Noble Ideal

“Every lofty and noble ideal comes into existence in a systematic thought and sound planning, finds supporters, and becomes an altar that smiles at the fortune of its followers several times a day. The cases and thoughts that cannot find this support and pedestal, on the other hand, die before they are even born.”¹⁾

“People can reach true humanity only with noble ideals. It is very difficult for those who do not deepen their lives with high concepts and ideals to become a person of spirit, and to preserve their original disposition, even it is impossible.”²⁾

“Even if a person makes the worldly life or a carnal desire, or the matters of prosperity, position, and status, strives in this way, and achieves to attain these in the course of time, he or she will never get enough of them, and will constantly seek other things for the sake of carnal desires. They will not be satisfied until the moment when they will turn to noble ideals with their minds, spirits, and all their feelings.”³⁾

“A noble ideal in the hands of person of noble ideals reaches the most elevated values and turns into the charm of victory and accomplishment. If the people who represent such an ideal are not the correct people for the task, then that banner or standard turns into a pennant under which common low whims and ambitions are expressed. Although such a pennant is able to bring together the children in the street, driving them to strike the targets, as if in a game, it is not capable of realizing the emotions and aspirations that reside in the depths of the souls of our people.”⁴⁾

“Staying alive and breathing life… Staying afloat and weaving our noble ideals like a embroidery on a universal atlas, spreading a spectral spectrum on an unlimited horizon… This is the most important issue for an individual, for a nation.”⁵⁾

“The roots that make up the national spirit should be determined with the help of research. While relying firmly on those roots, a society should endeavor to go beyond them. We should be conscious that the noble ideal of perpetual revivification is necessary to survive and we must live in order to bear fruit. Our hearts should beat connected to our essential dynamics of our spiritual heritage, and our eyes should be fixed beyond the horizon. We should aim to live and flourish with an insatiable thirst for opening out—this is how it can be possible to make future generations survive, those generations to whose sake we should bind our existence.”⁶⁾

“Those who have illuminated their bosoms with the highest noble ideals and love of humanity, balance the energy of their hearts, incite their emotions towards the loftiest goals and achieve immortality in their inner worlds. These fortunate ones, who get rid of carnal desires in one move and exceed their bodily pleasures, exhilarate their spirits, wing their hearts and make their humane aspects become victorious despite their evil-commanding souls.”⁷⁾

“It is possible for a people to remain active only if they are given noble ideals. When they are left with no ideals or aims, they become reduced to the condition of animated corpses showing no signs of distinctively human life.”⁸⁾

“As they proceed with honor in the way of noble ideals and reasonable causes they adopted, they will consider the obstacles they face as a means to their becoming steel; they will not sulk or feel offended.”⁹⁾

“The unrefined souls, who fail to set their hearts on noble ideals, who fail to regulate themselves according to sublime purposes, who are unable to set free from the dark and messy atmosphere of simple thought, who are unable to reach new meanings through the things they’ve seen, heard, or read, who cannot incite the fire of enthusiasm and love among people, are considered non-living even if they are alive.”¹⁰⁾

“The past prepares the colorful costumes of the future with its thousand models. The future waits, like a field waiting to be revived, opening its bosom to happenings with a depth of noble ideals and dreams. The present time moves between these two poles like a loom and weaves its own segment.”¹¹⁾

“People devoted to a lofty cause or noble ideal should not doubt about being granted good outcomes by Providence, given that they use their means and power in the best way, and then take refuge in God. If they keep away from ‘time eaters,’ as Montherland puts it, they will be able to achieve deeds and services far beyond their personal power and attain beneficial outcomes of the same degree.”¹²⁾

“In my opinion, our present society needs courageous individuals of such noble ideals. We need these courageous idealists who pray for the good of others every time they hold their hands up in supplication.”¹³⁾

“To devotees, the value of their noble ideals transcends that of the earthly ones to such an extent that it is almost impossible to divert them from what they seek—God ‘s gratuitous consent—and lead them to any other ideal.”¹⁴⁾

“A flood of love among the people has started overflowing in almost every place that the migrants of noble ideals visit. There have been breezes of happiness and gladness, one after another, that can be felt all around. Moreover, islands of peace, which we can call invulnerable castles of harmony and stability, are forming near and far.”¹⁵⁾

“Our faith constantly whispers new sentiments to us, and our conscience plays tunes of all kinds. Nevertheless, those who are of not the same persuasion or ideals as us cannot hear any of these melodies nor can they comprehend any of these sentiments.”¹⁶⁾

“Explaining a truth and installing a thought are one thing, while sustaining them is completely another. There have been numerous examples of ideals carefully executed and institutionalized. Although nothing is lacking in their foundations and in their day-to-day operations, neither has there been any progress, as no real attention has been paid to their development. Moreover some of these noble ideals and institutions are doomed to failure and have thus collapsed right at the time of their birth, due to bad management.”¹⁷⁾

“Sufis use the word huzn (sadness) as the opposite of rejoicing and joy, and to express the pain one suffers while fulfilling his or her duties and realizing his or her noble ideals.”¹⁸⁾

“Those who have come together around the same feeling, thought and noble ideal have such a depth in their turning to God in unison, such a richness in their consciousness and feelings, and such a profundity in their thoughts and concepts, that individuals of even the greatest capacity and perfection cannot attain the least of the blessings that come their way in their community.”¹⁹⁾

“We need people who live in accordance with the noble ideals. Those who live in accordance with the noble ideals are devoted themselves to a very great ideal, and are determined to continue their lives depending on that noble ideal.”²⁰⁾

“… the migrants of noble ideals should pursue such a grand purpose of life that they can change the face of the world in an instant. For, if a person has high endeavors, even when he cannot attain his goals with his actions, God, may He be glorified and exalted, fills that void with his good intentions, and rewards him according to the goal he has set up in his imagination. In other words, a person receives rewards even for his good intentions that cannot be realized.”²¹⁾

“The Prophets are special people with a unique character. When we take their duties into consideration, we cannot call them ‘genius,’ just as the deeds of the Prophets cannot be called genius. The things they aim at cannot be called ‘noble ideals’ either. Ziya Gökalp used the word ‘mefkûre’ (noble ideal) instead of “ideal.” Because the things they do are not their own thoughts. In this aspect, it is more appropriate to call their goals the grand purpose of life, and the Honorable Sage Bediüzzaman used this phrase as well. The grand purpose of life is a high goal that consists of concepts, thoughts, expectations and noble ideals that a believing person can imagine or conceptualize, such as the consent of God, exalting the Word of God, or being a good person.”²²⁾

“The word ‘mefkûre’ in Turkish means target, goal, noble ideal, or grand purpose of life, and some prefer to say ‘ideal’ instead of ‘mefkûre.’ In fact, almost the same meaning is expressed with all of these words. Attaching to a goal, being devoted to a cause, and thinking about that goal and cause even while sitting and getting up, eating and drinking is emphasized.”²³⁾

“… a person with a purpose eventually begins to see his own flaws. Therefore, he does not give his carnal soul too much opportunity to act recklessly when it comes to his religious life, his disposition and attitude. He lives carefully, and gives his willpower its due. Perhaps he may sometimes be exposed to the arrows of carnal desires, coming from the evil commanding soul and Satan. However, the purpose to which he is attached prevents him from taking the wrong step. The noble ideals trigger God-consciousness. The thought of being before God or being seen by Him calls him to vigilance immediately against the possibility of any sin.”²⁴⁾

“A faithful disciple of the Qur’an is a cavalry of eternity, who is determined to carry others to eternity, beyond his love, enthusiasm, excitement and passions. As students of the Qur’an ride toward the horizon, idealized according to their inner world of contemplation, they gallop over many things that others call reality, while some who have long suffered from their noble ideals and have even lost these ideals think them to be fools.”²⁵⁾

Person of Noble Ideals

The Ideal of Living for Others

The Grand Purpose of Life

Türkçe