3-Endless Bliss Third Fascicle - Hakikat Kitabevi

36 — LAWH-IL-MAHFÛZ AND UMM-UL-KİTÂB
The booklet titled Lawh-il-Mahfûz wa Umm-ul-kitâb by
Allâma Ahmad bin Sulaymân bin Kamâl Pasha, the booklet
titled Ihtiyâr-i juz’î by Muhammad Akkarmânî and the booklet
titled Qadâ-Qadar by Abussu’ûd Efendi were gathered
together and were published in one single book in Turkish
in Istanbul in hijri 1264, during the reign of the Ottoman
Sultan Abdulmajîd Khân. We have deemed it suitable to
simplify all three and write them.
The âyat, “Allâhu ta’âlâ erases what He wishes. And He
does not change what He does not wish to. Umm-ul-kitâb is
kept by Him,” which is in Ra’d Sûra, denotes Lawh-il-mahfûz.
Umm-il-kitâb is the name of the Kalâm-i ilâhî (Divine Word),
which is eternal. Angels cannot understand it. It is not with time.
In other words, time is not recorded in it. No one but Allâhu
ta’âlâ knows it. It never ceases to exist. As for the Lawh-ilmahfûz,
there are changes in it. Angels see it. A person’s
lifetime and sustenance may be changed on account of his
deeds. The good may be changed into evil and the evil into
good. Accordingly, He may make a person perform good deeds
towards his death, thus sending him as a Believer to the next
world. And He may make some other person commit an evil
deed, and, thus, He may send him without îmân. For this
reason, Rasûlullah ‘sallallâhu alaihi wa sallam’ would often say
the Arabic prayer, “Allâhumma, yâ muqallibal-qulûb, thabbit
qalbî ’alâ dînik” [O Allah! Thou alone canst change our hearts
from good to evil, from evil to good. Make my heart fixed in
Thine dîn, do not ever let it turn away from or abandon it!]. Upon
hearing this, the Sahâba ‘alaihimurridwân’ said, “O Rasûlallah
‘sallallâhu alaihi wa sallam’! You, too, are afraid of turning
renegade?” “Who on earth could ensure me from makr-i
ilâhi?” was his answer. [Makr means trick. Lexically, makr-i
ilâhî means divine trick.] For, a hadîth-i qudsî states, “Men’s
hearts are in the power of Rahmân. He changes hearts as
He wishes.” That is, He changes them to evil or to good with
His Attributes of Jalâl and Jamâl. The first thing written in Lawhul-mahfûz
was: “There is no Allah besides Me. Hadrat
Muhammad ‘sallallâhu alaihi wa sallam’ is My Messenger and
My beloved one, and all are My creatures. I am the Rabb,
the Creator of everything.” Then prophets and all the people
that will come to the world until Doomsday were registered, the
- 185 --