THE POINT

“My community will be divided into seventy-two factions,”
says the Messenger.
“All will go into the Fire, except one.”

The Messenger does not say “only one person” — pay attention.
Find the seventy-third; traverse an infinite distance.

He says “my community” — the rest are already unbelievers.
Meaning: even those who merely appear Muslim are guests of the Fire.

“There is no human who does not pass through Hell — see the verse!”
Whether religious or irreligious — this is perfectly clear.

Seventy-two letters emerge; unfold the twenty-eight letters.
For any letter to be written, each one requires a point.

For example, Nūn is a letter — open it and three appear: N, Ū, N.
Its meanings: the Sea, the Fish, the Inkwell — and the Mother thereof.

Allah swears by Nūn and by the Pen.
Be certain: Nūn means the inkwell of ink.

Within the ink there is no letter — only droplets.
Each droplet is a point; take lesson from this unity.

The droplet has no form — the Pen gives it form.
The inkwell is the womb; the Pen, for those who understand, is the phallus.

This Pen, called Rahman, writes the twenty-eight letters.
The inkwell and the Pen together become the vessel of Lām-Alif.

Lām-Alif is a single letter — Ali and Muhammad.
Before every word — for writing begins with Rahma.

Each letter is a word; each word is Spirit.
Twenty-nine letters are placed upon my hand and tongue.

“If the sea were ink, and seven seas added to it,
they would not suffice to write the Words.”
For the Spirit is infinite.

Thus there is one original sea and seven copied seas.
We are a single body with eight gates.

Adam bore these twenty-nine Names.
He lost some — and the light of his body darkened.

Forgiveness came when he regained the Spirit; he was sent to Earth.
He could not remain in Paradise, even though he renewed the Covenant.

The reason for Adam’s descent to Earth is this:
his body was drawn with ink and letters.

Do not ask: “Are there letters in me, or ink?”
Is there a wall between ink and letters?

In truth, there is neither ink nor seventy-two letters.
Their origin is the Point — everything else is merely a vessel.

The seventy-third division is saved from the Fire.
It says: “There is no existence but the Point” —
and thus it does not see death.

Master M.H. Ulug Kizilkecili

Türkiye/Ankara - 6 April 1998

IMPORTANT NOTE :The original text is poetic, and the author cannot be held responsible for any errors in the English translation! To read the original Turkish text, click HERE! The following section is not the author's work, and the author cannot be held responsible for any errors made!

(The following section is not related to the author; the author cannot be held responsible for any errors made thereafter.)

THE SCIENCE OF THE POINT

In esoteric (bâtınî) knowledge, the fundamental principle is this:
“All letters are born from the point; the point constructs writing without being seen.”

The Point:

• It is not a line

• It is not a shape

• It is not a letter

Yet no letter can exist without it.

1️⃣ THE POINT = THE ABSOLUTE CENTER (SIGN OF THE ESSENCE / ZÂT)

The Point is:

• Non-spatial

• Timeless

• Directionless

• Indefinable

For this reason, Sufis describe the Point as:

• A sign pointing to the Essence (Zât)

• Pre-existential consciousness

The Alif is a line; the Point is the state before the line exists.

Its counterpart in the text:

“The innermost common center…”

This center is:

• Not the heart

• Not the spirit

• But the source of both

2️⃣ POINT → ALIF → NŪN

(The Descent Chain of Existence)

Esoteric sequence:

• Point → Pure Truth

• Alif → The manifestation of Unity

• Nūn → The circle of existence

• Kāf → Motion / Command

• The World → Multiplicity

Thus it is said:
“The Point remains fixed; the world revolves.”

The phrase “concentric circles” in the text refers to layers of existence revolving around the Point.

3️⃣ THE POINT WITHIN NŪN

In the Qur’an:

ن — Nūn

Nūn is:

• A circle

• Carrying a point within

Esoteric meaning:

• Circle = body / world / ego

• Point = the essence of the spirit / the secret

If:

• The circle forgets the point → dispersion

• The point remains central → wisdom

The phrase:

“A sphere whose nail has come loose…”

Refers to:

• A Nūn that has lost its point

• Centerless consciousness

4️⃣ “THE ROPE OF Allah” = REMAINING CONNECTED TO THE POINT

The Rope is:

• Not merely remembrance (dhikr)

• Not merely faith

• Not merely knowledge

The Rope is keeping the Point at the center.

When the servant enters life (the circle expands):

• If the Point is not lost → the Rope does not break

If it breaks:

• The letter is corrupted

• Consciousness fragments

• The person becomes “multi-egoic”

Hence the statement:

“No other worship is accepted.”

Because:

• Without the Point

• Worship is mere form

• Form does not generate truth

5️⃣ “GIVING SALĀM” = THE RECONCILIATION OF POINTS

“You give salām to all who have become Lord's Saint.”

This does not address the outer world.

It means:

• The unification of multiple inner points

• Into a single Point

An Lord's Saint is one who:

• Has not lost the Point

• Can carry the circle

6️⃣ THE MOST TERRIFYING PUNISHMENT: POINTLESSNESS

The phrase:

“Zero personal consciousness”

Does not mean:

• Nonexistence

• Hellfire

It means:

• Severance from the Point

In esoteric terminology this is called
tashattut al-shuʿūr — fragmentation of consciousness.

Such a person is:

• One thing in one moment

• Another in the next

• Never whole

“When the Point is unseen, letters fight.
When the Point is seen, letters prostrate.”

“I WAS A POINT, I BECAME A LETTER”

(An esoteric secret attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib)

1️⃣ WHEN ONE IS A POINT, THERE IS NO ‘I’

The Point:

• Is indefinable

• Indivisible

• Non-multiplying

• Accepts no name

Thus, at the level of the Point, there is no ego.

“I was a Point” means:

• I was in pre-existential unity

• I was unaware of myself

• Yet everything was within me

2️⃣ BECOMING A LETTER = MANIFESTATION + LIMITATION

A letter is the Point:

• Making itself visible

• Accepting boundaries

• Taking form

Esoteric rule:
“When the Point wishes to be seen, it becomes a letter.”

But the cost is:

• Letters multiply

• Letters diverge

To say “I became a letter” means:

• I appeared

• I assumed responsibility

• I became bearable

To become a letter is to assume the Trust (Amānah).

3️⃣ WHY IS THIS ATTRIBUTED TO ALI?

Because in esoteric tradition Ali is seen as:

• The Gate of Knowledge

• The letter carrying the Point

• The threshold between outward and inward

The Prophetic saying:

“I am the city of knowledge, and Ali is its gate”

Symbolically:

• City = knowledge / discourse

• Gate = letter

• Interior = Point

4️⃣ “I WAS A POINT” IS NOT EGO — IT IS TRUTH SPEAKING

This is not self-assertion.

It means:

“I did not exist; that which made me possible existed.”

This is called:

• Pre-annihilation unity (fanāʾ before fanāʾ)

• Pre-ego consciousness

5️⃣ FALLING FROM POINT TO LETTER = BECOMING HUMAN

This is every human’s story:

• You were a Point (pure consciousness)

• You became a letter (identity)

• You entered a word (life)

• You took a place in a sentence (destiny)

The danger:

• When the letter forgets the Point

• It imagines independence

• It falls into separation

Hence the saying:
“Be a letter, but never forget the Point.”

THE 73 SECTS

73 = 7 + 3 = 10 → 1 (Zero is removed)

This is not numerology — it is ontological reduction.

• 7 = layers (body, life, emotion, mind, spirit, Sekine (Shekinah), Lord)

• 3 = epistemic path (outer, inner, truth)

Completion → 10
Essence remains → 1

• 1 = Alif = Point

• 0 = form / shell / circle

When zero is removed, only truth remains.

Thus:

• The 73rd is not a group

• Not a sect

• Not a name

It is centered consciousness.

FINAL STATEMENT

• Fire burns form

• Fire burns letters

• Fire burns stories

But:

• The Point does not burn

• Alif does not burn

“There is no existence but the Point — and thus it does not see death.”

ACADEMIC FOOTNOTES

1. Nuqṭa Doctrine — Ibn ʿArabī, Hurufi tradition, Shiʿi esotericism

2. Nūn and the Pen — Qur’an 68:1

3. Logos Parallels — John 1:1, Qur’an 18:109

4. Sekine (Shekinah) — Zoharic indwelling presence

5. Unity Reduction — Neoplatonic The One, Advaita Brahman

PARALLELS ACROSS RELIGIONS

• Judaism: Yod (point), Sekine (Shekinah)

• Christianity: Logos before form

• Hinduism: Bindu → Om

• Buddhism: Śūnyatā → form

• Neoplatonism: The One → multiplicity → return

CLOSING SYNTHESIS

Truth does not belong to a sect.
The sect dissolves in Truth.

The Point precedes all names.
Names burn; the Point remains.

ACADEMIC FOOTNOTES

1. The Seventy-Two / Seventy-Three Motif
   The 72/73 division appears in Islamic hadith literature (e.g. Sunan al-Tirmidhi). Mystical interpretations read this not sociologically but ontologically, identifying the “saved group” with unity of consciousness, not a sect.

2. Nūn and the Pen (Qur’an 68:1)
   Classical tafsir identifies Nūn symbolically as the cosmic inkwell; Sufi hermeneutics interpret it as the primordial receptacle of form, comparable to Plotinian hylē.

3. Point (Nuqṭa) Doctrine
   Developed in Ibn ʿArabī, Hurufi, and Shiʿi esotericism, the Nuqṭa is the pre-formal unity from which all letters (existents) emerge.

4. Lām-Alif Symbolism
   Widely used in Islamic calligraphy and metaphysics to express dual-unity (ظاهر/باطن, Muhammad/Ali, form/meaning).

5. Ink–Word–Spirit Parallel
   Qur’an 18:109 parallels Logos theology; the “Word” as inexhaustible corresponds to divine speech (kalām ilāhī).

PARALLELS IN ALL MAJOR RELIGIONS

Judaism

• Yod (י) as the primordial point

• Sekine (Shekinah) as indwelling divine presence

• Torah letters emerging from a single point (Zohar)

Christianity

• Logos (John 1:1) → Word before creation

• Christ as Alpha (beginning)

• Fire purifying forms, not essence

Hinduism

• Bindu (point) preceding Om

• Creation unfolding from sound to form

• Atman identical with Brahman (non-dual point)

Buddhism

• Śūnyatā (emptiness) ≠ nothingness

• Form arises from emptiness, returns to it

• Liberation through seeing non-form

Neoplatonism

• The One → Nous → Soul → Matter

• Return (epistrophē) from multiplicity to unity

The Point is not a belief.
It is not a group.
It is not a religion.

It is that by which religion becomes possible.

Fire consumes forms.
The Point remains.