as an order and command, and acceptance. Then by saying: "Peace be upon us and upon all God's righteous servants!", he included within the sacred greeting, both himself, and his community, and all his peers who had preceded him, and showing that it was a universal and general greeting, he included also all creatures, of which he was the representative.
When the members of his community say: "Peace be upon you, O Prophet!" in the prayers, they are complying with the command and decree contained in that divine greeting. They are also paying allegiance to him. And every day they reiterate and renew their allegiance, that is, their acceptance of his office and their obedience to the decrees he brought. Their utterance is also congratulations on his messengership. Also, with these words the whole world of Islam every day express their thanks for his having brought the good news of eternal happiness.
Just as each person feels grieved at the annihilation of his being, so he is pained at the destruction of his house; and he is harrowed at the spoiliation of his country; and he feels grievous pain at the death of his friends and at separation from them; and on thinking of the passing of his personal world, which is as wide as the world itself, and its separations, and that world finally disappearing, his spirit and conscience are seared with hellish pain. So, on condition they are not completely lacking in spirit, heart, and intelligence, all sensible persons will understand the good news of everlasting happiness that Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace) saw with his own eyes on the night of the Ascension and the glad tidings of the believers' eternal life in Paradise and that those they love and are attached to have not been annihilated and that it is certain that they will again meet with them after their disappearance. In response to this joyous gift, just as the whole world of Islam every day declares: "Peace be upon you, O Prophet!"' so too, in response to the pages and levels of the cosmos becoming letters of the Eternally Besought One through the gift he brought, and the true value and perfections of creatures becoming apparent through his messengership, all creatures declare tacitly through the tongue of this truth: "Peace be upon you, O Prophet!" Furthermore, the members of his community greeting one another with the words "Peace be upon you!" is a practice of the Prophet (UWBP) (Sunna) and one ray of this vast truth.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
S a i d N u r s i ∗∗∗