The ‘Ene’ in the Risale-i Nur

Related concepts: ‘ego’ and ‘I’  What is meant by ‘ego’ in English?  Several conceptions exist, including the philosophical, psychoanalytic and vernacular usages

Philosophical and other technical usages for ‘ego’  Self: A sense of ‘me’  Knowing that I exist as a unique entity or as an ‘individual’  A sense of ‘personal identity’  ‘I’: Latin root of ‘ego’ - “A conscious, thinking, subject.”

Everyday usage for ‘ego’  Ego: “A person’s sense of self esteem or self importance.”  Ego: “An overly high opinion of oneself.”

The ‘Ene’  ‘Ene’ is translated variously as ‘ego’ or ‘I’  But the various English meanings for ‘ego’, ‘I’ and ‘self’ capture only some aspects of what is meant by ‘ene’

From the Thirtieth Word  “The All-Wise Maker gave to man as a Trust an ‘I’ which comprises indications and samples that show and cause to recognize the truths of the attributes and functions of His dominicality, so that the ‘I’ might be a unit of measurement and the attributes of dominicality and functions of Divinity might be known.”  Dominicality = Rububiyah  Divinity = Uluhiyah (Thirtieth Word – The Words)

The Ene  The ‘ene’ is a kind of measurement device that enables us to know the Divine Names and attributes, even though we cannot, in reality, possess those attributes  It gives us a feeling of ‘self’;  A sense of possession, ownership and acting ;  E.g. Knowing, learning, creating, giving, taking, nurturing, doing… All kinds of acts and dispositions

The Ene  All forms of acting and owning, are the domain of Allah alone. Only He has the power to act and only He owns anything. (Imperatives of Rububiyah and Uluhiyah)  Yet through the ‘ene’, we get a feeling of what it is like to act and own  We thereby come to know various Divine Names and attributes

Absolute attributes and ‘ene’  Absolute attributes cannot be known by finite beings  Recall our previous discussion on Illness. We said that the creation of apparent opposites, or apparent imperfection in things, creates ‘degrees’ that enable us to perceive certain ‘absolute’ things that would otherwise remain hidden to us  The ‘ene’ similarly enables us to know certain absolute Names and attributes of Allah, such as All-Powerful, Owner, Creator and All-Knowing, that would otherwise remain hidden

Absolute attributes and ‘ene’  It does this by acting as a unit of measurement, or a comparison tool :  By feeling a limited sense of those attributes in ourselves, we draw a hypothetical line that delimits the Divine attributes

Absolute attributes and ‘ene’  We say, for example, “I know how it feels to create this small thing, thus I can begin to imagine the majesty of Allah’s creating all things”  We thus begin to understand, in degrees, the beauty and perfection of Allah’s Name of Khaliq. Similar examples can be made with all kinds of ‘acting’ and ‘owning’

Readings  Since an absolute and all-encompassing thing has no limits or end, neither may a shape be given to it, nor may a form be conferred on it, nor may it be determined; what its quiddity is may not be comprehended. For example, an endless light without darkness may not be known or perceived. But if a line of real or imaginary darkness is drawn, then it becomes known.  Thus, since God Almighty’s attributes like knowledge and power, and Names like All-Wise and All-Compassionate are all encompassing, limitless, and without like, they may not be determined, and what they are may not be known or perceived. Therefore, since they do not have limits or an actual end, it is necessary to draw a hypothetical and imaginary limit. The ‘I’ does this.

Readings  It imagines in itself a fictitious dominicality, ownership, power, and knowledge: it draws a line. By doing this it places an imaginary limit on the all-encompassing attributes, saying, “Up to here, mine, after that, His;” it makes a division. With the tiny units of measurement in itself, it slowly understands the true nature of the attributes For example, with its imagined dominicality over what it owns, the ‘I’ may understand the dominicality of its Creator over contingent creation.

Readings  And with its apparent ownership, it may understand the true ownership of its Creator, saying: “Like I am the owner of this house, so too is the Creator the owner of the universe.” And with its partial knowledge, it may understand His knowledge, and with its small amount of acquired art, it may understand the originative art of the Glorious Maker. For example, the ‘I’ says: “As I made this house and arranged it, so someone must have made the universe and arranged it,” and so on…

Conclusion  The ‘ene’ is a comparison tool  It is a faculty that lets us get a limited sense of what it means to own and to act  It thereby enables us to begin to understand the absolute Divine Names, attributes and acts  It should be known for what it is - we should not fool ourselves into thinking we have real ownership; of ourselves, our attributes or our acts