comprehension
Table of Contents
Comprehension
- Understanding. Capturing a meaning in the mind and transferring it to the inner world through the filter of perception.
- Conceiving meaning from the words of the addressee.1)
- Accessing to the true colors of knowledge from the outward form of discourse.
- Understanding the Divine Speech and fulfilling its requirements.
- It is synonymous with “fiqh”. “Faqih” means “the owner of deep knowledge.”
- “If you have comprehended the fine truths in this parable, apply them to the truth. I will tell the important ones; extract the subtle ones by yourself.”2)
- “An eloquent word has a meaning that is fermented in the vats of knowledge, and kept in large barrels of wisdom, distilled through filters of understanding (comprehension). The cupbearers, who are kind people of good taste and fine articulation, circulate the goblets of wine, and the minds partake of this offering. In this way, those meanings travel into the depths of people’s inner worlds and stimulate feelings.”3)
- “Know, O Friend! When you turn to the Almighty supposing that He is One known and recognized, He will become unknown and unrecognized, for your supposition is based on a commonplace, imitative knowledge about Him. In most cases, such knowledge has nothing to do with truth. The meaning it conveys to your mind (comprehension) is far from explaining the absolute Divine Attributes. But if you turn to the Almighty, accepting Him as One existent but unknown, then rays of true knowledge of Him will be revealed and the all-encompassing, absolute Divine Attributes.”4)
- “‘God’s lowering His speech to the level of human capacity so that they can understand it’ means ‘to reflect the Divine Speech of the Divine Essence at the level of human comprehension.’ In other words, God’s lowering His speech to the level of human comprehension is a Divine caress in order not to distract their minds from the truths.”5)
- “Being a faqih (knowledgeable expert) in religion means to be honored with the Divine light that God puts in the heart of His believing servants, like a lamp for them to see with it. This light does not exist in unbelievers and hypocrites.”6)
- “When a piece of God’s good pleasure is placed in people’s heart, He gives them the taste of it so that they know that He is with them and that He is bestowing them. God’s consent can only be achieved through fahm (comprehension). Fahm takes place only with Divine light. Divine light comes only through being close to God, and closeness to Him only happens with Divine grace. When these servants attain grace, favors from the treasures of goodness come to them. When God’s favor and light reach them, their hearts attain healing, and they taste the flavor of faith with a sound understanding.”8)
- “When the heart is enlightened with comprehension, the veil and delusion are lifted from it.”9)
- Understanding (comprehension) is easier than describing. (It is easier to comprehend than to explain).10)
See Also
Further Reading
Other Languages
Footnotes
1)
Ali ibn Muhammed es-Seyyid eş-Şerif Cürcani, Tarifat: Arapça-Türkçe Terimler Sözlüğü, tr. Arif Erkan, İstanbul: Bahar Yayınları, 1997, p. 173.
2)
Bediüzzaman Said Nursî, Sözler, İstanbul: Şahdamar Yayınları, 2010, p. 39.
3)
Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, The Reasonings: A Key to Understanding the Qur’an’s Eloquence, New Jersey: Tughra Books, 2008, p. 84.
4)
Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, Al-Mathnawi al-Nuri: Seedbed of the Light, New Jersey: Tughra Books, 2007, p. 185.
5)
Bediüzzaman Said Nursî, İşârâtü’l-İ’câz, İstanbul: Şahdamar Yayınları, 2007, p. 119.
6)
Zafer Erginli, Metinlerle Tasavvuf Terimleri Sözlüğü, İstanbul: Kalem Yayınevi, 2006, p. 268.
7)
Ibid., p. 240.
8)
Ibid., p. 990.
9)
Ibid., p. 1180.
10)
Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, The Reasonings: A Key to Understanding the Qur’an’s Eloquence, New Jersey: Tughra Books, 2008, p. 100.
comprehension.txt · Last modified: 2022/10/08 14:16 by Editor