wonders of sustenance and proves decisively a Most Merciful and Compassionate One behind the veil of the Unseen; so too, through the wisdom, purposes, and fruits of order and balance in things, knowledge, which is mentioned in hundreds of Qur’anic verses and in one respect is the chief of the sacred seven attributes, displays itself like the light of the sun, making known with certainty the existence of One Knowledgeable of All Things. Yes, the comparison between ordered, measured art, which points to man’s consciousness and knowledge, and man’s fine creation, which indicates the knowledge and wisdom of man’s Creator, resembles the comparison between the tiny glow of the fire-fly on a dark night and the encompassing light of the sun at noon.
Now, before explaining the evidences of Divine knowledge, we shall mention briefly the sacred conversation which took place during the Prophet’s Ascension. For Muhammad’s (PBUH) Ascension indicates and testifies that, through its manifestations in the universe, the sacred attribute of knowledge shows the Most Pure and Holy One most clearly. When on that night he received the Divine address in God’s presence, since he had been sent as an envoy on behalf of all living beings and every sort of creature, instead of giving the greeting (al-salam) of conscious beings, he said: “Salutations, blessings, benedictions and supplications, and good words — all are God’s,”1 thus offering to his Creator the creatures’ gifts, showing the manner they make known their Sustainer through the manifestations of the attribute of knowledge. That is, with the four words “Salutations, blessings, benedictions and supplications, and good words” he was alluding to the salutations, congratulations, worship, and recognition of the One All-Knowing of the Unseen of the four main groups of living beings which they offer through the manifestations of pre-eternal and post-eternal knowledge. For this reason, the recitation of this sacred conversation of the Ascension in its broad meaning has become an obligatory part of the tashahhud for all Muslims. Referring detailed exposition of that sacred conversation to the Risale-i Nur, we shall explain one meaning of it in the form of four very brief indications.
The First is “Salutations to God” (al-tahiyyatu lillah). Briefly, its meaning is this: for example, a master craftsman invents a wonderful machine with his profound knowledge and miraculous intelligence, and everyone who sees it applauds and congratulates the craftsman, and praising and saluting him, offers him gifts both material and immaterial. The machine too, by displaying the craftsman’s wondrously subtle art, and skill and knowledge, and working perfectly in exactly the way he wanted,
For further discussion, see The Sixth Ray, in the present work. [Tr.]