the purpose of offering thanks, a sort of praise, and obeying the Shari‘a, which removes the rust of nature, each of those samples becomes a map [illuminating] his world, and a mirror reflecting it and the attribute manifested in it and the name it displays. In this way, with both spirit and body, man becomes a summary of the worlds of the seen and unseen, and manifests what is manifested in them. Through offering praise he becomes both a place of demonstration and a demonstrator of the attributes of perfection. This is implied by what Muḥyī al-Dīn al-‘Arabī [^8] said in explanation of the Hadith: “I was a hidden treasure, so I created creation that they might know Me.” [^9] That is, I created creation to be a mirror in which I might observe My beauty.

[^8]:Muḥyī al-Dīn al-‘Arabī (d. 638/1240) was born in Andalucia. He earned the title al-Shaykh al-Akbar. Of his numerous works and treatises the most famous are al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya and Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam. For further details, see, Nūrsī, Ishārāt al-I‘jāz fī Maẓānn al-Ījāz. Ed. Iḥsān Qāsim al-Ṣāliḥī (Istanbul: Sözler Yayınevi, 1414/1994), 27.

[^9]:See, al-Suyūṭī, al-Durar al-Muntathira, 125; ‘Alī al-Qārī, al-Āthār al-Marfū’a, 273. This Hadith’s line of transmissionis not known, but according to the latter it is sound in meaning, based on the verse, “I created not the jinn and men except that they might worship,”(51:57) that is, “that they might know Me;” as expounded by Ibn ‘Abbās. See, al-‘Ajlūnī, Kashf al-Khafā’ ii, 132. As cited in, Nūrsī, Ishārāt al-I‘jāz [Iḥsān Qāsim], 27.

► 2 ◄

“[Be] to Allah (li’llāh)”

That is, praise (ḥamd) is particular to and fitting only for the Most Pure and Holy Essence, who although specified is described by the concept of the Necessarily Existent One. For sometimes something specific may be thought of in general terms. The letter lām (the li- of li-llāh) here is dependent on the verb implied by its meaning, [^10] as though it had absorbed the verb’s meaning. In the lām is also a sign to sincerity and divine unity.

[^10]:That is, “Praise is particular to Allah” has become “[All] praise is Allah’s.” See, Nursi, İşârâtü’l-İ’caz [T. tr. Bahaeddin Sağlam] (Istanbul: Tebliğ Yayınları, 2001), 26.

► 2 ◄

“Lord and Sustainer (Rabb)”

That is, He who raises and sustains the universe with all its component parts, each of which is a world like the greater world, with all its atoms, like its stars dispersed, in motion, in order.

Know that Allah (May His glory be exalted) appointed for everything a point of perfection and deposited in each an inclination towards it, as though commanding it through this inclination to set out for the point of perfection. In its journey each thing stands in need of what will help it and what will repulse the things that hinder it, and this is the sustaining of Allah. If you study the universe, you will see that it resembles human groups and