[1] A copy of Se’âdet-i Ebediyye with the original hand-written Arabic eulogy at the beginning is in the private library of the “Türkiye Gazetesi,” a daily newspaper in Turkey.
[2] In pre-eternity, Allahu ta’âlâ knew everything that would happen in the world. He explains His knowledge of eternity and His eternal word to angels at a place called Lawh-i mahfûz. Angels do what they learn from the Lawh-i mahfûz.
[3] An explanation of the bridge of Sirât will be given later on.
[4] Great scholars who comprehended through their hearts the knowledge about Allahu ta’âlâ and his attributes. For one to be an ’ârif, it is necessary to make progress and be promoted in the way of tasawwuf. Tasawwuf will be explained later on.
[5] Knowledge pertaining to Allah’s Person.
[6] Sayyed Muhammad Amin bin ’Umar bin Abdul’azîz was a fiqh savant. He was born in Damascus in 1198 and died there in 1252 A.H. He became mature with the tawajjuh and the presence of Mawlânâ Hâlid-i Baghdâdî. When this sun of Wilâyat set in Damascus, he became the imâm and conducted the namâz of janâza performed for him. He wrote many books. His commentary for Durrulmukhtâr consists of five volumes and has been printed several times under the name of Raddulmuhtâr. It is the most dependable fiqh book in the Hanafî Madh-hab. The major part of the fiqh information that covers 130 chapters of the Turkish version of our book, Endless Bliss, has been translated from its five volumes that were printed in Egypt in 1272 A.H. He is credited with many fatwâs.
[7] The direction a Muslim turns when performing namâz. This direction points to the Kaaba.
[8] Their lexical meaning is fate, destiny. But these words will fall far too short of explaining qadâ and qadar. It is a very deep and important subject. It will be explained in detail on the final pages of our book.
[9] A person who disbelieves one or more of what the Qur’ân and the Prophet declare and who does not let others know of his disbelief.
[10] The tax which disbelievers under Muslim control pay to a Muslim goverment. Allahu ta’âlâ commands the jizya in the Qur’ân in order to disgrace disbelief.
[11] General name for various types of punishment which the Islâmic religion inflicts for some crimes. The punishments of ta’zîr is explained in detail in a different chapter in the third fascicle of our book.
[12] A branch of Islâmic knowledge that includes actions commanded, actions prohibited and actions neither commanded nor prohibited.
[13] Allah’s inciting a sinner to perdition by granting him success.
[14] A person who saw Hadrat Muhammad at least once when he was alive, is called a ‘Sahâbî’. It goes without saying that a Sahâbî is a Muslim. Ashâb is the plural form of Sahâbî. All the Sahâbîs are called ‘Ashâb-ı Kirâm’.
[15] Its lexical meaning is word, speech.
[16] To go out of the religion by misunderstanding one or more parts of the Qur’ân. He who does so is called a Mulhid.
[17] To understand this point more clearly an example must be given: An Âyat of the Qur’ân declares, “Do not say, ‘Ugh!’ to your parents!” What this Âyat points out through these words is:
1- The verse: Do not use this word “ugh!” towards your parents.
2- Signal: Do not use the words that will hurt your parents’ hearts. This is what this âyat points out through these words.
3- Denotation: Do not do anything that may hurt your parents’ hearts.
4- Inclusion: Do not beat or kill your parents.
5- Necessitation: Do favours to your parents.
6- Conclusion: Offending your parents causes disasters; pleasing parents causes happiness.
Six types of meanings, as exemplified above, have been derived from each âyat that communicates rules.
[18] Ability to understand the meaning of symbolic âyats in the Qur’ân.
[19] It means to extract the essence of something.
[20] Allah’s commands that come to prophets directly or through an angel. The entire Qur’ân is wahy that has come through the angel Jabrâîl.
[21] Unanimity of the Ashâb-i-kirâm on a religious matter that has not been explained clearly in the Qur’ân or hadîths.
[22] He who understands the hidden, symbolic meanings in the Qur’ân.
[23] The leader of the Shâfi’î madhhab, which is one of the four righteous madhhabs in Islâm.
[24] Person or persons whom Allah loves.
[25] Kinds of hadîths are explained in the second fascicle of Endless Bliss.
[26] Kinds of hadîths are explained in the second fascicle of Endless Bliss.
[27] A person who saw the Prophet at least once when he was alive is called a Sahabî. It goes without saying that a disbeliever could not be a Sahabî or Ashâb. Ashâb means Muslims who saw the Prophet at least once. All of the Ashâb are called Ashâb-i-kirâm. When we say Ashâb-i-kirâm, we mean all the Muslims who were with him, spoke to him, listened to him, or, at least, saw him. If a person did not see the Prophet, but if he saw one of the Ashâb-i-kirâm, he is called a Tâbi’. The plural form of Tâbi’ is Tâbi’în. When we say the Tâbi’în, we mean all the Muslims each of whom saw one Sahabî at least once. A person who saw one of the Tâbi’în is called Taba’-i-tâbi’în. When we say Salaf-i-sâlihîn, we mean the Ashâb-i-kirâm, the Tâbi’în and the Taba’-i-tâbi’în.
[28] Love for only Allah without including His atributes. Divine love is love for Allah together with His attributes.
[29] A person who endeavors to defend and spread his own thoughts under the name of Islâm, though they are, in fact, incompatible with Islâm.
[30] He was a great and profound religious savant. His name was mentioned in the preface of our book. His letter to a university student radiates knowledge. It was translated into English and published as a brochure. Our book includes that letter. He died in 1362 A.H. (1943).
[31] Some âyats were changed by some other âyats that descended later. The former are called mansûh, which means ‘changed.’ The latter are called nâsih, which means ‘the one that has changed the other.’ The âyat about wine is an example.
[32] Some âyats depend on some conditions, e.g. the âyat “O believers, perform namâz,” is conditioned, because to perform namâz one has to be sane and pubert, and has to have a ritual ablution, etc. But the âyat “O people, have îmân,” is unconditional because everybody has to have îmân.
[33] Some âyats in the Qur’ân are read in seven different ways. Each reading has a different meaning. Qiraât-i Shâzze means the word which a few of the Prophet’s companions used to recite in an uncommon manner.
[34] The six hadith books which all Islâmic savants have confirmed to be correct.
[35] Muhammad Birgivî Bey’s father is Alî. He was born in Balıkesir in 928 and died of the plague in 981 A.H. His works, Vasiyyetnâme, Tarîqat, Awâmil and Izhâr and others, are very valuable.