Your fourth principle

 

As if it were you who possess the merits and virtues of your brothers and sisters, take pride in them and be thankful to God for them.

The Sufis circulate among themselves such terms as “annihilation in the guide,” and “annihilation in the Messenger.” I am not a Sufi, but we should have this principle among ourselves as “annihilation in the brothers and sisters.” This is called among the brothers and sisters “mutual annihilation.” It means the brothers and sisters being annihilated in one another. That is to say, oblivious of their own merits and the pride which may arise from them, each person lives with the merits and feelings of their brothers and sisters in their mind. The basis of our way is brotherhood. My relation with you is not like that between a father and children or a Sufi guide and his pupils. It is rather a relation between brothers and sisters. At the very most, my position of teaching may have some part in it.

Our way is also the closest friendship. Friendship requires being the closest, most self-sacrificing friend, the most appreciative companion, and the most magnanimous brother or sister. The very basis of this form of friendship is heartfelt sincerity. One who destroys this sincerity falls from the pinnacle of friendship. They may possibly fall to the bottom of a very deep pit. They cannot find anything in between to cling on to.

There are two ways. It is possible that those who leave this way of ours now, which is the great highway of the Qur’an, unwittingly help the force of heresy, which is hostile to us. I hope that God will enable those who enter the sacred sphere of the Qur’an of miraculous exposition by way of the Risale-i Nur always to give support to light, sincerity, and belief, and never to fall into such pits.

O my friends in the service of the Qur’an! One of the most influential means of attaining sincerity and preserving it is “contemplation of death.” While long term worldly ambitions damage sincerity and cause ostentation and worldliness, the “contemplation of death” leads one to abhor ostentation and gain sincerity. By never forgetting death and always considering the transient nature of this worldly life, one can be saved from the tricks of the carnal soul. Followers of Sufi paths and the people of truth who follow the Qur’anic declarations, Every soul is bound to taste death (3: 185), and You will surely die, and surely they (too) will die (39: 30), have adopted contemplation of death as a principle in their spiritual journeying and have done away with the illusion of remaining in the world eternally. They imagine themselves to be dying, being washed, and buried in the grave. Influenced by this way of prolonged contemplation of death, to an extent they are able to give up long-term worldly ambitions. There are numerous advantages to such contemplation. The Prophetic saying, “Frequently remember that which dispels pleasures and makes them bitter,”10 urges us to such contemplation. However, since our way is not a Sufi one, but rather the way of journeying directly to the truth, it is not necessary for us to do this in an imaginary or hypothetical form like the Sufis. Rather than concentrating on the future to bring it to the present, we should go to the future in the mind, and contemplate it.

Without the need for imagination or supposition, one can look at one’s own corpse, which is the single fruit on the tree of life. Not only will you see your own death, one can also see the death of one’s era at some distance. If one goes a bit further, one can observe the death of the world, and this opens the way to perfect sincerity.

Another important means of attaining sincerity is that, based on certain, verified belief and the lights of belief-guided reflective thought on God’s works of art—the whole creation—which leads to knowledge of the Maker, we can experience the omnipresence of the All-Compassionate Creator, and without seeking the acceptance or attention of any other than Him, and understanding that by looking to others for help in His presence is not right conduct in His presence, we can be saved from ostentation and attain sincerity. This kind of attainment has numerous degrees and stages. To whatever degree a person can benefit from their share, this much is beneficial. Many other truths are mentioned in the Risale-i Nur which can save a person from ostentation and gain them sincerity, so we will cut the discussion short here.

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi

10 at-Tirmidhi, “Qiyama” 86; an-Nasa’i, “Jana’iz” 3. (Tr.)