QUWWA AL-WÂHIMAH -قوة الواهمة

Literally & Etymologically:

Quwwa: A faculty. A quality. A possibility. A potency. Powers, faculties.

Quwwa Al-Wâhimah: Derived from the root wahama (وَهَمَ) — which literaly means to imagine, fancy, or be deluded — wahm denotes an estimation, an idea, a conjecture, or a baseless supposition. Thus, quwwa al-wâhimah is the power of estimation and illusion — the faculty entrusted to man to assess perceived meanings and potential risks in specific, concrete matters. However, when this faculty is not guided by the nûr of îmân, the Sharî'ah, and an intellect ('aql) following istiqâmah, it ceases to function as a protective power and instead becomes a source of groundless fears, debilitating despair and unfounded illusions, which constitute the very essence of wahm and waswasa, the ifrât degree of this quwwa.

Excerpts from the Risale-i Nur that elucidate the haqiqah of quwwa al-wâhimah:

There is an intense ‘ashq in human fitrah toward eternity. In fact, in everything he loves, man imagines falsely a sort of eternity through the quwwa al-wâhimah, and then he loves it. Whenever he thinks of or sees its fading, he cries out deeply with lamentations. All cries arising from separations are interpreters of the weeping stemming from the ‘ashq for eternity. Without a false-imagination of eternity, he cannot love. It can even be said that one of the causes of the existence of al-‘âlam al-baqâ and eternal Jannah is the intense desire for eternity and the fıtrî, universal du'â for eternity arising from that deep ‘ashq for eternity within human essence. Thus, by accepting that strong, unshakeable, fıtrî desire and that powerful, effective, universal du'â, Al-Bâqî Zuljalâl created an eternal ‘âlam for transient man.

Is it at all possible that Al-Fâtir, Who is Karîm, Al-Khâliq, Who is Rahîm, would accept —through creating countless kinds of delicious foods — the insignificant wish of a tiny stomach and its du'â for the continuation of its temporary existence that is offered through the language of its being, yet reject the strong desire of all mankind arising from a great fıtrî need and the universal, constant, rightful, true and extremely strong du'â of mankind for eternity offered through word and state?

Hâsha! A hundred thousand times hâsha! It is impossible that it would not be accepted. It would in no way be compatible with His hikmah, adl, rahmah and qoudrah.

Since man possesses an innate ‘ashq for eternity, all his perfections and pleasures, indeed, are entirely bound to eternity. And since eternity is particular to Al-Bâqî Zuljalâl; and since the names of Al-Bâqî are eternal; and since the mirrors of Al-Bâqî take on the hue of Al-Bâqî and become the place of manifestation for His decree, thereby attaining a sort of eternity. Thus, the most necessary concern for man and his most important duty is indeed to form a profound connection with that Al-Bâqî and to hold fast to His Names. For everything spent on the way of Al-Bâqî becomes a place of manifestation for a sort of eternity.

Thus, the second

يَا بَاقِى اَنْتَ الْبَاقِى1

expresses this haqiqah. It not only heals man's innumerable ma’nawî wounds, but also satisfies the intense desire for eternity in his fitrah.

The Third Flash-Second Subtle Point

Just as man is a small ‘âlam, so is the ‘âlam a large man. This small man is an index and summary of that large man. The great origins of the samples in man will be found necessarily in the large man.

For example, just as the existence of the faculty of memory in man is a decisive proof of the existence of al-lawh al-mahfûdh in the ‘âlam; in the same way, it is a decisive proof of the existence of larger shaytans in the ‘âlam that everyone observes in their nafs — both by sensing it and through hads — a tool of waswasa called lummah ash-shaytaniyyah placed in a corner of the heart, a shaytanic tongue speaking through the promptings of quwwa al-wâhimah and a corrupted quwwa al-wâhimah all together serve as a small shaytan, acting contrary to the will of its owner and opposed to his desires.

And since such lummah ash-shaytaniyyah and such quwwa al-wâhimah act as an ear and a tongue, they make perceived the existence of an external evil figure who whispers into that ear and makes that tongue speak.

The Thirteenth Flash – The Tenth Sign