God’s determining of the whole of creation through His eternal knowledge.

“Divine Destiny means that God Almighty, Who possesses infinite knowledge, sees and knows the past, present, and future as though they were a single point—and for Whom, in reality, there is no such thing as past, present, or future—plans, programs, determines, establishes, classifies, and measures the entire universe on the plane of knowledge and in terms of its existence in knowledge: from the microcosm to the macrocosm, from particles to systems, and from the smallest thing to the human being in the ordinary world together with the entirety of his or her future life. It further means that He transfers all of these from the level of conception and knowledge to the planes of will, power, and Divine will, and brings them into manifestation in the external world of existence. Thus, before anything comes to pass, He has already established and determined in the Manifest Record everything that will occur.”¹⁾

“Even though our will has no intrinsic value or weight in itself, God, Who will create our actions, creates them according to this plan, and we therefore become the cause of what is brought into existence. If the deeds whose creation we occasion belong to the category of good works, we receive reward; if they belong to the category of evil deeds, we incur punishment. It is thus clear that highly significant and far-reaching results revolve around this hypothetical, conceptual will that functions as an ordinary condition. There is therefore no absolute compulsion; there is only conditional compulsion. God is the Creator, but He has made the human will an ordinary condition for His creation. Human beings should reflect carefully on this point and preserve the balance between Divine Destiny and human will.”²⁾

“Rather than being something that prevents believers from proceeding along the path they must follow, Divine Destiny consists of the Divine determination made concerning us. Within this framework, our responsibility is to believe in it and submit to it. With this faith and submission, figures such as ‘Uthman, ‘Ali, and İskilipli Atıf Hoca advanced with complete trust in God and without hesitation toward the goal before them, even though they knew what would befall them.”³⁾

“Just as it is natural for a beginner to incline toward the Mu‘tazilite position because of reason, it is equally natural and in accordance with human disposition for one who has reached the final stages to adopt a moderate form of determinism after becoming acquainted with the true face of things. Nevertheless, one should take as the basis neither moderate determinism nor the Mu‘tazilite position, but the middle way of Imam Maturidi. Indeed, when God determines the future on the plane of Divine Destiny, He shapes and fashions everything, through His all-encompassing knowledge, in accordance with the mold of your body and spirit. The Divine will thus relates to events together with your own will. No one’s horizon can reach the immutable archetypes. Only our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, could reach that point—that is, the witnessing of Divine Knowledge.”⁴⁾

“Divine Destiny and limited human will are components of a faith experienced inwardly and through the conscience, indicating the furthest boundaries of Islam and faith. They are not merely scholarly or theoretical matters. That is, as the believer attributes everything—even personal actions and the self—to God Almighty, limited human will appears at the final point so that the believer may not escape obligation and responsibility. It says: ‘You are responsible and accountable.’ Then, so that the believer may not become proud of the goodness and perfections that proceed from the self, Divine Destiny appears and says: ‘Know your limits; you are not the one who brought them about.’

Indeed, Divine Destiny and limited human will belong to the final degrees of faith and Islam. Divine Destiny has been included among matters of faith in order to save the carnal self from pride, and limited human will in order to save it from irresponsibility. They are not theoretical questions intended to enable obstinate commanding selves to cling to Divine Destiny in order to escape responsibility for the evils they commit, or to rely upon limited human will in order to boast and take pride in the good qualities bestowed upon them. Such conduct is entirely contrary to the mystery of Divine Destiny and the wisdom of limited human will.”⁵⁾

“…within a seed there are two manifestations of Divine Destiny. One clearly indicates and gives news of the Manifest Book, which is the title of Divine will and the commands of creation. The other conceptually indicates and symbolizes the Manifest Record, which is a title of Divine command and knowledge.

The evident Divine Destiny consists of the material qualities, conditions, and forms of the tree contained within the seed, which will later become visible to the eye.

The conceptual form consists of the stages, conditions, forms, movements, and glorifications through which the tree to be created from that seed will pass during the course of its life. These ever-changing stages, conditions, forms, and acts, called its life history, possess orderly measures of Divine Destiny, just like the branches and leaves of the tree. Since there is such a manifestation of Divine Destiny even in the most ordinary and simplest things, this clearly indicates that the existence of all things is written before they come into being, and this may be understood with a little attention.

As for the evidence that the entire course of each thing’s life is recorded after it comes into existence, all the fruits in the universe that give news of the Manifest Book and the Manifest Record, and all the faculties of memory in human beings that indicate and give news of the Preserved Tablet, are witnesses and signs.”⁶⁾

“Since plant life, which is the simplest and lowest degree of life, is subject to the order of Divine Destiny to such an extent, human life, which is the highest degree of life, must certainly be drawn in all its details according to the measure of Divine Destiny and written with its pen. Indeed, just as drops give news of clouds, tiny water particles indicate a source of water, and documents and notebooks point to the existence of a great register, so too the fruits, reproductive cells, seeds, kernels, forms, and shapes that we observe—which function as drops, particles, documents, and notebooks of evident Divine Destiny, the material order present in living beings, and conceptual Divine Destiny, the spiritual and vital order—clearly demonstrate the register of Divine will and the commands of creation called the Manifest Book, and the Preserved Tablet, which is a register of Divine Knowledge called the Manifest Record.”⁷⁾

“The Wise Qur’an repeatedly mentions the ‘Manifest Record’ and the ‘Manifest Book.’ Some commentators have said that they are one and the same, while others have maintained that they are distinct. Their explanations concerning their realities differ. In summary, they have said that they are titles of Divine Knowledge. Yet through the effulgence of the Qur’an, I have reached the following conclusion:

The ‘Manifest Record’ is a title of one kind of Divine Knowledge and command that looks more toward the unseen world than toward the visible world. That is, it looks more toward the past and future than toward the present. It looks more toward the origins, descendants, roots, and seeds of things than toward their outward existence. It is a register of Divine Destiny. The existence of this register has been demonstrated in The Twenty-Sixth Word and in the addendum to The Tenth Word.

Indeed, the ‘Manifest Record’ is a title of one form of Divine Knowledge and command. Since the beginnings, roots, and origins of things produce their existence with perfect order and artistry, they necessarily demonstrate that they are regulated by a register containing the principles of Divine Knowledge. Since the outcomes, descendants, and seeds of things contain the programs and indexes of beings that will come into existence in the future, they also demonstrate that they are small collections of Divine commands. A seed, for instance, may be described as a tiny embodiment of the programs and indexes that will organize the entire structure of the tree, and of the commands of creation that determine those programs and indexes.

In summary, the ‘Manifest Record’ is like a program and index of the tree of creation, whose branches extend throughout the past, future, and unseen world. In this sense, the ‘Manifest Record’ is a register of Divine Destiny, a collection of its principles. Through the dictation and decree of those principles, particles are directed toward their duties and movements in bringing things into existence.

The ‘Manifest Book,’ however, looks more toward the visible world than toward the unseen world. That is, it looks more toward the present than toward the past and future, and is a title, register, and book of Divine power and will rather than of knowledge and command. If the ‘Manifest Record’ is the register of Divine Destiny, the ‘Manifest Book’ is the register of power. Every being displays, in its existence, essential nature, attributes, and modes, such perfect artistry and order that it is clothed in existence according to the principles of an absolute power and the laws of an all-penetrating will. Its form is determined and distinguished, and it is given a particular measure and a specific shape. This means that power and will possess a universal and comprehensive collection of laws, a supreme register, according to which the particular existence and specific form of every being are measured, fashioned, and clothed. The existence of this register, like that of the ‘Manifest Record,’ has been demonstrated in the discussions concerning Divine Destiny and limited human will.

Consider the foolishness of the people of heedlessness, misguidance, and philosophy. They have perceived the Preserved Tablet of the Originating Power and the manifestation, reflection, and example within things of that discerning book of Divine wisdom and will, but—God forbid—have called it ‘nature’ and rendered it blind. Through the dictation of the Manifest Record—that is, through the decree and principles of Divine Destiny—Divine power writes and brings into existence the chain of beings, each of which is a sign, upon the representative page of time called the Tablet of Effacement and Confirmation, and sets particles in motion. The movement of particles is therefore a vibration and motion arising from that writing and transcription as beings pass from the unseen world to the visible world and from knowledge to power.”⁸⁾

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