Sample translation Lastampokh pages 40-43
One day as I sat inside the Fatih Mosque (that bears the name of the Ottoman Sultan Muhammad Al-Fatih 1), reclining against a pillar; the Friday prayers had already been offered and worshippers were rushing upon the exit gate with their shoes tucked away under their armpits. Suddenly, I saw a tall man with a saintly face advancing towards me along with a few companions. I looked at him attentively. Our eyes met and we greeted each other. I stood up as he smiled generously towards me. “Where do you live, where do you come from? And where are you heading to?,” he enquired. “From Hindustan”, I responded. “Hinduuuustan!!,” he responded cordially. Assembling his disciples he formed a circle and sat close to where I had been sitting. He appeared to be more than 60 years old and had a white beard which looked exceptionally long in the context of Istanbul. He was clad in a loose garment resembling a jubba2 and wore a combination of a turban and a cap. However, it was difficult to see whether the cap was worn on top of the turban or he wore the turban on the top of the cap. Instead of using an old man’s staff, he held a long flute in his hands that had ancient looking silver bells tied to one of its ends. He wore several rings in his fingers studded with green and red stones. The most prominent one was a rather big silver ring with the seal of Prophet Muhammad in golden colour engraved on it. He said, “The time has come that he will soon manifest himself. A light will appear from the east that will illuminate the entire world. Black clouds will become visible from the west and a fire will break out that will reduce the enemies to ashes. Iron machines will roam in the skies like clouds and fire will fall from the skies like rain drops. The faith of the Muslims will be weakened, and all the world’s nations will rush upon them. These are the signs telling us that we are nearing the Day of Judgment. The glad tidings are that his arrival is imminent. Blessed are you who will see with your own eyes the glory and supremacy of Islam and the Muslims”. “All right! But whose arrival are you talking about?” He seemed to heed no attention to the question I asked. Instead he continued his speech and his prophecies in the same vein. “His name is Muhammad Mehdi and you will be his preferred one. I can see a reflection of God’s light shining through you”. “Yes Sir, you have spoken the truth. We are the children of the Light (Nahnu Abnaae Noor). We belong to the progeny of the Light. My father’s name is Noor. I am the fourth among six brothers”. Smiling furtively, I explained away. But least affected by my response, he continued with his discourse. “Son, may God protect you from the curse of Dajjal 3! He will soon appear to challenge the authority of Mehdi. There will be a lot of bloodshed, but finally the Truth will reign”. 1
2
Meaning, the conqueror. Toga, in English; a long loose robe worn by men mostly in Arab countries.
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“But how did you come to know about all this?” “You must fear God, and not have any doubts about what is written in the sacred scriptures”, he said. His wrathful voice became louder. “Young man, you must study the Quran. In the Quran you will find all the facts both about the past and the present. Do not be suspicious. Suspicions are Satan’s weapon”. “But the Quran does not refer to Mehdi at all”. I raised an objection in my student-like innocence. “Although the word ‘Mehdi’ appears in some places in the Quran, God would have made believers aware about the coming of Mehdi if it were a religious fact”. I noticed signs of anxiety, perturbation and anger on the face of the sheikh. “Son, you may not be aware that the Quran has two sides to it - one manifest and another hidden; a body of text and a soul. The hidden and spiritual reality of the things is only known to the men of God who bear witness to the coming of Mehdi in the last age. Many signs have appeared in this regard. Nothing can prevent his coming. Try to leave the darkness of uncertainty and study the Hadith!’, he insisted. ‘But Sir, the Hadith books of Bukhari and Muslim4 do not refer to the story of Dajjal either’. My boldness provoked his anger further. “You must read Risala-e-Noor5! Saeed Nursi6 wrote there that Mehdi will be born in the family of the Holy Prophet. Most of all, he will get the support of the Prophet’s descendants. Thus the believers must remain united and attached to the members of Prophet Muhammad’s household (comprising of his daughter Fatima Zahra, her husband Ali and their children). And as you invoke God’s peace and blessings upon the Holy Prophet and his descendants in your daily prayers, it is because the family of the Prophet will have increased in vast numbers and will get organized to defend and glorify the religion of Islam against its adversaries at the end of time. If the prophecy about Mehdi’s arrival was untrue, there would be no need for invoking God’s peace and blessings upon Prophet Muhammad’s household”, he explained. Before I could make any further objections, the sheikh moved in his place and with a vibration made the bells hanging from the lower end of the flute ring. It was clear that he wanted to discontinue the discussion. Instead he started singing a devotional and ecstasy producing song Balaghul ‘Ula Be-Kamalihi (He, Prophet Muhammad, reached the highest in perfection). The melodious rhythm of the flute had a mesmerizing effect on those present. The disciples also joined their sheikh in singing the song. Hence, for now, the majestic (jalali) predictions about the future ended on a beautiful (jamali) and delightful note. Dormant Myth
3
The one-eyed imposter messiah, according to the Muslim beliefs, who will appear at the end of time; equivalent in Christianity known as Anti-Christ. 4
Two out of six compilations of Prophet Muhammad’s Hadith tradition.
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Literally, the Book of Light, a 6000 page exegetic account of the Quran with a detailed commentary written between the 1910s and 1950s in Turkey. 6
Turkish theologian and reformist Badiuzzaman Saeed Nursi and the author of Risala-e-Noor.
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What a strange city Istanbul is! Every time I have visited this city, it seems ever more mysterious to me. It seems as if every time I am touring the city, I come across either undiscovered historical facts or new myths on each turn I take. In this city, the shades of broken walls from historical buildings and the epitaphs of sleepy ancient graves seem to have formed a novel warp and woof of myths and history that one cannot easily separate from one another. One may encounter a whole forgotten history under each stone. This is the city of Byzantine, the resting place of Abu Ayub and the battleground where Muhammad Al-Fateh displayed his extraordinary resoluteness. History must be studied with an enthusiasm for learning from the past. Only then may you compensate for losing direction. Alternatively, if history is smeared with myth, it often leaves caravans with no remorse for losing their direction. It depends on us whether we recover history from beneath these stones or mere myths. The Turks made use of myths in order to prevent their decline. In the 18 th and 19th centuries, books on charms and magic spells were becoming increasing popular under the declining Ottoman Empire. Known for their expertise in engraving impressions with Quranic verses, calligraphers also contributed to preventing what was perceived as evil. They prepared the garments completely embroidered with Quranic verses for the caliphs and the aristocracy so that they would be protected against the evil effects of the impending times as well as the evil eye of their enemies. Amulets with Quranic prescriptions were also gaining popularity in those days. But all these efforts for repelling evil spells only aggravated the situation by speeding up the process of the empire’s decline even further.
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