The First Flash

 بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ 

In the Name of God,

the Merciful, the Compassionate

But he cried through the depths of darkness, “There is no god but You; Glory be unto You! I was indeed among the wrongdoers!”(21:87) When he called upon his Lord saying: “Verily harm has afflicted me, and You are the Most Merciful of the Merciful.”(21:83) But if they turn away, say: “God suffices me, there is no god but He; in Him do I place my trust – He the Sustainer of the Throne [of Glory] Supreme!”(9:129) For us God suffices, and He is the Best Disposer of Affairs.(3:178) There is no strength and no power other than through God, the High, the Mighty. [^1] O Eternal One, You alone are Eternal! O Eternal One, You alone are Eternal! And to those who believe guidance and healing.(41:44)

[^1]: See, Bukhārī, Maghāzī, 38; Muslim, Dhikr, 44-6. ∗ The translations of the First, Second, and Twentieth Flashes were originally made by Hamid Algar, Professor of Near Eastern Studies in the University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A., and published by the Risale-i Nur Institute of America in 1975. They have been slightly amended to fit the present work. [Tr.]

[This, the first section of the Thirty-First Letter, consists of six flashes each of which depicts one of the many lights of the above verses and phrases. Their recital thirty-three times each particularly between Maghrib and ‘Isha, the prayers at sunset and nightfall, is highly meritorious.]