THE THIRD SIGN AND PROOF, NAMELY THE INNUMERABLE STAMPS OF DIVINE UNITY INDICATED BY THE PHRASES “HIS IS THE DOMINION AND HIS IS THE PRAISE”

 

There is a stamp on the faces of all things, particular and universal, from particles to the planets, which is such that just as the image of the sun in a mirror indicates the sun in the sky, the metaphorical mirror made up of these innumerable stamps indicates the Sun of absolute Eternity and testifies to God’s Unity. Since many of these stamps have been explained in detail in The Lamp of Light, here we will briefly indicate only three of them. They are as follows:

Just as a vast stamp of Unity, which comprises mutual help, solidarity, mutual resemblance, and intermingling among the various species of creatures, has been placed on the face of the universe as a whole, so too on the face of the earth there is a similar stamp of Divine Unity, which consists of the fact that the hundreds of thousands of plants and animal species, which make up a magnificent army of the All-Glorified One, are each given particular weapons, uniforms, provisions, and instructions with perfect orderliness and at exactly the right time. On the face of human beings, as on other creatures, there is also a stamp of Divine Oneness, which allows the features of one human being to be distinguished from all others. Similarly, on the head of every creature, whether large or small, or whether a part of a species with numerous members or one with a few, a seal of Divine Oneness has been placed that allows it to be distinguished from all others. These stamps, which have been placed on living creatures, are particularly brilliant; indeed, each living being is itself a stamp of Unity, a seal of Oneness, and a signature of the Eternally Besought One.

All flowers, fruits, leaves, plants, and animals are each such a seal of Divine Oneness and a stamp of the Eternally Besought One that each tree, for example, is a Divine missive, each species a book of the All-Merciful, and each garden a decree of the All-Glorified One. Thus, there are as many stamps as there are individual flowers, as many signatures as there are fruits, and as many seals as there are leaves placed on the missive that is the tree. And in order to show their Scribe, as many stamps as there are members have been placed in the book that is each species of a creature. Similarly, in order to make its Ruler known, as many seals as there are plants, trees, and animals have been placed on the decree that is the garden. Furthermore, there are four other stamps of Divine Unity on each tree: on its origin, at its end, on its outside and in its inside, as indicated by the Divine Names included in the declaration He is The First, The Last, The All-Outward, and The All-Inward (The Qur’an, 57:3).

As the Name The First indicates, a seed from which a fruit-bearing tree grows is a tiny coffer which contains the programs, contents, and plans of the tree; it is like a workbench upon which one finds the equipment, systems, and requisites necessary for growth; it is like a machine which produces the small amount of food that is needed at the beginning of its life. As the Name The Last shows us, the result or fruit of a tree is an instruction sheet which describes the tree’s structure, its attributes and stages of existence; it is a proclamation which states its functions, benefits, and special characteristics, and it is a summation that predicts the future peers and progeny of that tree through the seeds in its heart. As the Name The All-Outward demonstrates, the form and shape in which a tree is dressed is in the form of a skillfully fashioned and embroidered garment, which has been cut out, trimmed, and decorated with such precision that it is an exact fit for the stature of the tree and all of its branches, members, and parts. The tree has been formed so finely, so meaningfully, and with such a sense of proportion that it is an ode, a missive, a book. As the Name The All-Inward suggests, the workbench operating within a tree is such a factory that it produces all the parts and members of the tree and, considering the needs, incomings, and outgoings of these parts and members in exact measures, dispatches and distributes the sustenance required for each with perfect regularity and order. This factory works at the speed of lightning, with the ease of setting a clock, and with the uniformity of giving marching orders to an army.

In short, the origin of a tree is a coffer and a program; its end is an instruction sheet and a sample, while the outside is a skillfully fashioned and embroidered garment and its inside is a factory or workbench. These four aspects are interrelated, and as a whole manifest a supreme stamp, or even a Divine Greatest Name, which self-evidently demonstrates that none other than the Unique, Single Maker of Unity, Who directs the whole universe, could perform these works. Like trees, the origin, end, outside, and inside of every living creature bears a seal of Divine Unity, a stamp of Divine Uniqueness, and a signature of Divine Oneness.

Analogous with the trees in these three examples is spring, which resembles a tree with innumerable blossoms. The seeds and roots entrusted to the hand of autumn bear the stamp of the Name The First. The fruits, grains, and vegetables which are poured into the lap of summer and fill its skirts bear the seal of the Name The Last. The garments decorated with a hundred thousand designs, which the season of spring wears like a beautiful girl of Paradise, bear the seal of the Name The All-Outward. And the factories of the Eternally Besought One which work in the springtime inside the earth, the boiling cauldrons of the All-Merciful, and the kitchens of the Lord in which foods are cooked, all bear the signature of the Name The All-Inward.

Every species, for instance the human race, is like a tree. With its roots and seeds in the past and its fruits and results in the future, its life and perpetuation as a species are regulated through certain orderly laws. And in spite of its apparent disorder, its present state, which is governed by the principles of the human individual and social life, bears a stamp of Divine Unity, as well as a hidden, orderly seal of harmony and concord, which in turn indicate the same Unity. In spite of their apparent confusion, the affairs and circumstances of the ordinary human life, over which the principles of Divine Destiny and Decree rule, also bear a seal of Divine Oneness.

Said Nursi