What does man’s being a mirror that reflects the names of Allah most beautifully mean?

Dear Brother / Sister,

 4.3.6-Man is a mirror that reflects the names of Allah in the best way

            Nursi says that all beings are mirrors reflecting the names of Allah, and that the mirror that shows His names in the most comprehensive and brightest way is man and he invites people to read themselves:

“Man acts as a mirror to the Divine Names, the imprint of which are upon him. There are more than seventy names the impresses of which are apparent in man’s comprehensive nature. These have been described to a degree at the start of the Third Stopping- Place of the Thirty-Second Word. For example, through his creation, man shows the Names of Maker and Creator; through his being on the ‘Most Excellent of Patterns,’ the Names of Most Merciful and All-Compassionate, and through the fine way he is nurtured and raised, the Names of All-Generous and Granter of Favors, and so on; he shows the differing impresses of different Names through all his members and faculties, all his organs and limbs, all his subtle senses and faculties, all his feelings and emotions. That is to say, just as among the Names there is a Greatest Name, so among the impresses of those Names there is a greatest impress, and that is man. O you who considers himself to be a true man! Read yourself! You may otherwise be either animal-like or inanimate!”¹

This expression also explains the hadith “Allah created man in the form of Rahman”, which sometimes causes misunderstanding, and the statement “Man was created in the image of Allah”, which is its equivalent in the Christian world. He states the following while explaining that statement:“In the impossibility of image regarding God Almighty, what is meant by image is character, ethics and attributes.”²

What is meant by ethics here is to assume the divine ethics, to rely on God Almighty humbly and to be a slave in His presence by knowing his weakness, poverty and mistakes. That is, being a real slave of Allah. In other words, man’s acting in accordance with the manifestation of the names of Allah in his deeds and behaviors. For instance, when he is compassionate and merciful, he will assume the attribute of His name Rahim, when he is clean, the name Quddus (Pure), when he is tidy, the name Nazim (Arranger), when he is measured, the name Muqaddir (Determiner), when he is good and generous, the names Muhsin (Benefactor), Karim (Generous)and Rahman (All-Merciful), when he acts wisely, the name Hakim (Wise). To act like that is a nice habit to arrange life as well as a nice deed of worship. In addition, being a slave of Allah necessitates such deeds.

The secret that elevates the Prophet to the highest level of ethics and worshipping is his being mirrors to the names of Allah in the highest degree.

1.Nursi, B. S., Sözler. 852.
2.Nursi, Emirdağ, rnkneşriyat, Istanbul, 2014, p. 153.

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