The Twenty-Eighth Flash

THE TWENTY-SECOND SUBTLETY

This section is of great value. Everyone can benefit from it up to the Second Point.

The First Point concerns morality and arises from certain unpleasant circumstances in EskişehirA city in northwestern Turkey, known for its historical and cultural significance. It holds an important place in the life of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, who was imprisoned there in 1935 together with many of his students because of their activities involving the Risale-i Nur. Prison, which stemmed not from misconduct but from the distress of imprisonment. The Second Point deals with a subtle meaning of a well-known Qur’anic verse that has remained hidden until now.

The First Point

Out of the perfection of His generosity, mercy, and justice, Allah the Just has placed an immediate reward within good deeds and an immediate punishment within evil deeds. Good deeds contain spiritual pleasures that call to mind the rewards of the Hereafter, while evil deeds contain spiritual torments that afford a foretaste of the punishments of the Hereafter.

For example, love among believers is a good deed. Within this good deed lies a spiritual pleasure, a joy and an expansion of the heart that recall the rewards of the Hereafter. Anyone who consults his own heart can experience this joy.

Conversely, enmity and hatred among believers are evil deeds. Within them lies a torment of conscience that fills the heart and soul with distress, especially in those of noble heart. I have personally experienced, perhaps more than a hundred times, that whenever I felt hostility towards a fellow believer, I suffered such inward anguish on account of that hostility that I could have no doubt it was an immediate punishment for that evil deed.

Likewise, showing respect to those worthy of respect, and extending compassion and service to those deserving of compassion, are good deeds. Within them lies such profound pleasure and joy that they afford a foretaste of the rewards of the Hereafter—to such an extent that a person may even be willing to sacrifice his life out of respect and compassion.

Thus, such is the joy and reward a mother finds in her compassion for her child that she may even sacrifice her own life for its sake. Even a hen attacking a lion to save her chicks illustrates this truth in the animal kingdom. This shows that an immediate reward is concealed within compassion and respect. Those of noble and generous heart experience this reward and are thereby moved to acts of heroism.

Similarly, greed and extravagance carry within them an immediate punishment that overwhelms a person with complaints, anxieties, and inward torment. Envy and jealousy, too, entail such an immediate punishment that envy itself consumes the one who harbours it.

By contrast, tawakkulTrust in Allah after making the necessary effort and fulfilling one’s responsibilities. and qanāahContentment with what has been allotted. bring an immediate reward of such sweet spiritual joy that it dispels the pain and burdens of poverty and need.

Pride and arrogance likewise carry such a heavy burden that the arrogant person demands respect from everyone; yet because his demands are met with coldness, he suffers constant torment. Indeed, respect is bestowed, not demanded.

Conversely, humility and the renunciation of egotism bring such a delightful reward that one is relieved of a heavy burden and freed from the tiresome effort of seeking others' admiration.