Twentieth Window*

{(*) The true meaning of this Twentieth Window occurred to my heart at one time in Arabic in this way:

The sparkling of the light is through Your illuminating and making it known;

The rolling on of the ages is through Your despatching and employing them;

Glory be unto You, how mighty is Your rule!

The flowing forth of the rivers is through Your storing them up and subjugating them;

The decorations of stones is through Your designing and fashioning them;

Glory be unto You, how sublime is Your wisdom!

The smiling of the flowers is through Your adorning and beautifying them;

The embellishing of fruits is through Your bestowal and munificence;

Glory be unto You, how beautiful is Your art!

The carolling of the birds is through Your making them speak and Your avail;

The singing of the rain is through Your causing it to fall, Your bestowal;

Glory be unto You, how vast is Your Mercy!

The motion of the moons is through Your determining, Your planning,

Your rotating them, Your illuminating them;

Glory be unto You, how brilliant Your proofs, how dazzling Your sovereignty!}

So glory be to Him in Whose hands is the dominion of all things.2 And there is nothing but its treasuries are with Us; but We only send it down in a measure defined. And We send forth the winds to fertilize the plants, and We send down rain from the skies providing you with water therewith, and you are not the keepers of its stores.3

Just as perfect wisdom and beauty of art are apparent in particulars and results and in details, so do the universal elements and large creatures take up their positions in accordance with wisdom and art, despite their apparently being mixed up together by chance without order. Thus, as its other wise duties show, light shines in order to proclaim and make known the Divine creatures on the face of the earth, with the permission of its Sustainer. This means that light is employed by a Wise Maker; by means of it, He makes manifest His antique works of art in the exhibitions of the market of this world.

Now consider the winds! According to the testimony of their other wise, generous benefits and duties, they are hastening to extremely numerous and important tasks. It means that their movement in waves is a being employed, a being despatched, a being utilized by an All-Wise Maker; it is a working expeditiously to speedily carry out the commands of their Sustainer.

Now consider the springs, the streams, and the rivers! Their welling-up out of the ground and out of mountains is not by chance. For it is demonstrated by the testimony of their benefits and fruits, the works of Divine mercy, and by the statement of their being stored up in mountains with the balance of wisdom in proportion to need, that they are subjugated and stored up by an All-Wise Sustainer, and that their flowing forth is their conforming exuberantly to His command.

Now consider all the varieties of stones and jewels and minerals in the earth! Their decorations and beneficial properties, the wise benefits connected to them, and their being prepared in a manner appropriate to human and animal needs and vital necessities all show that they are made in that way through the decoration, arrangement, planning, and forming of an All-Wise Maker.

Now consider the flowers and fruits! Their smiles, tastes, beauties, embroideries, and scents are all like invitations to and menus for the table of a Most Munificent Maker, an All-Compassionate Bestower of Bounties; they are given as various menus and invitations to each species of beings through their different colours, scents, and tastes.

Now consider the birds! A certain indication that their twittering and chirruping is an All-Wise Maker’s causing them to speak is the astonishing way in which they express their feelings to one another with those sounds, and state their intentions.

Now consider the clouds! A definite indication that the pattering of the rain is not a meaningless sound and that the crashing of thunder and lightning is not a futile din is that those strange beings are created in empty space. Also drops of rain like the water of life are milked from the clouds, suckling the living creatures on the earth so needy and longing for them. These facts show that the pattering and crashing are most meaningful and full of wisdom. For at the command of a Most Generous Sustainer, the rain calls out to those longing for it: “Good news! We are coming!” They express this meaning.

Now look at the sky and consider carefully only the moon out of all the innumerable bodies within it! That its motion is at the command of an All-Powerful and Wise One is demonstrated by the important instances of wisdom connected to it and concerning the earth. Since we have explained these in other places in the Risale-i Nur, we cut this short here.

Thus, the universal elements we have enumerated from light to the moon open in large measure a truly extensive window. They proclaim and show the unity of a Necessarily Existent One, and the perfection of His power, and grandeur of His sovereignty.

And so O heedless one! If you are able to silence this voice, crashing like thunder and extinguish this light brilliant as the sun, forget God! Otherwise come to your senses! Say, All Glory be unto You! And,

The seven heavens and the earth and all within them extol His limitless glory!1