Who is the addressee of the command "Be"?

Dear Brother / Sister,

5.3.3.1- The addressee of the Command “Be”

Interesting views have been put forward regarding the addressee of the command “Be”: The command “Be” is before the existence of that thing; in that case, something that does not exist is addressed. Or, something that exists is addressed; in that case, something that already exists is told to "be"; both are troublesome.¹

Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi states the following regarding the issue:

Things existed in the knowledge of Allah before they were created in this realm. It is called “ayanthabita” (latent realities). In that case, it means the command “be” is not given to something absolutely non-existent, but to the one whose existence has been determined in the knowledge of Allah.

“O Lord! We did not exist; we did not demand anything. Your grace heard what we did not say.”²

He also says, “Every moment the following address comes from Allah: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ Then, matter and its qualities occur. If those things and their qualities do not say, ‘Yes’, their coming from non-existence to existence is actually the answer ‘Yes’.”³

Allah has a knowledge that encompasses everything that happened and everything that will happen. The shapes and the scientific bodies of the things are present in the knowledge of Allah. It is definitely not difficult for Allah to bring them to this realm, which we see with our eyes. It is as easy as a match with burning ability to burn immediately with a contact. Or, it is as easy as something written with an invisible ink to appear when a substance that makes is visible is used or  the image in the mirror of the photograph to transferred onto the paper with a very easy act.⁴

When this issue is dealt with the levels of existence, it will be settled:

The levels of existence are different. For example, a poet designs his poetry in his mind; then, he writes it. Poetry in his mind is non-existent according to us but it is not non-existent according to the poet. Those two levels of existence are expressed as existence based on knowledge and visible existence. So to speak, things existed in the knowledge of Allah before they were created in this realm. It is called “ayanthabita” (latent realities). In that case, it means the command “be” is not given to something absolutely non-existent, but to the one whose existence has been determined in the knowledge of Allah. When Yunus Emre, the poet, said, ”I have taken on flesh and bones, I have appeared as Yunus”, he virtually indicated this issue. In other words, Yunus Emre actuallyexisted in the knowledge of Allah and was determined. However, his appearance in the realm of existence occurred in a certain period of time.

1.See Fakhruddin Razi, Mafatihul- Ghayb (TefsirKabir), IV, 27; İsmaîlHakkıBursevi, Ruhu’l- Beyân, VIII, 231
2.Rumi, II, 382.
3.Rumi, IV, 1038.
4.Nursî, B.S. Şualar, p. 24.

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