down my arms to you."

سُبْحَانَكَ لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا اِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ