The Fifth Ray
[Thirteen years ago,1 as an addendum to the discussion in Muhakemat-i Bedi‘iye, which was published thirty years ago, the draft of twenty ‘Matters’ was written about the Barrier of Dhu’l-Qarnayn, Gog and Magog, and the signs of the end of time. This has now been corrected for the sake of a dear friend, and been made the Fifth Ray.]

(The Fifth Ray of The Thirty-First Flash of The Thirty-First Letter)

NOTE: So that the purpose of the Introduction may be understood, the ‘Matters’ following the Introduction should be read first.

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

A point about the verse,

But already have come some tokens thereof2

was written in order to protect the belief of the mass of believers and preserve it from doubt. Like allegorical verses of the Qur’an, some Hadiths about the events of the end of time have profound meanings. They cannot be expounded in the same way as incontestable verses, and not everyone can understand them. Rather than being expounded, they are interpreted. According to the verse,

But none save God knows its final meaning (ta’wil). And those who are deeply rooted in knowledge,3

their meaning, interpretation and what is intended by them is