The Fifth Matter which is the Fifth Risale

Risale On Shukr

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

وَ اِنْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ اِلاَّ يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ1

Through repeating âyahs like اَفَلاَ يَشْكُرُونَ ٭ اَفَلاَ يَشْكُرُونَ ٭ وَسَنَجْزِى الشَّاكِرِينَ ٭ لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ َلاَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ٭ بَلِ اللّهَ فَاعْبُدْ وَ كُنْ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ 2, the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition shows that the most important thing Al-Khâliq, Who is Rahmân, wants from His ‘abds is shukr. In Al-Furqân Al-Hakîm, He calls them to offer shukr, considering it to be extremely important. And by indicating that not offering shukr is a denial and disregard of ni’mahs, He severely and terrifyingly threatens thirty-one times with the decreeفَبِاَىِّ آلاَءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ 3 in Surah Ar-Rahmân. He shows that not offering shukr is a denial and disregard.

Yes, just as Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm indicates that shukr is the result of creation, so does this universe, which is the great Qur'an, indicate that the most important result of the creation of ‘âlam is shukr. Because if attention is paid to the universe, it is seen that the universe is formed in a way that will produce shukr; everything looks to shukr to a degree and turns towards it. It is as if the most important fruit of the tree of creation is shukr. And the highest product that this factory of the universe produces is shukr. For we see in the creation of ‘âlam that the beings inside it were formed as a circle, and within that circle, life was created as the central point. All beings look to life, serve life and produce the necessities of life. It means that the One Who created the universe has chosen and aimed for life from it.

Then we see that He creates the ‘âlams of living beings in the form of a circle, and He left man at the central point. Simply, the aims intended for the creation of living beings are centred on man; by gathering all living beings around man, He makes them his servants, subjugates them to him and makes him their ruler. It means that Al-Khâliq Zuljâlal selects man from among living beings; He wills and chooses him in the ‘âlam.

Then we see that the ‘âlam of mankind and the ‘âlam of animals too are formed like a circle, and rizq is placed at the central point. By making mankind and even the animals simply enamoured of rizq, He has made all of them its servants and subjugated them to it. It is rizq that rules over them. He has made rizq such a vast and rich treasury that it encompasses infinite ni’mahs. Even to recognise the taste of only one sort of the many varieties of rizq, a device called the sense of taste and extremely subtle ma’nawî scales to the number of foods have been placed on the tongue. It means that the most bizarre, richest, most wondrous, sweetest, most comprehensive and most wonderful haqiqah in the universe is within rizq.

Now, we see that just as everything has been gathered around rizq and looks to it, so does rizq, with all its varieties, subsist through the material and ma’nawî shukr offered verbally and by action; it exists through shukr; it produces shukr; it shows shukr because appetite and desire for rizq are a kind of fıtrî shukr, and pleasure and enjoyment are also a kind of shukr that is offered unconsciously; all animals offer such shukr, but only man transforms the essence of that fıtrî shukr through dhalâlah and kufr; he deviates from shukr to shirk.

Furthermore, the exquisitely beautiful adorned forms, exquisitely beautiful smells and exquisitely beautiful tastes in the ni’mahs given as rizq are the inviters of shukr; they invite living beings to desire; through such desire, they urge living beings to a sort of praise and respect and make them offer a ma’nawî shukr; they draw the attention of conscious beings and excite desire in them to praise; they encourage them to respect the ni’mahs; through this, they guide them to offer shukr verbally and by action and make them offer shukr; they make them experience the highest and sweetest pleasure and enjoyment within shukr. That is, they show that while having a brief and temporary material pleasure, through shukr, this delicious rizq and ni’mah causes one to gain the favours of Ar-Rahmân, carrying permanent, true, infinite pleasure and enjoyment. That is to say, by making one think of the infinite pleasurable favours of their Mâlik, Who is Karîm, Who is the Owner of the rahmah treasuries, they make him taste, in a ma’nawî manner, the eternal enjoyments of Jannah even in this world. Thus, although rizq is such a valuable, rich and comprehensive treasury by means of shukr, it declines infinitely due to not offering shukr

As is explained in the Sixth Word, the sense of taste in the tongue becomes an inspector offering shukr and a noble treasurer offering hamd of the boundless kitchens of infinite rahmah of Allah when it turns towards rizq on behalf of Janâb-i Haqq, that is, when it turns towards rizq by performing its ma’nawî duty of shukr. If it is on behalf of the nafs, that is, if it turns towards rizq by not thinking of the shukr of the One Who bestowed the rizq, the sense of taste in such a tongue declines from the rank of being a noble treasurer to the level of a watchman of the factory of the abdomen and a doorkeeper of the barn of the stomach. Just as such a servant of rizq declines to such a level due to not offering shukr, so does the essence of rizq and its other servants; they descend from the highest rank to the lowest; they fall into a state opposed to and contrary to the hikmah of the universe’s Khâliq.

The measure of shukr is contentment and frugality (iqtisâd) and acceptance (ridhâ) and gratitude. The measure of lack of shukr is greed, wastefulness, disrespectfulness and eating whatever is encountered without considering whether it is halal or haram.

Yes, just as greed is the lack of shukr, so is it the cause of deprivation as well as the means of disgrace. As evidence, it may be mentioned that greed causes the blessed ant, who has a social life, to be crushed underfoot because it collects thousands of grains if it can without being content, although a few grains of wheat are sufficient for a year. It is as if the blessed honey bee flies over the heads due to its contentment; it bestows honey on man through the command of Allah because it is content; it feeds man with it. Yes, the name Rahmân, which is the greatest name after the name Allah, the greatest name of the Most Pure and Holy One (Dhât Al-Aqdas) and the sign of His essence, looks to rizq and is reached through shukr within rizq. Furthermore, the most apparent meaning of Rahmân is Razzâq.

Furthermore, there are different kinds of shukr. The most comprehensive of these kinds and their universal index is salâh.

Furthermore, within shukr is pure îmân and a sincere tawhîd because, when a person eats an apple and says, "Alhamdulillah!" through such shukr, he proclaims, "This apple is a souvenir of the hand of Qoudrah and is a gift of the treasury of Rahmah without intermediaries." By saying this and believing in this way, he hands over everything, particular or universal, to the hand of His Qoudrah; he recognises the manifestation of Rahmah in everything; he declares a true îmân and a sincere tawhîd through shukr.

We shall say only one of the many aspects of the great loss a ghâfil man falls into due to the denial of ni’mah (kufr an-ni’mah). It is as follows:

When a man eats a delicious ni’mah and offers shukr, the ni’mah he ate becomes a nûr and a fruit of Jannah of the âkhirah by means of that shukr. As a result of the pleasure it gives and through thinking of it being a work of Janâb-i Haqq's favour of rahmah, it gives great and permanent pleasure and enjoyment. By sending ma’nawî kernels and extracts and ma’nawî substances like these to the lofty ranks, the material and base (pulp) substances pertaining to outer covering that have completed their duty and are no longer needed become waste travel in order to transform into their original form, that is, into the elements. If he does not offer shukr, that temporary pleasure leaves pain and sorrow through its depart, and the ni’mah itself becomes excreta. Ni’mah, the essence of which is a diamond, transforms into coal. Through shukr, perishable rizqs give permanent pleasures and eternal fruits. Without shukr, ni’mah transforms from the most beautiful form into the ugliest because, according to such a ghâfil, the result of rizq is waste after a temporary pleasure.

Yes, rizq has a form worthy of love (‘ashq), and that form is seen through shukr. Otherwise, the love (‘ashq) of the people of ghaflah and dhalâlah for rizq is animality. Compare accordingly to what degree the people of ghaflah and dhalâlah lose.

Among the species of living beings, man is the neediest for the varieties of rizq. Janâb-i Haqq created man in the form of a comprehensive mirror to all His Names, a miracle of Qoudrah possessing equipment to weigh up and recognise stored treasuries of His Rahmah and the khalîfah on earth having the tools to weigh up the subtleties of His arts and the manifestations of all His Names. He, therefore, gave man an infinite need and made him needy for the infinite varieties of material and ma’nawî rizq. The means of raising man to Ahsan Taqwîm, which is the highest position according to such comprehensiveness, is shukr. If man does not offer shukr, he falls into asfal sâfilîn and perpetrates a great dhulm.

In Short: The greatest principle of the four principles of the tarîq of ‘ubûdiyyah and being the beloved of Allah, which is the highest and most elevated tarîq, is shukr; these four principles have been expressed as follows:

Says one who is endowed with the tarîq of the impotence (‘Ajz), four things are necessary for arrival:

Absolute impotence, absolute poverty, absolute yearning, absolute shukr, O ‘Azîz...

اَللّٰهُمَّ اجْعَلْنَا مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ بِرَحْمَتِكَ يَا اَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ

سُبْحَانَكَ لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا اِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ

اَللّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ وَ سَلِّمْ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ سَيِّدِ الشَّاكِرِينَ وَ الْحَامِدِينَ وَ عَلَى آلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ اَجْمَعِينَ آمِينَ

وَ آخِرُ دَعْوَيهُمْ اَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ