Old Age: Consoling Hopes

Through the strength of their connection with that eternal power, even a fly can kill Nimrod, and an ant can destroy Pharaoh's palace. And a seed smaller than a speck of dust bears upon its shoulders a pine tree as great as a mountain.

We have explained in many treatises of the Risale-i Nur that an ordinary soldier, fighting in the name of the Sultan, can accomplish deeds a hundred thousand times beyond his own strength, such as taking a king prisoner.

In the same way, every creature, through its connection with that eternal power, can display wonders of artistry that surpass the powers of natural causes a hundred thousandfold.

In short, the exceedingly artful yet effortless coming into existence of all creatures demonstrates that they are the works of an Eternal All-Powerful One Who possesses all-encompassing knowledge. If they were not attributed to Him, their existence—quite apart from the countless difficulties it would entail—would pass from the realm of possibility into that of impossibility. In that case, nothing could come into existence; even the possibility of its existence would vanish."

Thus, through this exceedingly subtle, powerful, profound, and yet clear proof, my nafs—the temporary student of Satan and representative of the people of misguidance and the philosophers—was silenced. And, all praise be to Allah, it attained complete belief and said:

“Indeed, I need a Creator and Lord Who knows even the smallest thoughts of my heart and my most hidden supplications; Who, just as He is able to fulfil the deepest desires of my soul, is also able to transform the entire world into the Hereafter in order to grant me eternal happiness; Who creates the heavens just as He creates a fly; Who, just as He has placed the sun upon the face of the heavens like an eye, also places a tiny speck within the pupil of my eye.

For whoever cannot create a fly cannot intervene in the thoughts of my heart or hear the supplications of my soul. And whoever cannot create the heavens cannot grant me eternal happiness.

Therefore, my Lord is the One Who both purifies the thoughts of my heart and will transform the world into the Hereafter, just as He fills the sky with clouds and clears it again within a single hour. He is the One Who has created Paradise, Who will open its gates for me and say: ‘Enter!’”

O my elderly brothers and sisters who, like me, have unhappily squandered part of your lives in the darkness of soulless philosophy and materialistic sciences!

Understand, through the sacred and everlasting decree of the Qur’an, Lā ilāha illā Hū, how powerful, true, and unshakable is this sacred pillar of īmān—belief in Allah—and how it dispels all spiritual darkness and heals every spiritual wound!

This long account may perhaps have been set down without my deliberate intention. It has found its place among these treatises in which I have expressed the hopes of my old age. I feared that it might become wearisome, yet I can say that I was inspired to write it. In any case, let me return to the subject.