Wisdom Lessons from Air and Wind
(This article is a translation of “Hüve Nüktesi” by Said Nursî)
During an intellectual meditative journey into the word “Hû” — هُوَ in لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ (There is no god by He) and قُلْ هُوَ اللّٰهُ (Say: He is Allah) and its meanings for the physical aspects of creation, I was contemplating the page of “air” when an exquisitely subtle point of tawḥīd (Divine Oneness) instantly manifested itself.
I witnessed how the path of faith is of boundless ease, to the degree of necessity, while the path of associating partners with God (shirk) and misguidance (dalālah) contains infinite difficulties and thousands of impossibilities. I will explain this vast and long point with an extremely brief indication:
Indeed, just as a handful of soil that serves as a pot for a hundred flowers in succession, if attributed to nature and causes, would necessitate either that this small pot contains, on a miniature scale, a hundred — or perhaps as many as the flowers — invisible machines and factories; or that each particle of that tiny piece of soil possesses the knowledge to form all those different flowers, with their distinct properties and life-sustaining mechanisms, possessing endless knowledge and infinite power like a deity.
Likewise, each piece of air and wind, which serves as a throne for divine command and will, would require, within each fragment of wind, within each breath, within the tiny amount of air that forms the word “Hû” (هُوَ), the presence of miniature switchboards, receivers, and transmitters of all the telephones, telegraphs, radios, televisions, and all other types of communications that take place across the world, and be able to perform these endless tasks simultaneously and instantaneously.
Otherwise, every single particle of air in that “Hû”, and indeed each particle of the very element of air, would need to possess as many spiritual personalities and capabilities as all the telephone operators, radio, and TV broadcasters combined, know all their languages, to simultaneously transmit and broadcast them to nearby particles. Because, in reality, we observe precisely this phenomenon, we know that this capacity exists in every single particle of air.
Thus, in the path of those who deny faith and follow the doctrines of naturalism and materialism, there is not just one impossibility, but perhaps as many impossibilities and profound difficulties as the number of particles.
If entrusted to the Majestic Creator, the entire mass of air, with all its particles, becomes His obedient soldier. With the ease of a single particle carrying out a single orderly task, it performs endless critical duties, by His permission and power, through its affiliation with and reliance upon its Creator, by the manifestation of His power, and at once, with the speed of lightning, and as effortlessly as the pronunciation of “Hû” or the gentle wavelike motion of air.
In other words, the air becomes a page upon which the Pen of Divine Power writes countless wondrous and orderly inscriptions. Its particles become the tips of that pen, and their functions become the dots of the Pen of Divine Decree. The entire system operates with the ease of a single particle’s movement.
Thus, during my journey inspired by the movement of thought in لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ and قُلْ هُوَ اللّٰهُ, while I was observing the realm of air and studying the page of that element, I saw this concise truth with utmost clarity and detail and witnessed it with absolute certainty (ʿayn al-yaqīn).
Just as the utterance of “Hû” and its airborne transmission constitutes a brilliant proof of Divine Oneness (Wahidiyyat), there is an extremely luminous manifestation of Divine Uniqueness (Ahadiyyat) in its meaning and indication, and a very strong proof of Divine Unity (tawḥīd); and it also reveals that “Hû” contains an explicit indication of which Being the unrestricted and vague pronoun “Hû refers to (for example, in There is no god but He). It is for this reason that both the miraculous Quran and the people of remembrance (ahl al-dhikr) frequently repeat this sacred word in the station of Divine Unity. I came to know this with certainty (ʿilm al-yaqīn).
Yes, for example, while two or three points placed on a white paper begin to mix up, and a person becomes confused when trying to do many different tasks simultaneously, and a small creature is crushed under too many loads, and a tongue and an ear would become confused and lose their order when multiple words enter and exit at the same time, I witnessed with absolute certainty (ʿayn al-yaqīn) that within the realm of air — through which I traveled intellectually with the key and compass of Hû — each piece, even each particle of air, contains thousands of different points, letters, and words without getting mixed up and without disrupting their order.
Despite performing countless distinct functions, these particles never err or become bewildered. Even when burdened with immense responsibilities, they display no weakness, delay nothing, and maintain perfect order. Thousands of distinct words, in different styles and meanings, enter tiny ears and exit delicate tongues in complete harmony, without confusion or corruption.
And while carrying out these astounding tasks, each particle moves freely and effortlessly, as if chanting لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ and قُلْ هُوَ اللّٰهُ أَحَدٌ. I witnessed this in the midst of storms, lightning, thunder, and turbulent air currents — even under such violent conditions, the particles of air never lost their order or function, nor did any one task hinder another. I witnessed this with absolute certainty (ʿayn al-yaqīn).
Thus, if air were not an instrument of divine command, then each particle and fragment of air would have to possess limitless wisdom, infinite knowledge, boundless will, and absolute power over all particles—an impossibility as absurd as the number of particles themselves. No devil could even entertain such an idea.
Therefore, with absolute certainty, at every level of knowledge (ḥaqq al-yaqīn, ʿayn al-yaqīn, and ʿilm al-yaqīn), this page of air is none other than the changing page of the Divine Pen of Power and Decree, continuously inscribed and erased as a dynamic register in the mutable realm, akin to the Preserved Tablet’s (Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ) counterpart in the realm of fluctuation (Lawḥ al-Maḥw wa’l-Ithbāt).
Thus, the element of air, through its mere function of transmitting sound, displays the manifestation of Divine Oneness and reveals the endless impossibilities of falsehood. Furthermore, beyond transmitting sound, one of its many essential tasks is the transmission of electricity, attraction, repulsion, light, and other subtle forces — carried out with absolute precision and harmony. While fulfilling its task of sound transmission, it simultaneously supplies plants and animals with the necessary components for respiration and pollination, sustaining life with perfect order.
This conclusively proves that air is a throne of divine command and will. It demonstrates with absolute certainty that blind chance, deaf nature, chaotic purposeless causes, and lifeless, powerless, ignorant matter have no role whatsoever in the writing and execution of the script upon this page of air. I became fully convinced, with the certainty of direct perception (ʿayn al-yaqīn), that every single fragment of air proclaims: لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ and قُلْ هُوَ اللّٰهُ أَحَدٌ.
Moreover, just as the key of “Hû” unveiled the wonders of the physical realm within the air, I understood that “Hû” also holds a key to the Realm of Similitudes (ʿālam al-mithāl) and the Realm of Meanings (ʿālam al-maʿnā). I saw that the realm of imagery holds countless photographs, and each image simultaneously records innumerable earthly events without confusion. It functions as a vast celestial cinema machine, more expansive than thousands of worlds, for showing the inhabitants of Paradise their worldly adventures and old memories through scenes, and the permanent fruits of their temporary states, positions, and passing lives.
Both the Preserved Tablet (Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ) and the Realm of Similitudes have two proofs, two tiny examples, or two points in the human head: memory and imagination.
Although as tiny as a lentil, these faculties record vast amounts of information, equivalent to a large library, with flawless precision. This irrefutably proves that the much greater counterparts of these faculties — the Realm of Similitudes, the elements of air and water, especially the water of seminal fluid, and the element of soil — are written with even greater wisdom and will, and with the pen of destiny and power.
Thus, random chance, blind force, deaf nature, or lifeless, aimless causes can't interfere with or have any role in this cosmic inscription; indeed, such a notion is a hundred times impossible. With absolute certainty (ʿilm al-yaqīn), it became known that these are the pages of Divine Wisdom and Decree — the manifestation of the All-Wise Creator’s Pen of Power and Decree.
Translated by Fatih Guvenen, with able assistance by Claude.ai and ChatGPT (February 1, 2025).