Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Third Fascicle

36 — LAWH-IL-MAHFÛZ AND UMM-UL-K‹TÂB
The booklet entitled Lawh-il-Mahfûz wa Umm-ul-kitâb by
’Allâma Ahmad bin Sulaymân bin Kamâl Pasha, the booklet
entitled Ihtiyâr-i juz’î by Muhammad Akkarmânî and the booklet
entitled 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 ’Abdulmejîd
Khân. We have deemed it suitable to write a simplified
abridgement of all three books:
The âyat-i-kerîma which purports: “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 Speech), 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-il-mahfûz, 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 ‘sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ would often say the Arabic prayer,
“Allâhumma, yâ muqallib-al-qulûb, thebbit qalbî ’alâ dînik” [Yâ
Rabbî! Thou alone canst change our hearts from good to evil, from
evil to good. Make my heart fixed in Thine religion, do not ever let
it turn away from it or abandon it!]. Upon hearing this, the Sahâba
‘’alaihimurridwân’ said, “Yâ Rasûlallah ‘sall-Allâhu ’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 Lawh-ul-mahfûz was: “There is no Allah besides Me.
Hadrat Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu ’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 good ones as sa’îd and the evil ones as shaqî.
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