The Sixteenth Flash

بِاسْمِهٖ سُبْحَانَهُIn His Name, glory be to Him.

وَاِنْ مِنْ شَىْءٍ اِلاَّ يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِIndeed, there is nothing that does not glorify Him with praise. — The Qur’an 17:44

اَلسَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللّٰهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُMay the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.

My honoured, devoted, faithful, and sincere brothers, Hodja SabriSabri Arseven, an imam from Barla and one of the early students of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. He helped copy and distribute the Risale-i Nur and was known for his devotion to its teachings. and Hāfiz AliHāfiz Ali Ergün (Ali Ergin); one of the earliest and closest students of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, who played a crucial role in the writing, copying, and distribution of the Risale-i Nur. Nursi honoured him with the title “Owner of the Nur Factory.”,

Your important question concerning the verse at the end of Surah LuqmānThe 31st chapter of the Qur’an, consisting of 34 verses. Named after Luqmān, a wise man whose advice to his son is mentioned in the chapter, it emphasizes faith in Allah, gratitude, wisdom, good conduct, and the signs of Allah in creation., regarding the Five Matters of the Unseen, the Mughayyabāt-i KhamsaThe Five Matters of the Unseen; five matters mentioned in the Qur’an (31:34) whose complete knowledge belongs to Allah alone: the Hour of Judgment, the sending of rain, what is in the wombs, what a person will earn tomorrow, and where a person will die., would in fact require a detailed and profound answer. Unfortunately, my present state of mind and bodily condition do not permit this. We shall therefore point only very briefly to one or two aspects of your question.

From the meaning of your question, it appears that the deniers have raised objections, in a critical manner, concerning two matters that belong to the Mughayyabāt-i KhamsaThe Five Matters of the Unseen; five matters mentioned in the Qur’an (31:34) whose complete knowledge belongs to Allah alone: the Hour of Judgment, the sending of rain, what is in the wombs, what a person will earn tomorrow, and where a person will die.: namely, the time when rain descends and the state of the child in the mother’s womb.

They say:

“By means of instruments in meteorological observatories, the time of rainfall can be determined. It is therefore not known only by Allah. And by means of X-rays, it can be determined whether the child in the mother’s womb is male or female. It seems, then, that one can acquire knowledge of the Five Matters of the Unseen.”

The Answer: Since the time at which rain descends is not bound to a fixed law, but is directly connected with the particular will of Allah and dependent upon a specific decree from the treasury of His mercy, there is a profound wisdom in this.

The most important and most precious realities in the universe are light, existence, life, and mercy. These four are connected directly, without veil or intermediary, to Divine power and the particular Divine will. In the case of other creatures, outward causes serve, as it were, as veils over that power, and fixed laws and regularities cover the Divine will to a certain extent. But in existence, life, light, and mercy, such veils are not present, because the wisdom behind the placing of such intermediaries does not apply here.

Since, within existence, the most important realities are life and mercy, and since rain is the source of life and a manifestation of mercy—indeed, the very embodiment of mercy—no means can act here as a veil, and fixed regularity cannot conceal the particular Divine will.

In this way, every human being, at every moment and in all things, is brought to gratitude, worship, and supplication. If rain were subject to a fixed law, people would rely upon that law, and the door of gratitude and prayer would largely be closed.

It is well known how many benefits the rising of the sun brings. Yet because it is subject to a fixed and uninterrupted law, people do not pray for its rising, nor is special gratitude expressed when it rises. And because human knowledge, on the basis of that law, knows that the sun will rise tomorrow, this is not counted among the unseen.

Rain, however, in its individual occurrences, is not subject to a fixed law. For this reason, people are repeatedly compelled to turn to Allah with hope and prayer.