"One", in front of it, "Zeros" till Eternity!

by: Dr. Ali Shariati

nce upon a time,

there was nothing, There was nobody, except God. The God was kind, The God was wise, The God loved beauty, The God loved kindness, The God loved merit, The God disliked silence, The God disliked tranquility(! , The God disliked !utility, The God disliked destruction, The God was creator, "s it possible that God does not create# $uddenly, clouds were created. %nd !reed them to !loat in the eternal space, The clouds that were !ormed o! molecules, each molecule, % small universe, called, atom& % sun in the center, %nd in its environment, a star, the stars, !ly like butter!ly. (% 'aaba, in its surroundings, worshipers. The clouds started moving, (ower!ul, luminous, and !oaming, )ike smoke, )ike whirlwind, )ike whirlpool, )ike a rotating !ire pot& % great atom, called, universe& % sun in between,

"n its environment, a star, the stars, !ly, like butter!ly, (% 'aaba, in its surroundings, worshipers. The li!e originated, The plants& !rom tiny mosses to large trees, %nd, animals& *rom microbes to +ammoths, %nd in !inal, ,uman beings& -vils and goods, -vils, worst o! all evils, Goods, best o! all goods, -vils like devil, Goods, like God. )i!e, a tiny living particle, an -gg, % seed o! a planet& Grows in the ground, rises, attains maturity, turns into a tree, re.uvenates, scatter branches and leaves, gives blossom and becomes old, dries, dies and !inally turns into dust. $eeds le!t behind !rom it...like the !irst day...*etus, in!ant, child, youth, mature lad, oldness, death, %gain !rom her, eggs are le!t behind...like the !irst day. The li!e also circulates& % seed o! plant. the egg o! an animal !rom the dawn o! birth until the night o! death, through the complete cycle o! li!e, in vitality, struggle and movement, -very moment in one place, anywhere, in one condition, %lways and everywhere, in search o! pleasure, in surrounding o! necessity, !rom birth till death. Once upon a time, -xcept God, there was nothing, The world was created& The particles, the universe, the living things....The earths and heavens, the stars and the suns, The easts and the wests, the planets and the animals, the things visible and things invisible. -ach in movement, struggle, with a constant harmony, in a continuous change, )i!e emerged !rom death, death born o! li!e,

/ay emerged !rom night, night born o! day. -verything in movement, everything in circulation& % sun in between, "n its environment, a star, the stars, rotating, A Kaaba, in its surroundings, worshippers- From the black stone to the black stone. Once upon a time 0-xcept God0 There was nothing, There was nobody, The act o! creation came to an end and the universe was established. The earths and the ,eavens, the stars and the suns, the easts and the wests, animates and inanimates, plants and animals, particles, universe.....all in a constant harmony, in continuous change, in movement, in perpetual movement, always in search, in search o! something, cycling, around a thing& % sun in between, "n its environment, a star, the stars, rotating, A Kaaba, in its surroundings, worshippers- From the black stone to the black stone. 1hy are all the things in universe have global shape# The earth, the star, the sun, -lectron, proton, -very molecule, every atom, -very particle& 0The !oundation stone o! this universe0 % universe& % town, a village, !rom headless and endless land o! universe. 1hy all universal movements in circles# The earth# The stars# The sun# -lectrons and protons# -very molecule, every atom, -very particle& 0The !oundation stone o! this universe0 % universe& % town, a village, !rom headless and endless land o! universe. %ny animate

0-ither a plant or an animal, 2ycle round, in a circular shape, %ll the things, in universe, cycle round, in a circular shape, water, soil, /ay, night, sunrise, sunset, every second, every minute,every hour, every week, every month, every season, $pring, $ummer, %utumn, 1inter,...every year, Once upon a time, there was nothing, There was nobody, except God. There existed the -arths, There existed the ,eavens, The stars, the suns, the easts and the wests Open space o! the universe o! unknown origination and unknown termination, %nd in this side, % sun in between, "n its environment, a star, the stars, !lying like butter!ly, %nd altogether& one 3universe3. %nd on that side, another universe, %nd in another side, another universe, %nd another one, %nd two, and ten, and a thousand, and a million, a billiard...4obody knows how many billiards! 1rite the !igure 353 on a piece o! paper. Go ahead and put 36eros3 in !ront o! it. 1hen you !inish that sheet o! paper, get more paper "! your ink in exhausted, buy more ink, Then your hands are tired 7o! putting 6eros in !ront o! 3538, ask you r !riend to continue, Then he is tired too, you continue again, Then you are eating meal, let him put the 6eros, %nd when you are putting the 6eros, let him eat his !ood, Then it is night, you sleep in turn, 9ou put 6ero when he is asleep: then when he is awake, you sleep and let him put the 6eros, Then both o! you become old, ask your children to continue putting down the 6eros,

%t the very last days o! your li!e, when you have become very very old, ;ust stop your hand !rom this task !or a moment& %t the beginning, you were only two children, you only knew to put 6eros, 4ow, you have turned into two old men con!ined to the ground, 9ou can count only the 6eros, Once again you have turned into a child, 9ou have become like the !irst days, The days, when elders sympathi6ed you, cared !or you, looked a!ter you, sometimes they make mock o! you, and now the youngsters, 4ow that you have become more childish, 4ow that you are an old child, % child with beard and lots o! hairs, ,ave walked, eighty years, ninety years, hundred years, ,ave labored !or one hundred years, 9ou have passed over !rom the years and years and years o! li!e, ,ave arrived at terminal, while have arrived at origin, %gain, you have become a child, 9ou were dust, turned into !ood, % loa! in the mouth o! (apa, % loa! in the mouth o! +ama, % particle in the abdomen o! +ama, % particle in the back o! your (apa, ............. (apa and +ama married each other, That turned into a particle, %nd that one particle (5 , was you, "n the womb o! +ama, )ike an egg, in t he womb o! a hen, *rom the warmth and blood o! the body o! +ama, 9ou came into being, you grew, )ike an egg, under the !eather o! a chicken, 4ine months, nine days, nine hours lapsed, +ama !elt pain& 39ou broke the shell o! the egg3, 3%nd you .umped out at once.3 9ou !ell into the cradle, 9our yes could not see, 9our ears could not hear. 9our legs could not hold you, 9our hands could not hold things,

9our mind did not work, 9ou did not recogni6e anyone, 9ou had !allen into the cradle, 9ou could do only three things& 50 To suck milk, <0 To wet your underneath =0 To cry One hundred years passed, 9our eyes cannot sea, your ears cannot hear. 9our legs cannot walk, your mind does not work, 9ou do not understand a thing, you do not recogni6e anybody, 9ou are con!ined to your bed, 9ou know only three things to do& 50..............<0...............=0..............!! 9ou die later, 9ou will be thrown into the bosom o! the earth. %gain, you will remain !rom you, 39ou3 will remain, The human beings circulate, )ike the earth, like the time, like the spring, like everything& 1ater, !lower, tree, earth, sun, universes, galaxies, all o! the world. 9ou were nothing, you were dust, you circulated, you turned into nothing, you turned into dust. 1hat will remain !rom you& %ll be your deeds, 1ill be the deeds you have done, ......."! you have done any deeds, you will remain, 4ow be seated, you old child, 1hat are the number o! stars and the universes# 353, with a million 6ero in front of it# One hundred million 6eros# One billiard# ,undred billiards... 9ou are unable to count, 353, in front of itone hundred meters o! 6eros# one kilometer# hundred thousand o! '+# 1hat actually do exist, multiply it in itsel!, +ultiply it again, and again, multiply it in itsel!, +ultiply it again, and again, "! the paper is !illed, use more "! your ink is exhausted,.......... "! your hands become tired,........... $leep........!ood,.........!riend,.....continue,...........children,...........,ow many are the !igures o! the stars, universes, and all the things in the universe# 353

In front of "1", Zeros One thousand 6eros#One billiard# One hundred kilometers# Or more# !rom be!ore the 353, to where, the line o! 6eros# To the other side o! the town# To other side o! mountains# >ntil the sea#>ntil the !ield#>ntil the hori6on# >ntil....the other side o! the world# To the bottom o! the world# 4egative, negative, until always, until everywhere, >ntil anywhere possible, >ntil where that you be able to count, %nd be able to put 6ero be!ore 353. The number o! plants, The birds, the reptiles, the beasts, ,uman beings, the !airies, The earths, and the skies, The stars, the suns, the universes, Things visible, and things invisible, The ups and downs, The beauty and ugliness, The good and evils, 1hatever do exist, 1hatever which exist in this world, 1hatever the world is called, %ll the universe, all the existences, this is it all. This is the spirit o! the world& The number o! all the things in the world, 1hatever on earth, or in heaven, "nanimates, plants, animals, humans, The stars the suns, the universe, This is the !igure o! all the existing things& "1", in front of it, till eternity, Zeros. )ook! Only "1" is figure, "t is a unit !igure, Other than 353, whatever which exist, whether ten, thousand, whether a million or a billiard, and what innumerable !igures0 Those are not numbers, those are nothing! They exist but they don?t?! They don?t exist but they do!

They are 36ero3. i.e.& They are hollow, They are nothing, They are !utile, They are senseless, They do not have the value o! even a normal !igure, 3They do not exist3, @ecause, only 353 is a !igure, %s it is a unit !igure, @ut the same 36ero3, when sits be!ore the one 353..............########### 1hen 36eros3 are placed be!ore the one 353, Turn the 353 into millions and billions, @ut all the hundreds, millions and billiards are only 353& hundreds o! 353, millions o! 353, billiards o! 353.... because, only 353 is !igure, Two and three and !our and !ive and six and seven and eight and nine means& tow 353, three 353, !our 353, !ive 353, six 353, seven 353, eight 353, nine 353, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen....twenty....thirty...... One hundred, two hundred,.... One thousand, two thousand,.... One million, one billion, one trillion, one quaterlion.........and all are only 353, and the rest are 6ero. "n mathematics& Only 353 is a !igure, "n this universe& "t exist the only !igure. The remaining whatever which exist, are all 6eros, all nothing, all !utile and hollow, 3Aero3& % hollow circle, "t circulates around, %nd !inally arrives at its beginning point, and............. nothing! that is all. There is only 3530and be!ore i0 till eternity06eros, Aero& ,ollow, !utile, nothing, 1hen wishes to be 3itsel!3,

to be alone, "s that when it wants to be with 6eros only, @ut when it sits be!ore 353...........# %nd when it wishes to exist only !or 353, %nd to !ree itsel! !rom !utility and loneliness, should become the companion o! 353#. 9ou, my dear child. The child o! nine or ten years o! age, That you were nothing, you were dust, you turned into !ood, 4ext eighty or ninety years, you will change into an old child, 9ou will turn into nothing, you will turn into dust, 9ou will circulate, )ike a circle, 1ithout aim, without meaning, hollow& Once again, !rom the bottom, you will arrive to the initial point, )ike 6ero, 1hen you live !or yoursel!, 1hen you wish to be only !or your 3own sel!3, To be alone, 1hen you wish to be only with 6eros, 9our li!e, like a curve line, will cycle on yoursel!, )ike 6ero, %gain, !rom the bottom you will arrive, to the initial point, 9ou will remain, you will stink, )ike a pool, 9ou will be con!ined, like a circle, )ike 36ero3. @ut i! you sit be!ore 353,..............# "! you wish to be only !or 353, and release yoursel! !rom !utility and loneliness, and be a companion o! 353,..........# 9ou must live !or others, 9our li!e, is like a hori6ontal line, and will move ahead, )ike a road, )ike a stream, 1hen you depart !rom 39oursel!3, !rom the bottom, you will arrive to a habitable place, like a road, !rom the bottom, you will spill into the sea, like a stream, @ut i! you sit be!ore 353, %nd i! you wish to exist only !or 353,

%nd come out o! !utility and loneliness, %nd be a companion o! 353, 9ou must die !or 3others3, 9ou r li!e, will ascend, like a vertical line, )ike a wave, )ike a storm, )ike a high and proud peak, %mong the hills, )ike a cypress, %mong the moscoids0 which grow in the !ace o! sun, 1hich stretch towards the sky0 )ike a3Great +an3, like a 3+artyr3, %n 3"mam3, %mong the wolves, among the !oxes, among the mice, which 3rise up3, which 3stand3, rise, stand, among the 6eros, )ike 353. 9es, Only 353 is a !igure, "t is the only unit !igure, The number o! stars, the universes, The earths and the heavens, The number o! all the things in universe, 353, In front of ittill eternityZeros. There is 353. There is no 353, -xcept God, There is nothing, There is nobody, One, In front of It, Till Eternity, Zeros.
Translated by /r.Ghassemy