Eleven Good News That Bring Healing and Spiritual Pleasure

The Twentieth Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
There is no god but God, He is One, He has no partner; His is the dominion,
and His is the praise; He alone grants life, and deals death, and He is living
and dies not; all good is in His hand, He is powerful over all things, and
with Him all things have their end. 

[This sentence expressing divine unity, which is recited following the
morning and evening prayers, possesses numerous merits  and according to
an authentic narration bears the degree of the Greatest Name.  It consists of
eleven phrases each of which conveys both some good tidings, and a degree
in the unity of dominicality (tevhid-i rubûbiyet), and an aspect of the
grandeur and perfection of divine unity from the point of view of a Greatest
Name. Referring a full explanation of these vast, elevated truths to other parts
of the Risale-i Nur, in fulfilment of a promise we shall for now write a brief,
index-like summary of them in two “Stations” and an “Introduction.”]

Introduction
Be certain of this, that the highest aim of creation and its most important result is
belief in God. The most exalted rank in humanity and its highest degree is the
knowledge of God contained within belief in God. The most radiant happiness and
sweetest bounty for jinn and human beings is the love of God contained within the
knowledge of God. And the purest joy for the human spirit and the sheerest delight
for man’s heart is the rapture of the spirit contained within the love of God. Yes, all
true happiness, pure joy, sweet bounties, and untroubled pleasure lie in knowledge of
God and love of God; they cannot exist without them.
The person who knows and loves God Almighty may receive endless bounties,
happiness, lights, and mysteries. While the one who does not truly know and love him
is afflicted spiritually and materially by endless misery, pain, and fears. Even if such
an impotent, miserable person owned the whole world, it would be worth nothing for
him, for it would seem to him that he was living a fruitless life among the vagrant
human race in a wretched world without owner or protector. Everyone may
understand just how forlorn and baffled is man among the aimless human race in this
bewildering fleeting world if he does not know his Owner, if he does not discover his
Master. But if he does discover and know Him, he will seek refuge in His mercy and
will rely on His power. The desolate world will turn into a place of recreation and
pleasure, it will become a place of trade for the hereafter.

First Station
Each of the eleven phrases of the above-mentioned sentence affirming divine
unity contains some good news. And in the good news lies a cure, while in each of
those cures a spritual pleasure is to be found.

THE FIRST PHRASE: “There is no god but God”
This phrase conveys the following good news to the human spirit, suffering as it
does countless needs and the attacks of innumerable enemies. On the one hand the
spirit finds a place of recourse, a source of help, through which is opened to it the
door of a treasury of mercy that will guarantee all its needs. While on the other it
finds a support and source of strength, for the phrase makes known its Creator and
True Object of Worship, who possesses the absolute power to secure it from the evil
of all its enemies; it shows its master, and who it is that owns it. Through pointing this out, the
phrase saves the heart from utter desolation and the spirit from aching sorrow; it
ensures an eternal joy, a perpetual happiness.

THE SECOND PHRASE: “He is One”
This phrase announces the following good news, which is both healing and a
source of happiness:
Man’s spirit and heart, which are connected to most of the creatures in the
universe and are almost overwhelmed in misery and confusion on account of this
connection, find in the phrase “He is One” a refuge and protector that will deliver
them from all the confusion and bewilderment.
That is to say, it is as if “He is One” is saying to man: God is One. Do not wear
yourself out having recourse to other things; do not demean yourself and feel indebted
to them; do not flatter them and fawn on them and humiliate yourself; do not follow
them and make things difficult for yourself; do not fear them and tremble before
them; for the Monarch of the universe is One, the key to all things is with Him, the
reins of all things are in His hand, everything will be resolved by His command. If
you find Him, you will be saved from endless indebtedness, countless fears.

THE THIRD PHRASE: “He has no partner”
Just as in His divinity and in His sovereignty God has no partner, He is One and
cannot be many; so too He has no partner in His dominicality and in His actions and
in His creating. It sometimes happens that a monarch is one, having no partner in his
sovereignty, but in the execution of his affairs his officials act as his partners; they
prevent everyone from entering his presence, saying: “Apply to us!”
However, God Almighty, the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, has no
partner in His sovereignty, just as He has no need for partners or helpers in the
execution of His dominicality.
If it were not for His command and will, His strength and power, not a single
thing could interfere with another. Everyone can have recourse to Him directly. Since
He has no partner or helper, no one seeking recourse can be told: “Stop! It is
forbidden to enter His presence!”
This phrase, therefore, delivers the following joyful announcement to the human
spirit: the human spirit which has attained to faith may, without let or hindrance,
opposition or interference, in any state, for any wish, at any time and in any place,
enter the presence of the All-Beauteous and Glorious One, the One of power and
perfection, who is the Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal Owner of the treasuries of mercy,
the treasuries of bliss, and may present its needs. Discovering His mercy and relying on His power, it will find
perfect ease and happiness.

THE FOURTH PHRASE: “His is the dominion”
That is to say, ownership is altogether His. As for you, you are both His property,
you are owned by Him, and you work in His property. This phrase announces the
following joyful and healing news:
O man! Do not suppose that you own yourself, for you have no control over any
of the things that concern you; such a load would be heavy. Also, you are unable to
protect yourself, to avoid disasters, or to do the things that you must. In which case,
do not suffer pain and torment without reason, the ownership is another’s. The Owner
is both All-Powerful and All-Merciful; rely on His power and do not cast aspersions
on His mercy! Put grief behind you, be joyful! Discard your troubles and find
serenity!
It also says: You love and are connected to the universe, which is the property of
the All-Powerful and Merciful One, yet although it grieves you by its wretchedness,
you are unable to put it right. So hand over the property to its Owner, leave it to Him.
Attract His pleasure, not His harshness. He is both All-Wise and All-Merciful. He has
free disposal over His property and administers it as He wishes. Whenever you take
fright, say like İbrahim Hakkı: “Let’s see what the Master does; whatever He does, it
is best;” understand this thoroughly and do not interfere!

THE FIFTH PHRASE: “His is the praise”
Praise, laudation, and acclaim are proper to Him, are fitting for Him. That is to
say, bounties are His; they come from His treasury. And as for the treasury, it is
unending. This phrase, therefore, delivers the following good news:
O man! Do not suffer and sorrow when bounties cease, for the treasury of mercy
is inexhaustible. Do not dwell on the fleeting nature of pleasure and cry out with pain,
because the fruit of the bounty is the fruit of a boundless mercy. Since its tree is
undying, when the fruit finishes it is replaced by more. If you thankfully think of there
being within the pleasure of the bounty a merciful favour a hundred times more
pleasurable, you will be able to increase the pleasure a hundredfold.
An apple an august monarch presents to you holds a pleasure superior to that of a
hundred, indeed a thousand, apples, for it is he that has bestowed it on you and made
you experience the pleasure of a royal favour. In the same way, through the phrase
“His is the praise” will be opened to you the door of a spiritual pleasure a thousand
times sweeter than the bounty itself. For the phrase means to offer praise and thanks; that is to say, to perceive the
bestowal of bounty. This in turn means to recognize the Bestower, which is to reflect
on the bestowal of bounty, and so finally to ponder over the favour of His compassion
and His continuing to bestow bounties.

THE SIXTH PHRASE: “He alone grants life”
That is to say, He is the giver of life. And it is He who causes life to continue by
means of sustenance. He also supplies the necessities of life. And it is to Him that the
exalted aims of life pertain and its important results look, and His are ninety-nine out
of a hundred of its fruits. Thus, this phrase calls out in this way to ephemeral,
impotent man, it makes this joyful announcement:
O man! Do not trouble yourself by shouldering the heavy burdens of life. Do not
think of the transience of life and start grieving. Do not see only its worldly and
unimportant fruits and regret that you came to this world. For the life-machine in the
ship of your being belongs to the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One, and it is He
who provides for all its expenses and requirements. Also, your life has a great many
aims and results, and they pertain to Him, too.
As for you, you are just a helmsman on the ship, so do your duty well and take
the wage and pleasure that come with it. Think of just how precious is the life-ship
and how valuable its benefits; then think of just how Generous and Merciful is the
Owner of the ship. So rejoice and give thanks and know that when you perform your
duty with integrity, all the results the ship produces will in one respect be transferred
to the register of your actions, that they will secure an immortal life for you, will
endow you with eternal life.

THE SEVENTH PHRASE: “And deals death”
He is the one who causes death. He discharges you from the duty of life, changes
your abode from this transitory world, and releases you from the labour of service.
That is, He takes you from a transient life to an immortal one. This phrase, then,
shouts out the following to ephemeral jinn and man:
Here is good news for you! Death is not destruction, or nothingness, or
annihilation; it is not cessation or extinction; it is not eternal separation, or non-
existence, or a chance event; it is not authorless obliteration. Rather, it is to be
discharged by the Author who is All-Wise and All-Compassionate; it is a change of
abode. It is to be despatched to eternal bliss, to your true home. It is the door of union
to the Intermediate Realm, which is where you will meet with ninety-nine per cent of
your friends.

THE EIGHTH PHRASE: “And He is living and dies not”
That is to say, the Possessor of a beauty, perfection, and munificence that are
infinitely superior to the beauty, perfection, and munificence to be seen in the
creatures of the universe, and that arouse love; and an Eternal Object of Worship, an
Everlasting Beloved, a single manifestation of whose beauty is sufficent to replace all
other beloveds, has an enduring life through pre-eternity and post-eternity – a life free
from any trace of cessation or ephemerality and exempt from any fault, defect, or
imperfection. Thus, this phrase proclaims to jinn and man, to all conscious beings,
and the people of love and ardour:
Here is good news for you! There exists an Everlasting Beloved who will cure
and bind the wounds caused you by countless separations from the ones you love.
Since He exists and is undying, whatever happens do not fret over the others.
Furthermore, the beauty and generosity, virtue and perfection to be seen in them, the
cause of your love, are, passing through many veils, the shadows of the palest of
shadows of the manifestation of the Ever-Enduring Beloved’s ever-enduring beauty.
Do not grieve at their disappearance, for they are mirrors of a sort. The mirrors being
changed renews and embellishes the manifestation of the Beauty’s radiance. Since He
exists, everything exists.

THE NINTH PHRASE: “All good is in His hand”
Every good action you perform is transferred to His register. Every righteous
deed you do is recorded with Him. Thus, this phrase calls out to jinn and mankind
with the following good news:
O wretched ones! When you journey to the grave do not cry out in despair,
“Alas! Everything we owned is destroyed, all our efforts are wasted; we have left the
beautiful broad earth and entered the narrow grave,” for everything of yours is
preserved, all your actions written down, every service you have rendered recorded. A
Glorious One in whose hand is all good and who is able to bring all good to fruition,
will reward your service: drawing you to Himself, He will keep you only temporarily
under the ground. Later, He will bring you to His presence. What happiness for those
of you who have completed their service and duty; your labour is finished, you are
departing for ease and mercy! Service and toil are over, you are going to receive your
wage!
The All-Powerful One of Glory preserves seeds and grains, which are the pages
of the register of last spring’s deeds and the deposit-boxes of its services, and
publishes them the following spring in glittering fashion,

indeed, in a manner a hundred times more plentiful than the originals. The results of
your life He is preserving in the same way, and will reward your service in a truly
abundant fashion.

THE TENTH PHRASE: “And He is Powerful over all things”
He is One, He is Unique, He has power over everything. Nothing at all is difficult
for Him. To create the spring is as easy for Him as to create a flower, and He creates
Paradise with as much ease as He creates the spring. The innumerable artefacts which
He continuously creates every day, every year, every century, witness with
numberless tongues to His boundless power. Thus, this phrase too delivers good
news:
O man! The service you have offered and the worship you have performed are
not for nothing. A realm of reward, an abode of bliss, has been prepared for you. An
unending Paradise is awaiting you in place of this fleeting world of yours. Have faith
and confidence in the promise of the Glorious Creator whom you know and whom
you worship, for it is impossible for Him to break His promise. In absolutely no
respect is there any deficiency in His power; impotence cannot impede His works.
Just as He creates your tiny garden, so He is able to create Paradise for you, and He
has created it and promised it to you. And because He has promised, He shall, of
course, admit you to it!
We observe every year on the face of the earth that He gathers together and
disperses with perfect order and balance, with perfect timing and ease, more than
three hundred thousand species and groups of animals and plants. Most certainly such
an All-Powerful One of Glory is capable of carrying out His promise.
Since, being thus absolutely Powerful He creates samples of the resurrection and
Paradise in thousands of forms every year; and since, promising eternal bliss through
all His revealed scriptures, He gives the glad tidings of Paradise; and since all His
actions and deeds are carried out with truth, veracity, and seriousness; and since,
through the testimony of all His works of art, all perfections point to and testify to His
infinite perfection, there being in absolutely no respect any defect or fault in Him; and
since the breaking of a promise, lying, falsehood, and deception are the ugliest of
qualities besides being defects and faults; then most decidedly and most certainly that
All-Powerful One of Glory, that All-Wise One of Perfection, that All-Merciful One of
Beauty, will carry out His promise; He will open the gate to eternal bliss; He will
admit you, O people of faith, to Paradise, which was the original home of your
forefather Adam.

THE ELEVENTH PHRASE: “And with Him all things have their end”
Human beings are sent to this world, the realm of trial and examination, with the
important duties of trading and acting as officials. After they have concluded their
transactions, accomplished their duties, and completed their service, they will return
and meet once more with their Generous Master and Glorious Creator who sent them
forth in the first place. Leaving this transient realm, they will be honoured and
elevated to the presence of grandeur in the realm of permanence. That is to say, being
delivered from the turbulence of causes and from the obscure veils of intermediaries,
they will meet with their Merciful Sustainer without veil at the seat of His eternal
majesty. Everyone will find his Creator, True Object of Worship, Sustainer, Lord, and
Owner and will know Him directly. Thus, this phrase proclaims the following joyful
news, which is greater than all the rest:
O man! Do you know where you are going and where you are being driven? As is
stated at the end of the Thirty-Second Word, a thousand years of happy life in this
world cannot be compared to one hour of life in Paradise. And a thousand years of life
in Paradise cannot be compared to one hour’s vision of the sheer loveliness of the
Beauteous One of Glory. You are going to the realm of His mercy, and to His
presence.
The loveliness and beauty in all the creatures of this world and in those worldly
beloveds by which you are so stricken and obsessed and for which you are so
desirous, are but a sort of shadow of the manifestation of His beauty and of the
loveliness of His names; and all Paradise with all of its subtle wonders, a single
manifestation of His mercy; and all longing and love and allurement and captivation,
but a flash of the love of the Eternal Worshipful One and Everlasting Beloved. You
are going to the sphere of His presence. You are being summoned to Paradise, which
is an eternal feasting place. Since this is so, you should enter the grave not weeping,
but smiling in expectation.
The phrase announces this good news as well: O man! Do not be apprehensive,
imagining that you are going to extinction, non-existence, nothingness, darkness,
oblivion, decay, and dissolution, and that you will drown in multiplicity. You are
going not to extinction, but to permanence. You are being impelled not to non-
existence, but to perpetual existence. You are going to enter not darkness, but the
world of light. And you are returning to your true owner, to the seat of the Pre-Eternal
Monarch. You will not drown in multiplicity, you will take your rest in the realm of
unity. You are bound not for separation, but for union.”

From Rİsale-i Nur Collection Letters-261 By Bediüzzaman Said Nursi