The Vitality of Spirit and the Existence of Angels – The Celestial Realms and the Living Universe – A Documentary Narration Inspired by The Twenty-Ninth Word

Exploring the Harmony of Science, Philosophy and Faith Through the Risale-i Nur

What if life is not a product of matter, but the very reality that gives matter meaning? Inspired by The Twenty-Ninth Word of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, this article explores the relationship between life, spirit, consciousness, and the existence of angels through reason, observation, and revelation.

The Vitality of Spirit and the Existence of Angels

This text and video examines the essential nature of life—the fundamental pillar of existence—and, within a logical framework, explores the existence of angels as an inevitable consequence of this life-giving reality.

The author argues that life is not dependent upon matter; rather, matter is merely a temporary shell that derives its meaning through life and the spirit.

The extraordinary awareness and intricate web of relationships observed even in the smallest living beings point to the existence of a far more comprehensive spiritual life throughout the universe.

According to the author, the vast celestial bodies that appear lifeless, as well as the seemingly empty reaches of space, are inhabited by conscious beings suited to their own nature—namely angels and other spiritual entities.

The limitations of human vision cannot be considered evidence against the existence of these luminous beings, just as the remarkable order and harmony of the universe make the acceptance of such spiritual beings a rational necessity.

In summary, the work emphasizes the supremacy of life over matter and presents both rational and scriptural arguments in support of the existence of angels.

Notebook Gemini

The Celestial Realms and the Living Universe

A Documentary Narration Inspired by The Twenty-Ninth Word

Look around you.

Everywhere you turn…
there is life.

From the smallest seed hidden beneath the soil…
to the largest creature crossing the oceans…
life transforms everything it touches.

Without life,
the universe would be little more than silent matter.

Life gives meaning.
Life gives purpose.
Life awakens existence itself.

A mountain may stand for millions of years,
immense and majestic.

Yet without life,
it remains alone…
unaware…
disconnected from the rest of creation.

Now consider something almost invisible.

A tiny bee.

The moment it comes alive,
it enters into a remarkable relationship with the world.

Flowers become its companions.
The earth becomes its garden.
The seasons become part of its journey.

Though small in size,
it belongs to an astonishing web of life.

This is the miracle of life.

It connects.
It unites.
It reveals.

And if life can accomplish so much in the smallest creature…

What might it accomplish in a conscious human being?

Human consciousness reaches far beyond the limits of the body.

With thought,
memory,
imagination,
and spirit,

we travel to places our feet have never touched.

We contemplate distant galaxies.

We wonder about eternity.

We search for meaning beyond what our eyes can see.

Perhaps this ability points toward a greater reality…

one where consciousness is not an accident,
but a sign.

A sign that existence itself is alive.

Now lift your eyes to the heavens.

For centuries,
many have looked into the night sky
and imagined an endless emptiness.

But is emptiness really what we see?

Our own planet,
small among countless worlds,
overflows with living creatures.

Every corner of Earth,
from the deepest oceans
to microscopic worlds unseen by the naked eye,
teems with life.

If this tiny planet has been filled with such extraordinary abundance…

Would the vast heavens remain completely empty?

Reason suggests otherwise.

Just as fish are created for the sea,
and birds for the sky,

might there not be beings created for the stars?

Beings suited not to earth,
but to realms of light.

The visible universe may be only one chapter
of a much greater creation.

A creation where life exists in forms
beyond our present understanding.

Throughout history,
the revealed scriptures have spoken of such beings.

Angels.

Spiritual creatures.

Messengers who belong to dimensions beyond ordinary human perception.

Not because they contradict reason…

but because reality is greater than what the eye alone can measure.

After all,
the absence of sight
is never proof of absence.

Long before humanity discovered microscopic life,
it already existed.

The invisible was always there.

Waiting to be discovered.

Perhaps the same is true
of the unseen realms.

Perhaps the universe is far richer,
far more populated,
and far more alive
than we have ever imagined.

The material world may not be the foundation of existence…

but its outer garment.

Beneath it lies something deeper.

Life.

Spirit.

Consciousness.

These are not merely products of matter.

They are the forces that give matter its meaning.

The more finely we examine creation,
the more we discover order,
purpose,
and astonishing harmony.

Nothing appears abandoned.

Nothing seems accidental.

Every level of existence
points toward wisdom.

And if wisdom fills the visible world…

why should it stop at the edge of the sky?

Perhaps the heavens are not silent after all.

Perhaps they are alive…

filled with beings perfectly suited
to their celestial homes.

A universe without life
would be incomplete.

But a universe filled with life…

both seen and unseen…

becomes a far greater masterpiece.

One that invites us
to look beyond the stars…

and wonder
what glorious realities
still remain hidden from our eyes.

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Original text

First Aim

To believe in the angels and affirm that belief is a pillar of faith. There are four fundamental points in this aim.

FIRST FUNDAMENTAL POINT

The perfection of existence is through life. Rather, the true existence of existence is through life. Life is the light of existence, and consciousness is the light of life. Life is the summit and foundation of everything. Life appropriates everything for living beings; it is as though it makes one thing the owner of everything. By virtue of life, a living thing may say: “All these things belong to me. The world is my house. The universe is my property, given to me by my owner.”

Just as light is the cause of things being seen, and, according to some, of the existence of colours, so is life the revealer of beings; it is the cause of their qualities being realized. Furthermore, it makes an insignificant particular general and universal, and is the cause of universal things being concentrated in a particular. It is also the cause of all the perfections of existence, by, for example, making innumerable things co-operate and unite, and making them the means of unity and being endowed with spirit. Life is even a sort of manifestation of divine unity in the levels of multiplicity, and a mirror reflecting divine oneness.

Consider the following: a lifeless object, even if it is a great mountain, is an orphan, a stranger, alone. Its only relations are with the place in which it is situated and with the things which encounter it. Whatever else there is in the cosmos, it does not exist for the mountain. For the mountain has neither life through which it might be related to life, nor consciousness by which it might be concerned.

Now consider a tiny object like a bee, for example. The instant life enters it, it establishes such a connection with the universe that it is as though it concludes a trading agreement with it, especially with the flowers and plants of the earth. It can say: “The earth is my garden; it is my trading house.” Thus, through the unconscious instinctive senses which impel and stimulate it in addition to the well-known five external senses and inner senses of animate beings, the bee has a feeling for, and a familiarity and reciprocal relationship with, most of the species in the world, and they are at its disposal. If life then displays its effect thus in the tiniest of animate beings, certainly when it rises to the highest level, that of man, it will be revealed and extended and illumined to such a degree that just as a human being is able to move through the rooms of his house with his consciousness and mind, which are the light of life, so he may travel through the higher, and the spiritual and corporeal worlds with them. That is to say, just as that conscious and animate being may go in spirit as though as a guest to those worlds, those worlds too come as guests to his mirror-like spirit by being reflected and depicted there.

Life is a brilliant proof of the All-Glorious One’s unity, and one of the greatest sources of His bounty; it is a subtle manifestation of His compassionateness, and a hidden, unknowable, and incomparable embroidery of His art.

Life is hidden and subtle, because the life of plants even, which is the lowest of the levels of life, and the awakening of the life force in seeds, that is, their stirring, opening, and growth, which are the first steps in plant life, has remained unfathomed by human science since the time of Adam, despite being so evident and familiar, so ubiquitous and common. Man’s reason has been unable to discover its true reality.

Moreover, life is so pure and unblemished that in both its aspects, that is in both its inner and outer faces, it is pure, translucent, transparent. Not veiling it with causes, the hand of power touches it directly. Whereas that hand made apparent causes a veil, to be the source of the insignificant aspects of things and their base external qualities, which are inappropriate to the dignity of power.

In Short:

It may be said that if there were no life, existence would not be existence; it would be no different from non-existence. Life is the light of the spirit, and consciousness is the light of life. Since life and consciousness are important to this great extent; and since there is self-evidently an absolutely perfect order in the universe, and a masterly precision and most wise harmony; and since our lowly, wretched globe, our wandering earth has been filled with uncountable numbers of animate beings, intelligent beings, and beings with spirits; it may be concluded with decisive certainty that those heavenly palaces, those lofty constellations also have animate and conscious inhabitants appropriate to them. As fish swim in water, so are those luminous inhabitants present in the fire of the sun. Fire does not consume light; indeed, fire aids light.

Moreover, since, as is plain to see, pre-eternal power creates innumerable animate beings and beings with spirits from the most common substances and densest matter, and giving it great importance, transmutes dense matter by means of life into a subtle substance; and since it strews the light of life everywhere in great abundance, and gilds most things with the light of consciousness; with such flawless power and faultless wisdom, the All-Wise and All-Powerful One would certainly not neglect the other floods of subtle matter like light and ether, which are close to and fitting for the spirit; He would not leave them without life, without consciousness, inanimate. Indeed, He creates animate and conscious beings in great numbers from light, which is also matter, and even from meanings, air, and even words. Just as He creates numerous different species of animals, so from these torrents of subtle matter He creates numerous different spirit creatures. One kind of them are the angels, others are the varieties of spirit beings and jinn. If you wish to see just how true, self-evident, and rational it is to accept the existence of great numbers of angels and spirit beings, and as the Qur’an shows, just how contrary to truth and wisdom, and what a superstition, aberration, delirium and foolishness it is not to accept them, consider the following comparison.

There were two men, one rustic and uncouth, the other civilized and intelligent, who made friends and went to a splendid city like Istanbul. In a distant corner of that civilized, magnificent city they came across a dirty, wretched little building, a factory. They looked and saw that the strange factory was full of miserable, impoverished men working. All around the building were beings with spirits and animate beings, but their means of livelihood and conditions of life were such that some were herbivorous, they lived only on plants, while others were piscivorous, they ate nothing but fish.

The two men watched the scene. Then they saw in the distance thousands of adorned palaces and lofty castles. Among the palaces were spacious workshops and broad squares. Because of either the distance, or the defectiveness of the men’s eyesight, or because they had hidden themselves, the inhabitants of the palaces were not visible to the two men. Moreover, the wretched conditions in the factory were not to be seen in the palaces. In consequence of this, the uncouth country bumpkin, who had never before seen a city, declared: “Those palaces have no inhabitants, they are empty, there are no beings with spirits in them,” uttering ignorant garbled nonsense. To which the second man replied:

“O you miserable man! This insignificant little building you see here has been filled with beings endowed with spirits, with workers, and there is someone who continually employs and replaces them. Look, there no empty space anywhere around this factory, it has been filled with animate beings and beings with spirits. Do you think it is at all possible that there would be no high-ranking and suitable inhabitants in such an orderly city, in those wisely adorned palaces so full of art which we can see in the distance? Of course they are occupied, and the different conditions of life there are appropriate for those who live there. In place of grass, they eat pastries, and in place of fish, cakes. Their not being visible to you because of the distance, or your weak eyesight, or their hiding themselves, can at no time point to their not being there.” The fact that a thing is not visible does not indicate its non-existence.

As the above comparison indicates, the fact that the globe of the earth is the home of these infinite numbers of beings endowed with consciousness and spirit, despite its insignificance and density among the lofty heavenly bodies and planets, and even its grossest and rottenest particulars becoming masses of micro-organisms when they cease as sources of life, necessarily, demonstrably, decisively indicates and testifies to and proclaims that infinite space and the majestic heavens with their constellations and stars are full of animate beings, conscious beings, and beings with spirits. The Illustrious Shari’a of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition call these beings, who are created from fire, light, and even from electricity, and from other subtle flowing matter, “The angels, the jinn, and spirit beings.” There are different kinds of angels, just as there are different kinds of corporeal beings. Indeed, the angel who is appointed to a raindrop will not be similar in kind to the angel appointed to the sun. There are also a great many different sorts of jinn and spirit beings.

The Conclusion of this Fundamental Point

As may be established empirically, matter is not essential so that exis-tence may be made subject to it and dependent on it. Rather, matter subsists through a meaning, and that meaning is life, it is spirit.

Also, as may be established through observation, matter is not the thing served so that everything may be ascribed to it. It is rather the servant; it renders service to the process of the perfection of a truth. And that truth is life, and the fundament of that truth is spirit.
Also, as is self-evident, matter is not dominant so that recourse may be made to it or perfections sought from it. Rather, it is dominated; it looks to the decree of some fundament, it is in motion in the way that that decree dictates. And that fundament is life, it is spirit, it is consciousness.

Also, as is necessary, matter is not the kernel, it is not the fundament, it is not a settled abode so that events and perfections may be affixed to it or constructed on it. Rather, it is a shell prepared to be split, rent, dissolved; it is a husk, it is froth, it is a form.
Consider the following: a creature so minute it can only be seen with a microscope has such acute senses it can hear its friend’s voice and see its sustenance; it has extremely sensitive and sharp senses. This demonstrates that the effects of life increase and the light of the spirit intensifies proportionately to the reducing and refining of matter. It is as though the more matter is refined and the more we become distanced from our material existences the closer we draw to the world of the spirit, the world of life, and the world of consciousness; and the more intensely the heat of the spirit and the light of life are manifested.

Is it therefore at all possible that there should be so many distillations of life, consciousness, and spirit within the veil of materiality, and that the inner world which is beyond this veil should not be full of conscious beings and beings with spirits? Is it at all possible that the sources of these numberless distillations, flashes, and fruits of meaning, spirit, life and the truth apparent in this material existence in the Manifest World should be ascribed only to matter and the motion of matter, and be explained by it? God forbid! Absolutely not! These innumerable distillations and flashes demonstrate that this material and manifest world is but a lace veil strewn over the inner and spirit worlds.

SOURCES

Risale-i Nur Okuma Programı 2.1.0, Words[2021] – 537, email: syesilova72@gmail.com

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, The Words – The Twenty-Ninth Word – About the Immortality of Man’s Spirit, the Angels, and the Resurrection of the Dead, The English translations of the Risale-i Nur Collection, translated by Şükran Vahide and published by Sözler Neşriyat, are an exact printed version of the original text. (erisale.com)

https://erisale.com/index.jsp?locale=en#content.en.201.523

If you enjoyed this article, you may also like:

The Eternal Architecture of Paradise

How Can People of Different Spiritual Ranks Be Together in Jannah?

Resurrection and the Hereafter

The Twenty-Third Word: The Human Being as a Masterpiece

Explore more articles on Ders Dünyası – World of Courses for thoughtful reflections on science, philosophy, faith, and the universe.

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13 July 202613 July 2026

“Some of the people of Paradise are given lands as extensive as the world, and thousands of palaces and hundreds of thousands of houris are bestowed on them.” What need has a single person of all these things, why should it be necessary? How can this be and what does it mean?

Why would a single person need countless palaces, immense estates, and endless blessings in Paradise?

At first glance, the descriptions found in authentic hadiths may seem difficult to reconcile with human experience.

In The Twenty-Eighth Word, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi offers a profound explanation: the human being is not merely a physical body but a creation endowed with infinite spiritual capacity, limitless desires, and countless subtle faculties.

When viewed through this perspective, the vast rewards of Paradise become a natural manifestation of God’s infinite mercy rather than an exaggeration.

This article explores how the Risale-i Nur explains the relationship between human nature, eternity, and the boundless blessings of Paradise.

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The Infinite Capacity of the Human Soul in Paradise

This text and video address the vastness of human capacity and the faculty of desire by explaining the nature of the immense rewards and expansive estates in eternal Paradise.

The author responds to the question of why a single inhabitant of Paradise would be granted lands as vast as entire worlds and countless blessings, drawing on the spiritual depth of the human being and their insatiable innate nature (fıtrat).

Even within the constrained conditions of earthly life, attention is drawn to the vastness of human imagination, and it is argued that the multiplicity and expansiveness found in Paradise become reasonable in light of the ability of luminous beings (nurani varlıklar) to exist in many places at once.

It is emphasized that once a person is freed from the material heaviness of this world and attains spiritual agility, they become worthy of these great rewards as a reflection of divine mercy.

In conclusion, it is stated that the boundless blessings of Paradise must be assessed not through the narrow molds of the worldly realm, but through the lens of the infinitude of divine power.

NotebookLM & Claude

PowerPoint

The_Geometry_of_Paradise İndir

The Twenty-Eighth Word

This Word is about Paradise and consists of two Stations.

…

The brief answers to a number of questions about eternal Paradise.

…

QUESTION:

It says in Hadiths: “Some of the people of Paradise are given lands as extensive as the world, and thousands of palaces and hundreds of thousands of houris are bestowed on them.”3

(3- Bukhari, Janna, 17; Tafsir Sura al-Qiyama, 2.)

What need has a single person of all these things, why should it be necessary? How can this be and what does it mean?

THE ANSWER:

If man was only a lifeless being, or was only a vegetable creature consisting of a stomach, or consisted only of a limited, heavy, temporary, simple corporeality or animal body, he could not own many palaces and houris, or be fit for them. But man is such a comprehensive miracle of power that even in this transitory world and brief life, if he is given the rule of all the world with its wealth and pleasures, his ambition is not satisfied – in respect of the need of some of his subtle faculties, which do not develop here. It is therefore reasonable, right, and true that a person possessing an infinite capacity who knocks on the door of an infinite mercy with the hand of infinite desires and the tongue of infinite needs will receive in an eternal abode of bliss the Divine bounties described in Hadiths. We shall observe this elevated truth through the telescope of a comparison. It is as follows:

Although, like this valley garden,1

(1- That is, the garden of Suleyman, who served this poor one with perfect loyalty for eight years, where this Word was written in one or two hours.)

all these gardens and vineyards of Barla have different owners, all the birds and sparrows and honey-bees in Barla, who have only a handful of grain for food, may say: “All the gardens and orchards of Barla are my pleasant resorts where I fly around and enjoy myself.” Each may take possession of Barla and include it in its property. Others sharing it does not invalidate his ownership. Similarly, a man who is a true human being may say: “My Creator made this world a house for me. The sun is my lamp and the stars my electric lights. The face of the earth is my resting-place spread with flowered carpets.” And he offers thanks to God. The other creatures sharing it does not negate his statement. On the contrary, the creatures adorn his house like decorations. And so, if in this narrow fleeting world, by virtue of his humanity, man – and even a bird – claims a sort of power of disposal over such a vast sphere and receives such a vast bounty, how can it be deemed unlikely that he is given ownership of a property stretching over a five hundred year distance in a broad and eternal abode of bliss?

Moreover, just as in this dense and dark narrow world the sun is present in the same way at the same time in numerous mirrors, so too, as is proved in the Sixteenth Word, a luminous being may be present in many places in the same way at the same time. For example, Gabriel (Peace be upon him) being on a thousand stars simultaneously, and at the Divine Throne, and in the presence of the Prophet (PBUH), and in the Divine Presence; and the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) meeting with most of the righteous of his community at the resurrection of the dead at the same time and appearing in this world in innumerable places simultaneously; and a strange group of the saints known as abdal, appearing at the same time in many places; and ordinary people sometimes carrying out as much as a year’s work in one minute in a dream and observing this; and everyone being in contact with and concerned with numerous places at the same time in their hearts, spirits, and imaginations – all these are well-known and may be witnessed. Most certainly, in Paradise, therefore, which is luminous, unrestricted, broad, and eternal, the people of Paradise, whose bodies have the strength and lightness of the spirit and the swiftness of imagination, being in hundreds of thousands of places at the same time, and conversing with hundreds of thousands of houris, and receiving pleasure in hundreds of thousands of ways, is fitting for that eternal Paradise, that infinite mercy, and as told by the Bringer of Sure News (PBUH), is reality and the truth. Nevertheless, these vast truths cannot be weighed on the scales of our tiny minds.

This tiny mind cannot perceive the true meanings,

For this scale cannot bear such a weight.

Glory be unto to You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.1 (1- Qur’an, 2:32).

O our Sustainer! Do not call us to task if we forget or fall into error.2 (2- Qur’an, 2:286).

O God! Grant blessings to Your Beloved, who by being Your Beloved and through his prayers, flung open the doors of Paradise, and because of the benedictions for him of its members, You confirmed its opening for his community, and bless him and grant him peace.

O God! Appoint us to Paradise among the righteous, through the intercession of Your Beloved, the Chosen One. Amen.

SOURCES

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, The Words – The Twenty-Eighth Word – This Word is about Paradise, The English translations of the Risale-i Nur Collection, translated by Şükran Vahide and published by Sözler Neşriyat, are an exact printed version of the original text. (erisale.com)

https://erisale.com/index.jsp?locale=en#content.en.201.517

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21 June 202626 June 2026

The Eternal Architecture of Paradise: Bodily Resurrection and Eternal Life in Islam

“If you tell a tree to bring you such-and-such a fruit, it will bring it. And if you tell such-and-such a stone to come, it will come.”

Explore the Islamic understanding of Paradise (Jannah), Bodily Resurrection, and Life After Death through Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s The Twenty-Eighth Word, a profound reflection on the nature of the Hereafter and eternal existence.

The Eternal Architecture of Paradise

This text is an excerpt from The Twenty-Eighth Word, a work by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi that explores the reality of Paradise.

The author explains, with profound philosophical insight, why bodily resurrection is necessary in the eternal realm and how physical pleasures are integrated with spiritual delights.

In contrast to the imperfect nature of worldly bodies, it is emphasized that material existence in the Hereafter will manifest in a stable, balanced, and exalted form.

The text further states that bodily senses serve as instruments for perceiving and measuring the manifestations of the Divine Names, and that these faculties will be rewarded in accordance with the duties they fulfilled.

Ultimately, drawing upon the verses of the Qur’an, it argues that phenomena such as eating, drinking, and marriage will attain a far superior and more vital nature in Paradise.

NotebookLM & CahtGPT

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The_Architecture_of_Eternity İndir

The Twenty-Eighth Word

This Word is about Paradise and consists of two Stations. The First indicates some of the subtle wonders of Paradise. However, it does not prove the existence of Paradise, since this has been proved in brilliant fashion by the twelve decisive Truths of the Tenth Word and by the firm and clear consecutive arguments in Arabic which form the basis and summary of the Tenth Word and the Second Station of this Word. This Station discusses in question and answer form a number of the aspects of Paradise which have been the cause of criticism. If Divine assistance is forthcoming, a great Word will later be written about that mighty truth. God willing.

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

And give glad tidings to those who believe and act righteously that theirs shall be gardens beneath which flow rivers. Everytime they are fed with fruits therefrom, they will say: “Why, this is what we were fed with before.” For they will be given things in similitude. And they shall have therein spouses pure, and shall abide there for ever. – Qur’an, 2:25.

The brief answers to a number of questions about eternal Paradise.

The descriptions of the Qur’an’s verses about Paradise, which are more beautiful than Paradise, more lovely than the houris, and sweeter than the water of Salsabil, leave nothing to be said about it so that anyone should say it. However, in order to bring closer to the understanding those shining, pre-eternal, post-eternal, elevated and exquisite verses, we shall mention a number of steps, and, as samples of that Qur’anic Paradise, a number of fine points which are like samples of its flowers. We shall point to these through five allusive questions and answers. Indeed, Paradise is the means both to all spiritual and non-physical pleasures, and to all physical pleasures.

QUESTION: What connection with eternity and Paradise has faulty, deficient, changing, unstable, and suffering corporeality? Since the spirit has elevated pleasures, that is sufficient. Why is bodily resurrection necessary for bodily pleasures?

THE ANSWER: Because, just as in relation to water, air, and light, earth is dense and dark, but since it is the source and means of all the varieties of Divine artefacts, in meaning it rises above the other elements; and just as in regard to the mystery of its comprehensiveness and on condition it is purified, the human soul, which is also dense, rises above all the other human subtle faculties; so too corporeality is the richest and most comprehensive and all-embracing mirror to the manifestation of the Divine Names. All the tools and instruments for measuring the contents of the treasuries of mercy and reckoning their balances lie in corporeality. For example, if scales to the number of sorts of food and their pleasures did not originate in the sense of taste in the tongue, it could not taste and weigh them all up, and recognize and experience them. Also, the instruments for experiencing and knowing the manifestations of most of the Divine Names, and tasting and recognizing them, again lie in corporeality. And the faculties for experiencing all the infinitely various pleasures are also in corporeality.

As is proved in the Eleventh Word, it is understood clearly from the disposition of the universe and man’s comprehensiveness that the universe’s Maker wants to make known all the treasuries of His mercy, and all the manifestations of His Names, and to make experienced all the varieties of His bounties. The abode of bliss, therefore, which is a vast pool formed from the flood of the universe and a great exhibition of the textiles woven on the loom of the universe and an everlasting store of the crops produced in the arable field of this world, will resemble the universe to a degree. And it will preserve all its fundamental matters, both corporeal and spiritual. Its All-Wise Maker, the Most Compassionate One, will also give as recompense for the duties of the physical tools and instruments, pleasures worthy of them; and to His servants, as a wage and reward for the particular worship of each. Otherwise a situation would occur that was contrary to His wisdom, justice, and mercy, which is in no way fitting for the beauty of His mercy and perfection of His justice, and in no way compatible with them.

QUESTION: If a body is living, its parts are constantly being formed and dissolved; it is doomed to extinction and cannot be eternal. Eating and drinking are for the perpetuation of the individual, and sexual relations are for the perpetuation of the species. These are fundamental to this world, but there is no need for them in the world of eternity and hereafter. So why are they among the greatest pleasures of Paradise?

THE ANSWER: Firstly, the bodies of living creatures are doomed to annihilation and death in this world because of an imbalance between what is taken in and what is expended. From childhood until maturity much is taken in, and after that what is expended increases; the balance is spoilt, and the body dies. In the world of eternity, however, the particles of the body remain constant and are not subject to composition and dissolution, or else the balance remains constant. 1 –

(1 – In this world, the bodies of humans and animals are like guesthouses, barracks, and schools for particles. The lifeless particles enter them and acquire worthiness to be particles for the everlasting realm, which is living, then they leave them. In the hereafter, however, according to the verse, “The Abode of the Hereafter, that is life indeed,” the light of life is general. There is no necessity for that travelling, drill, and instruction in order to be illuminated. Particles will remain constant as permanent fixtures.)

Like a closed circle or perpetual motion, the body of the living creature becomes eternal together with the functioning of the machine of bodily life for pleasure. Although in this world eating and drinking and sexual relations arise from need and perform a function, various delights and pleasures have been placed within them as an immediate wage for the duty performed, and these are superior to other pleasures. Since in this abode of sorrows eating and sexual relations are the means to so many wonderful and various pleasures, certainly in Paradise, which is the abode of pleasure and bliss, those pleasures will take on a sublime form. The recompense of the duties pertaining to the hereafter performed here will also be added to them as pleasure, and they will be augmented by worldly needs which have taken the form of agreeable, otherworldly appetites, so will become an all-embracing, living source of pleasure worthy of Paradise and suitable to eternity. Indeed, according to the meaning of the verse,

And what is the life of this world but amusement and play? But indeed the Abode of the hereafter, that is life indeed, – Qur’an, 29:64.

substances, matters, which are inanimate and without consciousness and life in the abode of this world, there will be living and conscious. Like human beings and animals here, the trees and stones there will understand commands and carry them out. If you tell a tree to bring you such-and-such a fruit, it will bring it. And if you tell such-and-such a stone to come, it will come. Since stones and trees will take on this elevated form, it surely necessitates that, together with preserving their bodily realities, eating, drinking, and sexual relations also will take on a form higher than their worldly form, higher to the degree that Paradise is higher than this world.

SOURCES

The Twenty-Eighth Word – https://erisale.com/index.jsp?locale=en#content.en.201.513

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17 June 202617 June 2026

Man is such an antique work of art of Almighty God – The Twenty-Third Word by Said Nursi

The Transformative Power of Faith: Human Value and Belief in The Twenty-Third Word by Said Nursi

This text explores the profound impact of faith on the human soul and value, explaining how belief elevates and ennobles the individual. According to the author, faith serves as a spiritual link connecting human beings to their Creator, enabling them to recognize the Divine artistry manifested within them. Through faith, a person ceases to be merely a temporary material existence and attains an eternal worth, rising to a rank worthy of Paradise.

In contrast, disbelief severs this sacred connection, burying the precious qualities within the human being in darkness and reducing him to nothing more than a transient and insignificant piece of matter. The text illustrates this striking difference through the analogy of an antique work of art: when a masterpiece loses its connection to its artist, its value falls to that of mere scrap. Likewise, a human being’s true significance diminishes when detached from the Creator.

Ultimately, the text argues that a person’s genuine importance does not stem from physical existence alone, but from the ability to reflect and manifest the attributes of the Creator, serving as a mirror to the Divine.

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The Twenty-Third Word

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

Indeed, We have created man on the most excellent of patterns, Then sent him down to the lowest of the low, Except those who believe and do good deeds. – Qur’an, 95:4-6.

First Chapter

We shall explain in five ‘Points’ only five of the virtues of belief out of thousands.

FIRST POINT

Through the light of belief, man rises to the highest of the high and acquires a value worthy of Paradise. And through the darkness of unbelief, he descends to the lowest of the low and falls to a position fit for Hell. For belief connects man to the All-Glorious Maker; it is a relation. Thus, man acquires value by virtue of the Divine art and inscriptions of the dominical Names which become apparent in him through belief. Unbelief severs the relation, and due to that severance the dominical art is concealed. His value then is only in respect to the matter of his physical being. And since this matter has only a transitory, passing, temporary animal life, its value is virtually nothing. We shall explain this mystery by means of a comparison:

For example: among man’s arts, the value of the materials used and that of the art are entirely different. Sometimes they are equal, sometimes the material is more valuable, and sometimes it happens that five liras’ worth of art is to be found in material like iron worth five kurush. Sometimes, even, an antique work of art is worth a million while the material of which it is composed is not worth five kurush. If such a work of art is taken to the antiques market and ascribed to a brilliant and accomplished artist of former times, and announced mentioning the artist and that art, it may be sold for a million liras. Whereas if it is taken to the scrap-dealers, the only price received will be for the five kurush’s worth of iron.

Thus, man is such an antique work of art of Almighty God. He is a most subtle and graceful miracle of His power whom He created to manifest all his Names and their inscriptions, in the form of a miniature specimen of the universe. If the light of belief enters his being, all the meaningful inscriptions on him may be read. As one who believes, he reads them consciously, and through that relation, causes others to read them. That is to say, the dominical art in man becomes apparent through meanings like, “I am the creature and artefact of the All-Glorious Maker. I manifest His mercy and munificence.” That is, belief, which consists of being connected to the Maker, makes apparent all the works of art in man. Man’s value is in accordance with that dominical art and by virtue of being a mirror to the Eternally Besought One. In this respect insignificant man becomes God’s addressee and a guest of the Sustainer worthy of Paradise superior to all other creatures.

However, should unbelief, which consists of the severance of the relation, enter man’s being, then all those meaningful inscriptions of the Divine Names are plunged into darkness and become illegible. For if the Maker is forgotten, the spiritual aspects which look to Him will not be comprehended, they will be as though reversed. The majority of those meaningful sublime arts and elevated inscriptions will be hidden. The remainder, those that may be seen with the eye, will be attributed to lowly causes, nature, and chance, and will become utterly devoid of value. While they are all brilliant diamonds, they become dull pieces of glass. His importance looks only to his animal, physical being. And as we said, the aim and fruit of his physical being is only to pass a brief and partial life as the most impotent, needy, and grieving of animals. Then it decays and departs. See how unbelief destroys human nature, and transforms it from diamonds into coal.

SOURCES

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, The Words – The Twenty-Third Word – First Chapter, The English translations of the Risale-i Nur Collection, translated by Şükran Vahide and published by Sözler Neşriyat, are an exact printed version of the original text. (erisale.com)

The Words/The Twenty-Third Word – https://www.erisale.com/index.jsp?locale=en#content.en.201.319

ENGLISH