Taken from Risale-i Nur Collection
The Ninth Word
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
So glorify God when you reach evening and when you rise in the
morning; for all praise is His in the heavens and on earth, and
towards the end of the day and when you have reached noon.*
*Qur'an.30:17-18
Brother! You ask me concerning the wisdom in the specified
times of the five daily prayers. I shall point out only one of
the many instances of wisdom in the times.
Indeed, like each of the times of prayer marks the start of an
important revolution, so also is each a mirror to Divine
disposal of power and to the universal Divine bounties within
that disposal. Thus, more glorification and extolling of the
All-Powerful One of Glory have been ordered at those times, and
more praise and thanks for all the innumerable bounties
accumulated between each of the times, which is the meaning of
the prescribed prayers. In order to understand a little this
subtle and profound meaning, you should listen together with my
own soul to the following 'Five Points'.
FIRST POINT
The meaning of the prayers is the offering of glorification,
praise, and thanks to Almighty God. That is to say, uttering
Glory be to God by word and action before God's glory and
sublimity, it is to. hallow and worship Him. And declaring God
is Most Great through word and act before His sheer perfection,
it is to exalt and magnify Him. And saying All praise be to Cod
with the heart, tongue, and body, it is to offer thanks before
His utter beauty. That is to say, glorification, exaltation,
and praise are like the seeds of the prayers. That is why these
three things are present in every part of the prayers, in all
the actions and words. And it is also why these blessed words
are each repeated thirty-three times after the prayers, in
order to strengthen and reiterate the prayers' meaning. The
meaning of the prayers is confirmed through these concise
summaries.
SECOND POINT
The meaning of worship is this, that the servant sees his own
faults, impotence. and poverty, and in the Divine Court
prostrates in love and wonderment before Dominicial perfection,
Divine mercy, and the power of the Eternally Besought One. That
is to say, just as the sovereignty of Dominicality demands
worship and obedience, so also does the holiness of
Dominicality require that the servant sees his faults through
seeking forgiveness, and through his glorifications and
declaring Glory be to God proclaims that his Sustainer is pure
and free of all defects, and exalted above and far from the
false ideas of the people of misguidance, and hallowed and
exempt from all the faults in the universe.
And the perfect power of Dominicality requires that through
understanding his own weakness and the impotence of other
creatures, the servant proclaims God is Most Great in
admiration and wonder before the majesty of the works of the
Eternally Besought One's power, and bowing in deep humility
seeks refuge in Him and places his trust in Him.
And the infinite treasury of Dominicality's mercy requires that
the servant makes known his own need and the needs and poverty
of all creatures through the tongue of questioning and
supplication, and proclaims his Sustainer's bounties and gifts
through thanks and laudation and uttering All praise be to God.
That is to say, the words and actions of the prayers comprise
these meanings, and have been laid down from the side of
Divinity.
THIRD POINT
Just as man is an example in miniature of the greater world and
Sura Al Fatiha a shining sample of the Qur'an of Mighty
Stature, so too are the prescribed prayers a comprehensive and
luminous index of all varieties of worship, and a sacred map
pointing to all the shades of worship of all the classes of
creatures.
FOURTH POINT
Just as the second-hand, minute-hand, hour-hand, and day-hand
of a clock which tells the weeks look to one another, are
examples of one another, and follow one another, so too the
revolutions of day and night, which are like the seconds of
this world - a vast clock of Almighty God - and the years which
tell its minutes, and the stages of man's life-span which tell
the hours, and the epochs of the world's life-span which tell
the days look to one another, are examples of one another, are
like one another, and recall one another. For example:
The time of Fajr, the early morning: This time until sunrise
resembles and calls to mind the early spring, the moment of
conception in the mother's womb, and the first of the six days
of the creation of the heavens and earth; it recalls the Divine
acts present in them.
The time of Zuhr, just past midday: This resembles and points
to midsummer, and the prime of youth, and the period of man's
creation in the lifetime of the world, and calls to mind the
manifestations of mercy and the abundant bounties in them.
The time of Asr, afternoon: This is like autumn, and old age,
and the time of the Final Prophet (PBUH), known as the Era of
Bliss, and recalls the Divine acts and favors of the
All-Merciful One in them.
The time of Maghrib, sunset: Through recalling the departure of
many creatures at the end of autumn, and man's death, and the
destruction of the world at the commencement of the
Resurrection, this time puts in mind the manifestations of
Divine Glory and Sublimity, and rouses man from his slumbers of
heedlessness.
The time of 'Isha, nightfall. As for this time, by calling to
mind the world of darkness veiling all the objects of the
daytime world with a black shroud, and winter hiding the face
of the dead earth with its white cerement, and even the
remaining works of departed men dying and passing beneath the
veil of oblivion, and this world, the arena of examination,
being shut up and closed down for ever, it proclaims the
awesome and mighty disposals of the All-Glorious and Compelling
Subduer.
As for the nighttime, through putting in mind both the winter,
and the grave, and the Intermediate Realm, it reminds man how
needy is the human spirit for the Most Merciful One's Mercy.
And the tahajjud prayer informs him what a necessary light it
is for the night of the grave and darkness of the Intermediate
Realm; it warns him of this, and through recalling the infinite
bounties of the True Bestower, proclaims how deserving He is of
praise and thanks.
And the second morning calls to mind the Morning of the
Resurrection. For sure, however reasonable and necessary and
certain the morning of this night is, the Morning of the
Resurrection and the spring following the Intermediate Realm
are that certain.
That is, just as each of these five times marks the start of an
important revolution and recalls other great revolutions, so
too through the awesome daily disposals of the Eternally
Besought One's power, each calls to mind the miracles of Divine
power and gifts of Divine mercy of both every year, and every
age, and every epoch. That is to say, the prescribed prayers,
which are an innate duty and the basis of worship and an
incontestable debt, are most appropriate and fitting for these
times.
FIFTH POINT
By nature man is extremely weak, yet everything touches him,
and saddens and grieves him. Also he is utterly lacking in
power, yet the calamities and enemies that afflict him are
extremely numerous. Also he is extremely wanting, yet his needs
are indeed many. Also he is lazy and incapable, yet life's
responsibilities are most burdensome. Also his humanity has
connected him to the rest of the universe, yet the decline and
disappearance of the things he loves and with which he is
familiar continually pains him. Also his reason shows him
exalted aims and lasting fruits, yet his hand is short, his
life brief, his power slight, and his patience little.
Thus, it can be clear]y understood how essential it is for a
spirit in this state at the time of Fajr in the early morning
to have recourse to and present a petition to the Court of an
All-Powerful One of Glory, an All - Compassionate All-Beauteous
One through prayer and supplication, to seek success and help
from Him, and what a necessary point of support it is so that
he can face the things that will happen to him in the coming
day and bear the duties that will be loaded on him.
And the time of Zuhr just past midday Is the time of the day's
zenith and the start of its decline 7 the time when daily
labors approach their achievement, the time of a short rest
from the pressures of work, when the spirit needs a pause from
the heedlessness and insensibility caused by toil, and a time
Divine bounties are manifest. Anyone may understand then how
fine and agreeable, how necessary and appropriate it is to
perform the midday prayer for the human spirit, which means to
be released from the pressure, shake off the heedlessness, and
leave behind those meaningless, transient things, and clasping
one hands at the Court of the True Bestower of Bounties, the
Eternally Self-Subsistent One, to offer praise and thanks for
all His gifts, and seek help from Him, and through bowing to
display one's impotence before His Glory and Tremendousness,
and to prostrate and proclaim one's wonder, love, and humility.
He who does not understand this is not a true human being...
As for the time of Asr in the afternoon, it calls to mind the
melancholy season of autumn and the mournful state of old age
and the somber period at the end of time. Also it is when the
matters of the day reach their conclusion, and the time the
Divine bounties which have been received that day like health,
well-being, and beneficial duties have accumulated to form a
great total, and the time that proclaims through the mighty sun
hinting by starting to sink that man is a guest-official and
that everything is transient and inconstant. Now, the human
spirit desires eternity and was created for it; it worships
benevolence, and is pained by separation. Thus, anyone who is
truly a human being may understand what an exalted duty, what
an appropriate service, whit a fitting way to repay a debt of
human nature, indeed, what an agreeable pleasure it is to
perform the afternoon prayer, for by offering supplications at
the Eternal Court of the Everlasting Pre-Eternal One, the
Eternally Self-Subsistent One, it has the meaning of taking
refuge in the grace of unending, infinite Mercy, and by
offering thanks and praise in the face of innumerable bounties,
of humbly bowing before the Mightiness of His Dominicality, and
by prostrating in utter humility before the Everlastingness of
His Godhead, of finding true consolation and ease of spirit,
and being girded ready for worship in the presence of His
Grandeur.
And the time of Maghrib at sunset recalls the disappearance
amid sad farewells of the delicate and lovely creatures of the
worlds of summer and autumn at the start of winter. And it
calls to mind the time when through his death, man will leave
all those he loves in sorrowful departure and enter the grave.
And it brings to mind when at the death of this world amid the
upheavals of its death-agonies, all its inhabitants will
migrate to other worlds and the lamp of this place of
examination will be extinguished. And it is a time which gives
stern warning to those who worship transient, ephemeral
beloveds.
Thus, at such a time, for the Maghrib prayer, man's spirit,
which by its nature is a mirror desirous for an Eternal Beauty,
turns its face towards the throne of mightiness of the Eternal
Undying One, the Enduring Everlasting One, Who performs these
mighty works and turns and transforms these huge worlds, and
declaring Cod is Most Create over these transient beings,
withdraws from them. Man clasps his hands in service of his
Lord and rises in the presence of the Enduring Eternal One, and
through saying: All praise be to God, he praises and extols His
faultless perfection, His peerless beauty, His infinite mercy.
And through declaring:You alone do we worship and from You
alone we seek help, * he proclaims his worship for and seeks
help from His unassisted Dominicality, His unpartnered Godhead,
His unshared sovereignty. Then he bows, and through declaring
together with all the universe his weakness and impotence, his
poverty and baseness before the infinite majesty, the limitless
power, and utter mightiness of the Enduring Eternal One, he
says: All glory to My Mighty Sustainer, and glorifies his Sub-
lime Sustainer. And prostrating before the undying Beauty of
His Essence, His unchanging sacred attributes, His constant
everlasting perfection, through abandoning all things other
than Him, man proclaims his love and worship in wonder and
self-abasement, he finds an All-Compassionate Eternal One, and
through saying, All glory to my Exalted Sustainer, he declares
his Most High Sustainer to be free of decline and exalted above
any fault.
*Qur'an, 1:5.
Then, he testifies to God's Unity and the Prophethood of
Muhammed. He sits, and on his own account offers as a gift to
the Undying All-Beauteous One, the Enduring All-Glorious One
the blessed salutations and benedictions of all creatures. And
through greeting the Most Noble Prophet, he renews his
allegiance to him and proclaims his obedience to his commands.
In order to renew and illuminate his faith, he observes the
wise order in this palace of the universe and testifies to the
Unity of the All-Glorious Maker. And he testifies to the
Prophethood of Muhammed the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and
peace), who is the herald of the sovereignty of God's
Dominicality, the proclaimer of those things pleasing to Him,
and the interpreter of the signs and verses of the Book of the
Universe. To perform the Maghrib prayer is this. Thus, how can
someone be considered to be a human being who does not
understand what a fine and pure duty is the prayer at sunset,
what an exalted and pleasurable act of service, what an
agreeable and pleasing act of worship, what a serious matter,
and what an unending conversation and permanent happiness it is
in this transient guest-house?
And at the time of 'Isha at nightfall, the last traces of the
day remaining on the horizon disappear, and the world of night
encloses the universe. As the All-Powerful and Glorious One,
The Changer of Night and Day, turns the white page of day into
the black one of night through the mighty disposals of His
Dominicality, it recalls the Divine activities of that All-Wise
One of Perfection, The Subduer of the Sun and the Moon, turning
the green adorned page of summer into the frigid white page of
winter. And with the remaining works of the departed being
erased from this world with the passing of time, it recalls the
Divine acts of The Creator and Life and Death in their passage
to another, quite different world. It is a time that calls to
mind the disposals of The Creator of the Heavens and the
Earth's Awesomeness and the manifestations of His Beauty in the
utter destruction of this narrow, fleeting, and lowly world,
the terrible death-agonies of its decease, and in the unfolding
of the broad, eternal, and majestic World of the Hereafter. And
the universe's Owner, its True Disposer, its True Beloved and
Object of Worship can only be the One Who with ease turns night
into day, winter into spring, and this world into the Hereafter
like the pages of a book; Who writes and erases them, and
changes them.
Thus, at nightfall, man's spirit, which is infinitely impotent
and weak, and infinitely poor and needy, and plunged into the
infinite darkness of the future, and tossed around amid
innumerable events, performs the 'Isha prayer, which has this
meaning: Like Abraham man says: I do not love those that set, *
and through the prayers seeks refuge at the Court of an Undying
Object of Worship, an Eternal Beloved One, and in this
transient world and fleeting life and dark world and black
future he supplicates an Enduring, Everlasting One, and for a
moment of unending conversation, a few seconds of immortal
life, he asks to receive the favours of the All-Merciful and
Compassionate One's Mercy and the light of His guidance, which
will strew light on his world and illuminate his future and
bind up the wounds resulting from the departure and decline of
all creatures and friends.
*Qur'an, 6:76.
And temporarily man forgets the hidden world, which has
forgotten him, and pours out his woes at the Court of Mercy
with his weeping, and whatever happens, before sleeping - which
resembles death - he performs his last duty of worship. And in
order to close favourably the daily record of his actions, he
rises to pray; that is to say, he rises to enter the presence
of an Eternal Beloved and Worshipped One in place of all the
mortal ones he loves, of an All-Powerful and Generous One in
place of all the impotent creatures from which he begs, of an
All-Compassionate Protector so as to be saved from the evil of
the harmful beings before which he trembles.
And he starts with the Fatiha, that is, instead of praising and
being obliged to defective, wanting creatures, for which they
are not suited, he extols and offers praise to The Sustainer of
All the Worlds, Who is Absolutely Perfect and Utterly
Self-Sufficient and Most Compassionate and All Generous. Then
he progresses to the address: You alone do we worship. That is,
despite his smallness, insignificance, and aloneness, through
man's connection with The Owner of the Day of Judgment, Who is
the Sovereign of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, he attains to
a rank whereat he is an indulged guest in the universe and an
important official. Through declaring: You alone do we worship
and from You alone do we seek help, he presents to Him in the
name of all creatures the worship and calls for assistance of
the mighty congregation and huge community of the universe.
Then through saying: Guide us to the Straight Path, he asks to
be guided to the Straight Path, which leads to eternal
happiness and is the luminous way.
And now, he thinks of the mightiness of the All-Glorious One,
of Whom, like the sleeping plants and animals, the hidden suns
and sober stars are each as though a soldier subjugated to His
command, and a lamp and servant in this guest-house of the
world, and uttering: God is Most Great, he bows down. Then he
thinks of the great prostration of all creatures. That is,
when, at the command of Be! and it is, * all the varieties of
creatures each year and each century - and even the Earth, and
the universe - each like a well ordered army or an obedient
soldier, is discharged from its duty, that is, when each is
sent to the World of the Unseen, through the prostration of its
decease and death with complete orderliness, it declares: God
is Most Create, and bows down in prostration. And like they are
raised to life, some in part and some the same, in the spring
at an awakening and life-giving trumpet blast from the Command
of Be! and it is, and they rise up and are girded ready to
serve their Lord, insignificant man too, following them,
declares: God is Most Great! in the presence of the
All-Merciful One of Perfection, the All-Compassionate One of
Beauty in wonder struck love and eternity tinged humility and
dignified self-effacement, and bows down in prostration; that
is to say, he makes a sort of Ascension And for sure you will
have understood now how agreeable and fine and pleasant and
elevated, how high and pleasurable, how reasonable and
appropriate a duty, service, and act of worship, and what a
serious matter it is to perform the 'Isha prayer.
*Qur'an, 2: 117, etc.
Thus, since each of these five times is an indication to a
mighty revolution, a sign to the tremendous Dominicial
activity, and a token of the universal Divine bounties, the
prescribed prayers, which are a debt and an obligation, being
specified at them is perfect wisdom...
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You
have taught us; indeed You are All - Knowing, All-Wise. *
O God! Grant blessings and peace to the one whom You sent as a
teacher to Your servants to instruct them in knowledge of You
and worship of You, and to make known the treasures of Your
Names, and to translate the signs of the Book of the [Universe
and as a mirror to its worship of the beauty of Your
Dominicality,-and to all his Family and Companions, and have
Mercy on us and on all believing men and women. Amen. Through
Your Mercy, O Most Merciful of the Merciful!
*Qur'an, 2:32