When we observe, contemplate, study and reflect upon the world around us, we become aware of many different “things” in our immediate environment. We may see other people, animals, plants, rocks, rivers, mountains, buildings, etc.; we are surrounded by a multitude of animate and inanimate beings.  Upon closer inspection, we start to notice the various properties and qualities of the different things and we begin to see unity and continuity between the things.

A simplified example: I discern compassion in a mother duck gathering her little ones upon leaving the nest to go for a swim in a nearby pond.  Additionally, I see beauty in her specific form and color, and I also perceive wisdom in the manner in which she communicates with her babies.  Next, I look around and perceive multiple instances of  beauty, compassion, and wisdom in the flowers, trees, other birds and creatures around me, and I realize that it is the same beauty, compassion, and wisdom which  I’ve just perceived in the mother duck. This sameness, this continuity of qualities of the things is unity. Such unity can only mean that it comes from one, single source.  The beauty which I see in the mother duck is the same beauty I see in the flowers, the trees, the pond, etc. Thus, there is unity with respect to the things manifesting beauty, and thus the source of beauty must necessarily be one, must necessarily be the same.  The same is true for compassion and wisdom given in this example. All are signs which point to a single Maker. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi further elaborates on this matter in the following words:

“The phrase “He is One” is the conclusion of this. There is a unity in everything, and unity points to one. Yes, a work that has unity self-evidently proceeded from one maker. One proceeds from one. The fact that there is a unity in everything demonstrates that they are the works and artifacts of a single being. The universe is like a rosebud swathed in a thousand veils of unity. Or it is a single macroanthropos dressed in unities to the number of Divine Names and universal Divine works. Or it is a Tuba-tree of creation on the branches of which are hung unities to the number of realms of creatures.

Yes, the administration of the universe is one and the same; and its regulation is one and the same; its sovereignty is one and the same; its stamp is one and the same; a thousand and one things are all one and the same. Also, although the Names and acts which make the universe turn are one and the same, they each encompass the universe, or most of it. That is to say, the wisdom that works in it is one and the same; the bestowal in it is one and the same; its regulation is one and the same; the providing of sustenance in it is one and the same; the mercy which hastens to assist the needy is one and the same; the rain, which is that mercy’s dispenser of soft drinks, is one and the same, and so on; thousands of things are all one and the same. The sun, the universe’s stove, is one and the same; the moon, its lamp, is one and the same; fire, its cook, is one and the same; its mountains, which are its stores, treasuries, and masts, are one and same; its water dispensers are one and the same; its sponges which water the gardens are one and the same; a thousand and one things are all one and the same.

All these instances of unity in the world are proofs indicating the Single One of Unity, as clear and brilliant as the sun. Moreover, the elements and realms of beings of the universe each encompassing the face of the earth, as well as being one and the same, and their interpenetration and their uniting through their mutual relations and even mutual assistance, are clear signs that their Owner, Maker, and Master is one and the same.”  -Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (The Rays, Second Ray)