The Twenty-First Flash

In the same way, numerous historical events bear witness that, through their sincerity, the worth and spiritual strength of sixteen sincere brothers can surpass those of four thousand men.

The mystery behind this truth is as follows: through genuine and sincere unity, each individual is able, in a sense, to see with the eyes and hear with the ears of the brothers with whom he has formed that unity.

Thus, if ten sincere people were united in harmony, each of them would, as it were, possess the strength and capacity of twenty eyes with which to see, ten intellects with which to think, twenty ears with which to hear, and twenty hands with which to work.^[1]

The Third Principle

Know that all your strength lies in sincerity and truth. Indeed, strength is found in truth and sincerity. Even those who follow a false path derive strength from the sincerity with which they adhere to their false beliefs.

Our service to the Qur’an is itself a clear demonstration that strength lies in truth and sincerity. Even the slightest measure of sincerity in our service confirms this truth and stands as proof of it.

Indeed, the service we have rendered to Islam here, together with you, over the past seven or eight years has been a hundred times more fruitful than the service we performed over more than twenty years with other brothers in my homeland and in Istanbul, although there I had a hundred, perhaps even a thousand, times as many brothers as I have here.

Here, despite being half-illiterate, a stranger, lonely and isolated, subjected to oppression and kept under the surveillance of unscrupulous officials, the spiritual strength manifested in the service I have performed with you over these seven or eight years has made that service a hundred times more effective than my former efforts. I have not the slightest doubt that this strength has arisen from your sincerity.

Moreover, I acknowledge that, through your sincere ikhlāsSincerity in worship, seeking only the pleasure of Allah and avoiding the pursuit of fame or status., you have, to some extent, protected me from riyāDisplaying piety to impress others rather than seeking Allah’s pleasure; the opposite of ikhlās. —ostentation— to which my nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits. was tempted under the guise of fame and renown. InshaAllah, you will attain pure ikhlāsSincerity in worship, seeking only the pleasure of Allah and avoiding the pursuit of fame or status. and help me attain it as well.