The Fourth Ray

The Fourth Ray

[While being the Fifth Flash in meaning and degree, in form and ‘station’ this forms the valuable Fourth Ray of the Thirty-First Letter’s Thirty-First Flash and is an important and subtle point concerning the verse, For us God suffices.]

Note

NOTE: Unlike other works, the Risale-i Nur starts off in veiled manner and gradually unfolds. Especially the First Degree of this treatise, in addition to being a most valuable truth, it is extremely subtle and profound. Peculiar to myself, it took the form of a significant discussion governed by the feelings, an animated conversation about belief, a secret discourse of the heart; it was healing for my various deep ills. Those who are completely in harmony and agreement with me may understand it completely. Otherwise it will not be entirely appreciated.

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

For us God suffices, and He is the Best Disposer of Affairs. [^1]

[^1]:Qur’an, 3:173.

One time when I had been isolated from everything by ‘the worldly’, I was afflicted with five kinds of exile. I suffered too at that time of old age from five illnesses arising in part from my sorrows. Due to the heedlessness resulting from the distress, I looked not to the lights of the Risale-i Nur, which would have consoled and assisted me, but straight to my heart, and I sought my spirit. I saw that dominant in me were an overpowering desire for immortality, an intense love of existence, a great yearning for life, together with an infinite impotence and endless want. But an awesome transience was extinguishing the immortality. Suffering that state of mind, I exclaimed like the sorrowing poet: [^2]

[^2]:This refers to Niyãzī al-Miṣrī (1218-1294 AD), a sufi poet who was born in the province of Malatya in Turkey. He studied in al-Azhar, hence the name ‘al-Misri,’ wrote a dīwãn of poetry and other works, and taught in the religious schools of Istanbul for many years. [Tr.]