Risale-i Nur

When the treatises of the Risale-i Nur first began to be written in 1926 in the village of Barla in Isparta Province in south-western Turkey, the students of its author, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, who lived in the region wrote to him expressing their feelings of respect and gratitude and explaining how they had benefited and profited from his writings, and they sought answers to their questions and problems. The letters contained in the volumes entitled Barla Lahikası, Kastamonu Lahikası, and Emirdağ Lahikası and named after the three main places of Bediuzzaman's exile, thus consist of the letters written by Bediuzzaman to his students and the letters written by the students to Bediuzzaman. These three volumes of additional letters form the Twenty-Seventh Letter of the Risale-i Nur Collection.

Barla Lahikası - Barla Letters

The letters included in Barla Letters were first of all written out by hand in the Qur'anic script and put together in notebooks, then in part examined and corrected by Bediuzzaman. He marked the letters with two, three, four, or more signs, indicating their importance.

There was one small copy of Barla Letters which was duplicated in Istanbul in 1956 with Bediuzzaman's approval, and had included at the front of it, "The Seven Divine Favours" from Letters 1928-1932,* and contained also letters from the above-mentioned notebooks and several from the Emirdağ Letters.

The Barla Letters which has now been printed and published, has been put together from the handwritten copies which were corrected by Bediuzzaman and those which were duplicated. Most of the letters in the handwritten copies have been put in the same order; the ordering is virtually the same in all of them. Letters that have not been included in those copies are the private letters Bediuzzaman wrote to some of the leading Nur students such as Hulûsi Ağabey and Re'fet Ağabey, which due to their importance and the learned truths they contain, have been included in the printed edition. In a letter in the first volume of Emirdağ Letters, he expresses his wish that those letters should be printed:

"Brother Re'fet! You are indeed most welcome! I am overjoyed at your busying yourself with writing out the Risale-i Nur. Your questions have produced meaningful results and sweet fruits in the Risale-i Nur, as have those of Hulûsi and Sabri. You may write out copies of the scholarly pieces you have that are not yet included in the Risale-i Nur, and add them either in the appropriate place, or to The Additional Letters." [Author]

* "The Seven Divine Favours" (Inayât-ı Seb'a), is the Seventh Part of the Twenty-Eighth Letter, see, Letters 1928-1932 (Istanbul: Sözler Publications, 2010), 424-33.

This consists of letters written by Bediuzzaman to his first students in Barla and letters written by them to him describing how they were benefiting

from his new writings with their hearts, minds, and spirits. The letters cover the period of his stay in Barla until July 1934, when he was removed to Isparta. He remained in Isparta under surveillance until the following May, when he was sent to Eskişehir Prison, together with numbers of his students.

Kastamonu Lahikası - Kastamonu Letters

On being released from Eskisehir Prison in March 1936, Bediuzzaman was sent to Kastamonu, a provincial centre south of the Black Sea, where his compulsory residence continued until September 1943, when he was arrested and sent to Denizli Prison. During these years, Bediuzzaman corresponded continually with his students in Isparta, who persisted despite the difficult conditions in writing out copies of both these letters and the treatises of the Risale-i Nur, and distributing them. The letters explain to the students both the nature of the Risale-i Nur and its function of saving and strengthening belief, and the method of service its students should follow, and many other pertinent questions. The Kastamonu Letters thus hold great value in that they consider from the point of view of belief and in the light of those times, many social questions, which affords them universal relevance.

Emirdağ Lahikası - Emirdağ Letters, Volumes I and II

Volume I: The letters in this volume cover the period from 15th June, 1944, when Bediuzzaman was acquitted by Denizli Court and released, then sent to Emirdağ, where he had been ordered to reside by the Cabinet. He remained there until the end of 1947, when he was again arrested and sent to Afyon Prison together with numbers of his students. Many of these letters concern the work of his students in duplicating and disseminating the Risale-i Nur in Isparta, Kastamonu, Istanbul, Ankara, and other places

in Anatolia, among whom were now university students. Others are replies to their questions and other matters.

Volume Il: The letters in this volume were written following Bediuzzaman's release from Afyon Prison on 29th September, 1949, after twenty month's imprisonment. Following his release, he returned to Emirdağ, where he remained till 1951, when he went to Eskisehir. In 1952 and 1953 he visited Istanbul, on both occasions remaining for three months, then returning to Emirdağ. His 1952 visit was in response to the summons to attend the Guide for Youth trial, which resulted in an acquittal. After 1953, Bediuzzaman spent most of his time in Isparta. The greater part of the letters in this second volume of Emirdağ Letters were written prior to this and cover many subjects including matters connected with the court cases and trials of the Risale-i Nur and his students.

Bediuzzaman wrote fewer letters after 1953. The letters and notes he wrote to his students while in the prisons of Eskişehir, Denizli, and Afyon were included by their author in The Rays Collection as the Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Rays.

Bediuzzaman himself attached great importance to these additional letters, which were written contemporaneously with the Risale-i Nur. For together with explicating matters contained in the Risale-i Nur and explaining the method of service Bediuzzaman envisaged in the conditions of the times, they offer guidance to the students concerning their conduct towards others in the various, often hostile, situations in which they found themselves, and motivated them and urged them to persist in their sincerity, devotion, and unwavering steadfastness. The letters set out the principles of their service.

In a letter written to Bediuzzaman by 'the first Nur student,' Hulusi Bey, he points out his need for such guidance. He wrote: "If you want to forget the world and withdraw from it, you may not, for even if there were no other reason, you cannot leave without answer those people who have become bound to The Words and who seek explanations of them ... The various matters which are not included in The Words and which you have clarified and expounded in your invaluable writings for those who love you for God's sake and have sought explanations, show quite definitely that neither has the need ceased nor is your service completed." The Additional Letters that subsequently met the need thus expressed, confirm the apt words of that blessed person.

As may be seen from these letters, the Risale-i Nur's author, Bediuzzaman, attached the greatest importance to the reading and writing out of the Risale-i Nur, and continuously encouraged his students to be occupied with

it. For the present age has seen the rapid spread of the physical and mathematical sciences and their exploitation by materialists and naturalists, who represent absolute disbelief and recognize no religion. With their numerous and various anti-religious publications, such atheistic currents seek to mislead the youth who study science, and to distance them from belief in God; they threaten all humanity. Certainly, at such a fearsome time, there is intense need for the dissemination and study of a work like the Risale-i Nur.

In the face of the destruction - wrought by atheistic currents - of the inner, moral human faculties, the Risale-i Nur repairs and restores the human being, and gains for believers the mighty, inner strength which proceeds from certain, affirmative belief. It performs this task through the guidance and inspiration of the Qur'an. By teaching reflective thought on the divine works in the universe, it points out the light of divine unity in the very matters the materialists and naturalists have floundered and become submerged. It demonstrates the truths of belief with proofs and comparisons taken from the physical world, and proves them as clearly as the sun in the very matters of science taught in the universities.

In this and many other ways, the Risale-i Nur is a diamond sword in the hands of believers which should be given primary importance at the present time by Muslims and believers. It consists of lessons inspired from the stars of the Qur'an's verses and of universal proofs of knowledge of God, and addresses the needs and understanding of the age.

In this respect, the Risale-i Nur has gained considerable prominence and importance in this country. Our nation for centuries acted as the standard- bearer of the Qur'an and illuminated the world with its religion. Now, once again, it will furnish an example of fine morality and virtue for the world, and will show how humanity may be saved from its present crises. The sole solution for the corruption, anarchy, and destruction that are dealing awesome blows at humanity and are threatening it, are the eternal truths of revealed religion and the reality of Islam. The Risale-i Nur presents to humankind the truth of the Qur'an and Islam supported by sound argument and proof, for its consideration and examination.

The Risale-i Nur's author says in a letter: "I have dedicated my life, not to secondary matters which are the cause of internal partisanship, discord, and dispute, but to the pillars of belief, which are a question of paramount importance for all humanity, and to the truths of belief taught by the Qur'an, which may lead to the happiness of humankind and are the foundation of Islam and bonds of brotherhood." In saying this he was stating that the circle of the Risale-i Nur is so broad and all-embracing as to encompass

all service to Islam and religious questions; that it affirms and encourages religious service of every sort; and that it is a highway of the Qur'an, and embraces Islam and all believers.

In the same letter, he continues: "I offer friendship to not only Muslims, but also Christians, and invite them to forgo enmity." He points out the dangers posed by the Second World War and the anarchy underlying communism, which intimate the transience and ephemerality of this world and its separations, thus implying that people should give up their hostility to one another, and heeding the Qur'an, unite, or else be ruined. He points out the need and necessity for the Risale-i Nur and its method of service, which is conformable with the conditions of the times, and with the wise guidance of the Qur'an and divine practice.

Thus, the volumes of additional letters are concerned with matters such as these. They teach the principles of a way of Qur'anic service that is fitting for the contemporary world and its conditions.

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise (Q 17:44).

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings, for ever and ever!

My Dear Brothers in Emirdağ!

Tell those who harbour suspicions about me: With its thorough searches the government has obtained all the letters and books that this person we assist has written over twenty years, both confidential and otherwise, and has learnt all his secrets. But in none of the five trunks of books and papers that the judicial authorities of both Isparta, and Denizli, and Ankara have studied for nine months, has anything been found that necessitates a single day's penalty of a single Nur student, For both the Ankara experts' committee and Denizli Court unanimously decided on their acquittals.

Moreover, this person whose essential needs we have attended to out of respect for his age, has stated in court and citing as witnesses all his companions who were present has been backed up by them, that for twenty years he has not read a single newspaper nor read anything about politics, nor asked about them nor spoken of them; and for the last ten years has not known any leading politicians except for two government chiefs, one governor, and one deputy, nor has he wanted to learn about them; and for the past three years he has neither asked about the World War, nor known about it, nor been curious about it, nor has he listened to the radio. And although over the past twenty years a hundred thousand people have studied closely the hundred and thirty pieces he has written, which have spread everywhere, the government has not learnt of any harm they have caused to the administration, or to public order, or to the country, or the nation. Neither the observant police and detectives of five provinces, nor the judicial authorities of three provinces or the centre of government or their criminal courts, have discovered even the slightest matter constituting an offence, and so have been obliged to acquit them.

Is it at all possible that if this person had nurtured worldly and political ambitions there would have been no indication or sign of them? But at no stage of the court proceedings did they find any trace of them, so that an obdurate public prosecutor was forced to use possible occurences instead of actual ones, and in the indictment repeatedly said "he might do" rather than "he did do." What does it mean, "he might do"? In fact, Said said to him in the court: "Anyone might commit a murder, so according to your accusations, everyone should be taken to court including yourself!"

In short: This person is either completely mad seeing that he is so indifferent towards the dreadful events in the world, or in order to work sincerely for the greatest happiness of this country and nation, he does not condescend to interest himself in anything nor does he attach importance to anything. Since this is the case, it is a sort of treachery towards the country, nation, and public order to harrass and persecute him. To harbour suspicions about him in this way is crazy.

Some of the high officials asked me: "Why didn't you accept Mustafa Kemal's offer of the post of General Preacher in Kurdistan and the eastern provinces in place of Shaykh Sanusi, with a salary of three hundred liras? If you had, it would have saved the lives of the hundred thousand people who were killed in the Revolt."

In reply I told them: The Risale-i Nur has been a means saving the lives in the hereafter of hundreds of thousands of citizens, each lasting millions of years, in place of the twenty or thirty years of worldly life. If I had accepted the offer, the Risale-i Nur would not have come into being, which can be the tool of nothing and follows nothing and bears the mystery of sincerity. If fact, I told my esteemed brothers in prison: If the belief is saved through the Risale-i Nur of those persons who sentenced me to death because of the severe blows it has dealt them - which had been sent to Ankara, you bear witness that I forgive them with all my heart and spirit!

After our acquittal in Denizli I told those who were pestering me with their surveillance and the high-ranking officers and police chief:

It is an undeniable wonder of the Risale-i Nur that in seven months of investigation into the hundreds of letters and writings of my twenty-year life of oppression, and into those of my thousands of students, absolutely no document has been found or connection with any movement, any association, or with any society at home or abroad. Could any ideas or precautions have secured this wondrous situation? If the private affairs and secrets of a single person over twenty years are made public, certainly twenty matters will emerge that might incriminate or shame him. Since the fact of the matter is this, of course you will say either that an extraordinary, insuperable intelligence is organizing the matter, or that it is an instance of

solicitous divine protection. It would surely be mistaken to contest such a genius, and extremely damaging to the nation and country, and arrogant obduracy to oppose such divine protection and dominical favour.

If you say: If we release you and do not hold you under surveillance, you may contaminate the life of our society with your teachings and hidden secrets.

I reply: Without exception, all my teachings are in the possession of the government and judiciary, and not one thing has been found that would necessitate even a day's punishment. Although forty to fifty thousand copies of the treatises expounding those teachings have been circulating among the people and have been read attentively and no one has received any harm, only benefits; and since both the former and the recent courts could find nothing incriminating, the recent one unanimously ruled for our acquittal and the former one, for the sake of an important personage in this world, on the pretext of five or ten words out of one hundred and thirty treatises, were able to give only a six-month sentence to fifteen of the one hundred and twenty arrested brothers. These facts form a decisive proof that it is a meaningless anxiety and ugly injustice to attack myself and the Risale-i Nur. Anyway I do not have any new writings and none of my secrets have remained hidden that you should try to correct them by holding me.

I am in great need of my freedom. Enough now of these twenty years of unnecessary, unjust, and useless surveillance. My patience is exhausted. It is possible that out of the weakness of old age I shall utter the curses that I have never uttered uptil now. The saying: "The sighs of the oppressed rise up to the divine throne" {[*]:} is a powerful truth.

Then those cruel wretches who occupy high worldly positions said: "These last twenty years not once have put one of our hats on your head, and you haven't attended the courts bareheaded but have appeared in your garb of the former era. But seventeen million people have adopted the new dress."

I told them: "I prefer to adhere to the Shari'a and out of fear of God wear the dress of seven thousand million people rather than under the force of law and although permitted by the Shari'a, adopt the dress of not seven-teen million or even seven million, but on their own wish and acceptance of only seven thousand Europe-smitten drunkards!"

It cannot be said of someone like me who has abandoned social life for the last twenty-five years: "He is obstinately opposing us!" Even supposing it is obstinacy, seeing that neither Mustafa Kemal could break it, nor two courts or the governments of three provinces, who are you that you should strive to break it to the harm of both the nation and the government? Even if he were a political opponent, since you have affirmed that he has had no relations with the world for twenty years and has been as good as dead, it is crazy to imagine that he would come to life and embark on a political career that would be of no benefit to him; indeed, extremely harmful. It is crazy to talk seriously with crazy people, so I'm not going to talk to people like you. I said: "Do whatever you like, I'm not obliged to you!" and both annoyed them and shut them up.

My last word: «God suffices us and He is the best Disposer of Affairs» (Q 3:173). * «The Best of Friends and the Best of Helpers» (Q 8:40).

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

You may write out this piece at the head of the collection of treatises and letters that confirm the Risale-i Nur's acceptance; or if not the collections, at least at the head of the First Ray. Don't worry about me; since the rewards for suffering difficulties are copious, it makes me love them in a way. Anyway, they open up possibilities for the Risale-i Nur's dissemination in other fields.

I send greetings to each and every one of you.

It is the first of the eight pieces that affirm the Risale-i Nur's acceptability and give news of it with hidden signs. Their all indicating unanimously the same matter and same objective is virtually explicit. The signs strengthen and corroborate each other since the matters are the same. Three of the eight concern Imam 'Ali giving news of the Risale-i Nur with his wondrous insight into the Unseen. The Ankara experts' committee studied these eight pieces and did not object to them, they only said that they should not have been written since people with such powers should not broadcast them. So I wrote in reply to them:

This is the Risale-i Nur's wonder-working, not mine. They were silent, which meant they accepted it. Actually it would be better not to describe divine gifts of this sort, but in the face of so many opponents and powerful, numerous enemies, it was definitely necessary to strengthen with assistance from the Unseen the morale of us who are so few, weak, and wanting,

and to encourage us to be steadfast and strong. So I wrote them down, It does not matter if to do so inflated my ego or caused my fall even. I am more than happy if I have to sacrifice my life in this world and in the next for this work; that is, to save the believers from absolute misguidance. I would agree to go to Hell even so that my thousands of friends and brothers might enter Paradise.

The total of five full boxes of books were opened by ourselves and read.

{(*):}

Studied by ourselves were the following: the parts of the Risale-i Nur, both printed and otherwise; letters on religious and scholarly subjects written by Said Nursi and his students; commonplace letters written by his students to each other and to himself which included newspaper cuttings. These were considered to be within the scope of our powers. They may be divided into two sorts:

The Risale-i Nur: Ninety-nine per cent of all its parts consist of expositions of verses of the Qur'an or of Hadiths; scholarly matters written in the form of parabolic comparisons in order to illustrate clearly tenets of belief concerning religion, belief, Allah, the Prophet, the Qur'an, and the hereafter; moral guidance addressing the elderly and the youth; exemplary occurrences from the author's own life; and beneficial stories about shopkeepers and tradesmen. In all these parts the author is both sincere in what he writes and altruistic, and does not depart from scholarly and religious principles. There is no evidence of exploitation of religion, or forming a religious association, or of any movement intending to disturb public order. The mundane correspondence between Said Nursi and his students is also of this kind.

1. Said Nursi says that the fame and acclaim he was accorded in Istanbul resembled a deep sleep, a temporary oppressive dream, a sort of stupefaction. And he depicts this as the death of the world because he unthinkingly became involved in politics for a year or two. He says that due to this

he had two identities: the Old Said and the New Said, and that these were distinct. At the end of the first of nine collections of the Risale-i Nur, which contains around twenty treatises, he writes in a letter to the Nur students in Isparta that it is an error to condescend to dabble in politics.

2. In a supplication in the work called The Decisive Proof (Hüccetü'l-Bâliğa), one of Said Nursi's most important books, he writes: "This world is transitory; the most pressing matter is to gain the everlasting world. A person loses the case or lawsuit if his belief is not firm. This is the true case; it is harmful to become involved in cases other than this. Anyone who becomes preoccupied with politics neglects more important duties. Moreover, people who get carried away by political struggles lose their purity of heart.

3. In the Twenty-Sixth Flash he writes: "My true duty in this aging world is spreading the mysteries of the Qur'an..." {[*]:} "What I am concerned with in this country is Islamic zeal, for I have neither home nor children." {[*]:}

4. In the Twenty-First Flash, the first principle I told my brothers when offering them advice was this: "In your actions divine pleasure should be your aim, not material benefits." {[*]:} While in these writings, it is said: "I'm not a Sufi ‌ our way is not the Sufi way." {[*]:} "Desire for rank and position and attracting attention towards oneself is a psychological illness; it is known as 'hidden shirk (association of partners with God)'." {[*]:} "If our way had been that of a shaykh, there would have been only one rank and many people would have been after it But our's is the way of brotherhood and brothers can neither be fathers to each other nor assume the position of spiritual guide." {[*]:}

In their statements the witnesses said they knew nothing about the offences the accused were being prosecuted for, especially the report drawn up by the members of the experts' committee appointed under the chairmanship of Emin Büke of Ankara Criminal Court. The members were as follows: Professor Yûsuf Ziya Yörükhan, member of the Consultative Committee of the Ankara Directorate of Religious Affairs; Necati Lügal, Director of the Oriental Institute in the Language-History Faculty of Ankara University; and Yûsuf Aykut, member of the Investigating Committe of Turkish-Islamic Literature. They stated in their report, which had been drawn up from the documents, that there was nothing explicit or any sign even in the books and writings of Said Nursi, which they had scrutinized one by one, of his exploiting religion or any sacred matters; his inciting infringements of state security; or his attempting to found an association or society.

As for the prisoners who are Said Nursi's followers, with the idea of learning the tenets of religion and truths of the Qur'an, they embraced his learned and knowledgeable works, and being well-intentioned became attached to himself, only in regard to religious belief, and to the treatises which they read. It was understood from the contents of the letters they wrote with this view in mind that they harboured no ill intentions towards the government and that they were not acting with the idea of founding an association or religious order.

Although it was stated by the present examining magistrates in the Denizli experts' committee report, that among the documents were some inferring - but this was unsubstantiated - that he and his followers nurtured ill intent towards the government, the witnesses stated that they knew nothing of the imputed acts. Hence, according to the contents and nature of the report of the experts' committee ordered by Ankara Criminal Court, it was not considered necessary to pursue the matter. It was also established that the great majority of the accused were illiterate and that the rest had devoted themselves to the worship of God and therefore lacked the attributes of people likely to breach state security. Considering this evidence and that presented by the public prosecutor, the present court finds the prosecutor's evidence inadmissible and rejects it. The unanimous decision has therefore been taken by the court for the acquittal of the accused and if

there is no other reason for their detention, their immediate release. 15/6/1944.

Member, Member, Ali Rıza, Chairman of the Court

The members of Denizli Criminal Court all signed the acquittal.

Were the judge to be prosecutor in addition to being judge, it would make unfortunates like myself exclaim: "I'm at a loss to know who I should complain to about whom!" For my situation now is more distressing than when in prison, even. A single day weighs heavier on me than a month's solitary confinement. I have been banned from everything, despite my being a stranger, elderly, ill, weak, and impoverished. I see no one except a child and a sick man. I have anyway suffered the torments of total solitary confinement for twenty years. If they cause me greater distress with their isolating me and their surveillance, it is to be feared that it will cause divine wrath to descend and a natural disaster to occur. As I said in court, there have been numerous events like the four earthquakes that occurred simultaneously with assaults on me. Now I reckon even, that the fire which broke out in Afyon Court may have occurred because it disregarded my application about the Risale-i Nur made to Denizli Court and caused me to despair, although I had relied on it to defend my rights and protect me.

I say: The fair-minded, humane authorities of this town, and its police and judiciary, have a weighty responsibility to protect me. For three courts and the central government gave the decision for our acquittal and release after scrutinizing for nine months all my works and correspondence of twenty years. But in order to reverse our acquittal, a secret society which strives on account of foreign interests to cause this nation and country severe harm, made mountains out of molehills and aroused suspicions

against us in certain officials. Their purpose was to exhaust my patience and force me to give in. Anyway, one reason they're angry with me is that I maintain my silence and don't interfere with worldly matters. It's as though they are saying: "Why don't you meddle so that we can realize our aims?" I am here revealing one or two of the stratagems they employ to arouse the suspicions of certain officials.

They say: Said is influential; his works are both effective and numerous. People who have contact with him, love him. So we have to destroy his influence by isolating him from everything, denigrating him, giving him no importance, putting people off him, and scaring them away. They confuse the government and cause me terrible distress.

So I say: My brothers who love this nation and country! Yes, there is influence, as those dissemblers say, but it isn't mine; it's the Risale-i Nur's. And it cannot be broken; the more it is attacked, the more it gains strength. It has never been utilized against the nation or country, and it isn't and it could not be. The fact that two courts with ten years between them could find no genuine reason to convict us after scrutinizing my vehement and impassioned documents of twenty years is irrefutable testimony to this claim.

Yes, it's true the works have a powerful effect, but they are powerful in serving the true interests of the nation and country and their happiness and eternal life, by instructing a hundred thousand people in true, affirmative belief without causing them any harm whatsoever. Absolutely undeniable proof of this claim is the fact that hundreds of convicts in Denizli Prison, some of whom had been convicted of serious crimes, became most well-behaved and religious by virtue of the treatise The Fruits of Belief alone. Murderers of two or three people even refrained from killing bedbugs, and as testified to by the prison governor, the prison turned into a reformatory.

So to isolate me from everything is torturous torment and a compounded injustice and cruel treachery towards this nation. Certain evidence that although I have passed the last thirty to forty years of my life among this religious nation, it has received no harm but the benefits of strengthened morale and belief, is the fact that its people have disregarded the violent propaganda against me and on all sides have flocked to the Risale-i Nur and shown extraordinary interest in it, and I have to admit also towards myself far greater than my due,

I heard that the authorities here had applied for a pension for me, to make things easier for me, and it was accepted. Although I thank them for their kindness, I say this:

What I need most is my freedom, which has been the guiding principle

of my life. The restrictions on my freedom and my being held in oppressive circumstances due to baseless suspicions, have completely blighted life for me. I would prefer incarceration in prison, or even in the grave, to this situation. But my patience and fortitude are strengthened since the recompense for serving religious belief increases proportionately to the hardships suffered. These kind persons are not seeking to oppress me, so in the first place they should not restrict my licit freedom. I can live without bread, but not without freedom!

Certainly, someone who through practising severe economy and frugality has lived on a mere two hundred lira in the nineteen years of his exile and in order to preserve his freedom and the honour of the learned profession, has never exhibited any need nor become indebted to anyone nor accepted charity, alms, a salary or gifts - such a person needs his freedom within the bounds of justice rather than a pension. I am suffering oppression to an unparalleled degree, and here describe a couple of examples:

The First: In great consternation I was hiding The Fruits of Belief and defence speeches so that they should not be seized, although they had been accepted by the court as a scholarly defence of the Risale-i Nur and had been sent to seven departments of government in Ankara and to the President and had consequently been a reason for our acquittal and had been recommended by the Ankara experts' committee, and several copies of which had been written out by our fellow-prisoners as a memento for me, and the Denizli police had seen them and had not bothered with them and they had been openly left for a night in Afyon police station and with the police here. I was extremely anxious and worried that they would carry out a search and that I would be unable to tell them to put them somewhere safe since in my banishment here I wouldn't know them.

The Second: Someone from Istanbul obtained the Treatise for the Elderly from someone here and took it to Istanbul. Denizli Court had found nothing objectionable in it and Eskişehir Court objected to a single word which was replied to with a single letter. Somehow or other it fell into the hands of an irreligious person who was hostile to me. He made ten mountains out of one molehill and threw the provincial police into confusion, who then started to question who I was meeting with and who was with me and to pressurize me. There have been so many distressing incidents like this. The most meaningless, however, was their scaring everyone away from me except for a child and a sick man, to prevent my explaining the matter. So I say this:

In place of ten men who stay away from me, tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands of Muslims continue to read the Risale-i Nur paying no attention

to any obstacles. Each of its thousands of copies which are spreading both here and abroad due to their powerful truths and benefits, speak in my place and far better than I do. They do not fall silent when I do, and they cannot be silenced.

Moreover, since it has been proved in court that for twenty years I have severed all connections with politics and there has been not the slightest sign to the contrary, it is surely completely meaningless to be suspicious of people who meet with me.

A strange and extraordinary incident: one day this month I went down to the yard and saw that on the fallen snow were droplets and points scattered on it like red and yellow ink or paint. These indicated the coincidences (tevâfukât) in various parts of the Risale-i Nur. I took a look at other places, and they were found nowhere except in my yard. I was worried and said to myself: the Risale-i Nur is so closely connected with this country and even, on account of the Qur'an, with the whole earth that the clouds are weeping tears of blood at the calamity that has befallen it. I called one or two people and they were astonished as well. Mehmed Efendi, the landlord's nephew, supposed when he saw my anxiety that I was worried that the road would be closed because of the snow. When I went back upstairs he shovelled the snow to left and right and covered up that meaningful red and yellow meteorological incident. I told him that it would have been better if he hadn't covered it up. The same day three things happened that were detrimental to the Risale-i Nur:

The First was Afyon Court and the police here. In response to my application for the return of my books, they dashed my hopes by telling me not to interfere since confirmation had not yet arrived from the Court of Appeal.

The Second: The same day we learnt that a special policeman had been sent to Afyon to spy on me.

The Third: The same day, a dissembler in Istanbul denounced us to the judiciary on the pretext of the Treatise for the Elderly.

Eager people have started to stay away because of incidents like these, so I say: "In the face of every disaster, we belong to God and to Him is our return" (Q 2: 156), and I seek refuge in: "God suffices us and He is the best disposer of affair" (Q 3:173). [Author]

Sirs! Why are you concerning yourselves with me and with the Risale-i Nur? I tell you certainly that it is outside my duty and that of the Risale-i Nur even to think of you, let alone struggle against you. For the Risale-i Nur and its genuine students are striving to perform a service of the greatest

importance for the generations of fifty years hence, and to save them and this nation and country from grave danger. Those who are now struggling against us will then be dust in their graves. If to suppose the impossible that striving for well-being and happiness had been oppositional struggle, it would in any case have been futile to bother with those doomed to be dust in the grave.

Just as the laxity in social morality, religion, and the national character displayed by the libertarians [of the Second Constitutional Period] has resulted now twenty to thirty years later in the present state of religion and morality; so you may surely understand what the state fifty years hence will be of this religious, honourable, and heroic nation's sons in regard to religion and social morality. Although this self-sacrificing nation has for a thousand years displayed matchless heroism in the service of the Qur'an, the coming generations will besmirch its shining past; indeed, will destroy it. We therefore know it to be a national and patriotic duty of paramount importance to convey a truth like the Risale-i Nur to some of those people of the future in order to save them from such a ghastly decline, and so we think of them and not of the people now.

Sirs! It is true that the Risale-i Nur looks only to the hereafter and it's aim is God's pleasure and to save the belief of people, and its students strive to save themselves and others from eternal non-being and everlasting incarceration, but it also performs a vital service of secondary importance that concerns this world, which is to save this nation and country from the danger of anarchy and the wretched members of coming generations from absolute misguidance. For Muslims do not resemble other people; one who renounces his religion and loses his Islamic character falls into absolute misguidance and becomes an anarchist who can no longer be controlled.

Fifty per cent of people now received the old Islamic upbringing and fifty per cent are unconcerned with national and Islamic traditions, but in fifty years' time ninety per cent will follow only their own whims and desires and lead the nation and country into anarchy. The thought of this calamitous possibility and the search for a solution drove me twenty years ago to give up politics and prevented me entirely from struggling with the people of this century. So too it prevented the Risale-i Nur and its students from evincing any interest in current events; they neither engage in any struggle nor are involved in any way.

Since the truth is this, the courts should consider it their primary duty to protect the Risale-i Nur and its students, not to incriminate me and them. For they are defending a primary right of this nation and country, and in opposition to them, this nation and country's real enemies attack

the Risale-i Nur and confuse the courts, driving them to perpetrate a ghastly injustice. Here I shall describe one or two examples:

For Example: Because of a letter that conveyed the greetings of my friends in prison and was sent to a man here so that ten liras, which was the price of an Arabic treatise of mine, should be given to a person in Isparta who held those copies and had paid for the printing costs, both the judiciary and the government harassed me, and they searched the man who was the go-between. It surely does not befit the high standing of the judiciary to blow up to this extent a commonplace letter of no importance, the only correspondence in a period of six months.

Second Example: It is hardly in keeping with the government of this province to scare with an official campaign of propaganda everyone, even his helpers, away from an elderly, ailing guest like myself, who is a stranger and has been acquitted of all charges, and to make him utterly wretched. With its sound judgement, it surely should not stoop to making a mountain out of a molehill in this unprecedented way and causing everyone consternation by asking: "Who does he meet with? Who goes around with him?"

There are numerous other such examples that cause astonishment to those who know about them.

Sirs! It is easy to dispel misguidance and misconduct if they arise from ignorance, but if they arise from science and knowledge, they are extremely difficult to eliminate. Since at the present time misguidance arises from science and learning, a work like the Risale-i Nur that is in every way perfect is needed to save those of the coming generations who fall into misguidance, so that they may resist it. Evidence that the Risale-i Nur can do this is that not one of my many, fierce opponents or the men of learning who have received its blows has been able to refute or counter it; nor have three courts of law or the experts' committee appointed by the central government been able to find in nine months a single matter in the hundred books of which the Risale-i Nur consists to indict us. Furthermore, the treatises entitled The Qur'anic Signs {[*]:} and The Predictions of Imam 'Ali and Gawth al-A'zam (İhbarat-ı Gaybiye-i Aleviye ve Gavsiye), {[*]:} which have induced complete certainty in the rigorous Risale-i Nur students, have

put their signatures to the importance of the Risale-i Nur this age, and to its acceptability.

It is the duty of the courts to defend rights and to halt the aggression of the lawless, It has been established that the hundred parts of the Risale-i Nur have for the last twenty years served the well-being of a hundred thousand people, and in ten years two courts, the central government, and the police of several provinces - and in connection with Denizli Court, nine months of scrutiny - have found nothing harmful for the nation and country or indictable in any of my papers and writings, both private and otherwise. Most certainly, therefore, the Risale-i Nur possesses universal, powerful rights in this country. So I remind you that it in no way befits the nature of the judiciary or the reality of justice to disregard such important rights and to ignore by confiscating it as though it were mere scraps of paper, the great injustice towards the nation and the unfortunates who are in need of having their faith strengthened, while attaching considerable importance to the minor rights of some inferior wretch.

We are fearful that it may may attract divine wrath if the Risale-i Nur is attacked while the works of atheists like Dr. Dozy are not interfered with. May Almighty God grant you fair-mindedness and compassion, and us patience and fortitude. Amen.

In accordance with «And consult them in matters [of import]» (Q 3: 159), I am in need of consulting with my brothers.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Now I am faced with a fait accompli. The order has arrived to give me a daily allowance of two and a half liras and to prepare a house for me again, fully furnished and according to my tastes. But my lifelong guiding principle of fifty to sixty years obliges me not to accept it. It's true that for a couple of years in the Darü'l-Hikmeti'l-İslamiye I accepted a salary, but I gave most of it gratis to the nation by spending it on printing my books; I returned to the nation what belonged to it. If I now have to accept this so that harm should not come to you and to the Risale-i Nur, I shall put it by

to return to the nation at a future date. I shall spend only what is absolutely necessary on myself, the minimum. I heard that if I do refuse it, they, and especially those who were trying to fix the pension on my behalf, will be offended, and those who oppose me will say that I'm meeting my expenses from elsewhere. The wretches do not know the extraordinary blessings of frugality, and they have not seen that five kurush-worth of bread suffices me for two days and so are beset by completely baseless suspicions. If I do accept the pension, my life of seventy years will be offended, and it is possible that Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) will also be dis- pleased with me, since making predictions of the present, he aimed blows at religious scholars who embrace innovations avidly seeking salaries and thus losing their sincerity, It is possible too that the true, pure sincerity of the Risale-i Nur will accuse me of insincerity. I am really quite bewildered as to what to do. I have heard that they will pressurize me even more if I do not accept it, and will perhaps curtail the Risale-i Nur's complete freedom. It seems even that their objective with the present oppression is to force me to accept their offers of the allowance. Since the situation is this, in accordance with the rule: «Necessity makes permissible what is forbidden,» if it is really necessary, God willing it will not cause harm. But I did refuse it and refer it to you for your opinion.

My dear brothers! Don't worry about me. I suffer no distress because I see a trace of divine mercy in every difficulty and a flash of divine favour. Your endeavour and seriousness and assistance dispel all distress and are a source of perpetual joy.

Here, hardworking, devoted Mustafa Acet, who resembles my brother Abdülmecid and whose family is my family, and the industrious Ceylan, who is both a young Husrev and a young Abdurrahman, together serve the Risale-i Nur to their utmost.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I have sent you another part of The Fruits of Belief, about the angels. I sent two legal authorizations to Denizli on the chairman of the court saying that my books would be returned to me. Don't be anxious that here I am being held in the severest solitary confinement; divine favour persists.

It is noteworthy that while the Risale-i Nur was being read and written out freely here, quite unusually the winter was as mild as summer, as I heard from a number of people, but as soon as attacks were launched at it

and it could not be copied out, a severely cold spell ensued. Similarly, as though to make believe those who did not believe that the earthquakes were connected with the inactivity of the Risale-i Nur, which had been shown in the conversation written in the form of a complaint to Afyon, they began at exactly the same time as the attacks and the related tremors are still intermittently continuing, as warnings.

Furthermore, we see that whenever the Risale-i Nur is subject to attack a sort of general fear is felt. This means that the Risale-i Nur is a certain means of preserving this country from calamities. Since this is the case, those who love this country and nation should ensure its freedom and read it and have it read.

Only on one occasion have I accepted the allowance, and that for eight days out of what was allotted to me, to pay off the debts of my expenses. I told them that I don't want any more.

My Dear, Loyal, and Totally Steadfast Brothers!

The parts of the Risale-i Nur with which our martyr is happily busy in the Intermediate Realm, which were as though written to work in his place and to make me work, arrived just at the right time, together with the three sweet fruits of the Medrese-i Yusufiye {[*]:} and three portions (hizb) {[*]:} of the Qur'an, which produce thousands of sacred fruits.

It will be appropriate if two heroic people write out the Eleventh Topic in the same way that they wrote out the two Fruits so well and if they are sent together with four or five copies of the Hizb-i Nûriye, {[*]:} if there are any, and five or six copies of the Hizb-i Kur'aniye. And Husrev's letter should be appended to the Eleventh Topic.

This time, I am sending you a piece about the subtle points showing the inimitability of two or three Qur'anic verses as a companion and an addendum to Ayat al-Kursi (Q 2:255). It is incomplete since I have not yet received any sign that I should complete it. It was written in great haste.

Significant mysteries appeared, but it was not written clearly and openly so as to avoid worldly matters. If you like, you can add it as a supplement to the Addendum at the end of the Eleventh Topic. {[*]:} You can write it out, as well as the piece on Sura al-Falaq (Q 113), as addenda to the treatise, The Miraculousness of the Qur'an (İ'caz-ı Kur'an Risalesi).

My brothers! Don't be anxious, it seems absolutely certain to me that we are the recipients of grace and that outside our own will and power we are being employed by a hidden hand in a most important task. On numerous occasions we have manifested the meaning of the verse: «It may be that you detest a thing, but it is good for you» (Q 2:216). In this work, the hardships are few and the recompense, great.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I have received your gifts, like felicitous fruits of Paradise, and your good news from the region of Denizli. The many tasks I have on hand at the moment do not allow me to say much; I have had to cut this short and write quickly since the person who brought it is leaving at once.

Firstly: The one thousand three hundred and forty-four for «a handhold most sure» (Q 2:256) at the beginning of the piece is wrong. But if the two hamzas and the elongation are not counted it is not wrong; it is most meaningful. One thousand three hundred and forty-seven is correct, which was anyway written at the end of the piece. The remaining section is both very signficant, but because it looks to this world and the «'alaq» in «Indeed man is overweening» (Q 96:6) looks to the idol in the piece, it has not been written for now.

And Secondly: The index of the Fourth Ray, about «For us God suffices» (Q 3: 173), should take the place of the Fourteenth Hope of the Treatise for the Elderly. It does seem to be appropriate and is indeed a hope.

Thirdly: The Twenty-Eighth Point of the Twenty-Eighth Flash should be placed at the end of the Fifteenth Word, not in the same index, for they discuss the same truths.

Fourthly: I have corrected the Flashes [Collection] that the late Hâfız Ali wrote out. God willing, it will be sent to you soon,

While correcting the paradaisical prison Fruits of those happy heroes recently, the treatise seemed to me to be so powerful and valuable that I shouted out: "If the distress we suffered in prison had been a hundred times greater, the benefits produced by The Fruits of Belief have been a hundred times more numerous. The most obdurate people have come to believe through it, and it has caused itself to be read in the widest circles.

I exclaimed: "You unfortunates who torment me! You do what you like, it doesn't bother me. Whatever we suffered was insignificant; it was pure divine favour and mercy!" and was consoled.

We send greetings to all the Risale-i Nur students and pray for their well-being.

The Republican government allows the widest possible freedom, yet I am deprived of every liberty and my enemies freely persecute me in every way. Since the government guarantees freedom of conscience and freedom of thought and scholarship, it should either offer me full protection and silence my ill-intentioned, suspicious enemies, or allow me the freedom to write like my enemies and not forbid my defence, For secret official orders have evidently been given to the post offices to obstruct all my correspondence, And now, just when no one other than the single child who brings me bread and water is permitted to meet with me and I was awaiting our acquittal by the Court of Appeal and expecting the return of my books which the experts' committee appointed by the court had applauded, my opponents of many years have seized the opportunity and passed one or two of my confidential treatises that are nothing to do with me to one or two members of the [new] experts' committee who due to their profession are opposed to me and have now drawn up a derogatory report against me. My patience and endurance are exhausted, So I proclaim to the members of the Republican government, and to the whole world even:

By virtue of the mystery of the All-Wise Qur'an's truth and of its miraculous

inimitability, the programme of myself and of the Risale-i Nur and our way and its fruits which we have striven for and seen, and our objective and goal, is through certain, affirmative belief (îmân-ı tahkikî) to save unfortunates from the eternal nothingness of death and to protect this blessed nation from every sort of anarchy.

The last twenty years of my life and the one hundred and thirty parts of the Risale-i Nur furnish incontrovertible proof that the Risale-i Nur, which has been scrutinized by three experts' committees and three courts of law, includes nothing that intentionally infringes any worldly matters or government or public security. As I have stated in the courts and as is affirmed by all my friends with whom I am in touch, this wretched, oppressed Said has never in twenty years applied to the government and for the last ten years, with one or two exceptions, has not known the members of the government, and for the last four years has neither been informed about nor curious about the world war and its events. Is it at all possible that I should contend with politicians, interfere with government, or want to disturb public order? If I had had the slightest inclination to do those things, I would have tried to discover potential opponents, and what was going on in the world, and who would assist me. I would have been curious and meddlesome, and would have tried with trickery to ingratiate myself with the powerful.

A minor but most upsetting incident was as follows: I wrote a secret letter to my friends, telling them to find some pretext to have me sent to prison so that I could be saved from my total isolation, deprived of all correspondence, and I could be delivered from this torment. I sent the letter by hand in the hope that I would be close to my books from the Risale-i Nur that were in the court at Denizli and are my life's capital and result and are decorated in the finest manner, and I could try to have them returned. But regretably just one member of the experts' committee there who was hostile to me saw the letter although he was defending me and was compelled to judge against my being sent to prison.

Another of the pretexts of my enemies who had me cast into prison was Sufism, of which I had been acquitted by that court. However, in the Risale-i Nur I said: "The present is not the time for Sufism; it's the time to save belief. For many people go to Paradise without Sufism, but none go there without belief," and I have worked with all my strength for the cause of belief. I am a teacher, I am not a shaykh. I have no house anywhere, so where could I have a tekke? This twenty years not one single person has appeared who said that I have given him instruction in Sufism, and no court or police has found anyone. There is the treatise called The Nine Allusion (Telvihat-ı Tis'a), which I wrote long ago and is a scholarly exposition

of the truths the Sufi orders teach, but it is instruction in reality (hakikat) and is factual (ilmî); it is not instruction in the Sufi way.

Surely it is an important duty of the Republican government, since it has taken freedom of conscience as a fundamental principle, to defend a truth to which the spirits of this nation's millions of forebears were devoted and in the cause of which they challenged the world, and a work that proves certain affirmative belief against the prevailing philosophy, and to protect that truth's servants. The principles of such a republic would not bind up the hands of that weak servant and permit those numerous enemies of his to attack him. Thinking that the Republic would heed me I wrote this complaint. Indeed, I say: «For us God suffices, and He is the best Disposer of Affairs» (Q 3:173).

Just this once I am going to explain a matter that looks to the country, nation, and public order, although these last thirty years I have withdrawn from political life, It is as follows:

Due to numerous signs I am completely certain that there is a conspiracy on account of anarchy against myself, against this town of Emirdağ, and indirectly against this country. For making mountains out of molehills, an incident as insignificant as a fly's wing was shown to be as great as a mountain, and on account of anarchy and following a foreign plot I was made a pretext in this country, which is in need of calm and tranquillity, and we, that is, the Nur students were attacked totally illegally and arbitrarily, although we are striving to save our fellow citizens from eternal perdition and doubts about the world to come. Due to baseless suspicions and in openly hostile manner I was blamed, and a plot was hatched against this country and public order, like setting light to gunpowder. It was like this:

Although myself and my books and letters of twenty years had been acquitted after having been minutely scrutinized by three courts; and although for three years I had given up composing pieces and wrote only one letter a week, and had received no one apart from three or four tailor's apprentices who took turns to attend to my needs each for one day at a time; and although I had been granted my freedom and had not returned to my home region; a high ranking member of the judiciary had the lock on

my door smashed in a way that I had never in my life seen in order to make me angry and provoke an incident; and in order to insult and degrade me, illegally and maliciously conducted a search and seized my copy of the Qur'an and some Arabic writings as though they were subversive papers. In domineering fashion he told the officials here to tell two gendarmes to force me to put on a peaked cap in order to make a public spectacle of me and to take me to have my statement taken, and to detain anyone who attempted to intervene. He said this during an important meeting when they were reading my absolutely true statement. There is no doubt at all that a malicious plan is being followed to make me angry with insults and abuse, so as to disturb public peace and security.

Unending thanks be to Almighty God that He has bestowed on me a state of mind whereby I would sacrifice my dignity and honour a thousand times over for the well-being of the wretched people of this country and to repulse calamities from them. So I decided to bear patiently all they did to me and the insults and abuse they intended. I am ready to sacrifice my life and honour a thousand times over for this nation's security and particularly for the worldly advantages and happiness in the next life of innocent children and the esteemed elderly and the wretched sick and poor.

One indication of their blowing up this matter out of all proportion is this: the governor of Afyon and chief of police coming five times in ten days and the public prosecutor coming once because of a sick, elderly, weak exile like myself who is all alone; and five aeroplanes following me for two days when I went out into the countryside; and five secret police being sent to join those who already spy on me and follow all my movements; and official orders being given to all the post offices to confiscate my correspondence; all this shows that they have been deluded into imagining an incident ten times more serious than the Shaykh Said and Menemen incidents, They must have made mountains out of molehills since they have adopted such a position. They supposed that I am like I was in my old life and that they could anger me by humiliating me. But they were wrong; we are striving with all our strength to build a Qur'anic barrier against anarchy, like the barrier of Dhu'l-Qarnayn. Those who harrass us are pre- paring the ground for anarchy and even for communism.

Indeed, if like in my early life in order to preserve the dignity of learning I had refused to accept insults, and my true duty had not been the next life alone and to save Muslims from the eternal nothingness of death; and like those who attack us we had worked solely for this world and negative politics; then those working on account of anarchy could have provoked an incident like the Shaykh Said and Menemen incidents.

Moreover, to try to put a peaked cap on my head - although three courts and the police of several provinces these last twenty years have not legally interfered with my dress and I have received no notification about the dress changes due to my solitude and being excused, - such an attempt could have caused the hundreds of thousands of people who for the past forty years have displayed brotherly interest in this country and especially in the teachings of certain affirmative belief to bring the very globe to anger in the midst of a terrible excitement and to weep as never before.

In any event, by reason of numerous signs I am completely certain that on foreign instigation that illegal treatment was meted out for the above-mentioned reasons as provocation to destroy public regard for me. But endless thanks be to Almighty God that as someone who is at the door of the grave, has no one, is world-weary, flees public attention and esteem, and has no desire for hypocritical fame and self-advertisement, I did not attach the slightest importance to their illegal insulting treatment. I refer it to Almighty God. I think of those who persecute me due to baseless suspicions being soon condemned to eternal nothingness when they die, and in truth I pity them. "O my Lord!" I pray, "Save their belief through the Risale-i Nur! Through the mystery of the Qur'an, transform everlasting non-being into the despatch papers for eternal life!" And I forgive them.

In His Name, be He glorified!

Question: Master! The prayers for rain have not been any use; they have yielded no result. Three times clouds gathered and then dispersed without producing rain. Why is this?

The Answer: Drought marks the time for prayers of this sort; they are not the cause or purpose of rain. Just as the prayers known as khusuf and kusuf are performed at lunar and solar eclipses, and the evening prayer is performed at sunset; so times of drought are when the supplications and prayers for rain are offered. The reason for prayer and supplication, and

their result, is divine pleasure; their benefits look to the hereafter. If worldly aims are intended in prayer and worship and they are performed for that purpose alone, such prayers are null and void. For example, the evening prayers are not performed so that the sun should not set and the khusuf prayers are not performed for the moon's reappearance. Similarly, if the prayers in question are offered for rain, it would be wrong. The sending of rain is Almighty God's business. We did our duty; we may not interfere in His concerns.

It is true that the coming of rain is the apparent result of the prayers for rain, but the actual, true and most beneficial result, and its finest and sweetest fruit is this, that from those circumstances everyone understands that it is not his father or his house or his shop that provides his livelihood and food, but a Being who has disposal over the clouds as though they were sponges and the face of the earth as though it were an arable field; it is He who gives him his sustenance and nurtures him. A small child even, while pleading with his mother when he is hungry, understands in his tiny mind from that prayer for rain that the One who administers this world as though it were a house feeds him together with all the other children and their mothers. If He does not provide it, no one else can. In which case, the child tells himself that they should beseech Him. He becomes a full believer. Six points will now be explained in connection with this:

First Point: The price for divine bounties and mercy is thanks. We have not offered thanks as we should have done. Not only have we not paid the price of divine mercy; we have attracted divine wrath with our sins and wrongdoing. At the present time, the human race has earned a dreadful blow with its wrongdoing, destruction, disbelief and rebellion, and it has received such blows. For sure we too will receive our share.

Second Point: It says in a Hadith: "Even the fishes at the bottom of the sea complain about sinners and the iniquitous; it is due to this that the rains cease and our livelihoods diminish even." Indeed, at the present time such sins and iniquities are perpetrated on the face of the earth that we are ashamed to seek divine mercy; innocent animals even are in torment.

Third Point: It says in a verse: «Beware the calamity which when it descends will not afflict only the wrongdoers; the innocent and oppressed will also be destroyed» (Q 8:25). For the wisdom in religion would be nullified if in the midst of a general calamity the innocent were to remain untouched by the conflagration. Religion is a test, an examination. Otherwise evil people like Abu Jahl would affirm it, the same as those like Abu Bakr the Veracious (May God be pleased with him). This is the reason innocents suffer in general disasters.

Fourth Point: Since at the present time due to trickery, exploitation, and bribery, numerous illicit matters have become admixed in possessions and sustenance, and farmers cannot really lay claim to their own produce, and out of ten people only two or three truly deserve divine mercy, and out of those who profit from the farmer's produce, five or six lose their right to divine mercy due to wrongdoing and mixing in illicit things, or neglecting to offer thanks.

Fifth Point: The Risale-i Nur is a significant means of warding off calamities from this land of Anatolia. Just as almsgiving repulses calamities, so it has become clear through numerous signs and indications that its spreading and being read repulses heavenly and worldly disasters as a sort of universal almsgiving. This is a truth indicated by the Qur'an, Four times earthquakes occurred when its being written out and spread were being prevented, and when it was published again, they ceased. Then when it was being read almost throughout Anatolia, as indicated by Sura Wa'l-'Asr (Q 103), it was a means of the Second World War not reaching Anatolia. Then during this two-month drought when we were awaiting the totally free spread of the Risale-i Nur in confirmation of the Appeal Court's decision for its acquittal since it was beneficial for the country, it was blocked entirely contrarily to our expectations and the treatises held by the court were not returned to their owners. As a consequence, this universal nonmaterial almsgiving which is a means of repulsing calamities was not realized and the drought began as a result of our sins.

Sixth Point: Drought is a calamity and the punishment for actions, and should be met with grief and sorrowful beseeching and supplication, and earnest repentance and prayers for forgiveness, and seeking refuge at the divine court within the bounds of the Sunna while shunning innovations, in the way specified by the Shari'a, and with the prayers and worship particular to the situation.

Also, since general calamities such as this result from the errors of the majority of people, they are repulsed by the majority of them repenting and seeking forgiveness.

We Risale-i Nur students do not attach much importance to this world and only look to the world for the sake of the Risale-i Nur, and therefore regard the present drought from this point of view, Thus, at the same time that a small part of the Risale-i Nur was returned to its owners in accordance with the decision given in Denizli Court, and here too a small number of people started writing out pieces from it, a small amount of rain fell. But because the freedom given the Risale-i Nur was partial, the divine

mercy also was minimal. God willing, in the near future, my copies will be returned too, and it will spread freely and fully and divine mercy will also be universal.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

The Hizb al-Qur'an al-Mu'azzam {[*]:} possesses numerous characteristics like its both holding extraordinary importance and being extraordinarily beneficial; and no doubts occuring on its being read; and its comprising the Qur'an's most meritorious verses; and its bringing together all the principles and truths of the Risale-i Nur; and its being a sacred summary of the Qur'an for those who cannot always find the opportunity to read the whole Qur'an and who are not hafizes; and its being a small sample of the printed Qur'an showing the correspondences of words, and a bringer of good news; and its showing the brilliant inimitability of the Qur'an with regard to its words and meanings, and materially. During these blessed Three Months {[*]:} it is a means to many blessings, lights, and merits, and has earned much good for those who have been involved in its printing and publication.

For some reason or other, they have not included the following verses from Sura Al-i 'Imran, which are two brilliant, sacred supports of the Risale-i Nur, and springs of the water of life: «God testifies that there is no god but He, and the angels ...» (Q 3:18) and «Say, God is the Owner of all sovereignty ...» (Q 3:26). They should be included,

These days while reading page twelve, the verse "The dissemblers ..." (Q 4: 145) struck my eye. I looked at the preceding page, and saw: "Who is better in religion than he who submits to God" (Q 4:125). I looked at the back of the page and saw that there were four verses that pointed to the Risale-i Nur. They are explained in the First Ray. It occurred to my heart that this awesome verse looks particularly to this terrible, dark age of ours with its rife dissembling. I noted it carefully and felt certain. A sign is this: according to jafr and abjad reckoning, «Indeed the dissemblers will be in the very pits of the Fire ...» (Q 4: 145) coincides precisely with the dates of the four degrees of dissembling. As follows:

If the doublings are counted and if the hamzas which are not read and the ya' in the fi, which is not read, are not counted, it makes exactly one thousand three hundred and sixty-two, indicating this year.

If the doubling in «min an-nar» is counted as one nun and one lam, it makes one thousand three hundred and forty-two, coinciding exactly with the date of the First World War, which gave rise to terrible dissembling.

If the doubling is counted as two nuns, and the silent hamzas and the ya' are also counted, it makes one thousand three hundred and sixty-six, and coincides with a difference of four with the jafr value of the word "darknesses," which is the lowest level of this dark dissembling and is compared with "light (nur)" in many verses.

If the silent letters are counted and the doubling in an-nar is a lam, it makes one thousand three hundred and six exactly pointing the finger at and coinciding with the date of the terrible storms of disbelief and dissembling.

Yes, two ra's is four hundred; three fa's and two lams, three hundred; one qaf, two doubled nuns, three hundred; one mîm, one sîn; the other mîm, one ya', one nun, that's one hundred, too; two nuns, that's a hundred as well; and the total, one thousand three hundred. One lam, one kaf, fifty; a doubled dal, eight; and two long a's, two hamzas, four; and the total is one thousand three hundred and sixty-two. The other three numbers can be compared with this.

I also looked carefully at pages twelve and thirteen and I saw that they correspond so closely to the Risale-i Nur and its students that they have not only a symbolic and indicative meaning, but also look particularly to the present century quite explicitly, including it as a singular element in its universal meaning. I understood this with certainty and offered endless thanks. If the calamities that have befallen us up to now in this work with the Risale-i Nur had been a hundred times worse, it still would have been nothing; we are the winners. With the thought that by smashing our unimportant ephemeral glass fragments, those calamities are gaining for us everlasting diamonds in the hereafter, I knew that we should be pleased and offer thanks in patience.

Furthermore, I can give you the good news that their eighth attempt to poison me has again come to nothing. The guarantee of the Ghawth al-A'zam, {[*]:} "Indeed you are protected under the eye of divine grace" has once again been fulfilled.

I send greetings to each and every one of my brothers and pray for them

and seek their prayers in these blessed Three Months. From your brother who requests with all his spirit the innocent prayers of the many sinless children within the fold of the Risale-i Nur and of the blessed elderly, whose supplications are not rebuffed.

My Dear Brothers!

I wrote you two notes six hours before the Night of Regâib. {[*]:} For two months no rain had fallen and there had been continuous drought and everywhere the prayers for rain offered after all the prescribed prayers had remained unanswered, and everyone was weeping in their hearts in despair at their straitened circumstances. Then suddenly when the copy of Hizb-i Nuriye was handed over together with the paper, I am completely certain as a sort of miracle of the Prophet Muhammad (UWBP), on the Night of Regâib the angel of thunder uttered resounding, crashing glorifications the like of which I had never in my life heard before, nor had others heard it, and such mercy poured down that it proved the holiness of the night to the most obstinate person even, and the importance in the view of the whole universe and all the centuries of the Prophet's (UWBP) coming to this visible world (âlem-i şehadet) and that he was sent as a Mercy to All the Worlds. It showed that the cosmos applauded him that night.

I am curious to know whether Isparta, which was included in our prayers together with the country, had a share of these rains. Many signs indicate that the Risale-i Nur is a means to divine mercy, and this suggests that beneath the veil victories are being won and perhaps indicates its free publication. The increase here in the numbers of people writing out copies with eagerness aroused by The Flashes (Lem'alar) is also, God willing, a sort of acceptable prayer.

My Loyal, Unshakeable Brothers and Heirs!

There are three reasons for the oppression I now suffer:

The First: On the decision of the Cabinet, the order was received here to gall me an allowance of two and a half liras a day for my living and other expenses and to build me a house according to my specifications. But I did not accept this and took only a sum for my travelling expenses from Denizli. They were angry with me and started to have me watched.

The Second Reason is ill-intentioned persons being unnecessarily worried that the people here will start to show an interest in me as they did in the Denizli region, in a way far exceeding my due, on account of the Risale-i Nur.

The Third are the malicious pretexts voiced by the governor of Afyon, intending to take revenge on me for the sake of that man who died. But divine determining transformed their tyranny into mercy for me, and advantages. Don't worry about me. One advantage is that they silence only me rather than the Risale-i Nur. But in my place it speaks wonderfully with hundreds of tongues, and its students with thousands; they teach these lights to those unilluminated heads. There are numerous signs that their obduracy has been broken by their starting to study other parts of the Risale-i Nur, on having been made curious by The Fruits of Belief, and especially by The Conclusive Proof of God Collection (Hüccetullahi'l-Bâliğa Mecmûası).

Just as their being busy with my person aids the Risale-i Nur's free spread to an extent, so their not allowing me to meet with my brothers is another advantage. In fact, it was truly advantageous that one of my brothers came all this way to see me, spending a hundred liras, and had to turn back without doing so. The groundless suspicions of malicious and mistrustful people would be aroused if the door were to be opened and visitors were to pour in from everywhere, and it would also be detrimental to our principles and way and the mystery of sincerity. My isolation is therefore an instance of divine grace for us.

The gains in these blessed months are a hundredfold. We have the greatest need for the prayers of our blessed brothers and sisters and the innocent children and respected elderly. God willing, you will shaken by no storms and your steely fortitude will not be undermined.

In His Name, be He glorified!

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and His blessings!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Question: Why don't you display any interest in currents both at home and abroad and especially in political groups? And why do you prevent as far as is possible the Risale-i Nur and its students from getting involved in them? Whereas if you did show concern and were in touch with them, thousands of people would enter the fold of the Risale-i Nur and would spread its shining truths, and also you wouldn't be the target of so many needless troubles.

The Answer: The chief reason for this lack of concern and avoidance is sincerity, which is the basis of our way; it prevents us. For at this time of heedlessness, the person with partisan ideals in particular exploits everything for his own worldly way, even his religion and otherworldly movement. Whereas the truths of belief and the sacred service of the Risale-i Nur can be exploited for nothing in the universe; they can have no aim other than divine pleasure. But it has become difficult at this time of partisan conflict between the political currents to preserve the true meaning of sincerity and not exploit religion for the world. The best solution is to rely on divine grace and assistance, rather than the strength of political currents.

One of the many other reasons for our avoidance of political involvement is one of the four principles of the Risale-i Nur: to be compassionate and not to act tyrannically or cause harm. For «No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another» (Q 6: 164 etc.), that is, no one, not even a relative, is guilty because of another's fault and does not deserve punishment. But in the face of this principle of divine will, at this time, in accordance with the meaning of «Man is indeed given up to injustice and ingratitude» (Q 14:34), some people retaliate with extreme ferocity. Because of one person's crime, out of feelings of partisanship others are hostile towards not only his relations but all those who support him. If they can, they ill-treat them. If they have the power, they bomb a village because of one man's mistake. However, the rights of one innocent person may not be sacrificed due to a hundred criminals; he may not be ill-treated because of them.

Present-day conditions cause a hundred innocents to be harmed on account of a handful of criminals.

For example, it is opposed to the principle of compassion to crush the hapless elderly parents and innocent children of a faulty man, and to ruin them and nurture partisan hatred for them. But partisan currents among Muslims are the cause of such innocents being wronged; they cannot be saved from oppression. Especially situations that give rise to revolution, they altogether spread and escalate the wrongdoing.

In jihad - even if it is in the name of religion - the position of [non- Muslim] women and children is the same. They may be considered as booty and Muslims may include them in their property. But within the realm of Islam, even if a person is irreligious, his family cannot be claimed as property; their rights may not be infringed. For owing to the ties of Islam, they are bound not to their irreligious father, but to Islam and the Islamic community. [Outside the realm of Islam] unbelievers' children are surely among those who will be saved, but according to the law those innocents may be made prisoner and taken into possession at the blow of jihad, since they are dependants of and bound to their fathers, so long as they are alive.

I send greetings to each and every one of my brothers and congratulate them on the Holy Night of the Ascension, {[*]:} which yields thousands of merits. Convey my condolences to the family of the late Haji İbrahim, like Re'fet Bey, and tell them that the deceased is within the fold of the Risale-i Nur, perpetually receiving the prayers of all. And we are offering prayers for him especially.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

A short answer to one of our brother's question:

Question: How can the wonders (kerâmet) apparent in the coincidences (tevâfuk) {[*]:} be definitely established?

The Answer: If coincidings are apparent in something, it is a slight sign of intention and will and that it is not a chance happening. If such a coincidence

has several aspects to it, the sign strengthens considerably. And especially if within a hundred possibilities two things correspond fully in a way particular to them, the resulting sign becomes a clear indication that the coincidence has occurred through intention and will and for a purpose, allowing no possibility of chance.

It was just like that on the Holy Night of the Ascension: the coinciding of the divine mercy of rain with the Nights of Regâib and the Ascension and only on those two nights and neither before nor after, and its coinciding with a time of extreme need, and occurring at the same time as the reading, writing out, and publication of the treatise about the Ascension (Miraciye Risalesi), {[*]:} and those two holy nights corresponding with each other in several respects, and the rain's falling although it was unseasonal with extraordinary rolling and rumbling thunder and indescribable reverberations of the earth in a way that both threatened and consoled their cries, and its coinciding perfectly with the believers' search for solace in their despair and their seeking moral strength in the face of their weakness and the whispering doubts caused by the assaults of misguidance, and as a rebuke to those who behave disrespectfully towards the marks of Islam and those two nights. The universe and heavens and atmosphere showed their respect with that abundant rain so that anyone with even a grain of fairness would know that there were an intention and will in the matter, and a particular instance of grace and mercy for the believers, leaving no possibility for chance or coincidence.

That is to say, the reality of the Ascension is a miracle of Muhammad (UWBP) and his greatest instance of wonder-working, and just as his rising to the skies on the staircase of the Ascension demonstrated His (UWBP) eminence and stature to the dwellers of the heavens, so the Ascension this year displayed a wonder and marvel and demonstrated to the earth and to the people of this country the esteem and respect in which he (UWBP) is held by the universe.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

According to The Hidden Indications of the Ghawth al-A'zam and Imam 'Ali (İşârât-ı Gaybiye-i Gavsiye ve Aleviye), {[*]:} that the writing of the Risale-i Nur will be completed in '64. {[*]:} This means that after that date only explanations, appendices, and glosses will be written. In this connection, and by way of a reminder, two points occurred to my heart.

The First: The Risale-i Nur will have students conformably with contemporary conditions and the nature of things, and foremost innocent children. For if a child is not taught the questions of belief thoroughly when small, in later years he can only assimilate the pillars of Islam and belief in his spirit with the greatest difficulty. Quite simply, it is as difficult as a non-Muslim accepting Islam, for its seems alien. It is even stranger for him if he observes that his parents are not religious and his mind is educated only with the secular sciences. The child is then contemptuous of his parents in this world and is a sort of tribulation for them, longing for them to die. And in the next world, he will be a plaintiff against them, rather than an intercessor, saying: "Why didn't you give me Islamic training and save my belief?"

In consequence, the most fortunate children are those who enter the fold of the Risale-i Nur, and serving and honouring their parents with good works, have merits written in their parents' records of good deeds and become intercessors for them according to their degree.

The Second Group of Risale-i Nur Students are women, who by nature need the Risale-i Nur since they may have shied away from the world or felt vexed with it. Especially if they are getting old, the Risale-i Nur may offer them true spiritual sustenance. For one of its four principles is compassion, which proceeds from the manifestation of the divine name of Most Compassionate (Rahîm), and compassion is the most essential quality of women and the leaven of their natural duties.

The Third Group are the sick and the elderly, for even if not an innate need but due to their situations, they need the Risale-i Nur as they do medicine and sustenance. For it makes known eternal life as clearly as the sun as well as the transitory nature of worldly life, and those of them whose worldly lives have been stricken by illness or old age imagine out of their heedlessness or misguidance that death is the end. They are thus truly in

need of the Risale-i Nur and receive such consolation and light from it that it makes them prefer illness and old age to health and youth.

The Second Point that was advised: Since we are now in 1364 according to the Arabic [Hijri] calendar, according that sign from the Unseen, the Risale-i Nur is now complete. If it refers to the Rumi calendar, we have two more years. Important places remain in the Risale-i Nur to be filled by treatises that have not yet been written or have been postponed. For instance, the places of the Thirtieth Letter, the Thirty-Second Letter, and the Thirty-Second Flash are all empty. It was inspired in my heart that the Arabic Qur'anic commentary, Signs of Miraculousness (Isharat al-I'jaz), which has been printed and was the Old Said's chief work and the first part of the Risale-i Nur, should be the Thirtieth Letter, and so it is. It occurred to me that Lemeât, which was the Old Said's last work and was written in twenty days during Ramadan, should be the Thirty-Second Flash; and that the sizeable Arabic collection comprising Katre, Habbe, Şemme, Zerre, Hubab, Zühre, Şu'le and their appendices, which were the first works of the New Said and were inspired in his heart from reality (hakikat) at the degree of witnessing (şuhûd), should be the Thirty-Third Flash.

It also occurred to me that The Fruits of Belief should be the Eleventh Ray, and the Denizli defence speeches, the Twelfth Ray, and the collection of short letters, the Thirteenth Ray. I refer these to my brothers for their consideration. This means that for some positions the door is still open and we may be made to write better supplements.

I send greetings to each and every one of my brothers. I see myself and my brothers in Kastamonu and its environs as being always together, as we used to be. They should not worry; the Risale-i Nur never ceases from activity, and hidden from sight, it wins many victories. Our difficulties attract greater attention to its lessons and it has itself read in wider circles, Therefore our two brothers, father and son, who are so hard-working, especially the father, should feel proud at all the hardships they suffer and should not be upset at the temporary arrest from activity. In my view and our view, they retain their former positions in every respect.

We said above that children are the natural students of the Risale-i Nur. An example of this is Ceylan, who is writing this letter in the new alphabet as I dictate because I am unable to write it myself since I am unwell. Another is the innocent Küçük Ali, who wrote him a letter; and another is the young Nur School (Medrese-i Nuriye) student Küçük Mehmed, who this time wrote me an excellent and careful letter. I call them blessed, fortunate children and congratulate their parents.

In His Name, be He glorified!

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

During this summer time, when one is heedless and preoccupied with earning one's living, and during these Three Months, the time of highly meritorious worship, and at this time when the storms raging over the earth are conducted by diplomacy not weapons, if one does not persevere in one's sacred duties with the Risale-i Nur with truly powerful tenacity, a slackness, an idleness, a cessation sets in to the detriment of that service.

My dear brothers! You should be certain that the duty with which the Risale-i Nur and its students are occupied is greater than all matters of serious concern on earth. Do not, therefore, look to worldly, curiosity-arousing matters and slacken in your duty. Frequently read the Fourth Topic of The Fruits of Belief so that your morale is not weakened.

Yes, since all the supreme matters of the worldly are cruel, pitiless, and sacrifice religion for this world in consequence of the tyrannous principle of struggle, divine determining bestows a sort of hell on them within those crimes of theirs. The Risale-i Nur proves as certainly as twice two equals four that death, which is the veil concealing eternal life, for which its students are working in place of transient life, and the executioner of the appointed hour, which is truly terrible for the worshippers of this worldly life, are merely veils and means to the believers' everlasting happiness. It is this truth that we have been demonstrating up to now.

In Short: The people of misguidance strive for this fleeting life, while we struggle with the light of the Qur'an against death. Even their most momentous questions are transient and cannot be compared with the very least of our matters, because ours look to eternity. Since in their madness, they do not condescend to interfere in our greatest questions, why should we evince curiosity about their inconsequential matters and follow them to the detriment of our duties?

The verse, «If you follow [right] guidance, no hurt can come to you from those who stray» (Q 5: 105), means that the misguidance of others cannot harm your right-guidedness; so you should not concern themselves with their misguidance unnecessarily. And the important Islamic principle, "Those who comply with harm should not be assisted," means that anyone who looks favourably on harmful things should not be supported; they

should not be pitied or shown leniency. These rules forbid us to pity those who knowingly condone and are happy at things that cause harm. We, therefore, should concentrate all our strength and curiosity and time on our sacred duty, and know that everything outside of it is trivial and not waste our time on such things. For we hold light in our hands, not clubs. We cannot attack others, and if we are attacked, we show light. Our duty is a sort of luminous defence.

One of the reasons this supplement was written was this:

I put one of the Risale-i Nur students to the test; I asked him a couple of things about the Bosphorus question to learn what the excitement was and to find out what he thought about the political situation. I saw from his answer that he was interested and well-informed. I said to myself: "What a shame! This will be harmful for the work of the Risale-i Nur." Later, I gave him a severe warning.

We have a principle: "I seek refuge with God from the Devil and from politics!" If you feel pity for people, the principle cited above shows that they are not deserving of it. Just as Paradise seeks people, so does Hell seek them.

(The matters mentioned in the Fifth Ray are again becoming apparent.)

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise! (Q 17:44)

Peace be upon you, and God's mercy and blessings to the number of the letters of the Risale-i Nur!

My Dear, Loyal Brother and Friend, Successful in the Service of the Qur'an!

Welcome a thousand times over! You have made me eternally indebted to you, and with your loyal friends your efforts for the Risale-i Nur's freedom are so great and valuable that you have made not only us indebted to you, but all the Risale-i Nur students, indeed, this country and even the Islamic world. For you came to the assistance of the believers and opened

up the way to the Risale-i Nur's free dissemination. This last year, I have included you and those working with you in my prayers and spiritual gains, together with such heroes of the Risale-i Nur as the late Hâfız Ali and Husrev, and so it will continue. Every minute on the way here, a day, you have made me indebted to you as though you were engaged in the Risale-i Nur work. In addition, I shall never forget as long as I live the person known as the Just Judge and those working with him, for the true justice they dispensed. I have included them in my spiritual gains this last six or seven months.

I am going to reply to my brothers about the part of the Risale-i Nur they delivered to me; let them write out all of it; I give it to them as a gift. For from now on they shall have a full share of the work. I have decided to look on the town of Denizli as the counterpart of my native town, and to include their dead and the living believers in the spiritual gains of both myself and of the Risale-i Nur students. I look on Denizli Prison as a school of examination, and I send greetings to all those concerned with us both in the town and in the prison, and especially to the board of judges, from whom we received true justice, and we pray for them.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I no longer have any doubts at all that not only ourselves and Anatolia and the world of Islam applaud the Risale-i Nur's liberty, a consequence of this work of ours; the universe itself is gratified and the atmosphere and skies applaud it, For despite the severe need, for three or four months no rain fell, but then Denizli Court's decision to return the copies of the Risale-i Nur coincided with [rain falling on] the Night of Regâib, just like on the Night of the Ascension, showing that the Risale-i Nur is an instance of divine mercy. Then the mercy of rain falling in Emirdağ together with the accolades of the angel of thunder coincided with the decision to hand over the Risale-i Nur. Then the time of its being handed over a week later to the deputy in Denizli coincided with abundant rain falling in this region on the eve of Friday, just like the coinciding of the rain with the Nights of Regâib and the Ascension. All these coincidences (tevâfukat) made one feel quite certain that just as the coinciding of four earthquakes with the seizure of the Risale-i Nur and its imprisonment was an objection on the part of the earth; so in the past four months the abundant rain which fell in the region of Emirdağ only on the eves of three Fridays, those of the

Nights of Regâib and the Ascension and the first of the month of Sha'ban, coinciding with the three stages of the Risale-i Nur's release and freedom were congratulations and announcements of good news by the atmosphere, and was a powerful sign that the Risale-i Nur bears the meaning of mercy and spiritual rain.

A truly subtle sign was seen yesterday when suddenly a sparrow appeared at the window and tapped at it, We made a move to make it fly away, but it remained. I felt obliged to tell Ceylan to open the window to see what it had to say. It entered the room and remained there till this morning. We left the room to it and I went to my bedroom. I went out this morning and opened the door. Not a minute later I returned and saw that another bird was chirruping and singing in my room. I smiled and asked myself why such a guest had come. It looked at me for a full hour without flying away or being startled, I was reading. I put some breadcrumbs for it, but it did not eat theme I again opened the door and went out. When I returned thirty seconds later, it had gone.

Later the child who assists me arrived and said: "I had a dream last night. Hâfız Ali's brother visited us." I told him that one of our brothers who resembles Hâfız Ali and Husrev is going to come here. Two hours later that same day the boy came and said that Hâfız Mustafa had arrived: he had brought both the good news of the Risale-i Nur's release, and some of my books that had been held by the court; and he solved the question of both the sparrow, and the singing bird, and his own dream, all of which proved that nothing is chance or coicidence.

Could it be just chance that both the extraordinary appearance of the sparrow, and the strange songbird flying in and just looking at me and then disappearing, and the boy's dream turning out to be completely true all coincided with the Risale-i Nur's arrival here brought by such a person as Hâfız Mustafa? Is it at all possible that all these could be a mere chance and not be auspicious good news from the Unseen?

This is certainly not some unimportant matter; it is connected with the universe and with animals, As a Risale-i Nur student, I myself am content with the profits that fall to me as though they were worth thousands of gold sovereigns. An analogy may be made between this and the other hundreds of thousands of students and the benefits gained by believers in need of having their faith strengthened,

Yes, since the Risale-i Nur has solved more than a hundred of the mysteries of religion, the Shari'a, and the Qur'an; and it silences even the most obdurate atheists; and proves as clearly as the sun in the face of obstinate irreligious men of learning such Qur'anic truths as the Prophet's (UWBP)

ascension and the resurrection of the dead that were supposed to be remote from pure reason, and has induced some of them to accept belief; it surely will attract the attention of the earth and atmosphere to itself and is a Qur'anic truth that will preoccupy the present and future, and is a diamond sword in the hands of the believers.

My Dear Brother!

Convey our heartfelt thanks and congratulations to Ziya, the Risale-i Nur's lawyer! For a long time now it has been imparted to my spirit that someone called Ziya would perform a great service for the Risale-i Nur, and the present matter has shown that it was him. He has won our everlasting gratitude. We thank also fair-minded people like the court's secretary and member Hesna Hanım and the examining magistrate, I shall never forget them. And especially convey our greetings and thanks to our leading brothers, foremost the Mufti Osman and Hasan Feyzi. And tell the just judge that I have decided to have most of the parts of the Risale-i Nur written out as a gift for him. Also, I intend to have a large part of it written to give to its honorary lawyer, Ziya.

Will the five hundred printed copies of The Supreme Sign be given to the people who had it printed? I'm curious.

Also, however many copies of the Risale-i Nur were confiscated in Istanbul, they all belong to me. The collection consisting of twenty treatises is especially important for me.

Also, when leaving Denizli I left The Miracles of Muhammad (UWBP) (Mu'cizat-i Ahmediye Risalesi) with some of the people there as a trust. I need it now. Perhaps Hoja Mûsa Efendi knows about this.

Also, I say the following to save some wavering or new Risale-i Nur students from succumbing to doubts: Due to the intrigues of a secret society, certain ingenuous hojas and opponents who support the innovations publicize my personal faults and errors, for I admit that I am indeed faulty, in order to oppose some of the Risale-i Nur's incontestable truths, and they want to refute them by attacking me. They try to harm the Risale-i Nur in some way. These last twenty years there have been twenty such significant incidents. In fact, it led to our imprisonment on two occasions. So I say this to my friends and to the Risale-i Nur students:

I offer thanks to Almighty God that He has not allowed me to like myself and has informed me of my faults. I have not sought to sell myself

boastingly, but overwhelmed by shame, through the sincerity and pure heartedness of the blessed Risale-i Nur students, to seek forgiveness and atonement for my sins through their intercession.

The people who oppose me do not know my secret faults; they just make a pretext of some apparent failings and wrongly supposing the Risale-i Nur to be mine, criticize me saying that I do not attend the Friday Prayers and do not have a beard. In this way, they hope to obscure the Risale-i Nur's lights and compete against its spreading.

The Answer: Together with accepting my numerous faults, I have to say that in these two matters I have powerful excuses.

Firstly: I follow the Shafi'i school of law, according to which a congregation of forty people is obligatory to perform the Friday Prayer. There are other requisites as well. For which reason, here, attendance of the Friday Prayer is not obligatory. Sometimes following the Hanafi School, I attend it as a Sunna (practice of the Prophet UWBP).

Secondly: I do not feel at ease in crowded places because for twenty years I have been unjustly prevented from mixing with people, and also recently, four months ago, I received an official warning not to have contact with people; for twenty-five years I have lived all alone. According to my school of law, I cannot perform the prayers behind everyone, because I cannot recite the Fatiha quickly enough and the Imam bows (ruku') when I am only half way through it, and it is obligatory for us to recite it.

As for the beard, to have one is a Sunna; it is not particular to hojas. Since my youth I have been one of the ninety per cent of this country who do not have beards. Since in the course of official offensives these last twenty years some of our friends have had to shave theirs, my not having one has proved to be an instance of divine providence and wisdom. If I had had one and it had been shaved off, it would have caused enormous harm to the Risale-i Nur because I would have died; I could not have borne it.

Some authorities have said that it is not permissible to shave off one's beard, but what they meant was that it is prohibited (haram) to cut it off after you have grown one. So if one has never had one, one has only given up one Sunna. But in the face of that, through the Risale-i Nur's guidance at this time in order to avoid committing numerous serious sins, I have passed a torturous life in what has been twenty years of virtual solitary confinement. God willing, it will be atonement for giving up that Sunna.

I also say openly and with complete certainty that the Risale-i Nur belongs to the Qur'an; how could I claim ownership of it so that my faults should pass to it? I am one of its faulty servants and a salesman of that store of diamonds and jewels. My confused circumstances cannot pass to it

and harm it. Anyway, the Risale-i Nur has taught us true sincerity and renunciation of the ego, and always knowing oneself to be faulty, and not being boastful. We show the believers the Risale-i Nur's collective personality, not ourselves. We are grateful to those who point out our faults to us and tell us of them, on condition that is indeed the case, and we utter a prayer for them. We are thankful if a scorpion is brushed off our neck before it stings us. Similarly, we accept our faults and are grateful, but on condition we are not told out of ill will and obduracy, and it does not assist innovations and misguidance.

My Dear Brothers!

Just as with the lines: "And through the Supreme Sign save me from sudden death!" Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) miraculously foretold that because of The Supreme Sign the students would be overtaken by disaster, but that through its grace they would emerge safe and sound; so too, the free circulation of the hundreds of printed copies of The Supreme Sign from the Risale-i Nur and its becoming more firmly established was the chief reason for three spells of abundant mercy and rainfall. Similarly, just as like almsgiving, up until now the Risale-i Nur has been a means of repulsing calamities as has been shown by many signs and incidents; so too, the The Supreme Sign and its friends gaining their freedom will turn out to be a means of repulsing calamities and deliverance from those at our throats, who supposing us to be without support obtain an awesome power and lie in wait together with their partisans in order to overpower us. Moreover, it was imparted to my heart that just as in one respect Imam 'Ali's (May God be pleased with him) lines, "Through the name of Moses's staff the darkness will be dispersed" intend The Supreme Sign; so too they coincide with the eleven Topics of Denizli Prison's Fruits, The Conclusive Proof, and exactly with the eleven miracles of The Staff of Moses and its eleven proofs, and show that they are under his gaze.

That is to say, like Moses's staff, The Fruits of Belief will silence many pharaohs and defeat them. Our heroic, blessed brothers who had The Supreme Sign printed performed an invaluable service for the Risale-i Nur. And with it, the services of the late Hâfız Ali are perpetuated.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Unobtrusively the printed copies of The Supreme Sign have performed great services. I sent you those six lines to be a footnote in the blank space at the end of the piece above that was imparted to me; you may copy them out if you find them appropriate, or correct them, On reading The Supreme Sign attentively and considering it from the point of view of our opponents, I have become completely certain and no doubt remains in my mind that the reason they disregarded the awesome blows dealt by the Risale-i Nur on its opponents, despite their flimsy pretexts and considering faults as insignificant as a fly's wing to be indictable, and the reason they accepted both our acquittal and the free circulation of the Risale-i Nur was their ghastly obduracy being broken by the wondrous, unshakeable truths of foremost The Supreme Sign and such parts of the Risale as The Fruits of Belief and The Conclusive Proof. They had no alternative but to endorse them officially, But still, the covert atheistic society is trying to seek out our faults and to deceive the government in order to be saved as far as it can from being loathed and execrated by the nation. We, therefore, must continue to be circumspect and act cautiously as previously.

{(*):}

I congratulate most sincerely all our brothers on the coming blessed month of Ramadan and the past Night of Acquittal. May Almighty God make the Night of Power {[*]:} in Ramadan more meritorious for them and for us than a thousand months and cause it to yield reward to that degree, and happiness and well-being for the community of Muhammad (UWBP).

My Dear, Loyal, Steadfast, Unshakeable, Constant, Unselfish, Faithful Brothers!

You know that the Ankara committee of experts could not deny the wondrous signs from the Unseen alluding to the Risale-i Nur; they only wrongly objected to them because they supposed I had a part in them and said that such things should not be written in books since instances of wonder-working (kerâmet) should not be advertised. In my defence speech I replied to this slight criticism as follows:

Those instances of wonder-working are not mine and it would be presumptuous of me to claim them. They are rather traces and flashes of the miraculousness of the Qur'an's meanings (mu'cize-i mâneviye) which take the form of wonders in the Risale-i Nur, which is a true commentary on it; they are a sort of divine bestowal in order to strengthen the morale of its students. To make known divine bestowals is a form of thanks and is permissible. It is also acceptable. Now, for an important reason I am going to elucidate this reply to a degree, It has also been asked why I do make them known and why I have attached so much importance to this question and why I have mentioned it so frequently these last few months, for most of my letters are concerned with those charismata.

The Answer: Although, faced with thousands of wreckers at this time, hundreds of thousands of repairers are necessary to assist in the work the Risale-i Nur carries out for the cause of belief; and although I have need of at least a hundred scribes and assistants; and although the people and the authorities should appreciate and encourage us rather than avoiding us, and get in touch with us and help us; and although it is obligatory for the believers to give preference to serving belief, since it looks to eternal life, over their preoccupation with transitory worldly life and its benefits; taking myself as an example, I say this:

In addition to hindering me in everything and preventing me from even having contact with people and my assistants, our opponents try with all their strength to break my friends' morale and to make them look coldly on me and on the Risale-i Nur, and load the work of a thousand people on an elderly, ill, weak, and lonely person like myself who is a stranger and compel him to refrain from having contact with them, which in these oppressive and isolated circumstances is like a physical illness; and they scare people off so effectively in this way that some of my closest friends even are frightened to greet me, and so scared even as to give up performing the prayers. They try to break their morale in this way. So faced with such obstacles, outside my own will, some instances of divine bestowal that

have strengthened the Risale-i Nur students' morale have been made known to me and I have been occasioned to write down things of this sort so as to gather moral forces around the Risale-i Nur and to show that it is as powerful as an army and has no need for others. For, God forbid, self- advertisement and trying to make yourself liked and seeking praise destroy sincerity, which is one of the Risale-i Nur's chief principles.

God willing, just as the Risale-i Nur both defends itself and demonstrates its own value, so it will defend us and have our faults forgiven.

My Dear Brothers!

Now, due to a sort of admonition, I have become quite certain that a wide-ranging premonition I had forty years before the Risale-i Nur was written was realized both in myself and in our village and in our district. I would have liked to divulge this secret to my old students like Şefik and my brother Abdülmecid, but since Almighty God has bestowed many Abdülmecids and Abdurrahmans from among you, it is you I am now telling.

When I was ten years old I used to have great pride in myself, which sometimes even took the form of boasting and self-praise; although I myself did not want to, I used to assume the air of someone undertaking some great work and mighty act of heroism. I used to say to myself: "You're not worth tuppence, what's the reason for this excessive showing-off and boasting, especially when it comes to courage?" I did not know and used to wonder at it, Then, a month or two ago (1944) the question was answered: the Risale-i Nur was making itself felt before it was written: "Although you were a seed like a common chip of wood, you had a presentiment of those fruits of Paradise as though they were actually your own property, and used to boast and praise yourself!"

Both my old students and the people from the region know that our village of Nurs loved exceedingly to make a show and used to boast about their superior courage. They wanted to assume a heroic stance as though about to conquer some great country. I used to be astonished at both myself and them. Now I have understood thanks to a true admonition that the village of Nurs and its people had a premonition that they were going to win tremendous acclaim through the light of the Risale-i Nur and that their unknown province and district and village would be recognized as important, and they displayed their gratitude for that divine bounty in the form of boasting.

Also, in the district of Hizan, our district, through the influence of Shaykh Abdurrahman Taği, {[*]:} known as Seyda, so many students, teachers, and scholars emerged I was sure all Kurdistan took pride in them and their scholarly debates and wide knowledge and Sufi way. These were the people who would conquer the face of the earth! When I was nine or ten years old I used to listen when they talked about famous ulema, saints, learned men, and spiritual masters. I used to think to myself that those students and scholars must have made great conquests in religion to speak in that way. Also, if one of them was a little more intelligent than the others, he was made much of. And when one won an argument or debate, he would be held in great esteem. I used to wonder at it because I felt the same way. Indeed, in our district and province there were such astonishing contests among the Sufi shaykhs and their circles as I never saw in other regions.

Now, in consequence of an admonition I am completely certain that those student friends of mine, those teachers who were like masters, those guides of mine, and those saints and shaykhs perceived with their spirits through a premonition without their minds realizing, that at a critical time a brilliant light would appear among those students and those teachers' pupils and those guides' followers and come to the aid of the believers. Now, despite the extremely severe and testing conditions, confronted with innumerable opponents and encompassed by the plots of suspicious and vindictive enemies, this extraordinary victory of the Risale-i Nur in the lengthy investigations of two gruelling court cases, and its spreading lights concealed from view, and winning its freedom in spite of its enemies shows that it is worthy of that position. For just as Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) and the Gawth al-A'zam (May his spirit be sanctified) foretold it; so did they perceive, like my village, district, province and I myself unwittingly perceived, that it would appear and they rejoiced in it.

{(*):}

I have told you of this private matter because I hold you to be Abdülmecids and Abdurrahmans, my old students and friends, my brother and nephew.

It means that forty-four years ago I myself and my village and district perceived through a premonition the coming of the Risale-i Nur's rain of

mercy, just like due to the dampness in the atmosphere my nerves and sensitivity perceive the coming of the divine mercy of rain twenty-four hours before it falls.

I send greetings to all my brothers and sisters and offer prayers for them, and request that they pray for me.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I am writing this appendix to describe how the lives of some of the Risale-i Nur's select (hâs) students show that they were destined to per- form a service like the Risale-i Nur, as they themselves have confessed; just as premonitions about it's appearance were experienced universally.

For sure, everyone, even animals, may have premonitions, which may be particular or universal. A significant number of true dreams are premonitions of this sort, while in some people - by virtue of their sensitivity they may be so extra-ordinary as to be wonders (kerâmet). Due to a sensitivity in my nerves caused by dampness in the air, I perceive that rain will fall twenty-four hours before it does, which may or may not be said to be a sort of premonition.

I have studied the lives of my brothers who perform important services for the Risale-i Nur and how they have lived, and I have seen that just like the course of my own life, theirs have been equipped and driven to produce a result like the Risale-i Nur.

Yes, many of my brothers like Husrev, Feyzi, Hâfız Ali, and Nazif have themselves noticed that the lifestyle they have (lit. they have been given) is conducive to serving the Risale-i Nur. I too have noticed in my very closest students that their lives, like mine, have been regulated so as to produce such a luminous fruit. If any of them who have not perceived this, study theirs carefully, they will do so. I used to consider all the wondrous parts of my life to be firstly a sequence of wonders of Gawth al-A'zam, but now it has become clear that it was a chain of wonders of the Risale-i Nur.

In Short: While I was travelling to Istanbul before the proclamation of the constitution, some books on theology (ilm-i kelâm) came into my possession, one or two of which turned out to be extremely useful. I studied them carefully, Then after I had arrived, I invited both ulema and teachers

of the secular schools to debate, and challenged them to ask whatever questions they wished. It was quite extraordinary but all the questions asked by those of them who came to debate, were matters I had studied on the road and had stuck in my memory. And all the questions the scientists asked were matters I had memorized. Now it is understood that my extraordinary success and excessive self-advertisement and showing off was to pave the way for the future acceptance by Istanbul and its ulema of the Risale-i Nur and their acknowledgement of its importance.

Secondly: As it is described in my biography, although I am poor and needy and not ascetic or given to mortifying the flesh like the Sufis, and although I do not have the honour of belonging to a noble family; since my childhood I have never accepted the people's gifts and charity; I have never condescended to show my need. I used to be astonished at this, as were those who knew me. Now, and especially these last few years, it has become clear that this state of mind was given to me so that I should not be defeated by greed and love of possessions during the awesome struggles of the Risale-i Nur, and so as not to give rise to criticism and objection. For my enemies might otherwise have dealt heavy blows in such matters.

In Short: Although the Old Said was deeply involved in politics and the New Said too had much need of followers, I have evinced absolutely no interest in the storms and political upheavals engulfing humanity, which this last five or six years have preoccupied everyone; for five years I have felt no curiosity to learn about them, so they have not defeated me due to curiosity.

Both those who know me and I myself were astonished at this. In fact, I used to say to myself: I wonder if I have gone mad since I pay no attention to these events that are busying the whole world, and attach no importance to them. Or is it that other people are crazy? I was bewildered. Now, due to a sort of warning and the above-mentioned premonition and the clear victories and freedom of the Risale-i Nur, it is established that that remarkable state of mind was bestowed on me to prove that the true sincerity of the Risale-i Nur can be made the tool of nothing nor follow anything apart from divine pleasure, and that it has no point of support other than the Qur'an.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers,

As a result of the Old Said's tendency to dwell on worldly matters, and affected by an incident in the east, the scribe who assists me describing excitedly, at the beginning of Ramadan, the signs of the festival at its end, and so that he should not waste the valuable time of Ramadan listening to trivia on the radio, I several times received an inner warning to explain briefly the harms of a lengthy, confused truth which is included in the Fourth Topic of The Fruits of Belief. So I am explaining it with the intention of moderating the Risale-i Nur students' curiosity. But because it is very extensive and I have little time and I am in a wretched situation, you may have difficulty understanding it, so I am relying on your perspicacity,

In the Fourth Topic of The Fruits, it is said: The reason I evince no interest in world politics is that although one has few and insignificant obligations in that extensive sphere, it preoccupies the curious because of its attractions and makes them forget their true, onerous obligations, or at least makes them perform them deficiently. In any event, it engenders in them feelings of partisanship so that they condone the wrongdoing of tyrants and so participate in it.

Now I say this: You unfortunates who are gratified by the curiosity and drunken heedlessness caused by preoccupation with the events of the outside world! If you say that the curiosity and fellow-feeling that are intrinsic to human nature drive you to be interested in those conflicts and events to the detriment of your essential, obligatory duties, and that it is natural and an inner need, then I say the following:

Know certainly that some people do not notice or are not curious about the miraculous creation of the human being, yet if they see someone with two heads or three legs they gaze at him, transfixed by curiosity; and if you disregard mankind's far-reaching, temporary, transitory, destructive events this century, and take a look at just the bee nation and grape species in the springtime, out of the hundred thousand nations and species on the face of the earth, which like the human species manifest innumerable wondrous happenings, you will see events that give rise to spiritual, non-material, pleasures and are a hundred times more curiosity-arousing than those events among mankind. To disregard those true pleasures and to become attached with such abounding curiosity and gratification to mankind's harmful, evil, temporary affairs might be possible if one were going to remain permanently in this world and everyone was going to reap some harm or benefit from those events and the people who were the apparent cause of them were the true agents and cause. But they are ephemeral, like atmospheric conditions. The actual effects of those who apparently cause

them are negligible. They cannot send those harms or benefits from the east or the Pacific Ocean. So it is indescribably crazy to disregard the dominicality and wisdom of the Most Pure and Holy One who is nearer to you than yourself and has disposal over your heart and who creates and controls your body, and to await harm or benefit from the very ends of the earth.

Moreover, curiosity and interest of this kind are extremely harmful with regard to belief and reality. For politics is the most extensive sphere and it causes heedlessness; it plunges people into this world and makes them forget the true human obligations and the next world. Particularly events like this that take the form of universal struggles, they suffocate the heart, too. One has to have belief as brilliant as the sun to be able to see the traces and works of divine determining and dominical power in everything, in every situation and every action, so that the heart should not be plunged into the darkness of tyranny and belief be extinguished, nor the reason deviate into nature and chance.

In fact, the people of reality try to forget the spheres of multiplicity in their search for truth and knowledge of God, lest their hearts are dissipated, and curiosity, enthusiasm, and pleasure, which should be directed towards necessary valuable things, are wasted on unnecessary transient things. It is due to this important reason that apart from some of the Prophet's (UWBP) Companions who served the principles of religion and had belief like the sun and the mujahids and righteous people of early Islam who resembled them, for the most part politicians are not completely God-fearing and religious. People who are completely God-fearing and religious do not become involved in politics. That is to say, for people who make politics their primary aim, religion remains in second place and is as though subsidiary. The truly religious, however, consider humankind's worship of God and servitude to Him to be the highest aim of the cosmos, and regard politics not with passionate interest but in second or third place and if possible try to make it the tool of religion and the truth. Otherwise, politics resembles making everlasting diamonds the tool of common, frangible pieces of glass.

In Short: Just as drunkenness temporarily causes one to forget the pains and needs arising from true duties and yields inauspicious, fleeting pleasures; so too, following transitory struggles and conflicts inquisitively is a sort of drunkenness which produces an unpropitious pleasure since it temporarily makes one forget the needs arising from true duties and the pains arising from not performing them. It also causes one to fall into a perilous despair, which is opposed to the divine command of the verse «Despair not of the mercy of God» (Q 39:53), and so to deserve a slap. Similarly, one

may be the object of the severe divine threat contained in the verse, «And incline not to those who do wrong, or the Fire will touch you!» (Q 11:113), and receive its slap. For you will in effect be participating in the tyranny of oppressors, and so rightfully suffer punishment in this world and the next.

Nevertheless, I felt a meaningful disquiet in my heart and was then consoled. It occurred to my heart that in consequence of these widespread struggles, a danger more harmful than that resulting from the First World War would be born and an antichrist-like savagery would emerge in Europe, which is the source and prop of civilization. The consolation for this anxiety was that with the full awakening of the Islamic world, and the New World and Christianity following the authentic principles of their religion and their uniting with Islam, and with the Gospels uniting with and following the Qur'an, together and with heavenly assistance they might withstand those two awesome future currents and overcome them, God willing.

I send my greetings to each and every one of my brothers, and congratulate you on the Night of Power, which is to come or has passed.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I have received through you the long, detailed letter written by the Husrev of Denizli, Hasan Feyzi, and I understood that just as a seed is planted in the ground so that it may produce numerous shoots; so the late martyr Hâfız Ali entered under the ground in the field there, where he has produced and will produce the shoots of thirty or forty Hâfız Alisبنت felt certain of this. Write the following to Hasan Feyzi and to those who are striving to serve the Risale-i Nur:

In the space of one or two years, the Denizli heroes have performed twenty years' service for the Risale-i Nur. We Nur students can never forget this good act of theirs, and in our view Denizli has become a second Isparta, just as its prison even is a sort of Nur School.

The people mentioned in Feyzi's letter and especially the just judge and those working with him to establish true justice like (C. H. M.) and the lawyer Ziya have made not only ourselves, but also Anatolia and the Islamic world, indebted to them. They took it on themselves to protect the Risale-i Nur, like us. If necessary, I can send to them on trust the collections that have been handed over to me so they may read them to others. If necessary, the books that remain there can be kept, on condition they are not left unused. Anyone who has the large collections may keep them on condition

they do not neglect them and they read them to others, if possible, including the prison. If further copies are wanted, we can send them there.

Since Denizli has in a short time produced for us and for the Risale-i Nur heroic devotees and brothers, if I could I would pass the rest of my days in their blessed prison, perfectly happily. I send my greetings to all the friends who are concerned with us and whom we met in prison or assisted us like Beylerbeyi Süleyman and Tavaslı Mehmed Çavuş. They are always included in our spiritual gains and prayers. And I congratulate particularly all those named in Feyzi's letter and everyone on Ramazan and the Night of Power.

Truly, Milaslı Halil İbrahim is a Risale-i Nur student as firm and unshakeable as steel. His town should be proud of him. Also, the two brilliant versified pieces he and Hasan Feyzi wrote out of their regard for me which is a hundred times greater than I deserve, address the Risale-i Nur, and I accept them as their having composed them as a screen and incidental title to my unimportant self. How could I possess such qualities? I send many greetings to him, and to the Risale-i Nur's lawyer Ahmed Feyzi, and to their friends, and to our old heroic brother, Şefik, and I pray for them.

My brothers! Just as The Supreme Sign was composed in Ramadan, and as far as I know was printed in Ramadan and arrived in Isparta, and in Ramadan was read freely and entered the mosques to be read publicly; so this Ramadan, the Hizb-i Nuriye, which bears the meaning of "An hour's reflection is equal to a year's superorogatory worship," {[*]:} emerged from The Supreme Sign. Similarly, through the effulgence and blessings of The Supreme Sign, around two pages were imparted to my heart through the light of Ramadan which express the true meaning of the phrase "There is no god but God," which is recited thirty-three times in our (Shafi'î) tesbihat following the five daily prayers. {[*]:} Now I can read the whole of The Supreme Sign in ten minutes, and as it says in the introduction, at each degree in my imagination the universal tongue of the globe of the earth becomes my tongue and utters: "There is no god but God!" And the seas and mountains, the tongues of the elements and the classes of humanity become my tongues, proclaiming: "There is no god but God!" And as each declares "There is no god but God!" I declare it in the tongue of either the

earth, or the heavens, or the atmosphere, or the elements. God willing, it shall br sent to you.

{[*]:}

This is the first of eight pieces confirming the Risale-i Nur's acceptance and giving news of it through signs from the Unseen.

This treatise contains twenty-nine signs indicating this same question. Together with the other pieces, the nearly one thousand signs, indications, symbols, hints, and allusions to this same matter and mission are virtually explicit. By reason of there being only one question, all those signs confirm and corroborate each other. Three of the eight pieces show that Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) gave news of the Risale-i Nur through wondrous predictions (kerâmet-i gaybiye).

The Ankara experts' committee studied these eight treatises and did not object to them; they just said that people with the power to perform marvels (kerâmet) should not put them down in writing. So I replied to them saying that they were not my wonders but those of the Risale-i Nur, and the Risale-i Nur belongs to the Qur'an and is a commentary on it. They remained silent at this, which means they accepted it. Actually, it would have been more appropriate if divine bestowals of this sort had not been written, but it became a definite necessity in order to strengthen our morale, resolve and constancy with assistance from the Unseen, since we are so few and weak and wanting, and are confronted by innumerable, powerful enemies. So I wrote them down, Even if it causes my decline due to self-advertisement and egotism, that is not important. For I consider it most fortunate to sacrifice both my worldly life if necessary, and the next life, for this service; that is, to save the believers from absolute misguidance. I would happy to go to Hell so that my thousands of friends and brothers might go to Paradise.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I have now to tell you about a state of mind I have so that you are not offended for the wrong reason. It is this:

I suffer from a severe, chronic indisposition resulting from the oppression I have suffered these last twenty years. I have anway suffered from its symptoms for a long time. It is unsociability; that is, aloofness from people and avoiding having contact with them and being upset at being in touch with them. Now, even, my spirit cannot abide meeting with even the most sensitive of my brothers and students if it is not about the Risale-i Nur's service. People looking at me in a friendly way also affects me badly. One cause of this meaningful condition is the tyranny and persecution people have subjected me to, but it is also a chief means of divine grace being manifested and the justice of divine determining, and of preserving sincerity in our serving belief, which reduce to nothing the tyranny and human cruelty and make me love the sickness, and induce in me patience and forbearance. Due to their baseless suspicions, people constantly prevented me from having contact with others, producing a nervous condition. So through His grace, Almighty God gave me this illness so that sincerity in our work for belief should not be damaged, and so that I should not be forced to adopt an artificial, self-advertising stance, or to be insincere or pretentious towards those who think excessively well of me, and to save me from the love and regard for my person which affects me very badly at this time, and from having to show myself as enjoying a spiritual rank, which would be detrimental to our service, and not to reduce to the value of pieces of glass by ascribing them to myself, the diamond-like truths of the Risale-i Nur, which proceed from the Qur'an. So I offer thanks to Almighty God. And for your part, you should not be offended, but pleased. But still I need your prayers so that I may endure the completely natural distress.

My dear brothers! I had a look at some of the books that were handed over to us, the large collections with the gilded covers, and I saw that the treatises written out by the diamond pens of the Light and Rose Factories and some of those collections containing fifteen or twenty treatises between the gilded covers, were each like diamond swords defending themselves against their enemies in the high courts and in high positions. I have no doubt that it was a great instance of divine favour, because for absolutely no reason we suddenly started putting the treatises of the Risale-i Nur into collections five months before we were sent to prison, and we understood the reason for the scientists' defeat. For especially when on the defensive, the power born of coming together and co-operating is far greater than the power of the individual parts.

My brothers! I should have told you long ago but I forgot: the wondrous Twenty-Ninth Word is only that Word's first station. It's second station, owing to its importance, is the Arabic Twenty-Ninth Flash, which in a way Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) called the Supreme Sign, too. It elucidates the lights in the degrees of the other tesbihat, as in "Allahu akbar," and is a source of the Hizb-i Nuriye.

I send my greetings to each and every one of my brothers and pray for them. I congratulate you on the Night of Power, which, concealed, may be any night now.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

For our part, we also congratulate you on Ramadan. Your dream was indeed blessed. God willing it is a sign that He will bestow abundant grace on you. The greatest bestowal and duty at the present time is saving belief. But, beware! Avoid things that provoke egotism and pride. It is absolutely essential that at the present time the people of reality practise humility and self-abnegation, and renounce egotism. For the greatest danger this age arises from egotism and self-advertisement. The people of truth and reality, therefore, have always to humbly see their faults and accuse their own souls. The heroic defence of belief and worship under these severe conditions people such as yourselves perform is a high station.

Get hold of a copy of the part of the Risale-i Nur about the reality of the Sufi paths (tarikat) called The Nine Allusions (Telvihat-ı Tis'a), and take a look at it. Staunch, faithful, and sincere persons like yourselves should enter into the Risale-i Nur's fold. For the Risale-i Nur is undefeated this age in the face of all attacks. It has made even its most obdurate enemies accept its freedom. In fact, following their investigations over the last two years, the judiciary and high-ranking officials have confirmed its free publication and given the decision for all its parts, both general and confidential, to be returned to their owners.

The Risale-i Nur's way has not been defeated like the Sufi orders and other ways; indeed, it has been victorious and brought numerous obstinate people to belief, which proves that it is a miracle of the Qur'an's meanings (bir mu'cize-i mâneviye-i Kur'aniye) as is testified to by many incidents. Events have given me the firm conviction that outside the Risale-i Nur's

fold, service of religion is mostly deficient in this country, and either is partial, minor, or just personal; or defeated and underground; or condones innovations; or utilizes forced interpretations and corruptions of the holy texts.

Since you possess powerful belief and strong spiritual influence, you should become staunch students of the Risale-i Nur with complete sincerity and humility, so that you may share in the spiritual partnership of thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands of students which looks to the hereafter, and your good works and virtues may become universal rather than particular, and your trade for the next life may be truly profitable.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Today I took a look at a large gilded and bound collection containing the pieces sent to me as a memento by the innocent children and community of unlettered elderly, which was one of the books handed over to me by the court after two years' investigation. It occurred to me to send you a short piece included at the beginning of the collection, which I had written for Kastamonu. Perhaps a copy was sent to you before. I felt certain that this collection written with innocent sincerity by the children and unlettered had played an important part in defeating the philosophers and the obdurate; it had broken their obduracy and caused the unjust to be fair-minded. We had gathered together in three volumes the pieces sent to me by the unlettered, and I am sending you the piece that I saw had been written at the beginning.

I am sending together with this, a collection composed of eight pieces indicating the Risale-i Nur's acceptance, and a piece that deserves to be written at the beginning of the collection, which in addition to The Wonders of the Gawth al-A'zam, The Wonders of Imam 'Ali, and The Qur'anic Signs, has had added to it three or four pieces consisting of additional letters and so on.

I send my greetings to my brothers and especially to the innocents and the unlettered, and I pray for them and await their prayers. And I ask God to bless them. Whoever sees their writings, applauds them delightedly.

They sent me the copies written by fifty to sixty innocent young students, and I have collected them together in three volumes. Below are some of them as an example:

Ömer, 15 years old; Mustafa, 13; Hâfız Nebi, 14; Hicret, 15; Hüseyin,

11; Ahmed Zeki, 13; Ayşe, Il; Hâfız Ahmed, 12; Mustafa, 14; Bekir, 9; Ali, 12; Ayşe, 11.

The treatises in this collection are just some that the innocent children have written and taken lessons from, from the Risale-i Nur. Their serious efforts at this time shows that the Risale-i Nur provides greater pleasure, joy, and zeal than all the amusements and incentives they have thought up in the secular schools to encourage the children to study. This shows that the Risale-i Nur is taking root. God willing, nothing will be able to root it out and it will continue down forthcoming generations.

Just like these innocent young students, the illiterate elderly who enter the inviting fold of the Risale-i Nur learn to read and write after the age of forty or fifty for the Risale-i Nur's sake. The forty or fifty pieces they have written are included in two or three collections. The way these elderly untaught people and some shepherds and mountain folk are working for the Risale-i Nur in preference to anything in the extraordinary conditions of the times, shows that the need for it is greater than the need for bread, and that the harvesters, farmers, shepherds, and foresters consider the truths of the Risale-i Nur to be a need more essential than other essential needs.

I had the greatest difficulty correcting what the innocents and elderly untaught people had written in this and the other six volumes; I did not have the time. But then it occurred to me and I was as though told: Don't get fed up! Since what they have written can't be read quickly, hasty people have to read it slowly, and the intellect, and the heart, and the spirit, and the soul, and the emotions may receive their share of the Risale-i Nur's truths, which are like food and sustenance. Otherwise, only the intellect receives a partial share and the other faculties remain without sustenance.

The Risale-i Nur should not be read like other books and sciences, for the sciences of certain affirmative belief (îmân-ı tahkikî ilimleri) that it contains do not resemble other sorts of knowledge. They are the sustenance and light of numerous subtle human faculties besides the reason.

In Short: There are two advantages in the deficient writings of innocent children and the illiterate elderly:

The First is that they force one to read slowly and carefully.

The Second is listening from their innocent, sincere, sweet tongues the glorious, profound matters of the Risale-i Nur and taking lessons from them,

All praise be to God, this year preoccupation with worldly matters has not caused your students in Isparta to be more negligent; our serious efforts to serve the Risale-i Nur continue. The feelings in our hearts of attraction to the Light is read on our faces, as though the hearts of these students of yours are filled with joy.

Our beloved Master! Of one accord, all your students declare: We can never thank Almighty God enough for bestowing on us all at once the incomparable beauties of being both students, scribes, and addressees of an incomparable Master in the service of the Risale-i Nur in which we are sincerely employed although we are nothing and undeserving, and being both publishers of it, and strivers in His way, and admonishers of the people, and worshippers of Himself. We recall that these thanks that we wish to offer, are a bestowal on our hearts through our Creator's grace, which fills our hearts with joy and happiness. The thankful life that the innocent people of Nurs passed during our Master's youth may be observed in our states of mind and behaviour. Endless thanks and praise be to the All- Glorious One, who through His grace and munificence saved us from the pits of absolute ignorance and the bogs of rebellion and ingratitude, and made us students of the most dazzling and shining light.

If our beloved Master had not previously explained to us the term "association (iktiran)," which refers to two bounties arriving together, he would have read much more about our gratitude from our pens, which interpret what is in our hearts.

Beloved Master! We look at ourselves and see that we are unable to receive what the Risale-i Nur tells us. Yet as our need increases, we observe the Compassionate Creator's merciful manifestations. Our Master's heart is a shining mirror, a place of manifestation and reflection.

Our Master's tongue is an elevated herald, a teacher, a guide.

Our Master's conduct is exemplary and offers the finest example and model. It displays what all types of people need.

Wrongful mankind, which for the past seven years has been emitting fire and brimstone, is today in an even more woeful and distressing state. Anxious at what tomorrow will bring, all the aware are glued to their radios in bewilderment. While expecting on the defeat of Japan in the east that the world would at last find peace and security, a threatening, corrupting movement appeared in the north. This has aroused fear and consternation in everyone. Imagining that they are going towards a dark future, they follow the radio with interest. But all praise be to God, with its elevated explanations and true instruction, the Risale-i Nur reassures our hearts.

It is suggested that that fearsome movement which has appeared today, will be defeated only through a heavenly strength obtained from the uniting of the Christian world with Islam; that is, from the Gospels uniting with the Qur'an and following it, which indicates that the time has come to await the second coming of Jesus (Upon whom be peace).

According to what we have heard, one of the four commissions America has sent these days to all corners of the earth has been ordered to find a religion that will bring the human race happiness and prosperity. It is our powerful belief that it is the Risale-i Nur, which courts of law have announced to all and sundry is the regenerator of religion, that will bring the greatest happiness to wretched humanity.

Beloved Master! Our joy is boundless so long as we have the Risale-i Nur, which contains the highest truths and is an elevated, blessed commentary on the Qur'an. If all its truths were openly available, they would make themselves read with pleasure and enthusiasm. There are numerous evidences of this, particularly the printed copies of the Tenth Word, which refuted denial of the resurrection of the dead; and especially The Supreme Sign, which although it was printed secretly makes itself read openly and is truly wondrous in strengthening belief; and such treatises of the Risale-i Nur as The Conclusive Proof and The Fruits of Belief, which overturned the concept of atheism.

God willing, the Risale-i Nur will destroy the very foundations of the heartless ramparts of disbelief with which they want to encircle the Qur'an, and will extinguish the cruel fires of unbelief, and by imparting merciful belief will give the water of life to drink to the whole world.

I can accept your favourable opinions, which far exceed what I deserve, only in the name of the Risale-i Nur's collective personality; it would be to overstep the mark to see myself in such stations.

Moveover, the Risale-i Nur's way is not that of Sufism (tarikat); it is reality (hakikat); it is a manifestation of the Companions' way. The present is not the time of the Sufi way, but the time to save belief. All praise be to God, the Risale-i Nur has performed and is performing this task in the most difficult and taxing times. The sphere of the Risale-i Nur is, according to

their predictions, a sphere at the present time of Imam 'Ali, and Hasan and Husayn (May God be pleased with them) and Gawth al-A'zam (May his mystery be sanctified). {[*]:} For just as through three wondrous predictions Imam 'Ali gave news of the Risale-i Nur, so in powerful fashion Gawth al-A'zam (May his mystery be sanctified) gave news of it and gave encouragement to its interpreter. God willing, these four confidential treatises about the wonders of Imam 'Ali and the Gawth {[*]:} will be sent to you. The experts' committee appointed by the court could not object to them; it only criticized them slightly, saying that they should not have been written. I replied to them and they were silent. In any event, I received my instruction in reality directly in an Uwaysi fashion from the Gawth al-A'zam (May his mystery be sanctified) and from Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) through Zayn al-'Abidin and Hasan and Husayn (May God be pleased with them). So the sphere in which we serve is their sphere.

Endless thanks be to Almighty God that thanks to your prayers two days ago the dangerous illness from poison and high fever I had been suffering for more than two weeks passed. Since an hour's worship performed when ill is the equivalent of a day's worship, God willing this illness was a substitute for the many good works I have hitherto been unable to perform and has been atonement for my many faults. But the sickness and weakness continue.

A subtle and meaningful coincidence occurred yesterday when I received the innocents' collection and opened it. I saw that The Short Words had been put at the beginning, and had been written most decoratively and carefully by Marangoz Ahmed, a commander of those innocents and one of the heroes of the Nur School. I exclaimed: "Congratulations! Marangoz Ahmed has become the sergeant of the innocent children." The same day I received a letter, and I saw that when Marangoz Ahmed was reading at night the letters we had sent to his companions, two grasshoppers had come and perched on the letter and had listened until he had finished. Several days earlier when we had been writing the letter, two pigeons affirmed both its acceptance and the good news of the sparrow and kuddûs bird; and now the carpenter's two grasshoppers affirmed the pigeons and the good-news birds, saying through the tongues of their beings that they too recognize the Risale-i Nur and making it a subtle and meaningful coincidence,

In this connection, a passage struck my attention on the page before the Eighth Sign of the Eighth Ray which Hâfız Ahmed wrote, who is a young Abdurrahman and the innocent nephew of Küçük Ali and one of the blessed heroes in that collection. I realized that this passage was related to the piece that explains what I have been saying in the letters sent to you this last couple of months about the Risale-i Nur's acceptability, that my person has no share in its honour and art and that it is purely a divine bestowal. So I am sending it to you; you can include it whereever you deem suitable. The passage is about my person having no part, not a flash, in the extraordinary importance accorded the Risale-i Nur by al-Jaljalutiyya. {[*]:} It is like this. I said:

I confess that in no way at all am I worthy of having such an acceptable work bestowed on me, but it is the mark and practice of divine power to create trees the size of mountains from miniscule seeds, and to do so is proof of its sublimity. I swear that my intention in praising the Risale-i Nur is to affirm, prove, and publicize the Qur'an's truths and the pillars of belief. Endless thanks be to my Compassionate Creator that he did not make me fond of myself and He showed me my soul's faults and sins so that no desire remains to make others look favourably on me. It is pitiful stupidity and a ghastly loss for someone waiting at the door of the grave to look hypocritically behind himself at this transitory world. May Almighty God preserve me from such loss! Amen.

I send greetings to each and every one of my brothers and I pray for them and request their prayers.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I congratulate you with all my heart and spirit on Ramadan, the Night of Power, and the festival, and wish you all happiness. May the Most Merciful of the Merciful bestow many more on you! Amen.

It is true that I have suffered extreme distress this Ramadan due to the poisoning, but endless thanks be to Almighty God, He bestowed patience and fortitude on me. And the considerable reward for illness dispelled the feelings of heedlessness caused by the distress. So thanks to the blessings of your prayers, I was completely saved this time too from the poisoning.

Nevertheless, the weakness and shock it caused continues to upset me from time to time.

As I wrote and told you, just as the Hizb-i Nuriye is a summary of the Risale-i Nur and of The Supreme Sign; so like the newly Ramadan-published Supreme Sign, a summary of the Hizb-i Nuriye was written in Ramadan through its effulgence, as a manifestation of the thirty-three universal tongues of the thirty-three degrees of the divine necessary existence and unity. My spirit, imagination, and heart so expanded and unfolded that when I uttered the testimony "There is no god but God!" at each degree, I felt as though I was affirming divine unity on a vast scale and that that tongue was mine. The Supreme Sign may, therefore, impart lights of belief as effulgent as the sun to spirits. I was indubitably certain of this and saw it and understood the importance Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) had given it.

The letter Husrev wrote this time reflecting the feelings of all the Isparta students accords me a share greater than my due, but since it shows the degree of those heroic students' devotion and the Risale-i Nur's true value, it deserves a place among my letters and The Additional Letters and to be sent to any other high offices you deem suitable. A copy is being sent to you in the new letters. In acting as an intermediary between the Isparta students and Kastamonu and its leading students, with whom I am closely concerned, Mustafa Osman has performed a most important task in a short time, so earning the right to enter among the select students of the first rank. He must possess complete sincerity to have done so much in so short a time. May Almighty God multiply those like him in that area and grant them success and well-being. Amen!

I send greetings to each and every one of my brothers and sisters, and I congratulate them and pray for them.

The First

Arising from his high opinion of me, which is a thousand times higher than I deserve, a true, genuine student of the Risale-i Nur and scribe of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition asks about something in the letter he has

now written. Because I am his Master (Üstad), he has beheld in my ordinary person, the truly weighty, sacred duty of the Risale-i Nur's collective personality and a manifestation of the truly elevated functions of the legacy of prophethood, and so wants to look on me as bearing the manifestation of that spiritual legacy.

Firstly: Eternal truths may not be built on transitory persons. To do so is a transgression against the truth. A duty that is in every way perfect and perpetual should not be tied to persons who suffer decline and may be defeated; to do so causes the duty considerable harm.

Secondly: The Risale-i Nur appeared from the Qur'an only through its interpreter's thought and the tongue of his spiritual needs; the emanations through which it appeared do not look to his capabilities; indeed, the Nur treatises' appeared in a way far exceeding their interpreter's ability on account of the sincere, steadfast, and loyal people he was addressing, his companions in study, and their desiring with their spirits those emanations and their accepting, affirming, and applying them. It is they who constitute the reality of the collective personality of the Risale-i Nur and its students. Its interpreter has a share in it too. If not spoiled by insincerity, this may confer on him the honour of seniority.

Thirdly: The present is the time of the community or social collectivity. No matter how wondrous an individual's intelligence, it may be defeated in the face of the collective intelligence of the community. For this reason, as that blessed brother of ours wrote, a task or duty in the way of belief which proceeds from the lights of a sacred genius, and will in some respect illuminate the world of Islam, should not be laid on a wretched, weak, defeated person who has innumerable obdurate enemies striving to discredit him with insults and treachery. If it is laid on him and his faulty person is shaken by those treacherous blows, the burden will fall and break up.

Fourthly: Since early times, the excessively good opinions of people towards their masters or guides or teachers or chiefs was deemed acceptable to a degree and not criticized as unjustifiable since it enhanced their benefiting from their teaching and guidance. And now, the Risale-i Nur students seeing in my wretched faulty person the elevated rank and virtue befitting a master worthy of them may be acceptable since it causes them to exert themselves with zeal and enthusiasm, although their good opinion of me is far higher than I deserve. However, it should be understood that I hold it only as the property of the Risale-i Nur's collective personality. But since chiefly the atheists and people of misguidance, the politicians, the heedless, and even ingenuous men of religion attach great importance to

that person, they try deal blows at those truths by discrediting him, and supposing him to be their source, to extinguish those lights and to get the ingenuous to believe what they say, In short, the event described in the Second Matter illustrates this fact.

The Second Matter

On the second day of the festival when I went out into the countryside, I was attacked by a high-ranking official in a way that was in unlawful in five ways. In His mercy and munificence, Almighty God bestowed an extraordinary patience and restraint on me so that He might protect the pieces of the Risale-i Nur that were loaded on my back and head, and preserve the honour, dignity, and ease of its students, which were loaded on my heart and spirit. For it transpired that the authorities had planned to anger me and draw a veil over the triumphs of the Risale-i Nur and particularly The Supreme Sign.

Beware! Don't be dismayed, anxious, or sad! Also, don't feel sorry for me! Without any doubt, by protecting us beneath the veil, divine grace will make manifest the verse, «It may be that you detest a thing, yet it is good for you» (Q 2:216).

Their stratagems again came to nothing. Nevertheless, there are some people in this province who, having received direct support from the powers that be, are struggling against my person. The air here does not agree with me, so I need to try to get Denizli Court and the Ankara Court of Appeal to have me transferred somewhere more suitable, if possible. I have not been able to do this myself, so it would be a good thing if the friends in Denizli tried to, since they are more concerned with me than I am myself. At least they could put me back in the prison there on some pretext.

My Dear, Loyal, Very Blessed, Very Active, Very Sincere, and Most Worthy Brother, Husrev!

Your letter, which I received on the second day of the festival after a pigeon had as though given news of it, was a salve for the pains and sorrows arising from the assault I had suffered, which affected me so grievously. It gave me this idea: the extraordinary respect and veneration shown by the heroes of the Rose and Light Factories in the face of the nonentities who insult you, would counteract the treachery of millions of

enemies, let alone the abuse of a couple of unconscionable villains, and would rebut their claims. Then I looked at myself and saw that although I am a dessicated dried up date seed whose functions have been fulfilled, you had seen the magnificant fruit-bearing tree that had appeared from it in the Risale-i Nur garden. I saw that your enormously good opinion was due to the tree and since the seed was a sort of means to it, it was the object of your favourable opinions.

The letter's first page is good; I agree with it. I put a few marks on the second page and moderated it so that it might read: Hasan's (May God be pleased with him) Caliphate lasted only six months. But since through the power and effulgence the Risale-i Nur has received from Jaushan al-Kabir {[*]:} and Jaljalutiyya, it disseminates the truths of belief, which is the Caliphate's chief duty, we may look on it as turning Hasan's (May God be pleased with him) brief Caliphate into a lengthy one, and see him as the fifth Caliph. For it is the Risale-i Nur that has the capability to bring people happiness this age through the application of true justice, and its collective personality may be seen as a sort of assistant, complement, and spiritual son to Hasan (May God be pleased with him). Deputizing for you, I marked a few places similarly to this. However, I saw that of the letters and rough copies in among my books that the court had handed over to me, which they evidently considered important since they had marked it in green ink, a part was missing from the one I had written to you. I understood that it was telling me to answer your letter with it. Perhaps it has been included in The Additional Letters. I am writing it out here exactly. It is this:

You should look to my very faulty person only with regard to duty and service, not the ranks you have accorded me out of your good will towards me. If the veil were to be raised, my true nature would be revealed, stained from top to bottom with faults; it would cause you to flee from me. Lest you refuse my brotherhood or regret it, do not fasten your attachment to my person or to imaginary stations that far exceed my due. My brother! I am neither guide nor master to you; our relationship is that of fellow students. I am in need of your kindly prayers in the face of my faults, and your saintly influence. You should not await such influence from me; I

deserve to await it from you. By Almighty God's grace and munificence, you participate in accordance with the law of the division of labour in an exceedingly sacred, important, valuable service which is of great benefit to the believers. The extraordinary importance, value, mastership, and guidance afforded by the collective personality born of our solidarity is sufficient for us.

Since at this time, serving religious belief is a sacred duty surpassing everything, quantity is relatively less important than quality, and temporary, unstable political matters are relatively unimportant compared with the eternal service of belief, and may not be the criteria for it. We must content ourselves with the effulgent stations bestowed on us in the sphere of the Risale-i Nur's instruction. What are needed are the greatest fidelity and resolve and immense attachment and sincerity, not according me unwarranted lofty ranks due to excessively good opinions. (End of quoted piece)

And truly, you have progressed in this.

My Dear, Loyal, Staunch, Sincere Brothers!

Both in fact and in meaning, both my soul and those who are in touch with me ask a question of the greatest importance:

Why is it - as no one else has done - that contrarily to everyone else, you do not look to the significant forces that could assist you, and you disdain them? And why don't you accept the high ranks that the select Risale-i Nur students agree upon, which would greatly assist in the spread of the Risale-i Nur and its triumphing, which everyone longs for and seeks? Why do you shrink from them so violently?

The Answer: At this time, the people of belief are in need of a truth that will teach the truths of belief in such a way that those truths are made the tool of, or subsiduary to or the steps to nothing; and no motives or purposes can sully them; and no doubt or philosophy can defeat them. In this way the belief of all the believers may be preserved against the attacks of the misguided currents that have been accumulating over the past thousand years.

It is due to this fact that the Risale-i Nur attaches no importance to helpers from home and abroad and their considerable forces, and it does not seek them out or follow them, lest in the view of the mass of believers it is being utilized as a step to achieving the aims of worldly life. Then, as the

tool of nothing except eternal life, its surpassing power and truth may dispel the assaulting doubts and queries.

Question: Although it would not harm your sincerity, you flee from the luminous stations and ranks of the hereafter - which are non-material, acceptable, and harmless and which all the believers and reality desire accorded through our sincere brothers' high opinions of you, and which are established through incontestable proofs. But you flee from such ranks, not with modesty and humility but angrily and violently, offending the brothers who confer them on you. Why is this?

The Answer: Just as a public-spirited person sacrifices his own life to save those of his friends; so too, thanks to the lessons in compassion I have received from the Risale-i Nur, in order to protect the eternal lives of the believers from dangerous enemies, I would if necessary - and it is necessary - sacrifice and renounce not only those ranks which anyway I don't deserve but also the ranks of true everlasting life.

Always, and particularly at this time, and especially as a consequence of the general heedlessness arising from misguidance and the prevalence of politics and philosophy, and in this age of egotism and self-advertisement, high ranks subordinate everything and exploit them. Some people exploit sacred matters even for worldly positions, and they make use of them to an even greater degree for spiritual ranks. In order to preserve their positions in the public view and make themselves appear deserving of them, they make some of their sacred service and truths steps and means to them. They are therefore exposed to criticism and this lessens the demand for the truths they disseminate. If this is one benefit for the person, the general loss is a thousandfold due to diminished demand.

In Short: The reality of sincerity bars me from things which may be a means to fame and renown for me and material and spiritual ranks. This may cause considerable harm to the service of the Risale-i Nur, but since quantity is unimportant relatively to quality, as a sincere servant, I consider it more important to teach with true sincerity the truths of belief, which are higher than anything, to ten people than to give thousands of people guidance as a supreme spiritual pole. For since those ten men look on those truths as higher than everything, they persevere and their seedlike hearts may grow into trees. But those thousands of men may look on the teachings of the spiritual pole with sceptical doubts arising from philosophy and the world, and may think that they proceed from his particular rank and personal feelings, and the thousands may be scattered and defeated. It is in this sense that I prefer service to high positions and ranks.

Even, I was alarmed that some disaster might be visited on that man we

know when, due to my enemies' schemes, he insulted me during the festival in a fashion that was illegal in five ways. The matter was blown up, and the people generally might have attributed some rank to me thinking that it was a marvellous instance of wonder-working. So I prayed: "O my Lord! Either reform him or punish him but not in a way that looks like wonder- working." Here, I am going to explain something in this connection. It is like this:

Among the students' letters that were handed over to me by the court this time I saw one that had a lot of signatures on it. Perhaps it has been included in The Additional Letters. It was about the plenty experienced by Risale-i Nur students in their livelihoods, and some were about the slaps they had received. No doubt remains here about the slaps, just like those in Kastamonu. Five people received them in exactly the same way.

Yes, we saw it with our own eyes and can no longer doubt it.

In the name of the students here, Ceylan, İbrahim

One of the Risale-i Nur scribes asked: "Why do friends receive slaps while aggressive enemies receive nothing comparable?"

The Answer: Someone who is not an official and is treacherous, privately or personally, receives a personal slap. There are numerous incidents of this sort. And there are very many people who are completely loyal and receive bestowals in the form of plentiful livelihoods and peace of heart. But if a person is an official and acts maliciously and illegally in the name of the law, it leads to a general slap being visited on the wretched people; general disasters occur, such as earthquakes, drought, epidemics, and storms. Apparently the official does not receive a personal slap. Also, according to the rule, "Tyranny is not permanent, but disbelief is," if the tyranny of those people who cause harm to the duties we perform for the cause of belief on account of irreligion, becomes downright disbelief and thus grave, it is postponed to the hereafter; mostly their punishment is not dealt out swiftly in this world like with lesser wrongdoing.

[If you wish to meet with a person who for twenty years has kept silent despite being held unofficially totally alone in solitary confinement subject to unprecedented oppression due to groundless suspicions, and to speak honestly and seriously, I shall say the following to you briefly.]

Firstly: It is an irrefutable, recorded proof that two courts having for two years scrutinized my works and letters of twenty years could find nothing that opposed the government or infringed public security, so acquitted all my books, both confidential and otherwise, together with myself.

Evidence that my life twenty years ago was spent devotedly for this country and nation was the commander-in-chief of the army's applauding my services as the commander of a militia force in the Great War, and the leaders of the Ankara government applauding my service to the national movement and the Parliament greeting me on seeing me there. This means that the torments meted out to me these twenty years are altogether arbitrary and illegal. In the course of these years I have spent forty religious festivals all alone in seclusion. Enough now! I'm at the door of the grave, so don't make me look to the world!

Moreover, as chief of the police headquarters, you should support my services. For as has been established by courts of law, when the lessons of the Risale-i Nur look to this world, they preserve with all their strength the foundations of public security and protect them against corruption and prevent revolution. The fact that the police of three provinces have understood this is proof that the Risale-i Nur's lessons resemble sacred moral police.

Recently, the officials have expended considerable effort to scare the people away from me, and I have understood that they did this in order to deter public attention, which I anyway do not deserve. So I tell you as I have told my closest brothers confidentially in letters, that I in no way accept public regard for my person; in fact, I reject it absolutely since it is opposed to our way and our sincerity. I have even offended some of my close brothers in connection with this. All I have accepted are the predictions made by certain persons of olden times that allude to the value of the Risale-i Nur, which expounds the All-Wise Qur'an's truth superlatively. As for myself, I have proved that I am merely a common servant. Even to suppose the impossible I had sought public attention, it would have aided public security and been beneficial for the police.

Death cannot be killed, so is a matter more important than life. Ninety per cent of people work for the advantages of this life, but the Risale-i Nur students strive against the awesome assaults of death, which will unavoidably befall everyone. Endless thanks be to Almighty God, we can show hundreds of thousands of witnesses to testify that for hundreds of thousands of people upto the present, the Risale-i Nur has transformed the eternal sentence of death into their discharge papers. Although patriotic lovers of the nation like yourselves should have applauded this fact and encouraged us, we have been subject to baseless accusations and oppressive surveillance; just how far this is from justice and patriotism I leave to your sense of fairness to judge.

Relying on your humanity and conscience, I am going to describe to you to some confidential matters. You are closely concerned with us by reason of your duty. This is proved by the fact that during the last twenty years none of the one hundred thousand Risale-i Nur students has been the cause of any incident, nor have any of numerous police recorded anything against us. I heard from a child that the chief of the Ankara police head- quarters had come here. I wrote some things down thinking that he would ask after me and that since I am indisposed, I would present it to him. Then I heard that he had left, so I am sending it to you with this letter. If you consider it appropriate, you may forward it to him for his information. I don't know about worldly affairs and I don't meet with people. Apart from you, I have no one here to consult with. For any matter concerning myself is very unimportant and minor, but those concerning the Risale-i Nur hold great importance for this country and nation.

I tell you with all certainty my firm conviction resulting from numerous signs that in the near future this country and nation and its government will have intense need for works like the Risale-i Nur, in the face of the Islamic world and the world as a whole. By means of it, they will demonstrate their existence, honour, esteem, and historical pride.

My Dear Loyal Brothers!

Ali Efendi, one of the Nur students from the village of Ali Köyü asks about a Qur'anic verse about the dissemblers. I don't have time at the moment to explain it at length, so am writing a couple of sentences briefly.

The verse, which states that the ritual prayers should not be performed for dissemblers when they die, refers to the dissemblers of that time who were known to be thus through divine revelation. It does not mean that the prayers cannot be performed for people who are merely said to be dissemblers or assumed to be. Anyone who pronounces "There is no god but God" is a Muslim (lit. people of the qibla). So long as they do not explicitly deny religion, or if they repent, the prayers may be performed for them. There are many Alevis in that village and some of them may be extreme (lit. Râfızî), but even the worst of them should not be said to be dissemblers. The dissembler has no belief, heart, or conscience. He opposes the Prophet (UWBP) like some atheists now. The extremist Alevis and Shi'is however, do not oppose the Prophet (UWBP); they rather nurture excessive love for his family. They go to extremes in the face of the dissemblers' neglect. When they exceed the bounds of the Shari'a they become not dissemblers but innovators; they become sinners, not disbelievers. It is enough that they do not attack Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman, whom 'Ali (May be God be pleased with him) held in respect for twenty years and accepted their rule when they held the position of Shaykh al-Islam, and that they hold those three Caliphs in respect as he did, and perform the obligatory prayers.

Moreover, since through the testimony of al-Jaljalutiyya, {[*]:} the Risale-i Nur student's foremost master after the Prophet Muhammad (UWBP) is Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him), if the Shi'is and Alevis who claim to love him do not heed the lessons of the Risale-i Nur more than the Sunnis do, their claim to love the Prophet's family is false. Anyway, I heard several years ago that through the efforts of three Alis in that Alevi village, innocent children were writing out the Risale-i Nur and spreading it. I even included the village in my prayers at that time. God willing, through the efforts of our brother Ali, who wants to be Imam there, and the endeavours of brothers like Küçük Ali, the heir of the late Hâfız Ali, my supplications for them will not be in vain, and the two groups in the village, the Sunnis and Alevis, will unite.

Don't worry about the humiliating incident recently; it fizzled out and their plans came to nothing. The man involved is now denying everything in order to save himself from public opprobrium. I didn't know it was him, otherwise I wouldn't have said anything. He stretched out his hand and removed the kerchief from my head, He found the courage to insult me like that because he had heard that some high-ranking officials had come here from Ankara. The officials did come here but the governor did not allow me to speak with them, since he is from Rumelia. So for my part, in order to send him via the Afyon police chief the piece addressing him that I had sent to you, I posted it with the attached note to the Afyon police headquarters. I am not in any way upset about this. Anyway, it is no longer important. So don't you be anxious. Also, I saw clearly that as always, divine determining had transformed their injustice into a significant instance of mercy, and I offered thanks.

I received your letters yesterday while awaiting the trusts you were going to send me after the festival. I saw the words: "If there's no indication to the contrary, we shall send them in ten days' time." Evidently, you were worried so did not send them. There's nothing to be anxious about. But it was a fine example of involuntary caution not sending them when those high-ranking officials were here, and their not arriving.

I received Salâhaddin's very lengthy letter which pleased me as much as ten letters and showed how these storms had not affected his loyalty and steadfastness, and that he was ever like an Abdurrahman, and that our brothers in that region work tirelessly, and I exclaimed: "Ma'shallah!" Father and son are unshakeable like the Isparta heroes. However, since the Risale-i Nur is now being printed and published, true sincerity, powerful mutual support, and disregard of one another's faults are essential, and our brothers in Kastamonu province have to resemble those of Isparta in sincerity and solidarity. God willing, they will not allow their personal feelings to harm this sacred service either.

Also, it is true that the Risale-i Nur has won its freedom with its shining, powerful truths and has defeated its enemies in one respect, but we need to be even more cautious than before. For dissembling enemies unceasingly seek pretexts and try to deceive the government.

Salâhaddin asks about a personal matter and wants to attach himself to worldly social life. But he is one of the select Nur students so he should in no way attach himself if it causes harm to the work of the Risale-i Nur. He

may do if he knows that that his life-companion will work and assist him in the Risale-i Nur's service like those of some of our select brothers. For their lives belong to the Risale-i Nur and they may marry if approved by students representing its collective personality. God willing, it will cause no harm and his parents are in favour of it.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Don't worry, there's nothing to be anxious about! Only, before the Ankara police chief and some high-ranking officials came here after the festival as though they were secretly concerned with me in some way, an officer assaulted me lightly taking courage from their visit. But they regretted it afterwards. And there was no cause to worry after the officials' visit. I reckon the matter affected my brothers to an extent and Feyzi was bothered somewhat. I'm curious, on what pretext did they search him? What were they looking for? What was it all about? What could they have been searching for when after two years of investigations three courts have returned all our books and letters without exception and they have understood that we have no connection with the politics of this world? Perhaps these illegalities are being perpetrated in the name of the law due to some private jealousy or grudge or due to the incitement of covert atheists. In the face of all this, total steadfastness and solidarity are necessary and to be in no way shaken or perturbed.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

We met only briefly in the mosque; I have a few important things to say, for you to bear in mind.

Firstly: I send my greetings to our valuable brothers, the sincere friends of Sabri, who has performed a hundred years of duties in ten years in Bedre, like Hakkı, Hulûsi, (P), Mehmed, and Şamlı Süleyman and Bahri in Barla.

Secondly: The duty blessed Mustafa, Küçük Ali's elder brother, has inherited from Abdurrahman, he is carrying out to the letter together with his son. His work and service are being perpetuated, so he shouldn't worry. The luminous seeds Hâfız Mustafa sowed together with the late Hâfız Ali

at that time are yielding abundant blessed produce. And the services he performed for me in prison after Hâfız Ali died always recall him to me. Abdullah Çavuş, an important heir of the late Lütfi, together with the heroic Tahirî have made Atabey resemble my village of Nurs. İslamköylü Abdullah performed many services for the Risale-i Nur when Hâfız Ali was alive. I send my greetings to all of them. I offer prayers for the blessed people of Tahirî's household, which is like a small Nur School. I send greetings too to İslâmköylü Halil İbrahim, who is like a fresh sample of Hâfız Ali and calls to mind the loyalty of Milaslı Halil İbrahim, and to the brothers there who resemble him. Also, tell Rüştü's heroic brother in Isparta, Burhan, that he has greatly pleased us and has performed much work for the Risale-i Nur with little. I did tell you that, so don't forget. And go and see Zekâî and say that I offer thanks to Almighty God that He has returned my nephew Abdurrahman to me in the form and name of Zekâî. You know the other things I told you verbally, for you are my letter.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I was indeed happy at your letters, this time cheerful, about the Risale-i Nur's being unrestricted and spreading by means of the printing press; nevertheless, heroic Tahirî's coming here to work at this important matter caused me to look to the world. I said to myself: "Since my brothers want this so much, we'll search for a solution." Then at night, it occurred to my heart that for two significant reasons divine providence does not permit its complete freedom and its being printed in the old letters in its entirety.

The First Reason: As Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) indicated, it is a valuable act of worship for eager people to spread the lights of belief secretly by writing out copies with their own pens and to get others to write; it is like performing jihad with ink, which in the next world will weigh equally to the blood of martyrs. If the works are printed, those people will not strive with the same eagerness and they will miss out on performing the service of disseminating those works.

The Second Reason: An essential duty of the Risale-i Nur is preserving the Arabic alphabet, which is the script of the vast majority of the Islamic world; if it is printed and published, its treatises will be mostly printed in the new letters, which is all most people know now. This will constitute a fatwa for the reproduction of the Risale-i Nur in the new letters and cause its students to prefer the easier script, For this reason, until now it has not

been left completely free, although it deserves it and is worthy of it. Thanks be to God, it has won its freedom through the power of its truths. Even, although it is prohibited to print in the old letters, it had Âyetü'l- Kübrâ (The Supreme Sign) handed over to us, and displayed a mighty instance of wonder-working.

Now, I have sent The Fruits of Belief and The Conclusive Proof (Hüccetü'l-Bâliğa) to Istanbul with Tahirî to print in the new letters, for they are both very important and necessary for everyone. Only, I did not have time to correct the Tenth and Eleventh Topics so gave them to him without doing so. If it is to be printed, you correct those two topics fully and return them to him. Both treatises must also be printed in the old letters either at home or abroad, openly or secretly, or in Istanbul or elsewhere.

We also need to try to have printed in the old letters in a single volume as far as means allow, The Miracles of the Qur'an (Mu'cizat-ı Kur'aniye) and its appendices and The Miracles of Muhammad UWBP (Mu'cizat-ı Ahmediye) and its appendices, either in Istanbul or elsewhere. This should be preliminary to printing Hizbu'n-Nuriye and Hizbu'l-Kur'an in the old letters so as to preserve the visible miracle of the coincidences (tevâfuk) in the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition. It is imperative that this sacred matter be undertaken with caution, deliberation, and mutual consultation.

I pray for the peace and well-being of each and every one of my brothers, and offer endless thanks to Almighty God that Kâtib Osman and Halil İbrahim, two of the oldest students, persist unshaken and unchanging in their steadfast loyalty, providing a fine example for many others.

In His Name, be He glorified!

God's peace be upon you, and His mercy and blessings!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I have now received the literary, lengthy, and extraordinarily panegyrical letters of Hasan Feyzi, who is one of the chief heirs of the late martyr, Hâfız Ali, and a lofty representative of the Denizli Nur students, and interpreter of that town's extraordinary attachment to the Risale-i Nur. His letter elucidates fully my brief explanations of the Risale-i Nur's exceeding

value in the letter I wrote in connection with its being returned to us, about our brother Hâfız Mustafa's work. His letter elucidates also the statements I made in my letters about premonitions, and is a powerful testament of Denizli testifying in favour of the Risale-i Nur, and as a scholar and retired teacher of the modern sciences of long standing, I consider his shining testimony to the Risale-i Nur to hold great importance. However, in my view, it would be appropriate if the parts concerning myself are either skipped or amended. Two or three passages should not be shown to everyone, so I have underlined them and sent the letter to you as an addendum to the Twenty-Seventh Letter or its supplements. You can write out and put this part of my letter at the beginning of his letter. Our brother Hasan Feyzi should not be offended at our skipping a number of sentences, for they are unnecessary for all the students, but may be left in some confidential copies.

Hasan Feyzi has entered the body of the Risale-i Nur's collective personality, which is as though directly a collective personality of the truths of belief and the Qur'an, and having assumed the dress of its members, addresses it with extraordinary praise and applause. As I looked at it, objections occurred to me and I thought it excessive, but then the reality of the Qur'an responded in meaning: "Don't concern yourself with the body and the dress; look to me! He is speaking of me and what he says is right!" So I stopped objecting. However, any eulogizing terms about the Risale-i Nur's interpreter that are either explicit, allusive, or indicative, or exceed his due should be moderated. He should feel no offence, for according to our way and in the face of others, especially those critical of us, such favourable views of my wretched self are not acceptable.

He (Bediuzzaman) is the Risale-i Nur's servant. He would have been a millionaire today if he had sought the world and accepted all the gifts and presents offered to him, and the alms and charity, donations and bequests. But just like 'Umar (May God be pleased with him), he said: "If I take on an excessive load, I shall never attain to Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace), the heart of the speaking cosmos and God's beloved, nor to his friends and those perfected persons who have attained to him. I would only get half way. Complying with the Prophet's (UWBP) reply to the dictum: "I created all the spheres, everything, for you, my beloved!," "I have abandoned all of them for you!" he abandoned the world and all that is in it, and love and passion, and even abandoned abandoning,

and dedicated all of his efforts and endeavours and his life to spreading the lights of the Qur'an. Because of this, all the difficulties he suffered are now mercy, and all the services he performed, wisdom. He revealed the beauty on the face of glory and the world was transformed into a flower-bed of perfection.

One unaware that His favour and ire are the same, suffers torment;

Be delivered from that torment! He who is sovereign, knows us.

Like Niyazi Misri, {[*]:} the interpreter here saw everything to be good, turned a droplet into an ocean, non-being into man, and caused his light to rule the world. The fact he was called "Kurdi," and with the inversion and omission in the word «ya mudrikan» in the qasida of Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) alluded to the word "Kurd," does not indicate that he was actually a Kurd, nullifying his descent from the Prophet (UWBP) (lit., his being a sharif and a sayyid). This cognomen is merely to announce to the world his being the Risale-i Nur's interpreter, who was born and grew up in Kurdistan and became famous with the name; it is not to prove his Kurdishness. His knowing Kurdish and wearing local dress and appearing thus was to conceal and hide himself; in my view, his purpose was not to deny his true identity and nationhood. It must be indeed meaningful and full of wisdom that he had great love for the Turkish nation, which for centuries served the World of Islam and humanity and Mecca and Medina, and that he spent and large portion of his life together with the Turks.

O Lord!

For the sake of Your noble beloved,

For the sake of the blood spilt at Kerbela,

For the sake of the eyes weeping at separation,

For the sake of the face dragged through the dust of love,

Grant victory to the Risale-i Nur, to Ustad, and to Islam. Amen!

... ...

Their intention is to extinguish God's light [by blowing] with their mouths; but God will complete [the revelation of] His light, even though the unbelievers may detest [it] (Q 61:8).

Respected Ustad!

I wrote these pieces with the Risale-i Nur's hand, pen, and tongue, a

tiny spark which sprang from them to my lowly heart. I seek your acceptance and help so that inspiration should not cease, And I kiss your hands respectfully and await your prayers.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

It came to my heart that I should explain four matters to you.

The First Matter: This is the reply to a question that has been asked both verbally and tacitly and in other ways.

It has been asked: Since the Risale-i Nur is the source of wonders, and leads to an unfolding of the truths of belief greater than the Sufi tarikats and some of its loyal students are in one respect at the level of sainthood (velâyet), why don't they appear to manifest spiritual experiences and illuminations and physical wonders like the saints? Why don't its students seek such things? What is the reason for this?

The Answer: Firstly, the reason is true sincerity. Because for people who do not completely conquer their souls, temporary pleasures and miraculous wonders become their goal in this world and the reason for their works of the hereafter, and this spoils sincerity. For the works of the hereafter may not be sought with worldly goals and pleasures; if they are, it destroys true sincerity.

Secondly: Wonder-working and illuminations are only for those ordinary people who travel the Sufi way but whose belief is merely imitative and has not reached the level of realization. Sometimes miracle-like wonders strengthen the weak and the convictions of people given to whispering doubts. Whereas the proofs of the truths of belief the Risale-i Nur adduces leave no place for doubts; they afford certainty and leave no need at all for wonders and illuminations. So since the certain affirmative belief it induces is far superior to illuminations, spiritual delights, and wonder- working, its true students do not seek anything of that sort.

Thirdly: A principle of the Risale-i Nur is to know one's own faults and without rivalry to serve humbly seeking God's pleasure alone. But in this era of egotism, differences and a sort of rivalry between the followers of the Sufi way who perform wonders and seek the pleasure of illuminations, cause the heedless to think ill of them and to accuse them of egotism and selfishness. This shows that it is absolutely imperative that the Risale-i Nur

students do not wish for wonders and illuminations for themselves nor run after them. Also, the individual person is not given importance on its way; owing to the spiritual partnership and the brothers' wholehearted identification with each other, such divine bestowals as the thousands of wonders associated with knowledge and the facility in the work of dissemination, and the plenty experienced in the livelihoods of those who work at it, are sufficient for all and they do not seek any personal attainments or wonders.

Fourthly: Because they are short-lived, a hundred gardens of this world are not equal to a single tree of the next world, which is undying. In consequence, since the blind human emotions are captivated by immediate pleasure and prefer an ephemeral present fruit to an eternal garden of the hereafter, the Risale-i Nur students do not seek spiritual delights and illuminations in this world, lest their evil-commanding souls exploit this natural tendency.

In olden times there lived a person who resembled the Risale-i Nur students in this respect. Both he and his wife were of high spiritual rank, but due to their straitened circumstances she remarked to him on their extreme need. Suddenly, a golden brick appeared before them. She exclaimed: "Look! A brick from our mansion in Paradise!" But then the blessed women said: "It's true that we're needy and that we'll have loads of bricks like that in the next world, but this one shouldn't be wasted on this fleeting life so that it's missing from our mansion there! Offer a prayer that it returns to its place; we don't need it!" It disappeared, and it is told that with their spiritual discernment they beheld it in its place.

These two heroic people of truth offer excellent examples for the Risale-i Nur students and their not chasing after the worldly delights of wonder-working!

Second Matter

If the coincidences (tevâfuk) {[*]:} appear in numerous different forms and in such a way as to corroborate one another, they may afford a degree of certainty that is conclusive and explicit. A sign that some of the letters we wrote after leaving prison were both acceptable, and very significant, and that people were very needy for them at this time, was that a sparrow, a kuddûs bird, and some pigeons came into my room most strangely and in a way quite out of the ordinary and all coinciding with the others. Then when

Halil İbrahim, one of our brothers from Milas, received the letter describing the kuddûs bird and opened a locked room, in the same extraordinary way a kuddûs bird flew in and tried to fly round the room, thus coinciding with our bird. Then when the students of the Nur School read the letter, two grasshoppers appeared and perched on the letter. And just as these miniature birds corroborated and coincided with the coincidences of the former birds, so, as endorsed by our loyal brothers in İnebolu, when they were reading that same letter, they were frightened out of their wits by an owl alighting at the window and beating the panes with its wings as though saying: "I'm taking an interest in that letter too; don't imagine that I'm not concerned!" The large bird was fully confirming the interest shown by the other birds and was coinciding with them. If an imaginary wide-thinking and intuitive person who dwelt on the relationships between the events of the book of the universe from the viewpoint of humanity's situation this century were to endorse so many coincidences looking to the same matter {(40): We had just received this letter from our Master. I, that is, Husrev, was reading it and my friend Tahirî was writing it out. A bird came and perched on our window, then seeing Husrev's head, flew off. Husrev, Tahirî} and the importance of the questions discussed briefly in the letters, would he not be right? For it is as though with their very numerous aeroplanes and human birds, men have frightened the birds of the air, which is their world, and in consequence, with a terrible excitement in that world, the birds show serious concern in the face of men's actions and ask if there is no one to respond to those tyrannous, destructive, savage birds, so as to force them to give up their destruction and to work for the profit of humankind and for their prosperity and happiness. Wouldn't it be apt to say they are showing an interest in the questions of the Risale-i Nur? Wouldn't such a thing be possible? Could one way it is a meaningless fancy?

Third Matter

Recently I read the Hizb-i Nuriye, a summary of The Supreme Sign (Âyet-ül-Kübrâ), which was composed three years ago in Ramadan and published freely this Ramadan. It took me over an hour. Then again in Ramadan, a ten or fifteen-minute summary of that summary occurred to me. When I read it, I experience on reading two or three pages of Arabic an unfolding of belief and of what is denoted by, "An hour's reflection is better than a year's supererogatory worship" {[*]:} as though I were reading the whole of The Supreme Sign. I can't find the time to write to you with my

own pen; God willing, sometime I shall do so. Those who understand the piece as I do may read it from their own copies or write it out at the end of either The Supreme Sign or the Hizb-i Nuriye, after the tesbihat and the supplication, instead of our tesbihat «la ilaha illa Allah,» which is recited thirty-three times, but only thinking of the meaning of the morning tesbihat.

The Fourth consists of two points.

First: Our brothers in Isparta, especially Husrev, the Rose Nur hero, ask about my material winter needs, and want to help me, I thank them, but say this: their services for the Risale-i Nur are both profitable for the eternal happiness of all the students, and assist my needs for the winter that will follow the grave, my true winter. They perform these so perfectly that they exceed a thousandfold any aid for this temporary passing winter and its needs. If I had been able, I would have tried with all my life and spirit and the greatest pleasure to meet all their material needs. Don't worry about me; frugality and contentment are two inexhaustible treasuries.

Second Point: I was truly pleased by the fine, sincere letters of our brothers in İnebolu and that district, which at one time won the name of "Little Isparta" and more than anywhere suffered the calamity of prison recently in connection with our matter. Nevertheless, I am concerned that two heroes of the Risale-i Nur, father and son, have been unable to agree completely due to their differing temperaments. But however unfair a father is, his son is obliged to seek his pleasure. And however rebellious a son is, his father should not deny him his natural compassion. But for the sake of the Risale-i Nur and on account of the mutual self-identification of its students and their not criticizing one another and forgiving one another's faults, let alone such a father and son and such select, honourable, and leading Risale-i Nur students, even ones that are far from each other and enemies even, should not allow worldly, trifling, and emotional matters to cause dispute among them. In addition to the respect and compassion demanded by fatherhood and sonship, for my sake these two brothers whom I love should, as Nur students, disregard one another's faults and forgive one another, and not criticize each other,

I send greetings to each and every one of my brothers, and offer prayers for them.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

The First: Why is it that apart from work related to the Risale-i Nur, you don't want to meet personally with people who have a good opinion of your person and look on you as holding a high station, yet have powerful relations with the Risale-i Nur and whom you love dearly? Why do you prefer to meet with those who don't nurture such a high opinion of you and you pay more attention to them?

The Answer: As I said in the Second Letter of the Thirty-Third Word, people at this time sell their favours very expensively to those in need. For example, they suppose an unfortunate like myself to be righteous or a saint and give me a loaf of bread, then they want an acceptable prayer in return. But rather than paying such a price, I don't accept the favour. Just as I cite this as a reason for not accepting gifts, so people other than the special students of the Risale-i Nur display powerful interest and services thinking that I hold a high station. In return, in this world they want luminous results like the saints (ehl-i velâyet). Then they perform services for us and evince interest and this implies favours. But because I don't possess the price they want in return for favours of this sort, I am ashamed. Then they are disillusioned when they realize my unimportance and even become slack in their service. It's true that ambition and lack of contentment are acceptable in some ways in matters pertaining to the hereafter, but on our way and in our service - due to certain faults - it leads to complaint and hopelessness arising from disillusionment instead of thanks, and even to the abandonment of service. For this reason, because the contentment of our way leads always to thanks, steadfastness and resoluteness, we are obliged to be content with the fruits and results of our service although we are ambitious and aspiring in the performance of it.

For example, thanks to the service of the Risale-i Nur, this result has ensured for thousands of believers in Isparta and its environs an extraordinary strength of belief, and is sufficient for our extraordinary service. Even if someone were to appear who was as illustrious as ten spiritual poles and were to raise a thousand people to the level of sainthood, he still could not lower this degree of the Risale-i Nur's achievement. The true students of the Risale-i Nur content themselves with results like this. In place of the heartfelt contentment of that lofty pole's followers, ensured by his extraordinary station and his rulings, the Risale-i Nur's unshakeable proofs satisfy

its students to a far greater degree, and, moreover, their state of mind and belief spreads to others and is beneficial for them. The satisfaction of those followers, however, is particular to them and personal.

In fact, what they call in logic qaziye-i makbûle, that is, accepting without proof the words of the great, does not in logic express certainty and surety; it is only a probable assumption. The certain proofs of logic do not look to the good opinions of people and people who are generally accepted, they look to irrefutable evidence; all the proofs of the Risale-i Nur are of this conclusive type. For exactly like the realities and truths of belief which the saints experience through their pious acts and worship and asceticism, and on their spiritual journeyings, and which they observe behind veils, the Risale-i Nur has opened a way to reality in knowledge in place of worship; it has opened up a way leading to the essence of reality within logical proofs and scholarly arguments in place of spiritual journeyings and recitations; it has opened up a way of the greater sainthood directly within the science of theology (kalam), the science of the tenets of belief, and the science of the principles of religion, in place of the science of Sufism and the tarikat. It has conquered the misguidance arising from [modern] science and philosophy, which this age has defeated the currents of Sufism (hakikat ve tarikat cereyanları), as is clear for all to see. Let there be no mistake in the simile, just as the powerful, logical truth of the Qur'an has delivered other religions from the assaults of naturalist philosophy and its overwhelming them, becoming a point of support and to an extent preserving their fundamental principles, which are based on compliance and not reason; so too, the Risale-i Nur, a miracle and light of the Qur'an at this time, has saved the imitative faith of the ordinary believers from the assaults of the misguidance arising from materialist philosophy, and as a point of support for all believers, has become an unassailable citadel for those near and far. In the face of today's awesome, unprecedented misguidance, it preserves the ordinary believers' belief from doubts and their Islam from baseless scruples.

Just at the time the believers everywhere, even in India and China, are being shaken by the predominance of the fearsome misguidance of the age, and they are falling into doubt as to the truth of Islam, they hear that a work has appeared that proves conclusively all the truths of belief, and defeating philosophy, silences atheism. Their doubts and scruples disappear, and their belief is saved and strengthened.

The Second Part of the Question: In one of your letters, you described seriously a poetical subtle point, that some birds came to you and your students when your letters were being read and written out. But birds aren't

acquainted with the state of the world and don't know the usefulness of the Risale-i Nur in the face of it, do they?

The Answer: At the divine command and with divine permission and through dominical power and strength, all animals have a shepherd or supervisor from among the angels, as do the birds. Even if they are not aware of it, at the divine command and through dominical inspiration, their shepherd drives them on. That natural impulse results from the inspiration that comes to the birds; they manifest the inspiration. A day-old bee flies a day's distance in the air through that natural inspiration; through that dominical impulse it returns to its hive without losing its way.

Indeed, just as the globe of the earth objected to the oppression visited on the Risale-i Nur and its students, and the atmosphere responded with lack of rain and cold to its confiscation, and the clouds applauded with rain on its being returned; so too, the birds may well take interest.

For sure, in the face of the crimes of men which destroy a village and kill a thousand people with the egg of a bomb laid by artificial birds, and those destructive human birds which lay those hellish eggs, and the tyrannous, cruel ruination of the globe and of humankind, those animate birds will applaud the Risale-i Nur, which illuminates the future so effectively. It is these very subtle points that those letters contain.

My Brothers!

I was truly gratified by the letter written by the keeper of the Risale-i Nur power station, who knows fully the worth of The Fruits of Belief (Meyve Risalesi) and has earned the name of Fruit Seller. For, like Hulûsi and Hakkı, the sincere friendship and brotherhood between them have been constant and continuous for close on twenty years; and their attachment to the Risale-i Nur and connection with it and loyalty towards it also persist, and like the sincere relations between them, become firmer and are not shaken by events. I offer thanks to Almighty God that He has bestowed on the Risale-i Nur such loyal and utterly sincere students who are good examples for others and offer thanks in patience (Sabri) in their service of the Risale-i Nur, ever sincere (Hulûsi) in right (Hakkı). My brothers in the vicinity of the Fruit Seller, and especially the loyal people of Barla whose names I can't say but are known, very often draw me in the imagination to the past and that region and take me around Barla and its mountains. I very often think of them and those places and I can't forget them.

I send them countless greetings.

The letter from Hasan Şükrü, the preacher from Kozca, pleased me greatly; I send him my greetings. I send greetings too to foremost the innocent children, the unlettered, the sisters, and those who write with their pens, and to all my brothers, and offer prayers for them.

I saw the letter of Küçük Ali, the hero of the Auspicious Group (mübârekler hey'eti), which was returned to me by the court having been seized from the post before it ever reached me; he had decided to write out the whole Risale-i Nur once every two years, and has done so. With this heroic act he affirmed my premonition that having seen a true Abdurrahman in Büyük Mustafa, the first student of the Risale-i Nur, I would see many more after him, for he carried out that blessed Mustafa's duty to the letter. And Hâfız Mustafa showed in prison after having been a full assistant during Hâfız Ali's lifetime that after his death he was a full heir. That is to say, in that elevated and blessed group they have performed to the full the work of the Risale-i Nur that I had hoped for eighteen years ago, and continue to do so. The seeds they sowed produce fruits in their places, even if they do not work at it.

I send greetings to each and every one of our brothers, and offer prayers for them.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: I congratulate you with all my life and spirit on the blessed Ten Nights and holy Festival. {[*]:} Through His mercy and munificence, and protection and support, and aid and guidance, may Almighty God grant you success in the printing and publication of the Risale-i Nur and the printing of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition which shows the coincidences (tevâfuk). Amen.

Secondly: For a long time I have recited in the tesbihat following the prescribed prayers the thirty-three phrases expressing divine unity, which are like an epitome (hulâsatü'l-hulâsa) of The Supreme Sign and the Hizb-i Nuriye, which are summaries of the Risale-i Nur. Most of the truths of the Risale-i Nur unfold on reciting the tesbihat and my imagination expands enormously; all the realms of creatures in the cosmos recite each of those phrases through the tongues of their beings and I as though recite them through their tongues, and that universal tongue of being becomes one with my particular spoken word. I recite them with pure pleasure, and am sending you a copy. I have no doubt now that this epitome of the Hizb-i Nuriye that can be recited in fifteen minutes, holds the mystery of the Hadith, "A hour's reflection ..." {[*]:} the same as the Hizb-i Nuriye. Those people who do not know Arabic will understand this Arabic piece perfectly if they have a good understanding of the degrees in The Supreme Sign. If they take a look at both of them a few times, they will understand it fully. I recite it once every twenty-four hours, either following the tesbihat after the morning prayers, or at some other time when I feel fed up or distressed. It gives me a feeling of elevated expansiveness and banishes the boredom. It will be appropriate to append it to The Supreme Sign and Hizb-i Nuriye. It is meaningful that just as the majority of the truths of the The Supreme Sign and the Risale-i Nur were imparted during Ramadan and the tesbihat, so was the Epitome imparted during Ramadan and the tesbihat.

Thirdly: I received news recently that the Cabinet has decided to transfer my official registration from Kastamonu to Emirdağ. It is understood that they cannot find any reason to bother the Risale-i Nur and its students, so they direct attention to my unimportant self and make records of everything. I assure you that I proudly accept with all my life and spirit their bothering me instead of bothering the Risale-i Nur and its students. As though in other places they fix themselves on me but can find no way to prevent them, and now suppose that here they've found the solution and treat me like this. But don't be upset by this; my situation here will lead to triumphs for the Risale-i Nur students. It is my conviction that divine providence and mercy will transform this injustice of the worldly towards me into considerable advantages. In any event, in our way, time and place cannot be an obstacle to our conversing; we are together whether in the east or west, or even in the next world or in the Intermediate Realm. For instance, Hâfız Ali (May God be pleased with him) in the Intermediate Realm is

everyday with us in spirit. In consequence, we attach no importance to apparent separation, or death even.

Fourthly: It was truly subtle, the nightingale of Marangoz Ahmed, one of the heroes of the Nur School, affirming the nightingale of the blessed rosy scribe of the Rose Factory. Anyway, in the spring, the nightingales act as orators for all the birds in the face of the caravans of plants bringing provisions for the animals, and they applaud them in the name of the other birds. Surely the nightingale should be seen as foremost amongst the birds that are concerned with the Risale-i Nur, and it has been seen.

Our sincere, steadfast friend from Safranbolu, Mustafa Osman, says that he sent letters to our brothers here but is worried at receiving no reply. He shouldn't be worried. A separate letter wasn't sent to him, out of caution and relying on communications via Isparta. They shouldn't be anxious, nor should our brothers in Kastamonu. My official registration being transferred here will not diminish my concern for them; on the contrary, it binds me to them more strongly. Most of the time, in meaning and imagination I find myself in the blessed mountains of Kastamonu, together with those brothers of mine.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers and True Heirs!

I have received numerous letters congratulating me on the festival, I don't have the time to answer all of them, and my circumstances don't allow it. One of our select brothers wrote all the letters for many other brothers; and some of them contain other important points, which pleased and gratified me.

In short: Husrev's letter of congratulation in the name of the Rose and Light Factories made me weep for joy. In fact, one of Husrev's distinguishing characteristics is that not one of the letters I have received to date has offended me; they are soothing, even if they arrive at grievous times, and relieve my spirit. For myself, I am most grateful to him in this respect too.

Hulûsi the Second, Sabri's, congratulatory letter on account of the known brothers, filled me with profound joy. Those special brothers of ours being ahead in appreciation and praise and their fine words about Husrev and Hasan Feyzi indeed made me happy. And Hasan Feyzi's congratulations in the name of the Denizli students showed also his lofty connection and powerful concern.

The letter of congratulation of Feyzi and Emin, the Husrev and Rüştü of

Kastamonu, in the name of its devotees, and their writing that the incident Feyzi was involved in was nothing to cause concern, on the contrary, had become like a whip of encouragement, dispelled our anxieties.

Nazif's letter of congratulation in the name of the brothers of that region, and his unshakeable loyalty and attachment and powerful hope, allowed us to breathe freely. I was anxious because of the personal rivals he had.

I received the congratulations sent by Halil İbrahim (May God be pleased with him) whose courage is as powerful as his loyalty, which he had sent directly to my address. I send my greetings first and foremost to himself and the Risale-i Nur's cautious lawyer and to all of them, and congratulate them on the festival.

One of the heroes of the Nur School, Şükrü Efe's, letter, which shows the birds' and sparrows' interest, corroborates the heroic carpenter's corroboration and also pleased us.

We haven't found the time to reply to the question in Ali Osman's letter, who is one of our brothers in Atabey and an heir of Lütfi.

With all our life and spirit we congratulate each and every one of these brothers and the friends whom they represent, and give a thousand welcomes to our brother Re'fet the Elder. And I conclude my words by congratulating on this the third of your festivals the groups of innocent children, unlettered elderly, and self-sacrificing sisters among all our brethren, and offering prayers for their well-being and happiness.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

The collection called The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen (Sikke-i Tasdik-i Gaybî) of the Blessed Ones' champion and Abdurrahmans' hero, Küçük Ali, who is small in name but great in spirit, is indeed fine and appropriate. He arrived together with the books which belonged to the martyr Hâfız Ali. It would, however, be better if the letters you deem appropriate in The Additional Letters (Lâhika) especially in Emirdağ Lahikası about the Risale-i Nur's wonder-working; for instance, about the earthquakes, rain, and birds, are included at the end of The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen. In this connection I again congratulate the Auspicious Group on the festival and Küçük Ali a thousand times over.

I have read the admirable letter of self-sacrificing Mustafa Osman, the Safranbolu champion, which he sent to the students here. Like Hasan

Feyzi, he wrote in a fine, literary style and showed his extraordinary loyalty and good will. However, he credited me with a station far higher than is my due, instead of ascribing it to the Risale-i Nur's collective personality; he saw his Master to be very brilliant in his own shining mirror. So I accepted his commendation as a prayer. We congratulate both himself and our brothers in that district on the festival.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Up until the present, covert dissemblers have attacked the Risale-i Nur by deceiving members of the government, making use of the law and judiciary, and from the point of view of public security and administration. And we, when forced to, assumed a defensive position because we act positively. Now their plans have been confounded. Indeed, their assaults extended the Risale-i Nur's influence. Our intention now to print The Staff of Moses (Asâ-yi Mûsâ) in the new letters, seems as though the Risale-i Nur is being made to assume an offensive stance, outside our will. A significant reason for this must be as follows:

I reckon that because the Risale-i Nur is a spiritual saviour of this blessed land, the time has come, or will come, for it to make an appearance in the world of publishing, and to give instruction, in order to repulse two awesome calamities.

One of those calamities is the awesome current of irreligion which has emerged to the north and breeds anarchy, and has defeated Christianity. It occurred to my heart that similarly to the barrier of Dhu'l-Qarnayn, the Risale-i Nur might act as a Qur'anic barrier against the flood overrunning this blessed country, and that it had become necessary to speak with the printed word in order to reply to and dispel the fierce criticisms and accusations of the Islamic world against this country's people.

I am not informed about the state of the world, but just as the Risale-i Nur's truths are a fortress withstanding the monstrous current which is overwhelming Europe and is not based on the revealed religions; so too those truths are a Qur'anic miracle which may dispel the present objections and accusations of the Islamic world and continent of Asia and regain their love and brotherhood. This country's patriotic politicians should come quickly to their senses and publish the Risale-i Nur officially, so that it may act as a shield against those two calamities.

I wonder, if it had not been for the Risale-i Nur's so potently spreading

certain affirmative belief in this blessed land these last twenty years, would this land have been able to preserve its Qur'an and belief from the terrible blows of the revolutions and explosions of this dreadful age? However. The Risale-i Nur may not attacked due to its allegedly harming the country and government; they can no longer get anyone to believe such a thing. But now, switching their front and behind the veil of religion, dissemblers are employing sly tricks to use simple-minded hojas or supporters of innovation or egotistical sufistically inclined people against the Risale-i Nur, as they did two years ago in Istanbul and in the region of Denizli; they are trying to attack the Risale-i Nur and its students on another front. God willing, they will not succeed. So acting with perfect caution and circumspection, the Risale-i Nur students should pay no attention when they are attacked and should not get drawn into arguments. If they are attacked by religious scholars or believers who have been deceived, they should be friendly towards them and pacify them saying: "We don't bother you, so don't you bother us!"

Secondly

Küçük Ali, small in name but great in spirit, a hero among the blessed who bears a resemblance to both Abdurrahman and Lütfi and Hâfız Ali the Elder, asks a question. Its answer, however, is written in a hundred places in the Risale-i Nur. He asks: What is the reason for the great concentration of arguments concerning the pillars of belief in the Risale-i Nur? Our former teachers taught us that a great saint's belief is similar to that of an ordinary believer.

The Answer: Both in The Supreme Sign, in the discussion about the degrees of belief, and near its end, is the statement of Imam Rabbani, the Regenerator of the Second Millennium, {[*]:} which says: "The end and most important aim of all the Sufi paths is the unfolding of the truths of belief. Clarity and certainty in a single matter of belief is preferable to thousands of illuminations and instances of wonder-working." Also, the part of the letter right at the end of The Supreme Sign, taken from The Additional Letters, and the explanations of all of it, answer the question, as does the Tenth Topic of The Fruits of Belief, which is about repetition in the Qur'an, and the fact that the wisdom of the frequently repeated emphasis

on divine unity and the pillars of belief in the Qur'an is present in just the same way in the Risale-i Nur, which is a true commentary on it.

Furthermore, all the sections of the Risale-i Nur which explain the nature of certain affirmative belief (îmân-ı tahkikî), imitative (taklidî) belief, abbreviated (icmâlî) belief, and detailed (tafsilî) belief, and demonstrate that belief will withstand and remain unshaken in the face of all assaults, misgivings, and doubts, form such an answer to Küçük Ali's letter that no need remains for me to add to them.

Second Aspect: Belief is not restricted to a brief and imitative assent; it has degrees and unfolds from being seed-like to being a mighty date-palm, and from resembling the sun which appears in the mirror you hold in your hand to resembling its reflection on the surface of the sea, and even to the sun in the sky. Similarly, belief is related to the above number of truths, to thousands of divine names, and to the truths of the universe pertaining to the pillars of belief, It is for this reason that those who have penetrated to the realities have stated unanimously that the greatest of all sciences, knowledge, and human attainments and perfections are belief and the detailed sacred knowledge of God based on proof which springs from certain, affirmative belief.

Imitative belief may be swiftly overcome by doubts. Being much more powerful and comprehensive, certain affirmative belief contains numerous degrees. One of these is the degree of knowledge of certainty (ilmelyakîn), which may withstand thousands of doubts with the strength of its many proofs, whereas imitative belief may sometimes defeated by a single doubt.

There is also a degree of certain affirmative belief known as the vision of certainty (aynelyakîn), and that contains numerous degrees. Indeed, it contains degrees to the number of manifestations of the divine names; it reaches the degree at which the whole universe may be read as though it were a Qur'an.

Another of its degrees is absolute certainty (hakkalyakîn), which also contains numerous degrees. If troops of doubts assail persons with such belief, they cannot provoke any confusion. The thousands of books written by the scholars of the science of theology based on reason and logic have demonstrated only one way, based on proofs and reasoning, of that belief and knowledge of God. And the hundreds of books, based on illumination and spiritual unfolding, of the people of reality have depicted another aspect of that belief and knowledge of God. However, the truths of belief and sacred knowledge of God which the miraculous highway of the Qur'an points out, far surpasses in strength and loftiness those of the scholars and saints.

The Risale-i Nur, then, expounds the latter all-embracing, universal, and

elevated highway of knowledge, and replies in the name of the Qur'an and belief to the general destructive currents which for a thousand years have acted against the Qur'an on account of the worlds of non-existence to the detriment of Islam and humanity. It defends against them. It therefore certainly needs to muster innumerable forces so that, through the light of the Qur'an, it may be the means of withstanding those innumerable enemies, and of preserving the faith of believers.

It is written in a Hadith: "Should one person come to believe through you, it is better for you than a plain-full of red sheep," {[*]:} and that, "Sometimes a hour's reflective thought may be better than a year's worship." {[*]:} In fact, the great importance the Naqshbandis attach to inward remembrance of God is in order to attain to reflective thought of this kind.

We send thousands of greetings to all our brothers and offer prayers for them. Overlook any errors; this was written in haste. You may correct it.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Don't be upset at the secret agents seizing The Treatise on Sincerity and the copies of the letters. To have them read them together with The Predictions of 'Ali (İhbar-ı Aleviye) was necessary for the Risale-i Nur and its conquests. Furthermore, the demonstrations against communism in Istanbul at the time of this incident will also powerfully aid its conquests in that the two forces that attack the Risale-i Nur covertly have begun to take up positions opposed to each other. Even if temporarily we suffer some minor attacks, it is of no importance. Because as I see it, it is only the extraordinarily powerful truths of the Risale-i Nur that can combat the anarchy that communism instils in Muslims through absolute disbelief and naturalistic thought, those truths thus opening a way for patriotic politicians and religiously minded people and lovers of their country to support the Risale-i Nur and make peace with it and make it a shield against those harms.

When I first saw you, I reckoned that you would be fair-minded and just although we had not met, and am therefore explaining to you before anyone else a fact about which I am concerned. It is up to you, and is your duty, to inform the relevant authorities about it. The matter is this:

My present circumstances have been unheard of in history. Living in total isolation, forbidden to have contact with anyone even the congregation at the mosque, elderly, ill, and in deprivation, it suddenly occurred to my heart that since I too am a son of this land, I am obliged to work for its happiness. I have nothing to contribute materially, so I permitted some of my brothers to print in the new letters The Fruits of Belief (Meyve Risalesi) and The Conclusive Proof (Hüccetü'l-Bâliğa), which I have written about what I have understood from the Qur'an. The relevant Ankara authorities, the committee of experts, and Denizli Court could find nothing reprehensible in those two treatises after scrutinizing them for two years, and they returned them to us officially. I also sent a reply requesting that they show them to the censor and to leading writers, and then print them. It is also customary to present copies to twelve departments of government after they have been printed. The Treatise on Sincerity (İhlas Risalesi) and Treatise on Frugality (İktisad Risalesi) were subsequently added at the end of the former two treatises and printed in the new letters. I declare to you in all certainty that my purpose in printing these works was to preserve this blessed nation and country from moral and material anarchy, to assist public peace and security, to erect a moral barrier against the flood of an external current that incites lawlessness, and to try to dispel the objections and accusations of the Islamic world against us and to attract their love and brotherhood. But alas! Since I have no connection with the world, and do not meet with members of government, and know nothing of the state of the world, and because I have been subject to illegal assaults, certain persons who for a long time past have covertly opposed me hostilely, seized the opportunity and raised suspicions about me with the police and judiciary.

In Short: I heard by a strange coincidence that, on a train, detectives had seized four of my treatises and copies of all the letters I have written these last two years. Two of those treatises were on sincerity. It's true they are a bit confidential, but both the court and the Ankara experts' committee considered them harmless and returned them to us. They had also been sent to Istanbul to show the censor and to leading writers. As for the Treatise on

Frugality, it is essential for everyone at this time. And as for the Eighteenth Flash, The Wonder-working of 'Ali (Keramet-i Aleviye), it had evidently been sent to them by mistake together with the other treatises. I allow only my very closest students to read it, let alone having it printed. It anyway is not concerned with this world. Moreover, the experts' committee and the court studied it and returned it to us.

Also, ten years ago at a most distressing time in Eskişehir Prison when I was truly in need of a solace, some good news of a spiritual nature occurred to my heart and I wrote it down. It was not a question of printing and publishing it together with those treatises and the copies of the letters I had written these last two, rather four or five, years; it was sent together with them at the request of one or two close friends of mine who had wanted to read it. The reason I wrote the letters was in order to console some friends who were suffering the wretchedness of prison because of me, and to converse with them and exchange ideas about the Risale-i Nur, which for the last twenty years has been most beneficial for the lives in this world and the next of this nation and country. There may also have been some letters I had written both to yourself and to the authorities in Ankara among the works that were seized. This, then, is what the letters and treatises that were seized by the detectives consisted of. I am explaining these facts as they may possibly have reached you by now or will do so. I am hopeful that out of your devotion to duty and your seriousness you will not permit illegal harassment of me due to groundless fears, adding to the severe difficulties I am suffering at this time.

My Dear Brothers!

His are all praise and blessings! In all its might and awesomeness a moral victory of the Risale-i Nur was witnessed yesterday in Istanbul. A society and its press organs which want to spread absolute unbelief throughout the world and especially in the Islamic world, and their printing presses and libraries, were stormed and ransacked {[*]:} and protested against verbally and by action by the very youth and students of the secular schools they supposed they had made into communists. They were cursed and execrated. Their society suffered thousands of liras of material damage

and millions of liras of non-material harm. And a collective personality close to our hearts and spirits, shouted out to our unhappy selves: O Nurjus! Don't be saddened at the present lack of material means! The Risale-i Nur's conquests continue over a wide field and general victories are being won! And so and so forth.

This is from the grace of my Lord!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

A strange and meaningful event related to the Risale-i Nur students and the wonder-working of The Supreme Sign and the worldly's intention to molest the Risale-i Nur: a fire in one of the local government offices opposite me burned for three hours at the very coldest time of the night with an extraordinary brilliance I had never before seen. Immediately next to it were the large shops belonging to two brothers, and to one of the Çalışkans who is a Risale-i Nur student, which held the greater part of young Ceylan's capital. There were only two small shops between their shops and the fire. The fire was spreading in all its fury towards their shops when the unfortunate Ceylan came to me crying: "Our shops are on fire, we're finished!" Two days earlier I had told him to bring me some of the printed copies of The Supreme Sign which were in the shop, but he had not brought them. That is to say, they remained there in order to extinguish the fire. For my part, taking the Risale-i Nur and The Supreme Sign as intercessors, I exclaimed: "O my Lord! Save them!" In three hours that raging fire destroyed the large local government office and completely burnt out the shops that were under it and adjacent to it. But through the protection of the Risale-i Nur and Supreme Sign, the fire did not touch their shop at all, and the shop under it belonging to the student also remained intact. Only, the people broke its windows. There would have been no damage if they had not done so, to remove the goods.

Thus, there were instances of the Risale-i Nur's wonder-working, both when the Isparta carpet shop caught fire and the two houses of the two brothers of the person who assigned their villa for readings of the Risale-i Nur were saved from the conflagration although they were right next to it; and in Kastamonu, just like in Emirdağ, the house of the Nur student Hâfız Ahmed was saved in extraordinary fashion from the fire opposite me that broke out in the house adjacent to him, and both the life and the jewelry of his sister on the third floor were saved through the blessings of the Risale-i

Nur; and here too three brothers from the Çalışkan family, all hardworking students of the Risale-i Nur, and four people altogether were saved from the fire. Both I myself, and themselves, and our other brothers felt certain that all these were wonders of the Risale-i Nur and The Supreme Sign. If there had been even the slightest wind, which usually blows continuously here, most of the shops in the market might well have been burnt down. In fact, the owners of five or ten shops after the Supreme Sign shop, emptied them of goods and fled quite a distance.

Certains signs were apparent when they interfered with me and the Risale-i Nur, and seized my new letters in Sandıklı and between Afyon and Kütahya. They received slaps with those incidents, and with the incidents in Istanbul. Now they have received this blow as the penalty for intending to molest me, God willing, it has made them give up the idea, and has scared and silenced them.

My brothers! Your intelligence and precautions leave no need for my advice concerning your solidarity. But recently I have felt that they are trying to make the Risale-i Nur students suspicious of one another in order to break their solidarity and blame one another, or accuse such-and-such a student of being a spy so that they fall into dispute and disagreement. Be careful! Even if you see such a thing with your own eyes, don't break their cover. Respond to evil with good. But be extremely cautious and don't give away any secrets. Anyway, we don't have any secrets, but there are suspicious people in abundance. If such a thing should happen and one of the students is an agent, try to reform him. Don't rend the veil and break his cover. Your cohesion, especially that of the Isparta School, has acquitted both the Risale-i Nur, and its students, and this country. Also, your unanimity, enthusiasm, and endeavour are of the greatest importance since they encourage others everywhere to work at the Risale-i Nur. May Almighty God grant you persistence and success in this service of belief. Amen. Amen.

I send greetings to each and every one of all the groups of my brothers, and offer prayers for them and request their prayers.

We are absolutely certain about what our Master has written about the fire; we saw it with our own eyes.

My Dear Brothers!

I appreciated your letters, but the journalists and directors do not yet appreciate those truths. Also, the Risale-i Nur never beseeches; it is they who should beseech and seek it. It only accepts their assistance when they understand its worth and become customers for it.

Furthermore, I reckon it is appropriate at the present time not to attract attention towards the Risale-i Nur students. But this brother of yours' views should not be asked concerning this matter, since for seven years he has taken no interest in the World War and for twenty-five years has read no newspaper nor listened to one being read. The people who really know these matters are yourselves and the select Risale-i Nur students and its meticulous publishers; consulting one another, especially those in Isparta, you will do what is best. I have included this fine letter of yours in The Additional Letters. Feyzi and Emin have won an important place in those Letters; how are they? Are they managing to act in conformity with that important position? Are they feeling upset? Also, how are Taşköprülü Sadık and Hilmi and İhsan, who strove so courageously and devotedly in prison and made me indebted to them by their assisting me personally for ten years? I can't forget my brothers there, especially those in İnebolu; they shouldn't worry about me. Sometimes and in some places, the Risale-i Nur unobtrusively makes conquests most effectively and importantly, despite being halted. They shouldn't worry and should continue to write, steadfastly and single-mindedly at the same time as being circumspect and cautious.

I send greetings to all and offer prayers.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: I congratulate you on embarking on the work for The Staff of Moses (Asâ-yı Mûsâ), the primary duty for the Risale-i Nur, and with all my spirit applaud your Isparta for its advancing in religion and Islamic mores, and its not regressing.

Secondly: The verses by the Denizli Husrev, Hasan Feyzi, about the Risale-i Nur, and about the Qur'anic truth and mystery of belief and depiction of the light of Muhammad (UWBP), which are the Risale-i Nur's origin and basis, reflect a perfect sincerity and firm conviction and belief; and also although as a scholar and especially as a teacher he does not quickly accept things or bow to them without proof, he has described sincerely and

even remarkably the truth of the Risale-i Nur both in his own name and on account of the collective personality of his companions around there. We therefore deem it appropriate for the verses to be written out at the end of The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen and at the end of the pieces taken from The Additional Letters, and for them to be added to The Additional Letters; and like these, for the last piece describing the Risale-i Nur written by Halil İbrahim to be also added at the end of The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen. For so powerful and sincere a conviction may be a sign of and hint to the validity of the allusions of the The Ratifying Stamp.

Thirdly: We send many greetings to all our brothers there mentioned in Hasan Feyzi's letter, and we congratulate them. Their prison is a Nur study centre, as the province of Denizli will also become a Medresetü'z-Zehrâ, God willing. He is the pride of many people, has endeavoured to deliver the Risale-i Nur from oppression, and has given us gifts by giving the gifts of the Risale-i Nur treatises to all its students, even greater than those given to himself. This Risale-i Nur congratulation is a token and souvenir from all those who are indebted to him, a token of justice whose recompense has been received a hundred times over.

Fourthly: According to the signs, two situations confirm the predictions that the Risale-i Nur would be completed in [thirteen] sixty-four. {[*]:}

The First: Points of the greatest importance occur to one, yet there is nothing prompting one to compose a treatise.

The Second: I used to request sufficient life to work at protecting and disseminating the Risale-i Nur, and to accompany and preserve it. But endless thanks be to Almighty God, numerous young Saids perform those duties in place of this one, wretched, elderly Said. Especially the Husrevs, Feyzis, Ahmeds, Mehmeds, and many like my nephew Abdurrahman, and so on. Just as they make Hâfız Ali rejoice in his grave, so they will fill me with joy in my grave, God willing.

I send greetings to each and every one of all my brothers, and the different groups including the innocent children, the unlettered, and the sisters, and we pray for them. Through the blessings of the Risale-i Nur, the Çalışkans suffered no loss from the fire, and they send you their respects and greetings and kiss your hands.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

The plots they have been hatching against me these last few months have been uncovered, and thanks to divine protection, the calamity was reduced twentyfold.

I used to go the mosque when it was empty. Then without my knowledge, the students made a small cubicle for me in the mahfel so that I should not catch cold. For four or five days I decided not to go there. But then, using that well-known policeman, they removed the cubicle and sent me an official order saying that I could no longer go to the mosque. Without reason they made a mountain out of a molehill and caused a stir. But it is of no account, so don't worry. I reckon that their disparaging me on empty pretexts is to destroy public regard for me on all sides, which is anyway greater than my due. They think of what I used to be like and suppose I shall be unable to abide it. Whereas on condition no harm comes to the well-being and spread of the Risale-i Nur, I offer thanks to God even if I am treated with contempt and tormented a thousand times over. I give no importance to it, and the students here are not shaken at all. Through divine grace, this long-awaited incident caused little harm.

I send greetings to each of all our brothers and offer prayers.

... ... ...

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I received a powerful reminder to restate a matter of the greatest importance, which I had previously explained to you briefly. It is as follows:

There have been signs around here that because the covert assaults of hostile dissemblers and their exploiting the judiciary, politics, and government for open irreligion came to nothing, they have abandoned their former intrigues against the triumphs of the Risale-i Nur and are hatching an even more devious and underhand plot which would leave even Satan in astonishment. The chief part of their plan is to deter our select, devoted brothers and make them slack, and if possible, give up the Risale-i Nur altogether. They employ such extraordinary lies and intrigues that as with the heroic students of the Rose and Light Factories in Isparta and that region, steadfastness, loyalty, and resolve are imperative in order to withstand them. Some of them appear in the guise of friends, and if it is possible to intimidate people, make molehills into mountains and arouse

groundless fears in them. They try to make the weak ones give up, saying: "Watch out! Don't approach Said! The government's watching him." They even set young girls on some of the young students in order to enflame their passions. They also point out some of my personal faults to the leading Risale-i Nur students (erkân), and referring to some apparently religious well-known innovators, they say: "We're Muslims too; religion isn't restricted to Said's way." They exploit those simpleminded hojas and men of religion on account of the atheists and anarchists who have covertly formed a front against us. God willing, these plots of theirs will remain fruitless too. You should say the following to such wretches:

"We are students of the Risale-i Nur, and Said is a student like us. The Risale-i Nur has the Qur'an as its source, mine, and basis. Despite twenty years of unprecedented investigations and inquiries, it has proved its value and superiority to its most obdurate enemies even. Whatever Said does, who is its interpreter and servant, even if - I seek refuge with God - he were to turn against it, our loyalty and attachment to it would not be shaken, God willing o"

Saying this, you should shut that door. But you should busy yourselves with the Risale-i Nur as far as is possible, and write it out if you have the opportunity, and attach no importance to exaggerated propaganda, and be cautious and circumspect as before.

I send greetings to every one of our brothers and offer prayers.

Those who exploit politics for irreligion and covertly inculcate absolute unbelief with the intention of breaking the good will of the Islamic world, and its zeal and brotherhood, which are the most powerful strengths of the nation in this land, have deceived the government and twice confused the judiciary saying: "The Risale-i Nur students exploit religion for politics and may possibly disturb public order." Whereas the Risale-i Nur is a source of physical and spiritual blessings, and performs exceptional service for this country, and comprises truths connected to all the Islamic world, as is shown by the allusions of thirty-three Qur'anic verses and Imam 'Ali's (May God be pleased with him) three predictions and the certain news of Gawth al-A'zam, and it has no connection with politics. But because it has smashed absolute disbelief, it refutes anarchy, which underlies it, and absolute despotism, which overlies it. The Risale-i Nur ensures public security

and peace and freedom and justice; it may not be attacked on the pretext of its harming the country and government. They can no longer induce anyone to believe such a false excuse. But changing their tactics, behind the screen of religion and employing sly tricks, dissemblers may attempt to use some simple-minded hojas or supporters of the innovations or egotistical sufistically inclined people against the Risale-i Nur, as they did two years ago in Istanbul and Denizli. God willing, they won't be successful.

My Brothers!

It has now become clear that their insulting me and treating me contemptuously was a secret strategy contrived officially in order to destroy public regard for me. They are trying covertly to make my friends look coldly on me and to intimidate them. The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen, however, overturns all their propaganda. It's true that their insulting me on account of irreligion is somewhat annoying and irritates a few remaining veins of the Old Said, but in the face of the wondrous victories of the Risale-i Nur and its students being met with respect and kindness by the people of reality (ehl-i hakikat) and the angels and spirit beings, my person being treated contemptuously has the importance of not even a mosquito's wing. In so far as those despicable wretches destroy the respect in which, in regard to religion, the religiously minded and religious scholars are held, they are being contemptuous towards Islam and are execrated by the angels, spirit beings, believers, and people of reality; they win only the applause of one or two louts or atheists. As though by insulting me they are lessening the Risale-i Nur's influence; by attacking my person supposing it to be the source of the Risale-i Nur, they foolishly imagine it will fall.

So I say this: You wretches who insult me contemptuously on account of irreligion! I tell you with complete certainty that on condition you don't repent, the executioner of the appointed hour will hang you on the gallows of an eternal death sentence from which there is no escape. Your evil spirits will be condemned to everlasting solitary confinement and you will win the disgust and curses of the believers and spirit beings. But because I know that as long as you don't repent, my revenge will be taken on you many times over, I feel not anger at you, but pity.

Even if people like you who don't have the importance of a fly try to eclipse the Risale-i Nur, they cannot curb its influence, for through it hundreds of thousands of people have saved their belief, so they esteem and

love it with all their lives and spirits. As for the effects of my person, I can tell definitely that although I feel annoyance and vexation for a minute or two, I then find such consolation that even if your insults were to increase a thousandfold, they could not negate it. For according to the certain disclosures of the Risale-i Nur and as we have explained with thousands of proofs which confute the philosophers, all those who assault us on account of irreligion will be abhorred in everlasting torment and solitary confinement and eternal execution, while the students who save their belief through the Risale-i Nur will receive their release papers with death and their vouchers for eternal happiness and they will be honoured with everlasting esteem, kindness, and bestowal.

Also, unlike the Old Said, the New Said is completely against being esteemed and held in high regard and seeking fame and renown, and in no way accepts such things, and has therefore preferred to live in seclusion for twenty years. So if you are doing all this to destroy his influence and discredit him in the public view on account of public security and government, you are making a grave error. This is shown by the fact that three courts in two years could find absolutely nothing in twenty years of my life and my one hundred and twenty works or among the one hundred and twenty thousand Risale-i Nur students, that might lead to a disturbance of the peace or was incriminating or against the country and nation, so they acquitted us and returned all the parts of the Risale-i Nur. I declare to you with total certainty that you who oppress us on account of irreligion, persecute me and cause unrest on account of foreign interests to the detriment of this country and nation and public peace and security; encouraging anarchy, you seek that foreign current's intervention. In consequence, I attach not the slightest importance to your scorn and humiliation, and I have decided to endure it in patience for the sake of public order and security.

Of a certainty, this world is not permanent and its events are stormy and in constant flux. Several hours of crimes produce the results of endless torments in this world and the next. You shall then lament to no avail. So I say to you wretches as as I said to the authorities and the officials concerned with us: With the Risale-i Nur we are endeavouring to repulse the two gravest dangers threatening this country and its future, and we have in part proved this in fact with many signs, and even in court,

The First Danger: Anarchy, against which we form a barrier, is trying with all its strength to infiltrate this country from outside.

The Second: The disgust of three hundred and fifty million Muslims, which we transform into brotherhood, thus ensuring the strongest point of support for this country.

Director of the Police! Why do you disregard the illegal, meaningless, and futile aggression against me, which has not been seen in this world since early times even? An example: I have been prohibited officially from attending the mosque and so from receiving the merit of the congregation, even when it's empty, and except for one or two people have no one with me. According to which law do they cause such affront to someone elderly, ill, and living in exile and deprivation? What are the advantages of this? Without my knowledge, in an unfrequented corner of the mosque someone made me a small screened-off cubicle for two out of two or three planks and a rug so that I should not catch cold. According to which law have they shown this to be a serious incident and caused alarm to myself and all the people? What benefit is there in this? I ask you.

Those who humiliate me in this way can find no excuses, so making a pretext of public regard for me, they confront the people saying: "Why do you show such respect to this exile?" So I say:

All my friends know that I don't want the people's respect and attention, and I reject them. So although I do not accept their esteem, under which law am I liable to be charged with a crime so that I am treated contemptuously because of their good opinions, which are anyway contrary to my will and wish? Even to suppose the impossible this public regard was justifiable, it would be beneficial for the country and nation and in no way harmful. And even I were accept a tiny part of it, what wrong would there be in my accepting the friendship of one or two people so that they might assist me with my needs in my poverty, illness and old age, in a freezing room and pitiful isolation? Which law could prevent this? According to which law is everyone apart from one or two workers' children banned from having contact with me? The children are not always around and I can't see to my own needs. Members of the police and government are surely obliged to take notice of this grievous situation. I am explaining this to you since you are closely concerned with the case.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Endless thanks be to Almighty God that the serious assistance I have long awaited has begun to appear from the religious scholars (ulema) of Konya.

The Risale-i Nur emerged from the medrese (religious school) and opened up a way to reality within knowledge (T. ilim; Ar. 'ilm). Its true owners and supporters should therefore be the hojas and teachers who are produced by the medreses. I understood from Sabri's letter that the students of the blessed medrese of Konya, since ancient times one of the most brilliant, active medreses in all of Anatolia, had begun to embrace the Risale-i Nur, which is their own property. I am therefore delighted with all my life and spirit that I have come here, near to Konya, and endure all the difficulties I suffer happily. I share all my prayers and spiritual gains with the religious scholars of Konya and the region who appreciate the Risale-i Nur and show an interest in it, foremost Hoja Vehbi Efendi, the esteemed and valued author of a Qur'anic commentary. In my prayers I recall within the circle of my special students, with their names, those whose names I know. Tell them that by virtue of the spiritual partnership of the Risale-i Nur students, they receive a share of my very defective gains, and that the way has been opened for them to receive a share of all the gains of all the students, and convey my respects and greetings to them. Since just like the heroes of Isparta, the blessed scholars of Konya are now supporting the Risale-i Nur, while still in this world I no longer feel anxious about its duties; I can entrust them to those strong and trustworthy hands and enter the grave with an easy heart.

Secondly: Mustafa Osman, who in truth has in a brief time been most useful for the Risale-i Nur, as though he had worked for it for the last ten years, and is a member of the special students' circle, has evidently written a fine letter to his brothers in Emirdağ; offering his regrets for the fire, he speaks of the conflagration threatening humanity. We are including part of it in both The Additional Letters and The Ratifying Stamp, and will send you a copy later. I send my greetings both to him, and to those with him, and to our brothers in Kastamonu and İnebolu who are the means of communication, It will be most appropriate if all those with good handwriting who have the time, write out The Staff of Moses Collection, as in Isparta and the region. God willing, this task for the Risale-i Nur will be even more productive than the printing press.

Thirdly: Hâfız Emin has performed great seً آces for the Risale-i Nur. Thanks to the endeavours of people like Nuri, Hakkı, İhsan, and the late

teacher Osman, before the recent incident, his town, Göre, had become a Nur School and was working brilliantly at the Risale-i Nur. God willing, it will again perform such valuable services as far as it can. It is true that they were saddened more than anybody by the recent calamity, but the share of that town and those devoted brothers in the Risale-i Nur's widespread victories is indeed considerable.

In his letter, Hâfız Emin says that he has not received his books from the court and asks me if they have arrived here. Send him my greetings and tell him that just as his books have not arrived here, so none of the books I sent to Istanbul has reached me. I have not even been able to track down the collection of more than twenty treatises called the Big Book (büyük kitab), which I had sent to Istanbul. But since the Risale-i Nur spreads itself and has itself read to those in need, it is gaining reward for Hâfız Emin and myself; like me, he should be pleased that his books are circulating around others. I also send greetings to however many men and women there are in Göre who are concerned with the Risale-i Nur. I now again look on Göre as a Nur School as it used to be. I send greetings especially to İhsan, Abdullah, and Abdurrahman; how are they? God willing, their former shining service continues. It proves he is another Abdurrahman, and so he will continue.

I send greetings to each and every one of our brothers and pray for them.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Endless thanks be to Almighty God, that they pressurize me instead of the Risale-i Nur, and are busy with me. Don't be anxious! According to the meaning of, «It may be that you hate a thing, and it is good for you» (Q 2:216), God willing, this fresh incident will also turn out for the best.

The incident was this: they prevented Ceylan and his two friends who were assisting me from coming to me. They took the key off them and gave it to the watchmen. One of the watchmen used to come and do some jobs for me, such as bringing me bread and water. I did not know the reason for this, but there is a party dispute here in this town. One of the child's uncles {(*):} supported one of the parties, and it is possible that his opponents were the cause of the incident.

I reckon that the Risale-i Nur's victories everywhere and the anarchy that is infiltrating from outside and interfering were also the cause of it. Also, they instigated the trouble on the pretext of Mektûbat being seized in Sandıklı, saying it was a means of communication. But you should not feel alarmed, it is quite trivial. You can still write to me as you did before, but I can't write myself. They are tyrannizing me to excess as though by humiliating and insulting me they can prevent the Risale-i Nur's victories, and out of their lunacy, by puffing a sun of truth like the Risale-i Nur which has the power of millions of electric lights, it will be extinguished. But they are merely allowing me to gain extra reward.

Yesterday, a noteworthy and warning coincidence occurred: at just the time the child and his father were summoned by the police to have their statements taken, the police were notified by telephone of a serious incident that had taken place, which caused them all great alarm. They were obliged to go immediately to the spot. They were as told: "Leave those who cause less harm than a fly's wing alone, and attend to the harms of eagles, or dragons even!"

Also, at the same time as the incident of the mosque banning, the head official of the district (kaymakam) who had ordered it had to undergo an operation in Afyon. He was as though told: "Don't forget death! You shouldn't oppress people who are trying to save and be saved from its eternal execution, but appreciate and applaud them!"

I send my greetings to each and every one of my brothers and sisters, and pray for them and request their prayers.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers and Blessed Heirs and Trustworthy deputies!

Firstly: I tell you certainly that divine providence and assistance for us and for the Risale-i Nur's service continue. Behind the apparently ugly veils are truly beautiful results. A hundred benefits are bestowed in exchange for one harm that we suffer, No importance should be given therefore to temporary passing difficulties.

Secondly: As far as possible, the writing out of The Staff of Moses Collection should not cause boredom and laxity. That sacred, supreme duty is

of the very greatest importance. Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) said about it: "And it dispels the darkness."

I have corrected and sent you by post the fourteen pieces of the two Ali's. They were the cause of both myself and the students working enthusiastially. Just as they came to my assistance in Kastamonu, so here those two brothers came to my aid.

Thirdly: I certainly get very fed up here and discouraged, but when I think of your constantly working and I read longingly your kind, consoling letters, the distress dissipates and sometimes is transformed into joy. The person who writes down my letters can't come for now, but he has three or four tasks connected with the Risale-i Nur, apart from helping me personally. He carries these out to the letter. In fact, he comes as far as my door and understands what my needs are, and sees to them too.

Fourthly: Have our brothers in other places started to write out The Staff of Moses? The people who were formerly performing this the most vital task, and those with them, should combine all the pieces in one volume and start to gather together The Miracles of Muhammad UWBP and its appendices, which is the duty in serving belief that is second in importance. Or they should assist those who have fallen behind. As far as is possible, the pieces should be written out clearly and correctly.

Fifthly: There are numerous signs that after the scholars, teachers are beginning to become aware of their need for the Risale-i Nur, One is this: they requested The Supreme Sign with the intention at reading it at the conference on religion in Istanbul.

Brother Re'fet! You are truly welcome, and your preoccupation with writing out the Risale-i Nur indeed pleased me. Like Hulûsi and Sabri, your questions have yielded valuable consequences and sweet fruits for the Risale-i Nur. The scholarly pieces you have with you that have not been included in the Risale-i Nur, you can add in the appropriate places or in The Additional Letters

My brothers! A new course of action occurred to me while writing out The Staff of Moses Collection. Five or six people should practise the division of labour and each write out a passage from the same large section; it would be quicker and easier. It would prevent both boredom and - because of the unselfishness - the courage to write being broken. I reckon the failure to do this may be the reason this most important duty of the Risale-i Nur has not progressed as it should. People with good handwriting should anyway apply this new measure while working.

My brothers! You must be extremely careful and circumspect! Never argue with the hojas. As far as possible, behave in a conciliatory manner

and don't provoke their egotism. Even if they support the innovations, don't annoy them. While faced with ghastly atheism, one should not aggravate the innovators and push them towards the irreligious. If you come across the hojas sent to provoke you, don't allow them any opportunity to start an argument. Their objections under the mask of learning, are a trump in the hands of the dissemblers.

You know the harm caused in Istanbul by the elderly hoja. Endeavour as far as you can to turn it in favour of the Risale-i Nur.

Greetings to each of all my brothers.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers and Heirs!

It is a Sunna to write a will since the appointed hour is unknown. I am leaving my private books and finely bound collections from the Risale-i Nur and all the rest of my belongings to foremost Husrev and Tahirî and the other twelve members of that committee. {(*):} I am leaving them to them so that when my time comes, the belongings I leave behind may work and be employed in those loyal, blessed hands in the service of belief and the Risale-i Nur in my stead.

My brothers! Don't be alarmed at this will. I have written it owing to my distress and being poisoned nine times, and the covert dissemblers' numerous intrigues and conspiracies against me, despite my extreme weakness. But don't worry; divine providence and preservation continue.

My Loyal Brothers and Steadfast Companions in the Service of Belief!

Firstly: God willing, the principal duty in serving the Risale-i Nur will be far more productive than the printing press. It now yields large recompense for the students and powerful services in the cause of belief. Is this work progressing, I wonder, or is it lagging behind in the difficult winter conditions?

As for the second duty, together with the Tenth Word and its appendices, it has to be within the two treatises about miracles and their appendices at the end. Those who finish the first duty, should try to put any other pieces together in one volume, otherwise they should try to get hold of them. For with its present awakening and working for unity, the Islamic world will seek works like the Risale-i Nur, so large collections will certainly be needed to address the broad views of those wider spheres.

Secondly: Your help for me is particularly clear and important in two respects:

First: Your working untiringly in the service of the Risale-i Nur reduces to nothing all the calamities and difficulties I suffer; indeed, it transforms them into joy.

Second Respect: You should know certainly that I now have no doubts that your prayers has been the cause of their severe, torturous oppression being turned into providential, beneficial instances of mercy for me.

In Short: The officials and people being scared of me has saved me from grievous errors, artificiality, and acting insincerely, and from wasting my time, and has shown divine determining's total justice and grace towards me within the human cruelty. By analogy, one sees that an instance of divine mercy underlies whatever befalls me. The harm costing ten kuruş of their preoccupation with me saves the Risale-i Nur ten thousand liras of harm. You shouldn't therefore be anxious about me. In fact, sometimes when wanting to curse them for their provocations and insults, I think of their soon suffering the execution of death and torments of the solitary confinement of the grave and the advantages for me and for our work in consequence of their offensiveness and disrespect, and I leave off cursing them.

Thirdly: Your one or two letters every week are both healing for me and a means of consolation and as a sort of meeting with you and conversation, I await the post longingly.

I send my greetings to each and every one of you and offer prayers.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers and Friends on the Way of Truth!

Don't feel offended that this time I'm answering your five or six blessed letters with a single confused one.

Firstly: Although according to our way one should not accept the extraordinary qualities that Halil İbrahim's letter accords to me, two meaningful coincidences (tevâfuk) both made me accept his letter, and include it in The Additional Letters. However, I left out some parts about myself, and in other places I overwrote them with the phrase, the Risale-i Nur; this replied to their questions about the terms.

First Coincidence: At the time, indeed at the very hour, a captain was insulting me contemptuously in a way that was illegal five times over in order to destroy public regard for me, a brother who is one of the pillars of the Risale-i Nur and is more important in the eyes of the people of reality than a hundred such captains, wrote this new letter which esteeming me far beyond my due completely nullified those insults. Four other persons who are leading pillars of the students also put their signatures to it. For the sake of this strange coincidence, I accepted that letter of praise, and modifying it, put in The Additional Letters, and have sent you a rough copy of it.

Second Coincidence: One night I was thinking about the people who were writing out The Staff of Moses and I searched for references to this in the newly arrived letters. Thinking that the severe winter conditions and the occasional harassment of dissemblers might cause them to be slack and that they might need encouragement, I searched for something to motivate them, just as the two poetic pieces by Hasan Feyzi and Halil İbrahim describing the Risale-i Nur prompted and encouraged numerous people to write out copies. Then out of the blue the following morning I received the letter mentioning my death, which frightened the students and drove them to work harder and more speedily at writing. I exclaimed: Halil İbrahim's loyalty has risen to the degree of wonder-working.

Secondly: Feyzi and Emin's letter dispelled many of my anxieties. The loyalty, services, and devotion to the Risale-i Nur of these two brothers is of the very greatest importance. And the continuing work for the Risale-i Nur mentioned in Feyzi and Emin's letter of all my brothers in the region with whom I am closely connected made me weep for joy, brothers such as Hilmi, Sadık, and İhsan, who in nine months in prison performed the services of nine years, and elderly Tahsin known as Beşkardeş, who worked so hard for the Risale-i Nur with his pen.

My blood brother Abdülmecid is very worried about me and has tried to

learn about my situation from the mufti here, whom I have not been able to see. From now on, Abdülmecid should make up a threesome with Feyzi and Emin. Let them send him the requisite letters they have received from the Safranbolu heroes. Also, let them tell him when they write that just as he was the Old Said's foremost student, so he is in the first rank of the New Said's students, together with Hulûsi. Furthermore, when he hears of some calamity or bad news concerning me, he should be like my late father, Mirza (May God have mercy on him), not like my late mother, Nuriye (May God have mercy on her).

For in the old days, my father and mother used to be told of my strange doings in that eventful and rough and ready life. When they heard news like, your son is dead, or, he has been wounded, or, he is in prison, my father used to laugh and enjoy it immensely. He would say: "Ma'shallah! My son is doing something of importance again, he is demonstrating his courage and daring; that is why everyone is talking about him." While my mother would weep unhappily in the face of his pleasure. But then time would very often prove my father to be right.

Thirdly: I have accepted for the sake of all the champions of the Light Factory, the letters of Abdullah Cavil}, who is Lütfi's dedicated and truly serious heir, and of Mustafa, one of the students and heirs of the late Hâfız Ali of İslamköyü. Endless thanks be to the Most Merciful of the Merciful that He has made those villages into Nur Schools, like Sava and Kuleönü.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Compelled by my indisposition, I am this time sufficing with a single letter in reply to your numerous letters.

Firstly: The Risale-i Nur champion Husrev wants seriously and sincerely to become ill and die in my place. So I say: the present is the time for disseminating and spreading the Risale-i Nur, not for composing it. However much more beneficial your writing is than my writing, and your publishing and dissemination, to that extent your life is more useful for the Risale-i Nur's service than my torturous life. If I had the power, I would happily give you of my life and health.

Secondly: The brilliant ode and fourth lengthy poem Hasan Feyzi, fully an heir of the late martyr Hâfız Ali, wrote in the name of Denizli and all our serious brothers in that region, are a salve for my severe illness and poisoning, as is the fact that the students there are also working diligently.

Endless thanks be to the Most Merciful of the Merciful, for they turn Denizli into a second Isparta and a large İslamköyü.

The just judge Muharrem and Feyzi and Hâfız Mustafa have performed twenty years of service for the Risale-i Nur in one or two years and have made all the students of the Risale-i Nur eternally indebted to them. May God Almighty be pleased with them and with all those who have worked together with them, for ever and ever! Amen!

Thirdly: The truly sincere, sad letter of condolence in the name of the Nur School sent by Marangoz Ahmed (the Carpenter), who is one of its champions and fully an heir of Marangoz Mustafa Çavuş and Hâfız Mehmed of Barla, made me weep for joy. So I say: Since there are numerous Saids, young and old, in that blessed school, it is of no importance if one elderly, powerless Said whose duties are finished is missing. Even if there is temporary parting, it shouldn't grieve you, for we shall all be together in everlasting life.

Fourthly: M. H. R. M, , who after the just judge has striven most for true justice and the Risale-i Nur's freedom, is among the most sincere of the students and together with his namesake and my own brother and first student, Molla Mehmed, is in my prayers and shares in my spiritual gains.

Fifthly: In connection with my will and in the style of Halil İbrahim and Hasan Feyzi, Sabri of Konya has also composed a short but fine ode which accords his Master excessive value. In the shining mirror of his own good will, he gave this wretched brother of his extraordinary worth. He writes too that the religious scholars are earnestly writing out the Risale-i Nur. So I say: The person he calls Master and accords such worth to could only be the Risale-i Nur's collective personality. So I accepted his ode in its name and added it to The Additional Letters. I am also sending you a copy.

Don't worry, my illness is slowly disappearing. Together with theirs, was a sincere, but strange letter from one of our brothers called Ispartalı Mustafa. Which Mustafa is this? I did not know, but send him many greetings. His extraordinary dream is auspicious, but I can't interpret it for now.

I send greetings to each and every one of all my brothers and sisters, and pray for them, and await their acceptable prayers.

We have added a few words to Hasan Feyzi's fine ode and included it in The Additional Letters, and are also sending it to you.

My Very Dear, Most Loyal and True Brothers, and Trusty, Sincere Heirs in respect of the Risale-i Nur!

I received an admonishment to disclose a most meaningful and powerful coincidence, an indication of the students' loyalty and explicit wonder of the Risale-i Nur. It is this: at just the same time that I wrote my will, covert dissemblers found an opportunity when my assistants whom I trust were prevented by the police from coming to me, and by means of a person I did not know gave me some poison that was more powerful than that given me nine times previously.

Also, at the same time the Tunisian scholar, Hoja Haşmet, who is one of our brothers and last year came this far to visit me but left without seeing me, wrote to here from Yozgat saying: "Said has died. The one hundred and thirty treatises of the Risale-i Nur should be kept so that we can print them in the future."

Also, at the same time, Halil İbrahim's sad eulogy-like letter about my death made the students weep.

Also, very close to that time, in one or two letters about my death, Husrev, in unaccustomed manner alluded to my death with such phrases as "a lifetime of two or three days," and saddened me. Alarmed, I wondered if I was going to depart.

Also, around that time, while dwelling mostly on my duty in this worldly life and worrying whether the students would perform it in my place at this ghastly time, Denizli, Milâs, Isparta, and İnebolu, and the teacher, scholars, and others raced to that duty with such fervour and partiality in a way far exceeding my hopes, that I was left in amazement.

In Short: This fivefold coincidence was a clear wonder of the Risale-i Nur.

Praise be God! This is from the grace of my Lord.

My brothers! Don't be alarmed, the Jaushan and Evrad-ı Bahâiye have again overcome and dispelled the dangers of that terrible poison. The danger has passed, but the illness continues.

I send greetings to each and every one of my brothers and pray for their well-being, and request their doubtlessly acceptable prayers. And with all my life and spirit I congratulate the many women and children in İnebolu and its environs who are starting to write out the Risale-i Nur and the many innocents taking lessons about the Qur'an.

My Brothers!

Don't be upset, and don't worry! Just help me with your prayers. For several days now my left arm aches severely and disturbs me at night. I have allowed no one to be with me, I can only attend to the necessary jobs in my room with the greatest difficulty. I reckon it is an offshoot of the chronic lumbago I have suffered for years; I am badly affected by the physical climate here and the winter, as well as by the groundless suspicions and persecution of those cruel people, and the non-physical winter. I experience severe suffering as though half affected by apoplexy. But all thanks be to God, your acceptable prayers have lessened the danger considerably. God willing, it will pass altogether in that way, and only its many rewards will remain in its place.

My brothers! According to what Salâhaddin writes, The Staff of Moses Collection sees much action in that region and wins many victories. This means that it is performing that most important duty of the Risale-i Nur there. All praise be to God a hundred thousand times, and for those who write it out, a hundred Ma'shallahs and Bârekâllahs!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: Endless thanks be to Almighty God that as proved by the unwavering activities of the heroic students in these harsh conditions, Isparta will be a full Medresetü'z-Zehrâ and al-Azhar University, and has begun to be so. Their working enthusiastically at the Qur'an and Risale-i Nur, and in Ali Köyü even many children becoming students through the efforts of the Ali's and all the young people in another village working at the Qur'an at night and the mosques being filled with congregations, reduces to nothing the difficulties suffered by the Nur students.

Secondly: For sure, the fourth long poem of the extraordinarily loyal and devoted Halil İbrahim and the descriptions far exceeding my due of my servanthood of the Risale-i Nur, are really very fine, but since the poem looks more to my person than to the Risale-i Nur I have not sent it to you for now; it shall be sent after it has been modified. I particularly send greetings to him and to his companions.

Thirdly: Don't be anxious about their conspiracies against me; perhaps, indeed, you should be pleased that they are attacking my insignificant person whose work is finished in place of the Risale-i Nur and its students,

and tormenting me. Recently there has been the incident of the high-ranking officials here telling some people that "Said should be disposed of." Profiting from ideas like these that have been put around, my secret enemies scattered my assistants, and seizing the opportunity, poisoned me. They felt empowered by officials like them. But divine providence and preservation thwarted their conspiracy. God willing, this providence and preservation will persist and all their plans will be foiled.

Although I had not applied to them for twenty years, this petition was written addressing Hilmi [Uran] , the Interior Minister, once off and when I was angry, because he was persecuting me. It was sent to the Afyon police chief for his information. Four or five times they meaninglessly and unnecessarily harassed me. They summoned me to the police station officially and demanded: "That's not how you write; who wrote it for you?" I replied: "Application shouldn't be made to such people; I was right to keep silent for twenty years!"

Police and authorities of Emirdağ! I wrote the below conversation a year ago, then held it and did not send it. But now they are intervening and preventing my assistant from helping me, which is illegal in five respects, and are constraining and holding me under an absolute despotism in a way unheard of in the world. I am publicizing this in the hope that those who flout the law in the name of the law will act more fairly and justly.

I have been the target of an injustice that has been unprecedented in history on the face of the earth, and cruelty and oppression that are illegal in ten respects. It is as follows:

How does it profit you to inflict the police on an extremely weak elderly seventy-one-year-old who is severely ill from being poisoned as a result of a conspiracy; is alone in piteous exile; impoverished to the extent that he had to sell his sack coat, vest, and slippers to secure his needs; a solitary recluse who for twenty-five years is able to meet with only one completely loyal person out of a thousand; an innocent man whose life and works of twenty years have been ruled by three courts and the Ankara experts' committee to be beneficial, not harmful, for the country and nation; a son of this land who performed important services in the Great War; a patriot who has striven with all his strength with his effective works to save this nation

and country from anarchy and the corruption of foreigners; and as has been testified to by seventy witnesses in court, has not read a newspaper for twenty-five years nor been curious about the news; has taken no interest in the Second World War, nor has asked about it nor known about it; and as is proved in his works has completely cut all his ties with politics, and as has been admitted officially by your judiciary, has not interfered in your world? How does it benefit you to set foremost yourself, the Interior Minister, and the governor of Afyon and the Emirdağ police on this wretched Said, who flees desperately from public regard lest harm should come to his life in the hereafter and his sincerity, and dislikes and shrinks from his brothers' good opinions about him and their praise; what profit is there in making him suffer in one day the torments of a month's solitary confinement, compelling him to remain all alone and solitary in anguish? I ask, What law permits this ghastly cruelty? and I declare the above to the Interior Minister by way of the Ministry of Justice, which protects the rights of the public.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers and Osman, Mehmed, and Hasan Efendis, who are as true to me in my exile as kith and kin!

In connection with the extraordinary concern of Hasan Feyzi and the other students for the Çalışkan family, which is immediate recompense for your unforgetable and earnest services for myself and the Risale-i Nur, and their broadcasting your good name throughout the country and causing the people of reality to look on you as friends, you are obliged in my place to be extremely circumspect and completely loyal and most careful in order to protect and defend the Risale-i Nur and its students more than myself and to save them from the intrigues of the politicians and the enemies who poisoned me. For even the smallest mistake will discredit not only myself, but also thousands of innocent students and your own good name, which is now shining. My situation and the difficulties inflicted on me are illegal in six respects, so in order to absolve themselves from future responsibility, those who torment me unjustly and illegally, are searching for a pretext for themselves and an excuse. So you have to be extremely careful,

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: Part of the conversation with the Interior Minister was sent to you a couple of days ago so that you might take it as a model and when necessary refer to it when presenting a petition to the minister or to the court. Our brothers too should defend themselves against the dissemblers accordingly. It seems that it was him who up to now has spitefully caused this torturous distress to be visited on me. However ... you consult among yourselves and do whatever is necessary. But you must act with caution and without fussing and causing a commotion.

Secondly: I have received by way of the timid mufti of this place, whom I have not met, Hulûsi's letter from Kars and a letter from my nephew Nihad. In truth, that brother of ours preserves his staunch, extraordinary loyalty and his close concern with the Risale-i Nur. It is a meaningful coincidence that although he did not know it, I had said in the piece for Sabri due to the possibility of Nihad being there, that if he was in Kars he would meet with Hulûsi. Just at the time I had said this here and then written it to you, they both wrote letters to me although both had hitherto been silent.

Thirdly: Another subtle and happy coincidence was the letter from our brother Re'fet which demonstrated his complete loyalty and concern and that he is a Nur commander like Hulûsi, arriving at the same time I received Hulûsi's letter. Both should be added to The Additional Letters. Re'fet's teaching the Qur'an to the innocent children and his being preoccupied with writing out and reading Lem'alar (The Flashes), and those innocents praying that my illness should be cured, soothed it like a salve and cheered me up.

And Fourthly: Many times I had sorrowfully and regretfully wondered whether or not Yâkub Cemâl, whose writing resembles that of Âsım, was alive and if he was alive, he was working at the Risale-i Nur with his fine pen. Then endless thanks be to God, I received a letter from him showing both that he was alive, and that he was serving the Risale-i Nur, and that he persisted in loyalty. I exclaimed: All praise be to God!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

More than a hundred times, a truly valuable truth related to belief has appeared to me, But because the period of composition has finished, I have been unable to capture it, however much I tried. I have waited so that I might express it and communicate it clearly, but I have not been successful.

Now, with the briefest of indications, I shall speak of that very extensive and lengthy truth. The Hadith, "God created man in the form of the Most Merciful" {[*]:} is both a condensed, comprehensive statement, and a figurative (müteşâbih) Hadith. When reading the Hulâsatü'l-Hulâsa (Ar. Khulasat al-Khulasa) and the Jaushan al-Kabir, a truly significant and universal point concerning it became clear to my heart. So in order not to lose that strange and beautiful point, I jotted down signs and allusions to it between the Seventeenth Degree of the Hulâsatü'l-Hulâsa, which is the testimony of the Qur'an's tongue, and the Eighteenth, which is the testimony of the universe's tongue:

There is no God but God, the Necessarily Existent, the One, the Unique, through the tongue of the truth of humanity, through the words of its life and senses and disposition, and its being a measure and standard, and its humanness; and through the words of humanity's attributes and morality and vicegerency, and being index-like, and the nature of its 'I', and through the words of its comprehensive creation and diverse forms of worship and its multiple needs and its boundless poverty, impotence, and faultiness, and its unlimited potentialities.

Here, I am going to explain and elucidate this brief indication, again very briefly and in code. You can add it as an addendum to the Hulâsatü'l-Hulâsa.

Yes, when I read the Hulâsatü'l-Hulâsa, I see the vast universe as a circle for the remembrance of God. But since the tongue of each realm of beings is very extensive, to comprehend the divine names and attributes at the degree of the knowledge of certainty the intellect has to work excessively by way of reflective thought. Only then does it see them completely. But when the intellect considers the human reality, it confirms those names and attributes in that reality's comprehensive measure, tiny map, tiny true sample, tiny sensitive balance, and responsive egoism, with a conscience, assurance and belief which are utterly certain, direct, and assented to mentally. It acquires certain affirmative belief most easily, in its mirror that is present with it, without needing a lengthy journeying in thought; it comprehends a true meaning of "God created man in the form of the Most Merciful." Because, since form is precluded in respect of Almighty God, what is meant by form (T. suret; Ar. sura) is character, morality, and attributes.

Yes, followers of the Sufi path travelled two paths in gaining knowledge of God (marifet-i Ilâhiye), in the inner and outer worlds, the shortest, easiest, surest, and most powerful of which they found to be the journey through man's inner self (enfüsî); that is, the silent remembrance of God in the heart. Similarly, the lofty people of reality (ehl-i hakikat) proceeded down two highways, not in experiential and ideational knowledge of God (marifet ve tasavvur), but in the much higher and more valuable belief and affirmation (iman ve tasdik).

One of these highways, like The Supreme Sign and Hizbü'n-Nûriye and Hulâsatü'l-Hulâsa, is by pondering over the book of the universe to behold the outside world (âfâk).

The Other is by reflecting on the map of the human reality, index of human egoism, and the nature of man's self with the conscience and senses (vicdanî ve hissî) and to an extent, vision (şuhûdî), to rise to a degree of belief that is free of doubt and scruples and is the most powerful degree, that of absolute certainty, which looks to the mystery of divine immediacy and the legacy of prophethood. Reflective thought on the inner self in attaining belief has been explained in part in the Thirtieth Word on the 'I' and 'I'ness (ene ve enâniyet), and in the Windows on Life and Man in the Thirty-Third Letter, and in part in other pieces of the Risale-i Nur.

This may added to both The Additional Letters, and The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen, and the Hulâsa.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Don't be offended that, because of my indisposition, I am answering your numerous letters with one, single, wretched letter.

Firstly: Our secret enemies have employed every stratagem to gain a hold over several high-ranking government officials and by needling my most sensitive points and harassing me to incite an incident resembling the Menemen or Shaykh Said incidents. But they realised that the Old Said is no more, and that the New Said endures everything, so they switched plans to other plans; in short, to poisoning me. But divine preservation foiled that one too. Now those dissemblers are officially utilizing black propaganda to scare the people away from me and induce them to give me up. However, don't you worry about this at all. Divine providence continues; the Risale-i Nur's victories are gradually spreading.

Secondly: Hasan Feyzi's new eulogy and Halil İbrahim's of a week ago,

showing their extraordinary good will towards my person, and their sincere and sorrowful poems of farewell, have been accepted with a few modifications for three reasons:

The First: They wrote them not on account of my person, but on account of my being a servant of the Qur'an and belief and the Risale-i Nur; they were looking to that sacred duty.

The Second: Their descriptions, which far exceed my due, and those of our sincere brothers in that region whom they represent, are a sort of earnest prayer, and an auspicious omen (tefe'ül), and an elevated desire for good, and a reflection of their abilities, their belief, and their most serious concern for the Risale-i Nur.

The Third: In so far as in their view I am the representative and exemplification of the collective personality of the Risale-i Nur and its students, there would be no benefit in slighting that wondrous good will of theirs and breaking their morale. I send thousands of greetings to both of them and their friends, particularly Ahmed Feyzi and our brothers in Denizli Prison and those striving for justice for our sake.

Thirdly: I cannot find the time to extract key passages from each of Husrev's many letters, which have so often soothed my difficulties and which I keep with me, and add all of them to The Additional Letters. God willing, I shall study them when the occasion arises. Ahmed Nazif's letters, written in the name of the İnebolu students and showing that he shared in Halil İbrahim's heart-rending eulogy, dispelled my worries about my steadfast brothers in that region. May God be pleased with them!

Fourthly: Our old and new brothers whose names are mentioned in the letter from Ahmed from the village of Çoban İsa are working at the Risale-i Nur and getting their children to work at it and at the Qur'an, which is indeed a noteworthy service for the Risale-i Nur. May Almighty God grant them success. Amen!

Fifthly: Perhaps twenty times, Jaushan and Awrad-i Qudsiyya-i Shah-i Naqshband have saved me from losing my life due to the physical and spiritual poison of my dissembler enemies, but regretfully, due to their cruelty I suffer such effects, tension, grief, and revulsion in my nerves, and such sensitivity and strain, that I can't endure having even my truest friend and most loyal brother with me for an hour; my spirit cannot abide it. I feel distress if one of them merely looks at me, The unsociableness that I used to suffer from slightly, has become very severe due to the cruel maltreatment of those oppressors and their surveillance. It is as though I have died to social life before dying my death; it is on account of this truth and mystery that my select brothers are writing their eulogies.

Also, the climate here abrades my nerves and irks me terribly. One winter day here weighs on me and distresses me more than the whole winter I spent in Denizli Prison.

However, I can tell you in all certainty that just as the eye cannot endure the weight of a hair; so too, although my spirit is pained by a hair's weight, it takes on itself and endures gratefully and patiently mountains' weight of oppression and difficulties for the well-being of the Risale-i Nur and its students and in their place. But since my powerlessness and weakness and sorrow are excessive, instead of increasing my load with their praising me, my select brothers should lighten it with their prayers and compassion, and help me with their saintly influence and pity. It is a manifestation of divine grace that this severe sickness of unsociability that I suffer reduces to nothing the solitary confinement the tyrants inflict on me; it pleases me in a way, rather than tormenting me.

My Dear Loyal Brothers and Efficacious Consolation and Heirs in this Dreadful Age!

Evidence that your superhuman efforts and enterprise have transformed Isparta and its environs into an extensive Medresetü'z-Zehrâ and al-Azhar University is your sending to this semi-literate brother of yours more than twenty perfect copies of The Staff of Moses which show the coincidences (tevâfuk) and left even the printers in astonishment. May the Most Merciful of the Merciful bestow a thousand instances of His mercy on you, on those who write out copies, and on those who help them, for each word, and thousands of fruits of Paradise, and have written in the books of your good deeds hundreds of merits. Amen! Amen! Amen!

I considered them and this occurred to my heart: Can it be that these champions have no present recompense? Then it suddenly came to me that by writing out this collection, first and foremost they read attentively its powerful lesson in belief, which silences the philosophers and induces them to believe, and so gain a spiritual treasury.

Moreover, the copies they write will save the belief of many other people or they will come to believe. There is a Hadith which says: "A single person coming to believe through you is better than a plain-full of red sheep." {[*]:} Also, with their blessed pens, they perform the sacred duties of

the great mujahid heroes of early Islam. The future will most certainly applaud them and the Nurjus.

Secondly: It is appropriate that the passage at the beginning of The Staff of Moses Collection which is underlined, be written out. Anyone who wishes may write it together with the beginning part of this letter.

The Twenty-Eighth Flash and Eighth Ray have proved satisfactorily that in his ode, Jaljalutiyya, Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) foretells powerfully and almost explicitly with the same number the Risale-i Nur and its main treatises, In Jaljalutiyya, with the line: «And with the name of Moses' staff, the darkness is dispelled,» he gives news of its final treatise.

A couple of years ago, we supposed that The Supreme Sign was its final treatise, whereas now, the writing of the Risale-i Nur being completed in [thirteen] sixty-four {[*]:} and the above lines of Imam 'Ali giving news of a treatise that would dispel the darkness and scatter light like the staff of Moses, breaking their spells; and both The Fruits section of this collection being a sort of court defence and scattering the dark injustice that descended upon us, and The Proofs section dispelling the darkness of the philosophy that formed a front against the Risale-i Nur and compelling the Ankara experts' committee to submit and appreciate it; and its containing numerous indications that it would disperse darknesses in the future; and like the staff of Moses (Upon whom be peace) caused twelve springs to flow from the rock, this collection with its Fruits and their eleven luminous topics and its Conclusive Proof of God and its eleven decisive proofs, all afforded us the conviction that with those lines, Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) was looking directly to the collection called The Staff of Moses and was giving news of it appreciatively.

Thirdly: Sabri, who is the Nur Power Station and some of whose pieces are included in the Twenty-Seventh Letter, has sent another eulogy. We have added it to The Additional Letters, and have also sent it to you. And Hâfız Mustafa - who is one of the blessed people and has performed many services in spreading the Risale-i Nur - his blessed, innocent grandson wrote out the Sixth Ray when seven years old and wrote me a letter, which will awaken an interest in the Risale-i Nur among the innocents here. He should be called Said Nurî; the name Nursî, referring to the village, is meaningless. The 's' should be left out and just the 'î' remain, to show his attachment to the Risale-i Nur. I was going to write many other things, but I've been obliged to cut it short due to the many duties and jobs I have to do.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: Your sending the good news that those who have completed the first duty are beginning the second, The Miracles Collection, prompted me to offer endless thanks to the Most Merciful of the Merciful, who has bestowed such true brothers on me in this work for religious belief. Proceeding from its use of the Qur'anic script, the first duty displayed a wonder on the opening, in the centre, of a course for the Qur'anic script. God willing, the second duty will display an even more miraculous wonder.

Secondly: It will be more beneficial and appropriate if Konyalı Sabri communicates with me through you, because for the most part you can do what he wants in my place. For instance, since the scholars can assist to the fullest extent by doing corrections, the corrections should be done there by them. You can send them some of the copies I have corrected previously. Truly, the question of corrections is most important. Sometimes an error in a letter or a point even, can cause a valuable meaning to be lost. First of all, those who write out copies should compare them thoroughly, then give them to the correctors. Mâshâllah, there are very few errors in the Staff of Moses collections that have reached me recently, and they have been corrected to an extent. May God be pleased with both those who wrote them out and those who corrected them. Amen!

Thirdly: The Tunisian Hoja Haşmet, who lives in Yozgat and is interested in the Risale-i Nur, heard firstly that I had died and then that I was alive, and sent two sincere letters here; send him my greetings.

Fourthly: We have made Rüştü's heroic brother, Burhan, a partner in our spiritual gains since he has for a long time performed valuable services for the Risale-i Nur in times of need despite being unlettered. Including him among the select students, we mention him by name in our prayers every day.

It is a meaningful coincidence that just when describing my wide-ranging anxieties at the non-arrival of Husrev's and Sabri's letters, numerous letters arrived in unexpected fashion, which dispelled all those comprehensive worries.

I send my greetings to all my brothers.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers, and True Friends on the Way of Truth and Eternity!

The private letters that have arrived here from the Kastamonu villagers and champions of the Risale-i Nur and the devotees of Safranbolu deserve replies, but neither my situation nor my time permits this, so they should not be offended if I send a short reply via yourself.

Firstly: The letters of Hilmi, ihsan, Emin, and Taşköprülü Sadık filled me with joy. In truth, these brothers performed in nine months in prison nine years of service for the Risale-i Nur and came shoulder to shoulder with the Isparta champions. I shall never ever forget all they did for my welfare, for the unity and co-operation of our friends in the prison, and for the new parts of the Risale-i Nur, May God be eternally pleased with them and with you! Frequently I travel eagerly in the imagination to those times and to the places we used to make excursions to in Kastamonu and Barla. I sit down there and weep, and gaze at those friends of mine in the imagination.

Mustafa Osman and Hıfzı (May God have mercy on him) wrote a short letter that resembled the powerful expressions and fine handwriting of the hero Sadık, and sent the greetings of the Safranbolu students. I wondered if Sâdık had gone there or whether they had gone to him, or was there another brother called Sâdık?

More than anyone else, it is the duty of the loyal people of Barla to work with all their strength at writing out the Risale-i Nur. For Barla has won the honour of being the first Risale-i Nur School, so it is not permissible to leave it without students. God willing, it will again be filled. May God's blessings be upon those who are working, and may He grant them success. Amen!

Secondly: The two letters of Osman and Ahmed, two of Safranbolu's loyal students, show their extraordinary loyalty and attachment to the Risale-i Nur. Mâshallah, Osman has in a short time both learnt the Qur'an, and has written out pieces of the Risale-i Nur, and is now writing out The Staff of Moses. He is a true brother of the devoted Mustafa Osman and Hıfzı, and Ahmed is truly devoted as well. There are deficiencies in the writing of the letter, and I couldn't make out what he was saying. I send many greetings to them and to my brothers in Safranbolu and Kastamonu and around there, and I offer prayers for them, and request their prayers. I send greetings to each and every one of our brothers of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ in Isparta and the region, and pray for their peace and well-being.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I was worrying because I hadn't received Husrev's letter written by himself; and no reply had arrived concerning the collections I had sent to Konya; and because our enemies and foremost the Minister of the Interior together with the anarchists were all pressurizing me; and because some of the dissemblers here had learnt from certain simple-hearted friends of ours that I had sent books to both Eskişehir and Konya and had received The Staff of Moses collections. Then suddenly in unprecedented fashion in this season, one and a half metres of snow fell and there was a terrible blizzard and cold spell. I wondered if such anger and wrath could be connected with the Risale-i Nur and its students, like the four earthquakes and drought last year. I asked if the calamity was general or just limited to the provinces of Afyon and Eskişehir, and they replied that it was limited to them. So I exclaimed: "All praise be to God! That means there is no general attack on the Risale-i Nur and its students; only on myself and the treatises I have with me." I had reckoned that Eskişehir, which I so trusted, would be a Nur School like Denizli, but it remained ten degrees below Denizli, the reason for which was the situation scaring them, like with Afyon and Emirdağ. Anyway, don't worry; just like with the Istanbul secular schools, God willing, this weather incident has caused the covert Masons to give up the new assault they were intending. Divine providence is protecting us.

Secondly: This time I received seven or eight letters. My situation, pen, and time do not permit me to write personal replies, so don't be offended. We added the letters from Mehmed Feyzi and Emin to The Additional Letters without touching them. I did not interfere with them since both of them have served me personally for eight years, and their descriptions which far exceed my due are a sort of prayer and source of encouragement and contentment, and a sign of good will and loyalty towards their Master in so far as he is the interpreter of the Risale-i Nur, and of their belief and attachment. And it is appropriate that Feyzi's description of his mother's beautiful, luminous death due to the lessons of the Risale-i Nur, a shining example of how it comes to the aid of its students at the time of death and other times of difficulty, should be included among The Additional Letters.

An immediate reply to Halil İbrahim's letter asking numerous questions about the whys and wherefores of divine decree and determining, would allow us to strive to perform good works, and would attract everyone's attention to the Risale-i Nur and get them to read it. But since it would call to mind some sort of objection to divine decree and determining, it would

be inappropriate for general circulation in The Additional Letters. However, the sections and invocations at the end of the letter taken from Jaushan al-Kabir are very fine.

Thirdly: Husrev's letter telling of the eager services for the Risale-i Nur performed by Lame 'Ali of Atabey and Kâzım of Eğirdir prompt even spirit beings to praise and applaud them. And the letter to me of fourteen-year-old Mustafa Yeşil of Ali Köyü and his father, describing their services for both the Qur'an and the Risale-i Nur, and all the innocents of that village working for the Risale-i Nur through the efforts and endeavours of the three 'Ali's, drove not only myself but all the Nur students to applaud them and offer thanks.

Fourthly: Abdurrahman Salâhaddin's belated condolences at the end of the letter Feyzi wrote on the occasion of his mother's death, and his writing in a postscript that he did not accept that I had died, and that in some way Gawth al-A'zam's protection had passed to The Staff of Moses, made me weep for joy. Also, the Safranbolu heroes participating in the epics of Mehmed Feyzi and Emin; and a general course for the Arabic script and letters being inaugurated in the centre of government and this being a sign of The Staff of Moses' conquests and its wonderworking, and good tidings, caused me the greatest joy and reduced to nothing all the distress I had suffered this winter.

Molla Mehmed of Tavas, one of Denizli's devoted hardworking people, has sent letter which is short in words but long in meaning, from which I understood that he did not believe that I had died either, and that he attributes to me much greater worth than is my due.

I send many greetings both to him, and to my brothers whom I met in prison, and to Feyzi and Hâfız Mustafa and their friends.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: We included in The Additional Letters in the name of all the innocents and champions of Sava this fine sincere piece of Ahmed, one of the old innocents of the Nur School, Mâshallah! It shows that Haji Hâfız Mehmed has a valuable grandson who closely resembles him.

Secondly: I was exceedingly pleased that the two grandchildren of one

of the leading Nur students in Safranbolu, Hıfzı, one aged ten and the other eight, are writing out The Staff of Moses Collection and that they wrote a letter telling me they were about to finish it.

Thirdly: One reason for the grievous difficulties inflicted on me this winter was that they isolated me from everyone so that I should not assist in the liberal parties' smashing the absolute tyranny of the people from Salonica. But the Risale-i Nur speaks with thousands of tongues in my place, and demolishes disbelief and apostasy, and defeats anarchy.

[Due to his writings being misunderstood and misinterpreted, for years the innocent Bediuzzaman Molla Said, who is genuine, sincere and harbours no aims other than Islam, has been forced to live in confinement. I am writing this private petition purely in the name of humanity, so that that innocent man may live in peace either where he is or on being moved to Ankara, and that he may receive recompense in his old age for the services he performed in his youth, which are now forgotten. I request your honoured self that you do not refuse this and read this petition in person. I offer my deepest respects and thanks.]

Who is Molla Said?

Molla Said, who at present is obliged to reside in the town of Emirdağ in Afyon Province, has lived since his birth among his Turkish brothers and has acquired the traits of the Turks. He fought as a voluntary militia commander in the snowy mountains of Caucasia during the Great War together with our heroic soldiers. He moved from place to place to give them guidance and was awarded the War Medal. He fought in the battle of Sarıkamış. He was wounded and fell prisoner at the fall of Bitlis, and suffered for years as a Russian prisoner-of-war. He escaped, and on returning to Istanbul was appointed to the Darü'l-Hikmeti'l-islâmiye for his knowledge and learning. On the formation of the National Forces he urged the people to join the struggle, and coming to Ankara during the first year of the Parliament, performed services in the Hacı Bayram guest house explaining the necessity to many hesitant people of defending the country. Because the works this truly patriotic person has written primarily about

worship, faith, and the tenets of belief do not conform to the regime and the approach of certain persons who dislike religion and religious people, especially the opportunist Şükrü Kaya, who at present occupies the post of interior minister, the unfortunate Molla Said has suffered the wretchedness of around twenty years' imprisonment and exile as a result of baseless accusations and false reports. Two years ago, on the pretext of those reports, handcuffs were clapped on his wrists and being taken from his torturous abode in Kastamonu, was sent to Denizli Prison together with sixty-six people whose sole crime was to have greeted him. His works, which were deemed so harmful, were scrutinized for months firstly by a committee in the Istanbul Mufti's office, then by a commission consisting of members of the Directorate of Religious Affairs and the Institute of Language and History, who could find not the slightest matter in any of his works that might infringe state policies or disturb public order. In consequence, having been imprisoned for eleven months, Molla Said, the Nur students, and those who had read his works were released on the order of the court. But although this elderly man had been permitted to reside in Denizli, a short time later he was sent away to Afyon and from there to the town of Emirdağ, where he was prevented from having contact with any of his Turkish brothers.

Respected Sir! This elderly person has been deprived of the liberties recognised by the Republic and the Constitution. He is an Islamic thinker who, having no family or relatives, in every way deserves the protection and support of an Islamic government. According to what the famous late poet [Mehmed] Âkif Bey recounted, an article about Said entitled "Fatîn al-'Asr (Genius of the Age)" published around twenty years ago in the newspaper al-Ahram by 'Abd al-'Aziz Chawish, a leading scholar of Egypt who knew several Western languages and was familiar with philosophy, was read by scholars there who had met him in person and appreciated his powerful knowledge and struggles in God's way.

Esteemed Sir! Molla Said is by nature a lover of the Turks and a servant of Islam, yet he has suffered insult and been belittled as a Kurd. {(*):} Society in our country will suffer no harm from him; rather, it will profit morally and spiritually. I testify on my honour that Molla Said is guiltless and a person of integrity. My request therefore in the name of humanity from far-

seeing persons like yourself who have laid hands on the nation's government and destiny, is that in conformity with the justice of government, your high office, and equity and generosity, justice be accorded this person who due to the malicious words of informers has been deprived of the bounty of freedom, of breathing fresh air, and of meeting with any of his Turkish brothers, and that at least once he be granted a meeting with good will. After this, whether you graciously rule on his remaining or on his departing, you will have performed your weighty duty within the law and will have added an admirable act to the record of your life. You will have shown your love of justice to the people and to free-thinking historians like myself who have lost a leg and are now outside of politics.

My Esteemed Brother in Religion!

For forty days I have been preoccupied with you as I lie ill. Owing to what I have heard and imagined, in line with "the believer is beset by many tribulations," {[*]:} it seems to me that you must be suffering some indisposition. Around ten days ago I called from my window to someone who was selling pure Afyon butter, and bought some from him. My intention was to ask about you. I was very upset to learn that you had been exiled to Emirdağ and that its people were forbidden to meet with you.

My esteemed brother! The person writing this letter to you is the former Erzurum deputy, Yeşiloğlu Mehmed Salih, who thirty-one years ago was with you during the Great War in the Esad Paşa Medrese in Erzurum and the snowy Caucasian mountains, and twenty-four years ago when I was a deputy met you in the hall of the Parliament building together with your friend, the Governor of Van, Haydar Bey.

My Dear Brother Hasan Efendi!

Please write on my behalf to our esteemed brother Salih Efendi and tell

him that till the end of my days I shall never forget this humanitarian act of his, and that I am most grateful and send many greetings and offer prayers for him. Nevertheless, I have decided to endure every sort of difficulty. Moreover, I don't expect any kindnesses from those leaders.

You sent me a copy of The Staff of Moses which is not bound and has only a yellow paper cover. The handwriting slightly resembles Husrev's, but it has the name Mustafa at the top. Who is it? Which Mustafa? The copy also has "thirteen-year-old Hatice, Ahmed's daughter" written on it. Which Ahmed is this? May God's blessings be upon both of them. It is heroic for one of the innocent children to write out at that age such a long book most carefully, beautifully and correctly, and showing the coincidences, Whoever sees it will applaud it. It will also fire the enthusiasm of the women here who have been to school.

Our brother Nazif's letter is important. In truth, there are many people in America who are devotedly attached to religion for religion's sake, not for political ends. God willing, the person who got hold of a copy of The Staff of Moses is one of them. Keçeli Salâhaddin is just like Abdurrahman; he does not want to lag behind his father in heroism. He also makes us look to this world from time to time, although it is not our custom. If that American scholar of standing wants the whole Risale-i Nur and says he will publish it, we can give him good set after having consulted with you.

Sent with Nazif's letter was a question about a retired person's doubts. If he is seriously interested in the Risale-i Nur, there is no need for him to ask such questions. He should read the Thirteenth Flash, on the meaning of "I seek refuge with God from Satan the accursed," and the part of the Twenty-Ninth Word about the existence of the angels and spirit beings. As for his meaningless doubts, there are answers to them in a hundred places in the Risale-i Nur. Atheistic materialists have seized the opportunity in the present ghastly conditions and inculcated such doubts in people. This man has been affected by them and asked that question. I send him my greetings. The Risale-i Nur can solve all his difficulties; he should work at it sincerely and with acquiescence, and should listen to it.

The letter from Marangoz Ahmed, who is one of the old and new heroes

of the Nur School, pleased and gratified me in three or four ways. Bearing the name of the school's leading student, this Ahmed is both performing the duties of the late Hâfız Ali, and together with a valuable brother like Süleyman and his young daughter, has written out three copies of The Staff of Moses. This, together with his being the grandson of the blessed (uncle) Hasan Day, alleviated my anxiety and greatly pleased me. May Almighty God restore him to good health and grant them success and happiness. Amen. Amen.

The two brothers of the late Hâfız Mehmed are carrying out his duties, and Mustafa's handwriting conforms with Husrev's pleasant script, which pleased me as greatly as two newly discovered Hâfız Mehmeds.

Through the efforts of the heroic carpenter (marangoz), the preacher from Gökdere and his three sons have become students of the Risale-i Nur and have started writing it out. I congratulate both them, and the carpenter, and their village. And I have added the verses he recited to them to The Additional Letters.

I was truly cheered up by the long letter written by lame Ali Osman from Atabey and his seriously and effectively working at spreading The Staff of Moses and the Risale-i Nur, and by Çilingir Ali, who works so hard at serving the Risale-i Nur, and his uncle Hasan helping him, and their blessed dreams and coincidences. It made me love Eğirdir even more. May the Most Merciful of the Merciful be pleased with them

Evidence that their plans and conspiracy against me last winter, which were thwarted as a result of the patience and endurance I showed through divine providence and your prayers, were very extensive was the President announcing recently in Afyon that he surmised that a disturbance connected with religion would break out in the province. That is to say, a secret society wanted to provoke an incident by harassing me. But their completely illegal and arbitrary ill-treatment and treacherous persecution, which rile me excessively and intended to provoke foreign intervention to the harm of Muslims and this country, gain for them only harm in this world and Hell in the next, and for us reward and victory in this world, and Paradise in the next, God willing. Evidently, the Cabinet and President

perceived this secret plan, because all the officials around here, and even the governor, kaymakam, and police avoid me and are scared. I was amazed at this. But anyone with a grain of sense has understood that we have nothing but light and the Risale-i Nur, and that we do not wield the club of politics. It is strange, but the officials who should have worked most in our favour, were employed and used against us.

The Nurjus have to be extremely circumspect, careful, and calm-headed, for there are storms in the air and cunning dissemblers insinuate themselves everywhere. They infiltrate the liberty-seeking parties although they are anti-religious and support absolute despotism, so that they might corrupt them and learn their secrets and divulge them.

Also, in connection with Salâhaddin giving The Staff of Moses to the American we say this: It is essential that missionaries and pious Christians, as well as Nurjus, are extremely careful, for certainly, with the idea of defending itself against the attacks of the religions of Islam and Christianity, the current from the north will try to destroy the accord of Islam and the missionaries. Making concessions to the lower classes, and inviting the middle classes to assist the common people through the obligatory payment of the purification tax and the prohibition of interest and usury, and preventing them from tyrannizing them, they may deceive the Muslims, and giving them privileges may draw them over to their side.

However, this time I have broken my rule for your sake, and considered worldly affairs.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I am compelled to reply to your very relevant letters with a single short one.

Firstly: Re'fet's questions have led to the emergence of numerous luminous truths. His both teaching the Qur'an and the Risale-i Nur to innocent children, and himself being busy with the Flashes (Lem'alar), and his helping me and Husrev with the corrections, and his endeavouring to give fair-minded scholars in Istanbul copies of The Staff of Moses deserve congratulation. But for now his new question cannot be answered, for the time has not yet come.

The heroic Burhan gave a fine answer to the leader of the Free Party. The Nurjus are not concerned with politics; their whole lives are tied to the

truths of belief alone. Uptil now, members of a secret society who have exploited politics for irreligion and atheism have crushed the Nurjus with absolute despotism. God willing, a cause will emerge {(*):} which will break that despotism and deliver the innocent, oppressed Nurjus. However, one has to be extremely careful and cautious. Since the Risale-i Nur is superior to all the currents in the world and belongs to everyone, it cannot follow or enter one side. It rather assists the just side against the aggressively anti-religious; it is friendly towards the just side and is like a point of support and reserve force for it. But this is not on account of politics. Nevertheless, some of the brothers may enter politics in their own name, not that of the Risale-i Nur, in order to secure its publication and interests. Especially since up to the present blessed Isparta has been the Nur Medrese and its opponents have not caused too much harm, not to take sides internally might be a means of those opponents repenting and returning to the truth. But you know this better than I do.

Salâhaddin's letter is important in several respects; of course the American scholars will not be indifferent towards The Staff of Moses, It will make conquests if those who love religion for religion's sake obtain copies of it, for if others get hold of it, it is doubtful that they will try to publish and spread it, due to feelings of jealousy like our egotistical hojas. However, we assign the matter to divine providence.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: God willing it is a good thing that Tahirî has gone to Istanbul. It occurred to me that the extraordinary divine grace and assistance that were apparent when, in Barla, I performed all the duties connected with the composition and correction of the written pieces, and now this is to be observed in Husrev and his helpers, as he carries out so many tasks to the full.

Secondly: Tahirî's unforgetable, sincere service while in Denizli Prison, and his unshakeable loyalty to the Risale-i Nur, unerring intelligence, and unassailable courage, which have accorded him a high position in the Nur circle, have led us to include his last letter in The Additional Letters in its entirety. I send my greetings firstly to his mother, Zübeyde, a Nur student, and to his wife and all his relatives. May Almighty God be pleased with them for ever! Amen.

Thirdly: Since Ahmed Kureyşî, a member of the Kureyş tribe from Nis, together with his respected father and cousin, is one of the select publishers and students of the Risale-i Nur, his fine versified pieces about the Risale-i Nur have been added to The Additional Letters in the name of the students of that area.

Fourthly: There are some outstanding brothers in the town of Eğirdir, but I cannot write their names. I received a letter from our hardworking and serious brother Çilingir Ali, which referred to them and to Mehmed Sabri, the main Power House, which was well-phrased and carefully written in a script that resembled Sabrî's. As he wished, we added it as it is to The Additional Letters. And we congratulate himself and the person who is getting him to write, and wish them both success.

My Dear, Loyal, Magnanimous, Old and New Brother, Yeşil Salih!

The matters you asked about my biography will here be indicated very briefly and succinctly. God willing, at a later date others will reply in more explanatory fashion. But I neither want nor do I deserve to pass into history and to show my unimportant self to coming generations among the religious scholars of this century. I offer unending thanks to Almighty God that He did not make me fond of myself and showed me my awesome faults. Moreover, it is fame-seeking to make oneself known to people, and may lead to egotism, self-advertisement, and hypocrisy. This is excessively harmful for the likes of us.

Also, since I have been compelled this age to live on my own both physically and mentally, and to withdraw from social life, certainly I do not have the right to mount history among those who pass their lives in society, or to appear to the people of the future. There is only this, that the superlative benefits for this country and nation of the Risale-i Nur have been proved true by the unanimous decisions of courts of law and committees of experts. Considering this, I can point out a few matters in reply to your questions, but in the name of the Risale-i Nur, which belongs to the Qur'an alone and bears its meaning; not in the name of my unimportant, wretched, unfortunate, and very faulty self. Later the Risale-i Nur and its students may elucidate these matters.

Firstly: The late Abdurrahman wrote my biography thirty years ago, and had it printed.

Secondly: Your questions would be answered in detail by such parts of

the Risale-i Nur as the Defence Speeches of Eskişehir Prison, which are a sort of biography of the period the Risale-i Nur was emerging and were made the Twenty-Seventh Flash, and the defences of Denizli Prison, which are the Eleventh and Twelfth Rays, together with The Treatise for the Elderly (the Twenty-Sixth Flash), The Fourth Ray, The Sixteenth Letter, The Six Attacks, and The Three Indications (İşarât-ı Selâse -the Twenty-Second Flash), and The Seven Signs (İşârât-ı Seb'a -The Seventh Part of the Twenty-Eighth Letter). I do not now have them with me, although the court returned them to me, but I shall have. God willing, I shall never forget you. Your concern for me in this plight has alleviated my severe difficulties. May God be pleased with you, Amen!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

An unfortunate sensitive man who suffers from scruples and has relations with the irreligious saw a Hadith about the famous supplication of the Prophet (UWBP), the Jaushan al-Kabir, and its inordinate merits and value, and he fell into doubt. He said: "It's narrated from the Imams of the Prophet's (UWBP) family, but it appears to be greatly exaggerated. For instance, it says that the supplication yields as many rewards as the Qur'an, and the great angels in the skies descend from the divine throne when they see someone reading it and bow before him in all humility. But this is contrary to reason and logic." He sought assistance from the Risale-i Nur. So I gave him an answer from the Qur'an, the Jaushan, and the Risale-i Nur that was completely certain and in accord with reason and wisdom. Here, I am writing an abbreviated summary of it. It was like this. I said to him:

Firstly: The Third Branch of the Twenty-Fourth Word sets out ten principles which demolish such doubts and dispel them. Take a look at it and find the answer.

Secondly: Muhammad (Zât-i Ahmediye) (Upon whom be blessings and peace), who every day receives the merits of the good deeds of all his community and assists in the happiness of each of its members, and who manifested the greatest name, was the original seed of the cosmos and its most perfect and comprehensive fruit. He saw the supreme degree of that supplication referring to himself and heard it from the Angel Gabriel (Upon whom be peace), who informed him of it, and compared others to himself or was compared. That is to say, that extraordinary merit accrued to the supplication from the supreme sainthood of Muhammad (Zât-i Ahmediye)

(UWBP). The merit is not universal and general; rather, the substance of the supplication holds such extraordinary value, and by following that Being (UWBP) who manifested the greatest name, such merits may be possible for others. However, there are a number of crucial conditions: it is not enough just to recite it, for it would spoil the balance of the precepts and damage obligatory acts.

Thirdly: Just as the supplication is exempt from exaggeration and is literally true when one looks to Muhammad (UWBP); so too, when one looks to the reality of the hundreds of divine names in the supplication, it is possible that the merit proceeds from their infinite manifestations. The Truthful Bringer of News (UWBP) spoke of a very small part in order to show the infinitude of the potential emanations, and left it vague and absolute for encouragement. Then, with the passage of time that potential and absolute matter came to be seen as actual and universal.

Fourthly: In the Twentieth Flash, about sincerity, there is a footnote about a person who is given a paradise with the breadth of five hundred years. Take a look at it and you will see that his being given that vast paradise does not mean he is given ownership of it in a way we do not understand. For just as a person's house belongs to him in many different ways and he owns it; so through his numerous senses he owns in a sort of way the things on the face of the earth, and has disposal over them, and can benefit from them. He can say: "The huge earth is my house; it was given to me; and the sun is my lamp." That is to say, some merits and rewards that appear extraordinary and irrational, look to this truth.

Furthermore, in Islam, Muhammad (UWBP) is the primary recipient of all the meritorious and virtuous actions of Muslims and he receives a mountain's worth of merit and reward from one of our prayers, for which we receive only an atom's worth. His private invocations and supplications make plain the highest rank accorded him in connection with his sainthood, in his private conversations, not in connection with the Shari'a and his messengership. By mentioning these points, he was encouraging his select heirs who follow him to the letter.

I declared: "None knows the Unseen save God!" {[*]:} and "God alone has knowledge of this!" Praise be to God, the man who was beset by doubts and scruples was saved from them and gained complete certainty. I am sending this with the thought that it might be useful for some of you. Endless greetings to you all.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I always used to wonder why, although it should have been people from the religious schools (medrese) who embraced the Risale-i Nur more than anyone, it has been those of them who have assumed official duties that have held themselves most aloof from it.

It is now necessary to explain a small part of the answer that occurred to me.

Firstly: Because covert dissemblers have used certain people in high places against us and conducted intense propaganda officially, the officials have been perturbed and compelled to keep their distance. The hojas from among them who are egotistical, suspicious, and have embraced the innovations, started to be even cooler towards us and to seek pretexts and excuses. And because The Seven Signs (İşarât-ı Seb'a) from the Risale-i Nur deals fierce slaps at the innovators, and in the ode Arjuza in the Eighth and Eighteenth Flashes, Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) deals awesome blows at the misguided ulema (ulema-i su'), and the piece in the Twenty-Eighth Letter about Wahhabism, which is in one respect and to an extent conducive to innovations, deals a blow at those who have secretly embraced it, and the Risale-i Nur deals fierce slaps at the translator of the Qur'an and those who permit the Qur'an's translation to be recited in place of it, and the hojas who think of their needs and livelihoods and their social standing, and even some of the Istanbul hojas who are old friends, began to evade us and a few of them, to try to criticize us even. On account of extreme Wahhabism and its enmity towards the Prophet's (UWBP) family and Imam 'Ali, they even began to object to the Risale-i Nur's being a spiritual gift and work of the Prophet's (UWBP) family and Imam 'Ali. But we are not indignant at the Istanbul scholars; in a way we are pleased, because compared with others, they do not bother us.

More than this, for the sake of fair-minded, esteemed, deceased persons like the late Fetva Emini Ali Rıza, Ahmed Şirani, Şevket Efendi, and Mehmed Âkif, who greatly appreciated and applauded the Risale-i Nur, we consider ourselves to be friends of the Istanbul hojas and are not offended by them. God willing, the Twentieth Flash on sincerity will be given to them to read sometime, which will turn the old friends into new ones.

My brothers! Not everyone can be as staunch as you are. Certain hojas

are being used to covertly break the Nurjus' morale, so don't be deceived or shaken. Don't argue with them, and as far as you can, behave in a friendly way. We're your brothers, say. And don't forget the points made in this note lest they mislead you.

Hatice and Rabia, the new Nur students who entered the fold of the Risale-i Nur through Husrev's efforts and wrote me a letter, have been included among the select students. Their working enthusiastically at the lessons of the Risale-i Nur in Barla, with which I am closely concerned, through the efforts of Bahri and his children, and Eyûb, Ali, Mehmed, and Süleyman, made me weep for joy. I send endless greetings to all the people of Barla, especially the Süleymans and Bahri and the Mehmeds and Mustafas, and Şamlı Hâfız Tevfik, who performed such valuable services for the Risale-i Nur in earlier years, and blessed Hâfız Halid, and Imam Hakkı Efendi, and Muhâjir Hâfız Ahmed and his children and grandchildren, and Şem'i, and Abdullah Çavuş who assisted me greatly, and all my neighbours there, men and women, and I pray for them and request their prayers during these blessed [three] months.

I have just heard that Bahri and his children have written out three copies of The Staff of Moses; they may pass to the account of Muhâjir Hâfız Ahmed and our other brothers in Barla. And the serious, sincere letters of Kâzım and the barber Mehmed have won the right to be included in The Additional Letters. While Bahri's fine verses may pass to the account of his small Nur School.

It is an astonishing and subtle instance of divine grace that I tried to forget Abdurrahman's death on its being imparted to my heart that Mustafa the Elder (May God have mercy on him) would, with his loyalty, pen, and power, serve the Risale-i Nur as the late Abdurrahman had. In truth, with his pen, Küçük Ali affirmed exactly that reminder from the Unseen. He took over his brother's pen and transformed an old (yellow) knife into a diamond sword. That is to say, I discerned him too in blessed Mustafa's spirit. Also, with my heart, I discerned Muhâjir Hâfız Ahmed, the Risale-i Nur's first student and devoted publisher, by virtue of his loyalty and attachment to myself and the Risale-i Nur. He did not manage to serve it with his pen, but subsequently, his son Kâzım, son-in-law Bahri, and his other son-in-law the barber Mehmed started to work with extraordinary devotion and loyalty and to perform fully and steadfastly the service I had felt and hoped from him. His grandchildren even joined the innocent young students. I send my greetings to all.

In His Name, be He glorified!

May God's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you!

My Dear, Loyal, Blessed, Dutiful, Active, Steadfast Brothers!

Firstly: We again congratulate you on the month of Rajab and Night of Regâib, and in response to the congratulations of our brothers in Safranbolu, we congratulate them on the three months and the four blessed nights {[*]:} as well as their most serious concern for the Risale-i Nur. I wanted to change the titles and praise accorded my person in the letter of congratulation written in the name of the students there to refer to the Risale-i Nur, the same way that we modified some of Halil İbrahim's letters. I was going to include it in The Additional Letters, but since it so explicitly refers to my person, I could not manage it, so for now it has been left aside.

My brothers, you should know certainly that I shrink from fame and renown, self-advertisement, self-dependence, and seeking the good opinion of others; I flee from them and I take no pleasure in praise and acclaim. Only, in so far as they are signs of loyalty to the Risale-i Nur and of sufficing with it, I accept some excessive epithets, and either for the sake of certain people or not to offend them, I alter them a little and keep silent. However, the two Flashes on sincerity and the principles of our way, that is, friendship, sincerity, and brotherhood, do not permit praise of this sort. Moreover, in this age of egotism and selfishness, fame may damage the unalloyed purity of the Risale-i Nur in the eyes of fameseekers.

Secondly: The Staff of Moses, Guide for Youth, and Short Words written by Hıfzı's two innocent children filled me with joy. What wonders God has willed! Thousands of innocent Nurju children like them will illuminate the future.

In His Name, be He glorified!

May God's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

God willing, during these three blessed months abundant sacred wealth will be added to the Nurjus' spiritual partnership. Each of them will win profit as though working with thousands of tongues and hundreds of pens. Fortunate indeed are those working with pens at the Zülfikâr Collection these fruitful months, which may counted as worship in five ways. However, it is absolutely essential that attention is paid to accuracy, rather than just writing, Today I saw two meaningful coincidences and I realized that in return for the difficulties I am suffering these days in correcting The Staff of Moses, divine providence is giving me recompense and rations in pleasing fashion.

One of them: Every day I was eating two or three of the sweets the heroic Tahirî had brought as a courtesy, and extraordinarily they never came to an end. I was astonished. Today, as was my habit, I was going to take two when I saw there were only two left, so economizing I took only one of them. That very hour, in a box beneath the copies Hıfzı's two innocent children had written out were sweets just like Tahirî's made of sugar and bread, and the same amount. While enjoying this sweet coincidence yesterday at the same time, I was very thirsty and was drinking a lot of water. I had a yearning for stewed plums. I did not know and had forgotten that long ago I often used to assuage my thirst with plums. I had an intense desire for some. Then suddenly I was given some in a box together with some sugar from the Nurju Şerife Hanım, a close friend of Âsiye. For the sake of this truly sweet coincidence I accepted a hundred times over both the childrens' gifts and theirs. Thousands of greetings to you all.

My Dear, Loyal, Unshakeable, Indefatigable, Constant, Steadfast Brothers!

Firstly: I declare to those who say that the struggle for livelihood this summer and the worship performed these three months may cause some slackness in the writing out of the Risale-i Nur: on the contrary, it will encourage the writing and it should do so. For serving the Risale-i Nur

both augments through its blessings means of support and peace of heart, and since it is worship in the form of reflective thought, it augments the rewards of the blessed months.

Secondly: One of the Nur students said to me: "You said last year before the copies of the Risale-i Nur had been handed over to us and as a result of some copies being returned privately - through which divine mercy had showed itself to a degree, that if and when the Risale-i Nur is read and written completely freely and it is returned to us, divine mercy will be manifested fully with the coming of rain. Thus, I feel quite certain that the unprecedented mercy this spring is a consequence of The Staff of Moses now being written out and read everywhere in earnest, and Zülfikar too is being copied enthusiastically.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: Heroic Rüştü, who with Husrev is one spirit in two bodies and together with his courageous brother holds a key position in the service of the Risale-i Nur, is trying to get hold of a remarkable machine for that service, which marks the commencement of new conquests for the Risale-i Nur. God willing, it will continue to be printed and published by Nurjus with worthy hands like pens, without needing strangers and the unworthy. But before everything, it should be written for the duplicating machine correctly and without errors, if possible firstly [by hand] in the old letters, and later [on the typewriter] in the new ones. That would be best. I leave it to your discretion and good judgement.

Secondly: I have seen the letter Konyalı Sabri wrote Re'fet and I understood from it that like the other Sabri this Sabri is a truly sincere, devoted, and hardworking Nurju. May God's blessings be upon him and upon the religious scholars of Konya who have encouraged and motivated him and have vindicated the hojas. I send many greetings to them and foremost the esteemed exegetist Hoja Vehbi and to the Nur students there, and I request their prayers these blessed Three Months.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

The late Muhâjir Hâfız Ahmed together with his children and family served me loyally for eight years; worked earnestly at the Risale-i Nur together with his children, grandchildren, wife, and sons-in-law; and took all his sermons and teaching from the Risale-i Nur. As his will and testament looking to this world, ten minutes before his death he requested Şamlı Hâfız to complete the pieces he was writing out. Two days earlier he had written me a letter sensing as a wonder of loyalty that just at that very time I was writing to you my preference for Sava over Barla and wish to be buried in the Sava graveyard. In response to me and objecting, he wrote in his letter: "Why although you call Barla your second home, don't you come here and why do you prefer other places? Barla is the first Nur medrese; your grave ought to be there." Two days later before my letter had reached you, Muhâjir Hâfız Ahmed's letter reached me, which gave Şamlı Hâfız's news of his death on its second page. His departure from this world shook me severely, like Abdurrahman's, and made we weep and declare: «We belong to God, and to Him is our return» (Q 2:156). May endless mercy descend on his spirit! Amen! May his grave be a dwelling for the Qur'an and Risale-i Nur, like his house! Amen! I have no doubt that this clear wonder resulting from his loyalty proves that the Nurjus will enter the grave in a state of belief and will manifest happy deaths. Convey my condolences to his relations and tell them that I am assigning him a share of all my prayers.

Secondly: Our brother Re'fet wrote to me saying that there is much need in Istanbul for the Risale-i Nur and that everyone there needs it as they need bread; and that Yeşil Şemseddin, who is one of our brothers and takes much interest in the Risale-i Nur and has read it and is a Nurju, derives his sermons and instruction, which are attended by large numbers of people, from its truths.

Re'fet also says that it is understood from the above that the Risale-i Nur is necessary every day for this nation, like bread. He also gave some of its treatises to people in high places, and he asks me for a copy of Zülfikar which I myself have corrected.

I send my greetings to each and every one of you and offer prayers for you, and request that you pray for me.

We congratulate Husrev on the correcting, distribution, organization, and communications, and on the publication and conveyance of the Risale-i Nur, and we pray for his success, And despite all these crucial tasks, we see his fine and shining pen's writing in many copies. And we understood from his letter, that he writes copies of single treatises too.

I suddenly thought just now of the Sava students of the Nur School: Haji Hâfız Mehmed, the late Hâfız Mehmed and his brothers, and the Mehmeds and Ahmeds and the innocent Nurju children and the blessed elderly and the other heroes. I felt a desire to be near there all my life and to be buried in its graveyard after I died. Suddenly it was imparted to me that it is certainly useful in many ways to be physically present in Isparta Province, the centre of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ, but by virtue of the way of the Risale-i Nur and the Nurjus' custom, you are always together, Time and space cannot conceal this. Wherever you are, in east or west, north or south, in this world or the Intermediate Realm, you may be deemed together in spirit in a council. The Nurjus' spiritual aid constantly reaches each other, and you. I thought of this and it soothed me.

I said: Since everywhere now numerous powerful hands are stretched out to protect the Risale-i Nur and publish it, surely it won't be laziness if I rest up a little now.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: We congratulate you on the blessed Night of Acquittal {[*]:} and the coming month of Ramadan. I was astonished to see a sign that for the Nurjus, the Night of Acquittal this year is going to be full of blessings and wonders. It was like this:

Shortly before that Night while busy with correcting The Staff of Moses, a pigeon came to the window and looked at me. I asked it: "Have you brought some good news?" It came in and as though we were old friends, was not the least afraid and perched on The Staff of Moses. {(*):} It sat there for three hours. I gave it some bread and rice, but it did not eat them. It stayed there till the evening, then flew off, and returned. On the Night of Acquittal it stayed with me till morning. As I was lying down, it came to me, rubbed my head as though bidding me farewell, then flew off and disappeared.

The second day I was feeling sorry, then it reappeared. It stayed another night. That is to say, the blessed bird wanted to congratulate both The Staff of Moses and the Night of Acquittal.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

The reason I have accepted the biography of my Kastamonu life written by Kastamonu's Husrev and Süleyman Rüştü, Mehmed Feyzi and Emin, without altering the excessive, undeserved praise it contains, is this: recently a high-ranking official and a sergeant in Afyon insulted me, as though by destroying the public's good opinion of me, the people here would not embrace the Risale-i Nur as they have in Denizli and Isparta, and those lights would not shine out. I endured it, but I was saddened because the new students here were upset. While I was pondering over this, Mehmed Feyzi's sincere, learned, and respectful letter thrust those wretched officials' insults in their faces reducing them to nothing, and completely dispelled my distress. The exact coincidence with those wretches' bullying insults of those two Nurjus' praise and respect, who are infinitely more elevated they are, makes me feel certain that it was wonder of Feyzi and Emin's loyalty.

My Brothers!

It has now become clear that their intention in summoning me to the police station and government offices unnecessarily on false pretexts, was only to insult and belittle me in front of people and make me look guilty. I can't stand it any longer. As far as is possible they should not summon me. Go and see the criminal judge. Find me someone to act as my lawyer so that if necessary he can go to the police station in my place. It is torment and torture for a person who has lived in isolation for twenty-five years to see such offensive people. During eight years in Kastamonu I met only once with the governor on his insistence and went twice to the police station. Here, I have had to go more than ten times. I can't go anymore. Get a note from the doctor, otherwise this town will suffer material and spiritual harm.

The four severe earthquakes last night, which confirmed the matter of

the four earthquakes in my defence written by Husrev, occurred at the same time as the police sergeant, who leans on a high official, bawled at my assistant in the government building and with humiliating abuse told him to go and get me, and compelled by the kaymakam, {[*]:} ordered the watchmen and gendarmes to bring me there even if ill, which was certainly a conspiracy against myself, the Risale-i Nur, and this country. This unprecedently severe earthquake coinciding with this assault on the Nur students' enthusiasm and the Risale-i Nur's being written here and causing me such distress, shows that the Risale-i Nur is a means of repulsing disasters, and if its service is interrupted, the calamities seize the opportunity and occur.

Mustafa Osman has performed many services for the Risale-i Nur in a short time, and his truly modest and self-abnegating letter proves his earnest loyalty and sincerity and shows he is on a par with the select students of fifteen years' standing. The Staff of Moses Collection he wrote is anyway clear proof of this. Even while writing this, the earth tremors have again begun.

I have a question: What is the reason I have been treated in this extraordinary way because I sought my rights in the name of humanity?

Firstly: I did not present the complaint I wrote and have held it for a year. But now I have sent it to someone so that it may be passed to the Ankara authorities by way of the police. I said that the Afyon police chief is fair-minded and I sent him a copy by hand. But while awaiting a favourable result and improvement of my situation, he evidently wrote to the people who pressurize me here, saying: "This fine handwriting isn't his; investigate who wrote it!" But to disregard a serious and absolutely right complaint and evince curiosity about an unimportant, harmless note and disturb myself, is like disregarding a thousand liras and placing paramount importance on five para. Is that not so? What law demands that people who write out the hundred and thirty treatises of the Risale-i Nur be investigated, despite the fact that three courts have scrutinized every part of them and most of those who wrote them out were in court with me, and the

treatises were found to contain not an atom's worth of anything reprehensible? What benefit is there is this? What need is there to summon an unfortunate like myself to the police station, particularly in response to a denunciation? But I say to you that if I so wished, thousands of people would copy out my writings. And they are writing them out everywhere so that the nation and country may benefit from them.

Secondly: I request from you in the name of humanity that until the festival (bayram) you do not turn my attention towards this world. I don't think of you, so don't you think of me. Don't force an unfortunate like myself who is weary of this world to be preoccupied during these blessed months with quite worthless worldly matters.

I was curious about this new, meaningful earthquake. I said in my heart: If it was so severe in other places, the Nur students must have been subject to aggression again. I asked if it was only connected with my letter and they said that it was hardly felt in Ankara, was more powerful in Afyon and Eskişehir, but was most severe in this town of Emirdağ. But it is astonishing that although there were four severe quakes, there was no damage. A reason for this is that a categorical order was given to bring Said forcibly to the government offices. The guards and a corporal came. I had shut my door and locked it. They announced that they would rather resign than break the door down. They turned and left. That is to say, like the earthquakes described in my defence speech, this particular one was connected with the Risale-i Nur and remained particular and caused no damage despite its severity. If they had broken down the door of the tiny Nur School here, it would have resulted in a serious blow and would not have been merely a warning. It's true this assault was minor and petty, but I can't hide that I have never been so annoyed as I was this time. Nevertheless, I put up with it in wondrous fashion for the sake of the Risale-i Nur and the Nurjus. For that wretch abused me as he sat in his chair of office and he ordered my assistant: "Go and tell him!" He arrogated government power to his own sluggard self and challenged it, and really nettled a vein of character that remained in me from the Old Said. But the absolute necessity for calm, self-control, moderation, patience, and forbearance made me retain my composure.

Thirdly: Marangoz Ahmed, who has wholly filled the place of the late wondrously loyal Marangoz Mustafa Çavuş of Barla, had the idea of a resting

place of the Intermediate Realm and hereafter, a grave, for me on Mount Davraz near Sava, and wrote about this. He truly pleased me and made me weep sorrowfully.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

We again congratulate you on the blessed month of Ramadan. We also congratulate with all our life and spirit Süleyman Rüştü's blessed daughter who is working on a typewriter at Zülfikar Mu'cizat and is like the eighth of two heroic brothers' seven children in The Miracles of Muhammad. And congratulate too their undertaking with great self-sacrifice to duplicate the beautiful and careful writings of Husrev and Tahirî. May God bless them and grant them success thousands of times over for the superhuman, valuable and fruitful services they have up to now performed for the Risale-i Nur! What wonders God has willed!

{(*):}

I have received a letter from Mehmed Zekeriya, who lives in the vicinity of İnebolu and is one of our brothers who has performed many services for the Risale-i Nur with his fine pen. It dispelled my anxieties and filled me with joy. He writes that he is now busy with teaching children the Qur'an and instructing them in matters of belief, which is one of the duties of the Risale-i Nur. You write and tell him that what he is doing now is as valuable for the Risale-i Nur as were his previous services.

Also, the many treatises that you write out serve the spreading of the Risale-i Nur in your place. He should not worry, he preserves his former position.

Recently, due to my indisposition, I have been reading the Awrad-i Baha'iyya (Evrad-ı Bahâiye) from the book and not from memory. I never used to read its conclusion, which is the closing passage at the end (ikhtitam) because I did not know it. I said to myself: "Let's read it this time," and I saw that on one page and in six and a half long lines, were the words «nur nur nur (light light light)» nineteen times. I felt certain that like the Gawth al-A'zam, Shah Naqshband had disclosed and observed the Risale-i Nur and its sacred service and that applauding and predicting it, it was alluding to it. So I added only those six lines and the line at the top and the end line to my Baha'iyya invocations of thirty years, in the hope that those angels should assist in the Risale-i Nur's publication.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: I earnestly share in the sufferings of those struck by the calamity of the Isparta fire, for just as I am a native of Isparta in numerous ways; so with its soil and rocks that blessed town holds great importance in my view, and is like the centre of the Risale-i Nur's al-Azhar university and Medresetü'z-Zehrâ.

Tell those calamity-stricken people from me that according to Hadiths, property belonging to believers that is lost in such calamities is counted as almsgiving. Especially in these times, such transitory property which is a hundredfold almsgiving, is transformed into much more numerous everlasting belongings. So one has to offer thanks in one respect, in patience. God willing, in this world too the Most Merciful of the Merciful will bestow substitutes for those losses, which go as atonement for sins.

Convey my sympathies to them and tell them not to worry for no purpose.

Secondly: One reason for occurrences of this kind: notwithstanding an ugly error, it is incumbent on Isparta, which more than anywhere is the Risale-i Nur's source and school, to protect it and to preserve the respect and value of the month of Ramadan. It is obliged to protect the marks of Islam against vice and dissipation.

And for example, the following passage which elucidates "Were it not for you, were it not for you, I would not have created the spheres," {[*]:} needs to be altered to, "although this address is apparently directed to the Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace), it implicitly refers to life and animate beings." For since the universal Muhammadan (UWBP) Reality is both the life of life, and the locus of the supreme manifestation of the greatest name, and the light of all spirit beings, and the original seed of the universe, and the aim of its creation and its most perfect fruit, the address looks directly to him. Then on his account it looks to life, consciousness, and worship.

Also, for example, some sentences which touch on philosophy: such terms as "it formed a crust in the passage of time, then it turned into soil, then the plants appeared, and then the animals found existence" suggest natural philosophy in regard to divine creation and the giving of existence, which is not in keeping with the Risale-i Nur's explanations of divine art and bringing into being.

My brother Abdülmecid! Notwithstanding this tiny mistake, you have learned perfectly about the resurrection of the dead from the Risale-i Nur's matchless proofs, which is powerful evidence that as you were a distinguished student of the Old Said, so, God willing, you will be such a student of the Risale-i Nur and an exacting scholar of it. When I have the time, I shall either correct or alter some of the words, and calling it "An Explanatory Addendum to the Question of Resurrection," will include it in The Additional Letters and send it to people like you who have absorbed the Risale-i Nur's lessons thoroughly. Together with your children and Fuad, you are everyday together with me in spirit and in my prayers. I congratulate you with all my life and spirit for teaching children the Qur'an, in connection with your official post. May God bestow abundant blessings on you!

Convey my greetings to all friends and relations both around you, and in our native region. Since Zülfikar Mu'cizat and The Staff of Moses are being reproduced in the centre by the duplicating machine, you should devote yourself to the corrections with all your strength, and with your fine pen and accurate knowledge.

Has Re'fet had his operation? How is he? I am concerned. Many prayers have been offered for him. The heroic Tahirî has given The Staff of Moses Collection in trust to someone in Istanbul. It was written by Hatice, the daughter of the heroic Ahmed from Sava. It encourages the women to embrace the Risale-i Nur, so don't let it get lost. It can be sent to me if it is no longer needed, then it won't remain unused.

I congratulate you on Ramadan, the Night of Power, and the festival. While I was in Kastamonu, the select Nur students Âsiye, Ulviye, and the Lütfiyes, Zehras, Şerifes, Hacers, Nimets, and Aliyes were everyday with me in my prayers and spiritual gains, and it is still just the same.

I don't forget you, Recently, even, I was wondering about Ulviye and Lütfiye then two days later I received their letters and gifts; it was an indication of their loyalty. Although it has long been my custom not to accept presents, this evening, the Night of Power, I wore your robe (cübbe) and waistcoat and accepted them in the name of Âsiye and all the Nur students in Kastamonu. But so as not to break my rule, in return Lütfiye and Ulviye should take those parts of the Risale-i Nur that they want which Emin has. Or else Mehmed Feyzi and his companions can write out any on my account that they want.

The innocent children of the sisters who have visited me on many occasions are within the fold of the Nur students' children, whom I often think of.

I offer endless thanks and praise, for this letter of yours has dispelled all my crushing worries about Husrev and his friends and their duplicating machines, and Nazif and his assistants and his machine, and whether they would be able to continue with this new work, All praise be to God a thousand times over!

In fact, the day before I received your letters, I had gone for a drive round in a car. Suddenly, as though it wanted to convey some good news, a bird resembling Solomon's hoopoe followed us for around fifteen minutes, flying to right and left and then perching, then flying off and returning. I had never before seen such a strange thing and I felt sure that the next day I would receive some good news. I said this to Nureddin, who was driving me; he too was amazed at the bird's strange antics, Then it suddenly disappeared because I had divulged its secret. The next day I received both Nazif's comforting letter and the new products of his machine; and Abdurrahman Salâhaddin's curiosity-arousing letter and the news that Nevzat,

the governor of Ankara who had harassed me because of the hat question, had committed suicide and punished himself with his own hand, and that there were no assaults on the work on Zülfikar and it was continuing; and the news that the heroes of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ were persisting with Zülfikar without getting agitated and describing the reality of the situation; and the letters of congratulation of Tahirî and Abdullah, the heroes of Ata-bey, with which I am closely concerned, and heirs of Lütfi and deputies and heirs of the late Hâfız Ali and his capable companions in the service of the Risale-i Nur; and in the face of this latest assault, the meaningful, correct replies of the Ali Köyü Imam, Hâfız Ali, to the government's questions in a way that was most courageous and befitted a Nur student. I exclaimed: "See! The hoopoe's good news was right!"

Just as The Staff of Moses saves from misguidance those submerged in nature and is a necessary antidote for everyone at this time, especially those fallen into doubt and denial; so too, Zülfikar is essential for the believers and scholars, and particularly for the hâfizes (memorizers) of the Qur'an. All hafizes have great need for this collection at the present time; it explains forty aspects of the Qur'an's miraculousness (i'jaz) and every one of them should have a copy.

At no time in history has there been a work like the Risale-i Nur that has received so little and so light criticism from those who attack the many schools and ways. Indeed, in return for their hundredfold sacred service and striving with a hundredfold less trouble, its students have suffered a mere one or two terms of imprisonment and two or three calamities which were providential and victorious, unimportant, temporary, and in respect of their results, beneficial.

I send everyone many greetings and pray for their success.

I am forming the opinion that this wondrous machine being given to us so easily just when we were obliged to duplicate large numbers of Zülfikar and The Staff of Moses, and the unprincipled printers too were holding back, is a sign of those two collections' acceptability, and a wondrous bestowal of divine providence and a wonder of the Risale-i Nur.

Yes, just at the time I was officially ill-treated and abused eight times and they were asking: "Who wrote this?" about one commonplace letter of mine, the machine was producing out of eight hundred pages, one thousand five hundred copies and a million pages. It is most certainly a Nurju and scribe of a thousand pens who has come to our assistance from the World

of the Unseen. It does not matter, therefore, if some of the pages are indistinct. The parts that are clear will suffice us for now. The parts that are less legible should be made up separately; the wielders of the diamond pens can each correct one or two copies.

Whenever the railway arrived in a country, the carters used to be dismayed and they supposed that their trade was finished. But because activity increased with its arrival, the need for carriages and carts increased twofold. God willing, the writers-out of the Risale-i Nur will not halt their activity, but will record greater numbers of good works in their books of good deeds with increased writing.

In the face of all the the politicians' torments, I have decided to say: «For us God suffices and He is the best disposer of affairs» (Q 3:173), and to abide in patience. In the past I had some relations with Kâzım Karabekir. I wonder if he still preserves the manly stance which was the cause of our relations. You may convey my greetings to him if he does so, and would cause no harm to the Risale-i Nur and be of possible benefit, and if he is friendly. But since the politicians do not condescend to apply to the Risale-i Nur for everlasting life, I don't condescend to apply to them for this fleeting life, which is worth practically nothing in comparison, neither do I forward any complaint or petition for my own well-being.

I have received the two large and truly fine Nur gifts of Küçük Ali, who is fully the heir of the elder Ali and works on his system, and is the veritable equivalent and successor of Abdurrahman, and the heroic champion of the blessed people. However, the piece from the Hizb-i Nûriye was not written at the end of Zülfikar; let him write it with that wondrous pen of his, and send it to me.

In my native region, when one of the medrese students finished a book or began one, it was the custom to give them a sweet or some such thing, called a muftihane and mahtumane. I observed this very same rule in the scribe Kâtib Osman. At just the time I had finished the corrections of The Staff of Moses he had written, these grapes arrived as mahtumane, which was a sweet and subtle event and a pleasant reminder of medrese life.

Because compassion is a basic principle of the Risale-i Nur and women are more advanced in that respect, they embrace the Risale-i Nur earnestly. When I say my brothers, I mean that women are included among them. They too are addressed in all my letters.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Don't worry at all; I am telling you about my illness now, which is severe and has resulted from an attempt on my life and is similar to what I wrote to you about before, solely in order to receive your prayers. But in no way must you be anxious. Endless thanks be to God, it does not prevent my supplications or correction duties. God willing, it will yield plentiful recompense and good. For myself, owing to this, I am in a way pleased; so don't you be distressed. Anyway, my duties are about to finish. Every copy of the Risale-i Nur, especially the collections, may perform Said's duties far better than you suppose due to your good will towards him, and they are performing them. And every one of the select Nur students may carry out Said's duties perfectly, and will do so fully in the future, God willing. One defective Said remains among you; but hundreds of collections, which are Saids in meaning, and thousands of physical Saids among you may perform those duties sincerely and perfectly, and they are performing them. In consequence, you should not attach importance to my person and the events that have befallen me. Just pray a lot for me; assist me with your prayers in my old age, weakness, and my excessive sensitivity, for in my view they are undoubtedly acceptable.

The heroic Tahirî's innocent Nurju daughter departing this world for Paradise truly saddened me. The loss of a Nur student and hardworking child such as Hicret grieved me on account the Risale-i Nur. God willing, many will appear in her place and not leave it unoccupied. Indeed, the young Haydar from Uşak has appeared just recently, pleasing us with his saying that he will perform his departed sister's tasks. May Almighty God bestow perfect patience on Hicret's parents and relatives, and make her an intercessor for them, and make that departed innocent happy in paradise together with my departed sister, Hanım. Amen.

Congratulate Uşaklı Haydar for me, and tell him that I am praying for his success in serving the Risale-i Nur and that he has been included among the Nur children. And I send many greetings to his teacher, İzzet.

The Nur students have never interfered in politics and have never joined any party. For belief belongs to everyone. There are people in every group who need it and who profess it. The students do not take sides. They take up sides only against disbelief, atheism and misguidance. Brotherhood between believers is a fundamental principle of the Risale-i Nur's way.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I should have explained this matter to you long ago, but I forgot. It is this: most of the verses in the treatise The Miraculousness of the Qur'an, the Twenty-Fifth Word, have been criticized by atheists or objected to by scientists, or have been the object of the doubts and scepticism of satans among jinn and men. The treatise, therefore, explains the true meanings and fine points of those verses in such a way that the very points that the atheists and scientists supposed were faulty are flashes of miraculousness and sources of the perfections of the Qur'an's eloquence. These are proved according to scholarly rules and decisive answers are given, but so as not to cause confusion, their doubts are not mentioned. Their doubts are mentioned only in explanations of such verses as «And the mountains [its] pegs» (Q 78:8) and «And the sun runs its course to a place appointed» (Q 36:38), {[*]:} and three or four verses in the First Station of the Twentieth Word.

Moreover, for sure The Miraculousness of the Qur'an is very short and condensed and was written at speed, but its matters are elucidated in so learned, profound, and powerful a fashion in respect of the sciences of rhetoric and Arabic that it left the scholars in amazement. Not all attentive readers will fully understand and benefit from all the discussions, but everyone may pick a significant share from its garden. Although it was written hastily and in disturbed conditions, and the manner of expression is faulty in places, it explains and clarifies matters o. Ihe greatest importance in the light of those sciences.

Now that the Risale-i Nur is being duplicated by machine and is spreading generally and many school children and teachers who study modern

science and philosophy are holding fast to it, there is a point that needs explanation:

The philosophy the Risale-i Nur strikes at fiercely and attacks is not absolute; it is the harmful sort. For the philosophy and wisdom that serve the life of human society, and morality and human attainments, and industry and progress, are reconciled with the Qur'an. Indeed, such philosophy serves the Qur'an's wisdom and does not oppose it. This sort the Risale-i Nur does not bother with.

As for the other sort, since it both leads to misguidance, atheism, and the swamp of nature, and is the cause of vice and dissipation, heedlessness and misguidance; and since with its spellbinding wonders it opposes the Qur'an's miraculous truths; the Risale-i Nur attacks and deals slaps at it with the powerful proofs in the comparisons contained in most of its parts. It does not attack beneficial, rightly-guided philosophy. Members of the secular schools, therefore, can embrace the Risale-i Nur without hesitation or objection.

Nevertheless, completely meaninglessly and unjustly, secret dissemblers are turning a number of hojas against the Risale-i Nur, which is the rightful property of the hojas and the people of the medreses (religious schools), and they similarly excite the scholarly pride of certain philosophers. It is possible that they may do this to harm the Risale-i Nur, so it is appropriate to include this piece at the beginning of the collections, The Staff of Moses and Zülfikar.

A brother of ours and select Nur student, a retired teacher from the village of Mülâyim in the district of Eflâni near Safranbolu, wants to donate the greater part of his capital for the printing and publication of the Risale-i Nur, and requests that this is accepted. I cannot refuse this devoted and special brother's sincere and self-sacrificing request, but since worldly goods have no place in my personal rules and I do not accept aid for myself, I do not know the advantages of this matter. I am therefore referring the matter to the two heroes of Isparta and Husrev and Tahirî and their friends, and to Nazif and his companions. I could not prevent something so good and beneficial for the Risale-i Nur's publication. You may accept either the whole amount he intends or part of it, in two instalments; one may be given to the large duplicating machine in Isparta, and the other to the smaller machine there. You should please that select brother by accepting his gift as he wishes, either as charity, or similarly to others who have

helped, with some sort of return in the future, or from the Risale-i Nur, or in any other way if he so wants.

The Eight Symbols (Rumûzat-i Semâniye) was composed and written very hastily. Relying on what remained in my memory from earlier days, I used two approximate criteria: I wrote down the mysteries of the Qur'an's letters in respect of its miraculousness (i'jaz), basing it on what I remembered of the reckoning of ulema of former times. Then I looked at the explanations about the merits of the Qur'an's letters and words in the famous tafsir called al-Miqyas of Majd al-Dîn al-Firuzabadi, {[*]:} the famous author of the Qamus, and ninety per cent coincided with our reckoning; they differed in only four or five places. Then we calculated them again to verify them, and ours turned out to be correct and his, typographical errors. Saying, small differences and errors are not detrimental in such huge totals, I did not find the time to count the whole Qur'an with all its letters, words, and phrases and verify them exactly, and to corroborate the subtleties of its miraculousness. The tyrants did not allow me the time. I made do with those approximate calculations, what I remembered, the reckoning of the old ulema, and my figures in the Kanz al-'Arsh supplication. {[*]:}

I have received the festival congratulations sent by Nazif Çelebi in the name of our devoted brothers in İnebolu, and his letter saying that the important work on Zülfikar continues meticulously and circumspectly; that he has completed the text of The Miracles of the Qur'an and some of its addenda; that Abdurrahman Salâhaddin has sent The Staff of Moses and Miracles of Muhammad as a gift in our name to al-Azhar University by reliable means, and that he has been reading them to the American missionaries for four or five months; and that the valuable Nur student, Ahmed Kureysi, has given a hundred liras to meet the expenses of their duplicating machine.

I congratulate with all my life and spirit our brother the heroic Nazif, and the truly earnest, constant, and fully committed Nurjus of İnebolu, and Ahmed Kureysi and his companions, on both the festival, and their continuing service, and their elevated loyalty, and their successes and the printing of Zülfikar, and Salâhaddin's efforts in establishing relations between the Medresetü' z-Zehrâ and al-Azhar University. May Almighty God grant them every success and make their service entirely acceptable. Amen.

The two copies sent to the ulema of al-Azhar University had not been corrected by me and there are bound to be errors in some of the Arabic words and their vowel points. I saw numerous grammatical mistakes in other copies, particularly in the writing of the Arabic Khulasat al-Khulasa at the end. So when you deem fit, send a copy each of The Staff of Moses and Zülfikar {(*):} to al-Azhar that have been examined closely by Arabic teachers, and write them a letter saying that the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ of the Risale-i Nur is an offspring, a pupil, of al-Azhar University which is in much need of its kindness; it is a student of it which is the target of fierce enemies' assaults; it is a small department and branch of the great al-Azhar University, which is the head of all medreses and perpetually illuminates the world of Islam. So we await the assistance of that high-standing master, that kindly father and zealous supreme guide, for its wretched sons and students. As for the two books that have been presented to that grand master, like a school boy shows to his father and teacher in the evening the lessons he has learnt that day, we offer our two lessons to the gaze of those benevolent and compassionate scholars of great learning.

I have received a letter from one of our leading students, Muharrem, in Denizli, which is a foremost centre of the Risale-i Nur, for which it has performed much work in a short time, and with which I am closely concerned. Together with conveying congratulations for the festival in the name of the Husrev of Denizli and his most earnest and loyal companions, especially the just judge, and Muharrem, Hâfız Mustafa and the rest, the

letter gave news of Hasan Feyzi's severe and dangerous illness. I felt absolutely certain that Hasan Feyzi had assumed the greater part of my calamity similarly to the martyr Hâfız Ali (May God have mercy on him), performing an act of self-sacrifice. Just as Hâfız Ali, according to several signs, departed for the Intermediate Realm in my stead; so too with Hasan Feyzi, for exactly concurrently with my illness, at the same time, for the same period, in the same way, and in the coincidence of distressing constriction, was a powerful sign that that brother of ours who so kindly pitied me had partly taken my illness on himself. There was just one difference in this four-sided coincidence: my illness was due to poisoning, while he had caught cold. Certainly, the Treatise for the Sick consoled him in our place and enquired about him like a visit to the sick, and transformed the ailment into great rewards and the suffering into joy. May Almighty God grant him a speedy recovery. Amen!

One time, in a treatise I wrote in Barla as a parable, two men were on their way to Istanbul. Ninety-nine out of a hundred friends of one of them were already there, so he set out eagerly. With the other one, it was the opposite, and so on; it was written in similar fashion. Now, alerted in the same way by this illness, I travelled to the past and toured in the imagination around the places I had spent my life at that time. Of the hundred friends in the places I had spent those sweet times, I could see only one or two. The others were all in the Intermediate Realm. Even in my own village of Nurs, I saw that my sole nephew and student Molla Dâvud (May God be pleased with him) had departed to join my old friends and relations there. In places like Barla and Kastamonu, which are to be counted as second homes of twenty years' standing, I saw only two out of the three groups of friends; the others were about to depart. In consequence of the truth of this vision, to depart for the Intermediate Realm did not weigh down on me but filled me with longing, since through the light of the Risale-i Nur we saw it to be truly luminous. Remaining behind me in this world were hundreds of Nur heroes: Husrevs, Tahirîs, Mustafas, Nazifs, Osmans, Abdurrahmans, Alis, Sabrîs, Feyzis, Ahmeds, Mehmeds, Atıfs, Mustafas, Sadıks, Osmans, and the rest, who would carry out my duty in my place and win reward, thus greatly alleviating the burden of death for me, With the thought that I was dying only in regard to sin and living in respect of good works, I offered endless thanks to Almighty God.

Firstly: "Who say when afflicted with calamity: To God we belong, and to Him is our return" (Q 2:156). The death of Hasan Feyzi, {[*]:} who had assumed the late Hâfız Ali's position and was one of the Risale-i Nur heroes, is a great loss for Denizli, for the fold of the Risale-i Nur, for this country, and for the world of Islam. But with his truly sincere, genuine, unique lessons and instruction, he prepared the ground for the raising of numerous Hasan Feyzi's in his place, God willing, then he departed. He performed in two years ten years of valuable services for the Risale-i Nur, just as my nephew Abdurrahman did. They performed the tasks of ten years in one or two as though both knew that they would soon depart from this world. I congratulate Hasan Feyzi's person on his death, and offer earnest condolences to Denizli, the Nur students, and this country; it is a great calamity to lose a true believer, erudite scholar, elevated litterateur, teacher, eloquent preacher, and educator of this sort whose profound knowledge embraced matters of this world and the next. God willing, He will produce many people from the heroes' hearth of Denizli with the spirit of Hasan Feyzi who will espouse the Risale-i Nur and publish it. Just as one seed enters the earth and dies then a hundred shoots emerge from it; so we nourish hopes from divine mercy that Hasan Feyzi will produce many such shoots and many Hasan Feyzis will appear within the fold of the Risale-i Nur and carry out his duties to an even greater degree.

Secondly: Each one of us should assign to that heroic brother's book of good deeds his spiritual gains as though he were still alive, to him personally just as we do to all of us generally. I have decided to bestow my spiritual gains on him as the fifth member after Hâfız Ali, Hâfız Mehmed, Ahmed of Sava, and Mehmed Zühtü, of the elite group of great saints. The pieces he wrote about the Risale-i Nur under the harshest conditions, which have done so much to spread it, are in The Additional Letters; you may add one each of those powerful letters to the end of any collections you deem suitable. Those living pieces are being included in The Staff of Moses and Zülfikar so that they may serve the Risale-i Nur in his place.

Convey my condolences for me to his relatives in the tiny Nur School which is his house, and to his companions and students and the Nur students in the large Nur School of Denizli and its vicinity, and tell them that I have never in all my life been so saddened at a death and so wept as at his.

Also, it has now become clear that my intense anger and mental disturbance which were reflected in the letter I wrote you before, began on the day that heroic brother died. Its effect negated my will. I thought I was

going to die and dictated my will to my assistant. That is to say, Hasan Feyzi was as though my second spirit and died in my place and is dying. In fact, in a way that was totally opposed to my normal custom, I could not open the letter giving news of his death for one and a half hours, although I was holding it in my hand. Anyway, when faced with ٌة these grievous sorrows, divine providence came to our assistance, and I congratulated happily with all my life and spirit both myself, and him, and the Nurjus. "Endless blessings and mercy be upon him!" I exclaimed, and I applauded his release.

Thirdly: Just as I was thinking sorrowfully about the late Hasan Feyzi departing for the Intermediate Realm and his position remaining vacant, and as an esteemed teacher his being a shining example for pupils in the secular schools and those teaching the modern sciences when I unexpectedly received a letter from Hâfız Hasan of Daday. He is a teacher and, with his two children, is a Nurju and is also called Hasan. I had not heard from him for three years and did not know how he was or that he continued to serve the Risale-i Nur. Through Hâfız Hasan, Ahmed Fuad, an exceptional and self-sacrificing teacher like these two Hasans, had entered the fold of the Risale-i Nur. I said: One teacher called Hasan has departed but in his place another teacher called Hasan and one called Ahmed have arrived!

At the same time, someone called Hasan from Bolvadin, who had recently returned from the Hajj, entered the fold of the Risale-i Nur; he obtained some of its treatises and began to spread its lights.

Three or four hours later, the doctor Hayri, who is a Husrev and Feyzi of Emirdağ, came to see me. He said: "A respected schoolteacher here wants to become a Nur student. If you agree, we'll give him The Staff of Moses." I told him to give it to him. (This teacher performed as many services for the Risale-i Nur as Feyzi did.)

Also, I saw the letter that had arrived that day from Mustafa Osman, our brother who like the late Hasan Feyzi has performed many services in a short period of time. He had written describing how Mustafa, who had attended the secular schools and spread lights in the Kastamonu Lycee to an extent and was now trying to do the same in the university, had drawn attention to the Press Laws lest harm should come to the Risale-i Nur due to the duplicating machine and had mentioned the need for caution when communicating.

{(*):}

I exclaimed: Endless thanks be to Almighty God! One teacher was released but in his place two Hasans, two Mustafas, three teachers, and one hardworking educator are performing the Denizli hero's duties in addition to their own duties. This is a sign that just as Hâfız Ali departed and Denizli took his place and dispelled all the pain and sorrow; so Hasan Feyzi has departed and in his place a modern school and university will emerge, God willing, and again make the pain subside.

Greetings to all our brothers.

Firstly: With their services for the Risale-i Nur with the duplicating machine and in other ways, the hero Nazif and his friends, who in truth have his spirit and loyalty, are making this country indebted to them. May Almighty God grant them every success! Amen. It is a great triumph. The work produced by the machine is both attractive, clear, and correct. {(*):} Almighty God has bestowed on Nazif many Salâhaddins and İbrahims.

A piece in my own handwriting is needed at the beginning of Zülfikar. Because of my illness, I am unable myself to write the four waxed pages they have sent, so I shall dictate and my permanent scribe will write it, and I shall write just a few words.

I have received the three sorts of material gifts (teberrük) that our brother Nazif sent for the festival and New Year in the name of the Nurjus of both Istanbul and İnebolu. I have accepted them in the name of all of them, although it is not my habit. May God be pleased with them, Amen! I broke my rule for their sake. And I have received the two collections sent by Mustafa Osman, our brother who is as loyal and attached as Nazif: one, the paradisaical Nur Zülfikar in the name of the second Salâhaddin, the young İbrahim; another, the greater part of The Words (Sözler), written most beautifully by himself and sent in the name of all the Safranbolu Nurjus. May Almighty God write in the books of their good deeds and those of İbrahim and Mustafa and İzzet and their friends and helpers, merits to the number of the letters of Zülfikar and those two collections, and a hundred instances of mercy for each letter. Amen!

Indeed, Mustafa Osman has found two dedicated and very hardworking wings. Like Nazif has Salâhaddin and İbrahim, Mustafa Osman

has found the teacher Ahmed Fuad and Mustafa Oruç in the university; he will get much work done for the Risale-i Nur with those two wings, God willing. Now that people like Mustafa Oruç and the teacher Ahmed Fuad have started to serve the Risale-i Nur so effectively, it lessens a little the pain of Hasan Feyzi's death, who was the Denizli hero. Then the facts that Küçük İbrahim is a second Salâhaddin and is working earnestly for the Risale-i Nur with the duplicating machine together with his family, brother, and wife; and Salih, Gülcü Hüseyin, Osman, Zühtü, İzzet, Ömer and the other Nurjus there who are named in the letter are all progressing in their service steadfastly and unshakeably pleased us immeasurably, and showed too that in the future they will make the country grateful to them. As God wills, they have proved that İnebolu is a small Isparta and in every respect a Nur School.

Secondly: We have already sent some collections in the old letters to Mustafa Oruç, a very industrious university-student Nurju who has the abilities of an Abdurrahman and a Salâhaddin and is related to the village of Nurs, my name of Nursi, and the Risale-i Nur. At his request we have sent eight or nine pieces in the new letters since he says that the university students have much need of them and are eager for them. But as a young student, he is inexperienced and not capable of safeguarding the Risale-i Nur, so in order that it should be given to suitable people and not remain unused, any Nur students who are near Istanbul or who visit there or who live there should help him with spreading its treatises and safeguarding it.

Thirdly: The Denizli hero Hasan Feyzi's (Mercy be upon him) going to join the Isparta hero Hâfız Ali (Mercy be upon him) certainly saddens us terribly, but as his select student, the loyal Nur student Muharrem, said, and I too say: In one respect he has not died; he completed his duty hastily, and was released and departed to rest in the Intermediate Realm. Together, he and Hâfız Ali are assisting with their intercession and the powerful works connected with the Risale-i Nur they left behind; they are still working at the Risale-i Nur. Since they are surely martyrs of a sort, we hope and seek from divine mercy that like the medrese student in the Eleventh Topic of The Fruits of Belief who thought he was still busy with his Arabic grammar lessons, the two are busy discussing the truths of the Risale-i Nur within the circle of the Nurjus who have died. God willing, He will raise up many Hasan Feyzis to carry on his duties in this world.

{(*):}

However, it was mistake that that blessed brother did not avoid taking official medicines, as I do. I suffered much more distress than he did, but thinking that the Nurjus' supplications would suffice, I did not seek material medicines or anyone's opinion about the illness, and so did not suffer any anxiety. Our late brother did not manage to comply with me on this point. He had given his word in his brilliant pieces about the Risale-i Nur that he would sacrifice himself for this wretched brother of his, so performed his duties for the Risale-i Nur with great speed and departed for the world of rest and repose. Once again I offer my condolences to his relatives and to his valuable, dedicated students like Muharrem, and to the Nurjus of Denizli and its surroundings, and suggest that like us they make our late brother a partner in their good works by inscribing them in his book of good deeds as though in respect of good deeds he has not died. And I send them many greetings and seek divine mercy for him.

Fourthly: The behaviour of the hoopoe-like bird - like Solomon's hoopoe - during the work of the Risale-i Nur, belonging to the notable Nur student Mustafa Yıldız, is not strange or unique. He is one of the heroes of Sava, where at one time the Risale-i Nur was being written out with a thousand pens. There are numerous such examples; on many occasions birds have shown an interest in the Risale-i Nur.

I send my congratulations to Sadık Bey, who completely true to his name worked together with Hilmi in prison and unforgetably served myself, the unity of the Nurjus, and the co-operation of the Nurjus and other prisoners, and beforehand and afterwards worked heroically in his home region. I send my congratulations to him and his mother and relatives, and may God grant them abundant blessings for the sacrifice they offered in my name. Also, we send greetings to Salih's son Osman, who is a Nur student and sent us greetings via him, and we accept him within the fold of the Risale-i Nur.

"The ink of the scholars (ulema) will weigh equally to the blood of the martyrs." {[*]:}

"Whoever adheres to my Sunna when my community falls into disorder will receive the recompense of a hundred martyrs." {[*]:}

Inspired by the above Hadiths, I am declaring only a few of the numerous benefits in this world and the next of writing out the Risale-i Nur, which are mentioned in it and have been affirmed by the experiences of its students,

1. Striving with ideas and the word against the people of misguidance, which is a struggle of paramount importance.

2. Serving their Master by assisting him in the dissemination of the truth.

3. Serving the Muslims with regard to belief (îmân),

4. Acquiring knowledge through the pen,

5. Performing worship in the form of reflective thought, one hour of which may sometimes be the equivalent of a year's worship.

1. Plentiful sustenance.

2. Ease of heart and happiness.

3. Lack of trouble in securing a livelihood.

4. Success in one's work.

5. By acquiring the virtues of studentship, to receive a share in the particular prayers of all the Nur students.

1. According to the indications of certain verses of the Qur'an, to enter the grave in a state of belief.

2. By virtue of the spiritual partnership within the fold of the Risale-i Nur to receive a share of the spiritual gains of all the students and of their good works.

Furthermore, on condition one has the good fortune to accomplish one's duty to perfection, to belong to the class of students of the religious sciences,

which at this time when such students are absent, means being honoured by the angels, {(*):} and in the Intermediate Realm to manifest the life of the martyrs, as does Hâfız Ali and the famous student mentioned in The Fruits of Belief.

Over two years the courts in Ankara and Denizli and the experts' committee studied all the parts of the Risale-i Nur and took the unanimous decision both for our acquittal and the return all of the Risale-i Nur to me; there is therefore nothing to prevent their publication. The pieces in the present collection were among the treatises returned to me.

All the developments favouring religion in the schools and the mosques in Isparta may be looked on as conquests of Zülfikar. Just as Isparta became the Nur School and the teacher of the other provinces, so, God willing, it will offer a fine example to be followed with regard to the marks of Islam (şeâir-i İslâmiye).

{(*):}

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: Just when I was suffering both the distressing physical and spiritual illness of this severe winter, in addition to the pains of possible separation from my very close Nurju brothers due to departing from this world, Sıddık Süleyman and Nur Santral Sabrî arrived here in the name of all my brothers in that region and my relatives, as though they were Abdülmecid and Abdurrahman. I offer thanks to Almighty God, for their arrival was a medicine and cure for me. Contrary to my custom here, I invited them to visit me come what may, and they came. For two or three hours, I listened and learnt all that I was curious about, particularly how my friends in Barla

were, and we made a joyful tour of the imagination around my time there. I received such relief and consolation, all my grievous sufferings were dispelled. I wanted them to stay here for a couple of days, but these bad times and the suspicions and circumstances here did not permit it, I accepted those brothers on account of all of you, and I sent you two living letters in my place.

Secondly: The second day I received a letter telling me that nine true Nurjus, young Salâhaddins and Abdurrahmans, are making a serious effort to illuminate the young university students, whom I was most curious about and interested in. Those young Abdurrahmans are Mustafa Oruç, Ziya from Konya, Sabri's grandson Feyzi, Bahaeddin, Abdurrahim, Ömer from Kastamonu, Aziz, Şükrü, and Sabrî. Earnest young Nurjus like these embracing the Risale-i Nur pleased me as much as the idea of ten youths like my late nephews Abdurrahman and Fuad returning to this world and embarking on their Nur service. It alleviated my illness considerably

Thirdly: It is a good fortune for the Nurjus, and for the whole country even, that the duplication of Zülfikar by machine is nearly completed. But so as not to lose that good fortune, you must take whatever precautions you can. If to suppose the impossible - God willing it won't happen - there is a search like there was with The Supreme Sign, not all the copies should be exposed to the assault. There shouldn't be any such assault now; there can't be, for they are trying to be conciliatory. But covert atheists are sure to be looking for pretexts so as to save themselves from the curses of the future and they deceive the powers that be. So relying on divine protection and providence, you must act circumspectly. God willing, Zülfikar will preserve itself from attack and will either rout the aggressors or bring them to believe.

My Dear, Loyal Brother and Zealous, Earnest Friend in This Transitory World!

Firstly: Out of all my friends and compatriots, I am truly most grateful to yourself and to certain people from Erzurum for your serious and kindly concern for me in these torturous and oppressive circumstances, and for your hastening mentally to my assistance. I shall never forget this till my dying day and I beseech God's grace and blessings for you.

Secondly: Completely contrarily to my way and the lessons I have taken

from the Risale-i Nur, and contrarily to the rule of my life for the past ten years, which is not to concern myself with the passing, inconsequential matters of this fleeting world, just for your sake and your long letter and the questions you asked about, I am going to explain a few matters related to my situation and the oppressors' torments.

The First: One day thirty years ago while I was a member of the Darü'l-Hikmet, Seyyid Sadeddin Pasha, who was a friend of mine and also a member, told me: "I have received through means that are certain that an atheistic secret society which is present here but the roots of which are abroad has read one of your works and declared that if its author remains in this world, it shall be unable to persuade this nation to accept its doctrine, that is, atheism and irreligion, so has decided to eliminate him. That is, it has given the order for your execution. You must look to protect yourself." I replied: "I place my trust in God! The appointed hour is fixed and won't change!"

These last thirty or forty years that secret society has both spread, and has employed every device to struggle against me, It has tried to eliminate me twice with imprisonment, and eleven times by poison (now it is nineteen times). Its worst plans were its using the full force of official government influence against me through the former Interior Minister, the former governor of Afyon, and the former deputy kaymakam of Emirdağ. Those three officials so intimidated everyone and conducted such propaganda against me, a weak, elderly, solitary, impoverished stranger in need of assistance, that except to spy on me no official would come near me, for if any greeted me he would be posted elsewhere, and out of their fear some of my neighbours would not greet me at all. But divine protection and providence bestowed patience and forbearance on me, and their unparalleled torments and oppression did not compel me to have recourse to them.

The Second: Perhaps you recall that in the president's office in Ankara when disputing with Mustafa Kemal, I responded fiercely to what he said, declaring to his face: "Those who neglect the obligatory prayers are traitors, and the words of traitors are to be rejected!" {[*]:} He did not find the courage to respond to that insult and disparagement, but here, a low-ranking officer and a sergeant heaped similar abuse and insult on me. Their intention was to infuriate me and provoke an incident, but divine protection and providence bestowed patience and forbearance on me.

The Third: In their investigations of two years two courts could find nothing legally reprehensible in any part of the Risale-i Nur, {(*):} but on their acquitting us and the Risale-i Nur, the secret atheistic society made use of certain dissembling officials, and hatching an official plan in the centre of government, isolated me from all my friends and students completely illegally, and calling it exile, sent me to the place most detrimental to my health, to a life of solitary confinement in Emirdağ. It has now emerged that they did this for two reasons:

The First: I have never ever accepted insults. So they wanted to infuriate me by humiliating me and to incite an incident and pave the way to finish me off. Then because they didn't manage that, they tried to put an end to me by poisoning me. But through divine providence, the panacea-like prayers of the Nur students and the remedial properties of patience and endurance foiled that plan of theirs and drove off the dangers of the poison, both physical and spiritual. Certainly at no time in history has any government perpetrated such torments and oppression in the name of law and order. Indeed their constant surveillance vexed me and their scaring everyone away from me made me angry, but it suddenly occurred to my heart that I should pity these tyrants, not be angry at them, as follows: Soon each one of them will be subject to everlasting agony in place of the temporary sufferings they have inflicted on you and to hellish torments, physical and mental, a thousandfold greater. Revenge will be taken on them a thousand times more severely. And some of them, if they have any sense, will suffer the anguish of guilty consciences and fear of eternal death so long as they remain in this world till they meet their end. So I ceased feeling angry at them and pitied them, saying: May God reform them!

Moreover, I was earning great reward from their torments and ill-treatment, and since they were busying themselves with and tyrannizing me instead of the Nur students, it was of great benefit for the Nurjus and served their well-being and I therefore offered thanks to Almighty God and felt joy within all the distress I was suffering.

The Fourth: Concerning the matter in your letter about my living conditions

and if I was capable of it, to go to the Hijaz and Damascus, and your applying to the present government for me:

Firstly: If I had been in Mecca, I would have had to come here in order to save belief and serve the Qur'an. For the need is greatest here, If I had a thousand spirits and suffered from a thousand sickness and was afflicted with that many difficulties, I would again decide due to the lessons I have received from the Qur'an, to stay here to serve this nation's belief and happiness, and I have so decided.

Secondly: Concerning being treated with respect rather than insultingly, you say in your letter: If you had been in Egypt or America, you would have been cited in the histories with honour and esteem.

My dear, attentive brother!

In accordance with our way, we are strongly averse to respect and reverence, and acclaim, gifts, and tributes for my person. Especially the desire for fame, which is extraordinary hypocrisy, and to be mentioned in histories and to appear fine to people, which is alluring self-advertisement, are the opposite of sincerity, which is a basic principle of the Risale-i Nur and its way, and are opposed to it. I seek none of these things; indeed, I flee from them. But since the Risale-i Nur proceeds from the abounding light of the Qur'an, and is a flash of its miraculousness, and expounds its truths and discloses its mysteries, we want the Risale-i Nur to be sought after, and for everyone to feel the need for it and to appreciate its high value, and to make known its perfectly clear wonder-working, and that it has defeated the irreligion of the atheists in respect of belief and that it will continue to do so, and we await this from divine mercy,

As a postscript, I am adding a trifling and unimportant paragraph about my person:

Receb Bey and Kara Kâzım are friends of yours and I reckon they had some relations with the Old Said; I don't want any favours from them, but like their predecessors they shouldn't permit the meaningless, unnecessary persecution and ill-treatment of my person. I can't abide the physical and spiritual atmosphere here. My distress is excessive. I lock the place I stay on both the outside and the inside. I am completely alone. I have no neighbours really, and pass my life in an oppressive room, all alone and ill. Sometimes one day's anguish here is greater than a month of travails in Denizli prison. Enough now of these twenty years of infringements on my liberty and the terrible distress. In any event, with the two-year scrutinies of two courts and the failure of the dissemblers' plots against me, it has become absolutely clear that they can no longer deceive anyone with the groundless suspicious allegations that I and the Risale-i Nur cause harm to

this country and nation. It would be appropriate if like everyone else I had my freedom and there was permission for me to visit some of the villages around here with a more temperate climate. I send many greetings to you and to my Nur friends there, and I offer prayers for you.

An indication of the acceptability of Mustafa Osman's service, who like the late Hasan Feyzi has carried out much work in a brief space of time and is earnestly devoted to the Risale-i Nur, is his finding two teachers resembling Hasan Feyzi in spirit and loyalty, Ahmed Fuad and Mustafa Sungur, and two higher education students, Mustafa Oruç and Rahmi, and his working at the Nur service with those powerful hands. It is a great good fortune for that region.

The wonderful joint letters of Mustafa Osman and the teacher Mustafa Sungur, which we have added with some alterations to our Additional Letters, shows that shoots of Hasan Feyzi's sort have started to sprout and grow who will save the belief of many wretched people, God willing. Both the Nurjus and myself were especially pleased at the devotion of the fourteen-year-old schoolboy called Rahmi in making his Nur lessons his life's aim, thus resembling the innocent young heroes of Isparta. It is a good omen that the young people's belief in that area will be saved.

Hâfız Mustafa has provided immense assistance for the spread of Zülfikar and the other collections, and writes in the very best way that the late martyr Hâfız Ali wrote, and is a loyal deputy to him and truly diligent friend of his in the Nur Factory. I congratulate with all my life and spirit Ahmed Fuad, who ensured that all the parts of the Risale-i Nur which had been left to Hâfız Mustafa on trust, reached him and the region of Safranbolu and all our brothers there. God willing, every lira given for Zülfikar will yield a thousandfold profit and will produce thousands of good works. I send my greetings to both him, and our brother İbrahim, and the new dedicated teacher Mustafa Sungur, and the young Salâhaddin Rahmî, and to Mustafa Osman and Hıfzı and all our brothers there.

Our Respected, Blessed, Esteemed, Kind, and Virtuous Master!

Firstly: "And in the face of every calamity: We belong to God and to Him is our return" (Q 2:156). The death of our elder brother and his departing to join the Risale-i Nur champion and late martyr Hâfız Ali saddened us grievously. I send my condolences to foremost you our Master and to all the Nur students, all the members of his spiritual and actual family, his Nur School, and the people of Denizli, and I share in their sorrow. While offering my paltry gifts at the divine court, I beseech that he may be engulfed in mercy and blessings. And I entreat from divine mercy that in accordance with the verse: «Every soul will taste death» (Q 3: 185), he has been taken from this world to the world of spirits, and as indicated by «But those who believe and do deeds of righteousness - to them We give a home in heaven lofty mansions beneath which flow rivers, - to dwell therein for aye, - an excellent reward for those who do [good]!» (Q 29:58) as recompense He shall bestow the shoots of numerous Hasan Feyzis.

Esteemed Master! According to what I have heard, one day seventy to eighty years ago in Denizli, a lofty saint called Hasan Feyzi told his students: "Today a saint was born in Kurdistan," alluding with this good news to yourself. I consider that your coming to Denizli so many years later made that saint's spirit rejoice. Then a short time later the late Hasan Feyzi, who bore the same name, emulated the first Hasan Feyzi in his respect for the Risale-i Nur and his passion for it, and entering its fold, strengthened this conviction of mine immeasurably. I thought: Said appeared and attained the fullness of years after the first Hasan Feyzi's death, and the second Hasan Feyzi also fulfilled his duties, and immersed in the Risale-i Nur he summoned many Hasan Feyzi's to replace him, then departed this life. I implore and entreat the Most Merciful of the Merciful that He bestow numerous Hasan Feyzis on the Risale-i Nur and on our Master who will cause them to forget their grief, and I hope from His abundant grace, mercy, providence, bestowal, bounty, and favour that He will grant our Master a long and felicitous life at their head,

At this distressing time when my soul was vexing me and triggering impatience, this piece silenced it completely and induced me to offer thanks. It is attached here in the hope that it will be useful for you too, for I have it hanging beside me.

1. O my soul! In seventy-three years you have received more than your share of pleasures, and none is now owing to you.

2. You want passing pleasures to persist and start weeping when they disappear. You receive slaps for this error of yours, arising from blind emotions.

3. Underlying the injustices and calamities you suffer is the justice of divine determining. People oppress you for something you didn't do, but due to your secret faults divine determining both trains you through the hand of those calamities, and they are atonement for those faults.

4. My impatient soul! As a consequence of hundreds of experiences, you believe certainly that divine providence dispenses truly sweet results beneath apparent calamities. The verse, «It may be that you hate a thing but it is good for you» (Q 2:216) teaches a certain truth. It constantly recalls it. Moreover, the divine law that turns the wheel of the firmament, that vast law of divine determining, will not be changed just for your sake.

5. Make the sacred rule: "The believer in divine determining suffers no grief" {[*]:} your guiding principle. Don't run after fleeting, trivial pleasures like capricious unthinking children. Know that passing pleasures leave behind pains and regrets, whereas difficulties and suffering yield spiritual pleasures and rewards in the hereafter. If you aren't crazy, you will seek temporary pleasures only for thanks. They are anyway given to prompt the offering of thanks.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: Although it is personal, it occurred to me that I should write and tell you about a strange dispute I had with myself. It was like this:

Although the poster you know about that hangs beside me had totally silenced my evil-commanding soul, last night my blind emotions, which employ the weapon of the soul even more insistently, exacerbated certain

veins of temperament. With an excessive irritability and sensitivity caused by illness and poison, and an extraordinary state of mind arising from the whisperings of Satan and a natural love of life, those blind emotions, which resemble a second evil-commanding soul, touched my heart and spirit acutely, and made me feel an awful despair and sorrow at the possibility of death, and a powerful ambition, thrill, and pleasure.

My soul and those emotions asked: "Why don't you try to live a comfortable life? For indeed you reject such a thing and you don't seek an innocently pleasurable life within the circle of the Risale-i Nur, but are quite happy to die. Why is this?" Suddenly two powerful facts silenced that second evil-commanding soul and Satan.

The First: When I die, the Risale-i Nur's sacred work for belief will unfold with greater sincerity; and in no way will it be accused of being utilized for worldly ends, or for egotism or self-interest. And since my being personally alive excites rivalry, its service will continue more sincerely and perfectly. It's true that I can help a bit while I'm in this world, but rivals and critics can accuse my unimportant self, which may harm the Risale-i Nur and cause people to hold back from it. And if the person who acts as watchman lays down, all the enthusiasts in his luminous circle become alert and watchful; there are then thousands of guards instead of just one. That is to say, if death were to come, it would be welcome.

Furthermore, since many of the Nur students have devoted their property, and their comfort, and their worldly pleasures, and if necessary their lives to serving the Risale-i Nur, why should you be niggardly, O my soul!

Also, know certainly that if it were necessary to depart from this transitory, troublesome life while working to save the eternal lives of numerous unfortunates, or if the time were to come, it would be a pleasurable honour to meet it happily.

The Second: If a weak and powerless man was to be burdened with a heavy load although he could not bear a light one, and if his friends looked on him as strong and wanted his help although it was really him that needed help due to his concealed weakness, it would be most grievous and distasteful for him to try, by being artificial and false, which are extremely burdensome, to appear big and powerful just so as not to offend them or appear inferior. In just the same way, O my evil-commanding soul, you have become engulfed in blind emotion! With your ordinary person and virtually worthless abilities, you could not be the source and fountainhead of the truths of the Risale-i Nur, which are far beyond you and purely a divine favour. In this dark, sick age, those truths have emerged from the sacred pharmacy of the Qur'an and been placed in your hands by divine

mercy. Indeed, just so as not to spoil my friends' good opinion of me nor offend their sensibilities, despite my being wretched and needy and a beggar at the Qur'an's door and a mere means conveying it to the needy, this wretched person they call Ustad has given up meeting with friends even if not in connection with the work of the Risale-i Nur, and has been obliged to do so by his spirit, for their sake, so as not to appear far inferior to them nor be forced to be false and artificial, which is most painful and burdensome. For to appear more worthy than I am, and to show myself as holding some high rank in order to please those who have too high an opinion of me, and to appear lofty and to seek the harmful, fleeting pleasures of the ego behind the veil of high dignity, which is absolutely opposed to the meaning of sincerity, would reduce to nothing all those pleasures, o my soul!

O my soul! O miserable blind emotions, always seeking pleasure! If you were to receive thousands of worldly pleasures even, they would still degenerate in this situation and turn into pure pain! Since out of a hundred of my old friends, ninety are calling me to the grave - or so it seems, I have to abandon the ten that remain here. Surely, the non-physical life of the Intermediate Realm is a thousand times preferable to this life of old-age and loneliness.

Thanks be to God, the above two facts silenced the second evil-commanding soul completely. It was content with the pleasures emanating from the heart and spirit. Satan was silenced too. Even the physical sickness in my arteries lessened considerably.

In Short: If I die, the work of the Risale-i Nur will unfold with greater sincerity, and without any rivalry or accusations.

Moreover, it means being saved from the burdensome, cold and unpleasant pains of empty formalities and troubles of self-advertisement and harms of artificiality, which usurp the minor, temporary pleasure which I don't seek and the pleasure at seeing with worldly eyes the victories of the Risale-i Nur.

Furthermore, O soul! With your spirit and heart, this year you have travelled both in fact and in the imagination through the regions I passed my old pleasurable life for which you so long, to see the friends with whom I was so familiar and the brothers at the parting with whom I was so sad. But you too saw that in those many regions you could find only one or two out of a hundred of those friends. The rest had departed for the Intermediate Realm, and the pleasing living tableaux had changed and had taken on a dejected, mournful appearance. Never again would one want to see those empty, friendless places. So with complete dignity and self-respect, we

should give up these fleeting pleasures and bid this life and world farewell before they drive us out unceremoniously.

With greetings to and prayers for all our brothers, your ill but joyful brother,

On the occasion of the death of the esteemed Nur School Master, Haji Hâfız Mehmed, I offer my condolences to all the Risale-i Nur students, particularly the students of the Nur School, and the late departed's relatives. For as long as we remain in this world, on account of the Risale-i Nur we shall continue to pray with all our whole spirit that divine mercy be bestowed upon him and that between Hâfız Ali and Hasan Feyzi he receive a share of all our spiritual gains. He was a blessed person who successfully fulfilled vital tasks for the Risale-i Nur, then completed his duty and leaving behind numerous spiritual offspring as successors, departed and withdrew released to the world of mercy and rest. When dontating my gains to the high-ranking masters, Hâfız Ali, Hâfız Mehmed, Mehmed Zühtü, Ahmed of Sava, and Hasan Feyzi, I involuntarily beheld Haji Hâfız Mehmed among them during the last ten days he was alive. I told myself that he had a place among them, and I did not interfere. But I was surprised that someone who was still alive should have a place among those masters. Now it is understood from your letter that he was making his death felt as a wonder of his sincere and sacred service. He was indicating that he had a position between Hâfız Ali and Hasan Feyzi. May Almighty God inscribe in his book of good works and bestow on his spirit instances of mercy to the number of the letters of the Risale-i Nur written out and read in the Sava Nur School. Amen! And may He grant success to his successor and son, Hâfız Mehmed, and grandson, Ahmed Zeki, in continuing his duties in accordance with his method. Amen! And may He bestow perfect patience on them all. Amen!

In His Name, be He glorified!

May God's peace be upon you, and His mercy and blessings!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers and the Young Heroes Among the Nur Students!

At the end of some copies of The Staff of Moses, there is the answer I gave to a question asked by one of our brothers, Küçük Ali, who is small in name but great in spirit. Read it, for some critics said to him, in an effort to belittle the Risale-i Nur, "Everyone knows God; the common man believes in God just like the saint." They wished in this way to present the exalted, valuable, and most essential discussions contained in the Risale-i Nur as superfluous. Now too in Istanbul, with a still more sinister intention, some hypocrites of anarchist persuasion who have fallen prey to utter unbelief wish cunningly to deprive everyone of the truths of belief that are contained in the Risale-i Nur and are as essential to man as bread and water. They say: "Every nation and every individual knows God; we have no great need for new instruction in this matter."

To know God, however, means to have certain belief in His dominicality encompassing all beings, and in all things, particular and universal, from the atoms to the stars, being in the grasp of His power, action, and will; it means believing in the truths of the sacred words, "There is no god but God," and assenting to them with one's heart.

For simply to say, "God exists," and then to divide His sovereignty among causes and nature and attribute it to them; to recognize causes as sources of authority, as if - God forbid - they were partners to God; to fail to perceive His will and knowledge as present with all things; to refuse to recognize His strict commands and to reject His attributes and the messengers and prophets He has sent - this has nothing to do with the reality of belief in God. The person who does all this, then says "God exists," does so only in order to find some relief from the torment he suffers in the world after his unbelief has made it a hell for him. Not to deny is one thing; to believe is something completely different.

No being endowed with consciousness, in the whole universe, can indeed deny the All-Glorious Creator to whom every particle of existence bears witness. Or if he does make such a denial, he will be rebuffed by all of creation, and hence become silent and diffident.

But believing in Him is, as the Qur'an of Mighty Stature informs us, to assent in one's heart to the Creator with all of His attributes and names,

supported by the testimony of the whole universe; to recognize the messengers He has sent and the commands He has promulgated; and to make sincere repentance and feel genuine regret for every sin and act of disobedience. Conversely, to commit every kind of sin and then never to seek pardon for it or concern oneself with it, is a sure sign of the absence of any element of belief.

Thus my spritual offspring, an important event has become the occasion for a brief exposition of a long and complex matter. I now look on you as important students of the Risale-i Nur. It is most fortunate that Mustafa Oruç so quickly found you, to work according to his system in his spirit and with his seriousness. Now there are ten Mustafas,

My Dear, Esteemed Brother!

I read your lengthy treatise-like, comprehensive, precisely researched and eager letter with the greatest interest. In the first place I have to tell you that Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) is the Risale-i Nur's master, and with his symbolic allusions in his ode al-Jaljalutiya shows much concern for the Risale-i Nur and is my particular master in the truths of belief. In accordance with the verse, «Say: I ask no recompense of you save love of close kin» (Q 42:23), love of the Prophet's (UWBP) family is a fundamental principle of the Risale-i Nur and our way, so Wahhabism should not be espoused in any way by any true Nur student. Since at the present time atheists and the people of misguidance profit from differences and confuse the believers, and corrupting the marks of Islam, form powerful currents opposed to the Qur'an and belief, the door of disputed minor questions should not be opened in the face of this awesome enemy.

Moreover, the Sunnis stated that there is no need to vilify the dead, for they have departed for their place of punishment in the hereafter, and love of the Prophet's (UWBP) family does not necessitate publicizing their faults harmfully and unnecessarily; they opposed discussion of the dissension that occurred at the time of the Companions. The Sunnis said that since at the Incident of the Camel, Zubayr, Talha, and 'A'isha al-Siddiqa (May God be pleased with them) of the ten promised paradise were present, the war resulted from an independent ruling (ijtihad), so even if Imam 'Ali was right and the other side was wrong, it would be forgiven.

The Sunnis also consider it harmful to discuss the rebels at the Siffin War, lest either those inclined to Wahhabism or extremist Shi'is cause harm to Islam.

The prominent authority of the science of theology (kalam), Sa'd al-Dîn al-Taftazani, said about villains like Hajjaj the Tyrant, Yazid, and Walid, that it is permissible to curse them, but he did not say that it was compulsory or that it was a good thing or earned reward. For there are innumerable people who deny both the Qur'an and the Prophet (UWBP) and the Companions' sacred conversations; there are many of them everywhere. There is no harm according to the Shari'a if a person does not recall those deserving of execration and does not curse them. For unlike goodness and love, execration and vilification are not included among good works, and if they are harmful, that is far worse.

At the present time, there are covert dissemblers everywhere who, inclining towards Wahhabism, exert an influence over certain hojas, who more than anyone are charged with protecting Islam and the truths of the Qur'an; they accuse the people of truth of Alevî-ism, exploit one against the other and try to deal awesome blows at Islam. You wrote briefly about this in your letter. In fact, you know that they found the hojas to be the most effective tool to wield against myself and the Risale-i Nur. The Wahhabis, who rule the two sacred mosques of Mecca and Medina, and, - with the fascinating works of the famous, awesome geniuses Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzi having long since got into the hands of some Istanbul hojas - a group of hojas who favour the innovations and want to use them against the saints (evliya) and to screen their permissive way, may make a pretext of your ruling (ijtihad) which arose from love of the Prophet's (UWBP) family and should not now be publicized, and deal a blow at both yourself and the Nur students. There is no command in the Shari'a not to vilify and accuse of unbelief but there is an injunction concerning such actions, and to unjustly execrate and impute unbelief causes serious harm. If it is justifiable, there is no good or reward involved. Those who deserve it are innumerable. But there is no injunction in the Shari'a concerning not vilifying or accusing of unbelief, so it is not harmful in any way. It is because of this fact that the people of reality, the Sunnis, and foremost the Four Imams and the Twelve Imams, {[*]:} took the sacred law based on the above truth as their guide, and did not consider it permissible among Muslims

to make that time's strife the subject of discussion and debate, saying that to do so was without benefit, and harmful.

Also, leading Companions were found on both sides in those wars, and if one talks about those conflicts, taking one side or the other, one might feel opposed to or critical of some of the ten promised paradise such as Talha or Zubayr (May God be pleased with them). If they committed any faults, there is a strong possibility that they repented. As for returning to those times and dwelling on those events unnecessarily and harmfully, without the sanction of the Shari'a, and adopting a stance that infers disregard of those who at this time are dealing awesome blows at Islam in fact and deserve to be execrated and loathed, does not befit a believer and is not congruent with the sacred duty of any conscientious person,

In fact, I can't conceal it from you that your minor dispute with Sabri caused considerable harm to the dissemination of both the Risale-i Nur and the truths of belief. I felt it here at that very time, and was affected and saddened. Then while awaiting from both a discerning scholar like yourself, and Sabri, who had gone there to work for the Risale-i Nur, that both of you would perform useful services, I felt and understood that, on the contrary, harm had been caused to the Risale-i Nur in three respects. I was wondering about the cause of this when two or three days later I received news that Sabri had argued with you in meaningless, unwarranted fashion, and that you had become angry. Alas! I exclaimed, "O God! Make peace between these two people who have come from Erzurum to assist me; settle the dispute between them!" As it says in the Twentieth Flash on sincerity, at the present time the believers should unite not only with their Muslim brothers but also with religiously-minded Christians, and avoiding questions of dispute, not engage in argument and debate. For absolute disbelief is on the attack. I appeal to your religious zeal, scholarly experience, and attachment to the Risale-i Nur, and request that you try to forget the argument with Sabri, and forgive him and waive your rights. For he was not voicing his own views but was repeating things he had heard from the hojas of the former times, and started arguing in uncalled-for manner. It would be a good act and meritorious, and atonement for many sins, as you know. Sabri, my fellow-countryman, has performed such services for the Risale-i Nur and through it for belief that they would cause a thousand faults to be forgiven. With your magnanimity, for the sake of his service you should look on him as a friend, fellow-countryman, and companion in the work of the Risale-i Nur,

In those wars, a group of the Companions followed relative justice as permitted by the Shari'a and abandoned the pure justice and adherence to

the Shari'a that Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) followed, and his ascetic, self-denying way. Since due to this ruling they joined the opposing side, and Imam 'Ali's brother 'Aqil, and 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, who was known as Hibr al-Umma, even, joined it for a time, the true Sunnis took as their rule, "Closing the gate of dissension is one the beauties of the Shari'a," and declaring, "God did not allow us to spill their blood, so as thanks for His great favour we shall hold our tongues" {[*]:} considered it appropriate not to put too much emphasis on the matter. They argued that even if some of them deserved criticism, some of the leading Companions and members of the Prophet's (UWBP) family who were on the opposing side, and some of the ten promised paradise like Talha and Zubayr (May God be pleased with them) would be objected to and vilified, causing enmity, so they favoured closing that door. In fact, Sa'd al-Dîn al-Taftazani, one of the greatest authorities of the Sunnis and of the science of kalam, permitted the execration of Yazid and Walid, and the pronouncement of their unbelief, In response to this, other Sunni scholars such as Sayyid Sharif al-Jurjani, said: "For sure Yazid and Walid were iniquitous, cruel sinners, but it is not known whether or not they died without believing. And because it is not known with any certainty, since there is no definite record or incontrovertible evidence, there is a possibility that they repented and died in a state of belief. In which case, it is not permissible for particular persons such as them to be cursed. It may be permissible to curse in a general sort of way, saying 'May God curse the wrongdoers and the dissemblers.' Otherwise it is harmful and unnecessary."

The reasons I have been unable to reply at length to your scholarly and detailed letter, are my serious illness and pressing occupations. I have therefore only been able to write this much hastily.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: Two hours after the sparrow had given the good news, I joyfully received safe and sound Zülfikar and its companions, which are fruits of paradise and the pages of good works of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ's executive committee and the books of their good deeds. I exclaimed, "May God grant them grace and success and happiness in this world and the next!' and with all my life and spirit congratulated both yourselves and this country. There are signs with the preliminary appearance of Zülfikar, of the emergence of powerful currents favouring religion and the cessation of attacks on it, and of some sectors retreating and trying to make up for their former mistakes. Its publication and dissemination, therefore, will secure great benefits for the country with respect to Islam, God willing, and indicates that it will disperse the layers of darkness.

Yes, it is only the Risale-i Nur that will halt the current of absolute dis- belief descending from the north; neither politics nor diplomacy can perform this task. For this reason, patriots, nationalists, and politicians are obliged to embrace it. I beseech from divine mercy that for those who worked for Zülfikar with its seven hundred pages, it will form a single page of good deeds at the resurrection of the dead and will be included in the book of deeds of their collective personality, indeed, of each one of those who worked at it. Since those truths of belief are elevated worship and pious deeds and save the belief of numerous people, they comprise thousands of pious deeds; with each one of those who worked at it reading, listening to, and believing in it, it becomes like a document for the hereafter resembling the book in which is recorded the good deeds of each. Most certainly, it is the mark of an infinite mercy for Zülfikar, with its seven hundred pages, to be published and included as one page in the book of good deeds in the hereafter of themselves and their collective personality.

Secondly: For sure, the Risale-i Nur is victorious wherever it goes, but as far as they possibly can, obdurate, intransigent atheists and materialists employ every stratagem to impede its victories and arouse the politicians' suspicions. God willing, they won't be able to mess things up. But it is always advisable to be cautious. The rule, " ... illuminates discreetly" ("sirran tanawwarat") {[*]:} still persists. It is essential to be circumspect and act with composure until several more collections like this one are

published. Actually, although I have not seen the symbolic treatise about the inner meaning of «To thee have We granted» (Q 108: 1) for thirteen years, it would be both somewhat contrary to the rule of caution to send it here, and not everyone would understand it, for it has to be interpreted (te'vil) and expounded (tefsir). I wrote in one letter in The Additional Letters that two truths had been imparted to me briefly:

One of them: A light was shown in a somewhat restricted area; I understood this as meaning an extensive sphere and gave the good news forty years ago that we would behold a light. Even before the Second Consitutional Period, I repeatedly gave that news to my old students. I supposed it would be in the broad sphere of politics, whereas it was subsequently imparted to me that we would see the Risale-i Nur in the sphere of belief and Islam and the life of Islamic society, for which this country had greatest need. With a premonition, I insistently and repeatedly told of it, and altered that true and veracious matter's form.

The second: It was imparted to me that those who were dealing blows at the marks of Islam and Islamic politics would themselves receive severe blows in twelve, thirteen, fourteen, and sixteen years. Contrarily to the previous matter, I interpreted the events that would occur in the broad sphere and the blows that would be dealt on those large communities as happening in the form of blows dealt at individuals in the narrow sphere. But then exactly as predicted, in both spheres, broad and narrow, twelve years later the most terrible of them quitted this world, and in the broad sphere fearsome communities like his received blows in the years twelve, thirteen, fourteen, and sixteen, and it was imparted to me that they would continue to do so. With my previous interpretation, I applied the large sphere to the small, then with 'the light' question above, I interpreted the small sphere and the event of the Risale-i Nur and its pertaining solely to belief as occurring in the extensive sphere of politics. For this reason, not everyone would understand at once the meaning of «To thee have We granted.» Also, since personal names should not be included in scholarly questions, it is quite apt that for thirteen years I have had no copies of that treatise. Nor should my brothers be curious about it. If anyone is really curious about it, he should read the section that begins with "And for now secondly" at the beginning of «To thee have We granted,» and the piece about the same matter in The Additional Letters. Otherwise he should not read it. The end of the Second World War and departure of that fearsome person, and now with his policies falling back and contrarily to them, some people officially making moves in favour of religion, and the believers being saved to a degree from absolute depotism, and with slight differences the

predictions made in that short treatise occurring on the same dates, all constitute a flash of that sura's miraculousness (i'caz). But my enthusiastic interpretations concealed the truth.

My Dear, Esteemed Brother!

To think of and exacerbate the most grievous, the very worst, wound of the Islamic world, which for one thousand three hundred years has caused it to weep and all the people of reality to sigh at the pity of it, causes me distress greater than I can bear as a follower of my particular path, For twenty-five years, serving the cause of belief sincerely and truly has held me back from every sort of politics and not allowed me to have the newspapers read to me. Similarly, the state of mind I have had to adopt has allowed me to apply to the government only with my court defences lest, while a prisoner, I concern myself with political life; and it has made me completely disregard the ghastly World War lest the work for belief be impaired or tainted by politics or sincerity marred. But although compliance with the Qur'anic command to save belief is obligatory since at the present time fearsome monsters are attacking the believers before our very eyes on the front of the truths of belief, and they have sunk their fangs into many of them, to turn one's back on the present and return to the past to gaze on the atrocities visited on the Prophet's (UWBP) family crushes my spirit and breaks my morale, and heaps on it torment after torment.

Numerous unjust events that were perpetrated in the name of the cruel principle of tyrannical politics, namely, that individuals may be sacrificed for the community, claimed to be the lesser of two evils and a sort of relative justice and advantageous for their rule. In this century, even, due to that cruel principle and on the deluded pretext that harm would come to their policies, five or ten men have ruined thousands and have wiped out a village because of one man's fault.

Since in early times this cruel principle was adopted to an extent by Muslims, the pious forefathers and the Sunni authorities felt compelled to remain silent and closed those doors. Saying: "God did not involve us in their quarrels and kept our hands clean. So in gratitude for this, we shall keep our tongues clean by not talking about them," {[*]:} they did not open those doors.

Since those who inflicted such suffering on the Prophet's (UWBP) family are now suffering severe torments in the hereafter, there is no need for us to attack them in order to assist his family members. His family received so high a reward in return for that temporary oppression that we cannot comprehend it with our minds. We should not pity them but congratulate them on the infinite mercy they have received. For on the one hand, by suffering a few years' hardship they gained eternal bliss of infinite proportions in the hereafter, and on the other, they won the ranks of spiritual monarchs, shahs of the world of reality, in place of the petty, transient sovereignty and temporary rule, and confused politics of their time in this world. Instead of being governors, they became the commanders of saints and spiritual poles; their gain was not a thousandfold, but millions.

It is for this reason that from the New Said's special masters, Imam Rabbani, Gawth al-A'zam, and Imam Ghazali {[*]:} - and especially from these two masters that I was taught the supplication Jaushan al-Kabir of Zayn al-'Abidin (May God be pleased with him), And through the instruction I received from Hz. Husayn and Imam 'Ali (May God exalt him), and especially in my constant spiritual link with them these last thirty years through the Jaushan al-Kabir, I received the former truth and the way that has now been imparted to us from the Risale-i Nur. To look to or even think about the tyrants' atrocities, let alone probe them, is opposed to our way. For they and the other victims have received reward and recompense far exceeding what we can conceive of. To dwell on those matters is detrimental to the Qur'anic duties with which we are now charged in the face of the present calamitous assaults on religion. The rules of the science of the principles of religion (usul al-dîn) which the learned theologians of the science of theology (kalam) and erudite scholars of the principles of religion and of Sunnism agreed on after their minute studies and reasoned debates, and weighed up on the Qur'an's verses and Hadiths, about the Islamic articles of faith, command the preservation of the Risale-i Nur's way, and corroborate and strengthen it. No one anywhere, not even the innovators, have been able to criticize it. Since it preserves the true meaning of sincerity, Muslims of every shade enter its fold. Bigoted Shi'is, the most materialist

and scientistic Wahhabi philosophers even, and the most egotistical narrow-minded hojas are beginning to enter its fold together, some in brotherly fashion. There are even signs that some missionaries and truly spiritual clergy of the religion of Jesus (Upon whom be peace) will enter it. Feeling the need for co-operation and reconciliation rather than attacking each other, they avoid putting forward matters that lead to dispute. That is to say, the Risale-i Nur, which Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) predicted almost explicitly with thirty to forty allusions, is an effective remedy for the awesome wounds of the present. Its sphere suffices us and we do not go beyond it.

It is one thing to attack and strike at Imam 'Ali's (May God sanctify his mystery) person and life and politics, which were founded on the way of true justice. But his collective personality, perfections of knowledge, rank of sainthood, and being heir of the Prophet (UWBP), which are thousands of times higher than his outward personality, worldly life, socio-political activities, have not and cannot be struck. Who can be so bold as to attack them? In consequence, the attacks of those who oppose him imagining that they can unite his two sides, appear to be very fearsome. They cause bewilderment by asking how such events could have happened between the people of belief? Whereas with the exception of iniquitous persons like Yazid and Walid, the great majority of people were not trying to denigrate Imam 'Ali's (May God be pleased with him) perfections, wonders, and being heir of the Prophet (UWBP), but only to strike a blow at his government of society; and they were in error.

It is essential to break off minor internal hostilities when powerful external enemies are attacking. Otherwise it is tantamount to aiding the formidable enemy. For this reason, from early times within Islam, Muslims who had adopted partisan positions opposing one another, temporarily forgot their internal hostilities; the interests of Islam demand this.

My Dear, Loyal, Fortunate Brother, Süleyman Rüştü!

With all my life and spirit and in the name of the Risale-i Nur and all its students, I congratulate you, your brother's heroic [son] Burhan, your two blessed, innocent children and the members of your household. Isparta and in the future this country will applaud your success in performing a service so sacred that in the next life it will earn you perpetual reward, and here many prayers for your well-being. God willing, you will achieve numerous successes like Zülfikar. Such an achievement in these severe conditions, is

a wonder of both Zülfikar and your loyalty. Your truly auspicious dream was a manifestation the Angel Gabriel's duty - giving the Qur'an to the Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace) at the divine command. It is a sign that this service of yours is in accord with divine pleasure and that of the Prophet (UWBP). It may be interpreted as The Miracles of the Qur'an (Mu'cizat-i Kur'aniye) being conveyed to Muhammad's (UWBP) community (umma) by means of the treatise The Miracles of Muhammad (UWBP).

Just as the sun's image reflected in a fragment of glass becomes related through its light to the person holding the glass, conversing with him in a sort of way; so particular manifestations in dreams such as these - and the pious forefathers had such dreams - are signs of acceptance and approval. The person you saw with the Prophet (UWBP) was the Risale-i Nur and the collective personality of its students.

Our duty is, with sincerity, steadfastness and mutual support, and circumspection to affirm by deed the guidance of Imam 'Ali alluded to by "... illuminates discreetly", {[*]:} to act in accordance with it. We should not respond to opponents or be alarmed at their attacks. Success, the conquests of the Risale-i Nur and its spreading and being sought, are all God's business. We should look to our own business and duties, and not interfere in His. I said this and was consoled both for myself and for you.

Of those five Ahmeds, Fuad Ahmed, who has taken the place of Hasan Feyzi in Safranbolu as his full heir, told me in his most earnest and devoted letter that like Hasan Feyzi and Hâfız Ali died in my stead, he was praying that he might give the remainder of his life to me and to depart for the Intermediate Realm before me. However, his being alive now is much more useful for the Risale-i Nur. Thinking that an industrious brother who is younger than me will fulfil my tasks for the Risale-i Nur after me like my other brothers, I await my death with a perfectly peaceful heart. God willing, He will bring many such self-sacrficing people to it.

The Nur medrese hero of long standing, and most loyal, most capable, and most steadfast Marangoz Ahmed describes in his beautiful, sad letter about the death of Haji Hâfız, the school's master, the pious attitude of the school's students towards their master, and how the rain stopped so as not to cause them trouble or wet them or cause them to catch cold, and then started again when they had finished and how this was a sign that vast mercy had been sent down on the late departed's spirit. May Almighty God bestow mercy on him and on them to the number of those rain droplets. Amen!

Sadık Bey has performed extraordinary services for the Risale-i Nur for eight years together with his son and late wife, and has worked loyally with his pen, bringing numerous people into its fold like the other heroes in prison. Now Hilmi Bey, known as the Little Shaykh, who has done so much for Sadık Bey, and to make my life easier, and for co-operation among the Nur students, and together with such select Kastamonu students as Feyzi, Emin, İhsan, and the Ahmeds, has performed many services for the Risale-i Nur, has told me in his letter of his wife's death, who was a Nurju. Thanks to the departed, for the last month or two while mentioning the Zehrâs in my prayers, I have also mentioned the Hacers, intending also the departed although I did not know of her death. May God Almighty grant her abundant mercy and bestow patience on her relatives. Amen.

While doing the corrections recently, I suddenly felt violently angry, not at the hojas who are within the fold of the Risale-i Nur and work at it, and the Konya hojas, but at the others. For there are devoted Nur students who do not know Arabic and they make numerous mistakes and errors. This causes me great trouble, so I shouted at the hojas who used to be my students and my brother and the official hojas who are now in Istanbul and Ankara, saying: "You mean-spirited people! Why don't you help me, although it is your duty and the Risale-i Nur is a product of the medreses, and it is obligatory for you to serve belief, which is so necessary? Your indifference may cause many to withdraw from it. You are earning a share of the slap Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) dealt at a group of hojas at the end of time." While berating them thus, three things suddenly occurred to me in defence of those hojas whose hearts are uncorrupted.

The First: For various reasons it is inappropriate to divulge, two scholarly committees in two large centres are employing every means to induce the various groups of hojas to withdraw from the Risale-i Nur. Utilizing such things as official posts and the struggle for a livelihood, they draw the unfortunate hojas into their own fields and distance them from the Risale-i Nur. It isn't that the hojas don't know its value; the struggle to make a living, or relying on the high-ranking hojas on the committee and supposing that the religious knowledge they have acquired is sufficient to save their own belief, they remain indifferent and issue fatwas and concessions for themselves.

The Second: Due to unwarranted fears that an incident like that of Menemen or Shaykh Said might erupt, my enemies have twice tried to eliminate the Risale-i Nur students and made them subject to terrible assaults and persecution and for a long time have opposed me covertly, and have twice vindictively induced some members of the government to have us charged officially in respect of the law, government, and politics, and sent to prison. Their employing official and unofficial means of propaganda in this way to scare everyone away from us and from the Risale-i Nur of course causes considerable consternation to sensitive and somewhat weak hojas, and constitutes an excuse for them. Therefore, not the majority but those of the hojas who displaying unusual courage and enterprise, enter the fold of the Risale-i Nur, are the cause of those of them who don't enter to be forgiven to a degree.

The Third: This has been postponed. Some hojas interpret literally a number of similes and metaphors which veil the truth such as: "A man as tall as a minaret," and "On his forehead will be written ...", and "His hand will be pierced by water," and make this a pretext although it is inappropriate that such predictions in the Risale-i Nur should be interpreted superficially, and they thereafter keep aloof from it. But endless thanks be to Almighty God that the Risale-i Nur contains a truth which the mass of Muslims are in dire need of at this time as a point of support and which they have found in it. This is such a truth that it can be exploited for nothing nor tainted by any hostile purpose or aim; it disallows all doubts and scepticism, and no enemy can refute it, and only those who work at it seeking truth and reality will find it. Worldly objectives may not be combined with this truth, for then the believers who are far from it may have complete confidence in it and in its loyal disseminators, and they may save their belief in the face of the objections and denials of atheists and the irreligious, and the philosophers who are violently opposed to religion.

Yes, through the tongue of disposition the believers will say that since

so many fierce enemies could neither refute this truth nor object to it, and its students follow no aim other than serving it; it must be pure truth and veracious reality; it will form evidence as powerful as a thousand proofs, strengthening their belief and saving it; they will not be beset by doubts about the veracity of Islam.

Twice, Abdurrahman Salâhaddin, who is enterprising but not always successful, has wanted to send The Staff of Moses and part of Zülfikar to al-Azhar University, but unusually some difficulties arose and they were not sent to that very necessary and important place. In accordance with the rule, "What God wishes is best," since I had not looked at the two copies and corrected them, it occurred to me that it would be better if complete and thoroughly corrected copies of both works were sent to those ulema, who study everything with the greatest attention. For the copies contain errors that are serious and would attract the ulema's objections. So Salâhaddin should send them to me and I'll have a look at them. Later, God willing, we shall send both the complete Zülfikar, and The Staff of Moses, and The Mysteries Collection (Tılsım Mecmuası) together with a letter of explanation.

It is understood from the letter of Haji Abdüllatif, who is a follower of Mawlana Jalal al-Dîn Rumi (May God sanctify his mystery), one of my masters, that he knowingly and appreciatively is going to serve the Risale-i Nur. I was anyway expecting that some Nur heroes would emerge from the Mevlevis. God willing, he will be one of them. I send him many greetings. He should not be offended that my circumstances do not allow me to write to him personally. I send many greetings to Sabri and his children and the Nur students there, and to Hoja Vehbi and the other hojas, and await their prayers.

One of the Nur students asked about my spiritual belongings and rights, which would pass to you after my death, and in accordance with the meaning of "Die before you die!," {[*]:} specifying you as my heirs before my death. He asked what the reason was and said that they hoped I would be among them for a long time to come, God willing.

I replied: If these belongings of mine pass after my death to my true and veracious heirs, they would be divided up just like worldly goods; each

person according to his position would become the rightful owner of a part of the property; no one person could be the owner of all of it. But if they are made over to the heirs before death, each may be considered owner of all of it, of that light-scattering lamp, according to his degree. Each would become a young Said and there would be thousands of guards instead of just one. Receiving one share of Said's legacy out a thousand, each would not be just a Nurju, but fully a young Said. For example, if that property the Risale-i Nur - were a treasury, on its distribution, thousands of Nurjus would each receive twenty or a hundred gold pieces or whatever. But if they were to receive it before my death, owing to a great mystery, each would do so according to his capacity and the elect might receive a million pieces at once. This mystery bears a profound meaning which I cannot now divulge.

That student then asked: "Would all those select students sacrifice their lives and ease as you have done, that they might receive that vast property all at once?" I replied: Mutual support and co-operation hold a vast mystery so that, just as three alifs put side by side become a hundred and one and acquire commensurate strength, so the strength yielded by the genuine mutual support of the select students should not be less than the self-sacrifice, supposed by you to be superhuman, of a wretched person like myself, God willing.

Mehmed Çavuş, one of the Sava Nur School heroes, saw the police chief with the copy of Zülfikar he had written for me. He told the chief that it was his and that he should return it to him. But the police chief replied that he had enjoyed reading it and that he wanted to hold on to it for another week or two, to which Mehmed Çavuş agreed. Now, if you think it appropriate, tell the police chief, and the superintendent who confiscated it: "Said sends you his greetings and says that that other person wrote it because his own handwriting is not good."

I look on Isparta as blessed together with its earth and stones and all its people, and therefore regard its administrators and especially its police as earnest friends. As has been admitted by the police of three provinces, and established by numerous experiences and the acquittals granted unanimously by three courts and the praise and appreciation of three committees of scholars and experts, the Risale-i Nur with all its treatises and its students are highly effective moral keepers of the peace and public order. They ensure public peace, security, and discipline, which is the duty of the

police chief and his men, and in the face of the bad behaviour of the unruly, induce obedience more effectively than the police superintendants. The police, therefore, should look on us approvingly as the police chief does, not suspiciously. Because he said that he really liked Zülfikar and that he was going to read it. Anyway, you do whatever you think is best.

Also, tell the police chief: "Our brother Said says that if you really do like Zülfikar you can have that copy as a gift, because it is his. And he says too that he will also give you a copy of The Staff of Moses, which is just as important as Zülfikar."

I have absolutely no time to write personal replies to the gratifying letters that have arrived from Denizli and Tavas and my circumstances do not allow it, so they should not feel offended. It is understood from Çakır. Yusuf's letter that he is totally committed and a full heir of Hasan Feyzi.

The nine-year-old innocent child of our brother, a Nur commander and the Hulûsi of Isparta, Re'fet Bey, has written out the First Word from the Risale-i Nur so well that it shows he is destined to be a blessed Hüsnü and young hero among the children like the eleven-year-old Hüsnü of Safranbolu. May Almighty God give him to the Risale-i Nur and grant him success. Amen. I shall correct and send the copy I have written out, God willing.

{[*]:}

Firstly: The only petition I have written in twenty years was to you when you were Interior Minister. But I did not break my rule of twenty years and did not submit it. If you like, I can read it to you. I shall speak to you as both former Interior Minister, and present General Secretary. To speak for ten hours would be little indeed for someone who has not addressed the government for twenty years and spoken only once with one of its leading members and that on account of the government. So permit me to speak with you for an hour or two.

Secondly: I consider myself obliged to explain a matter to you as present General Secretary of the party. It is this:

O Turkish nation and brothers in religion who have been Turkified and have for a thousand years gratified the Islamic world with their heroism and are renowned for the pre-eminent role they have played in preserving Islamic unity and saving the world of humanity from absolute disbelief and misguidance! If, mistakenly and to the detriment of religion, you do not now defend the Qur'an and truths of belief as you did formerly, and if you and the patriots who resemble you do not strive to spread the truths of the Qur'an directly in place of the propaganda of present-day civilization, I can tell you most certainly and demonstrate to you with decisive proofs, that instead of the Islamic world's love and brotherhood, you shall earn its loathing and disgust, and you shall fall prey to the anarchy underlying absolute disbelief that is now attempting to destroy the Islamic world; you shall be the cause of the Islamic world's citadel and renowned army, the Turkish nation, being torn to pieces and overrun by the fearsome monster that has emerged from the north-east.

Yes, this heroic nation may withstand the two terrible currents pressing down from outside by relying of the strength of the Qur'an. Only this nation can halt absolute disbelief, absolute despotism, and absolute dissipation, and the current that gains an overwhelming force by allowing the rebellious to seize the wealth of the upright; only this nation, which is fused with Islam and united with Islam and in the past has won all its honour through Islam. The zealous patriots of this nation will halt that current, God willing, by taking the truths of the Qur'an as their guiding principles in place of secular education, for they are the life-blood of this nation, which is thus fused and united.

The second current['s representatives] have followed a strategy of accustoming their colonies in the Islamic world to themselves in order to entirely bind them to this current, to impute irreligion to the powerful Islamic centre of this country and to corrupt it, and in effect to sever the bonds between this country and the Islamic world, and turn the latter's brotherhood into enmity. It has been somewhat successful in this up to the present. If this current were to come to its senses, it would change this alarming strategy and placate Islam in this centre just as it has placated the Islamic world. It would both profit enormously, and preserve its vast conquests to a degree, and save this country and nation from a ghastly calamity.

If the patriotic, nation-loving people of whom you are the General Secretary attempt to persist with the principles that have been in force up to now and have trampled our sacred matters on account of modern civilization,

and taking as their guiding principles the policies enacted by three or four people in the name of reform (inkilap), they ascribe the resulting ghastly errors to the nation, then the evils performed by the three or four will become three or four million and will constitute serious oppostion to the innumerable past armies of the Turkish nation with their millions of martyrs. For this nation is a heroic and religious nation and the army of Islam; to persist in the above will be a cause of dishonour and torment to their spirits. Moreover, if the good works which have found existence through the nation's and army's power and zeal and in which those three or four reformist men had a very small part, are ascribed to those three or four men, those three or four million good works will be reduced and restricted to three or four good works, and will in no way atone for those awesome errors.

Thirdly: You surely have numerous and various opponents, both internal and external. I would not know because I have not concerned myself with worldly or political affairs. But because they have harassed me so much this year, I have been compelled to search for the reason and I saw that an opponent of yours had emerged. If that opponent had been a perfect leader and had appeared in the name of the truths of belief, he would have defeated you in one fell swoop. For ninety-nine per cent of this nation has for a thousand years been bound heart and spirit to the traditions of Islam. Even if it bows obediently to the commands of an opposing nature, it would not be bound to them with the heart.

Furthermore, Muslims do not resemble other nations; if they give up their religion, they become anarchists and cannot be held by any bonds; they can be controlled only by absolute despotism and unqualified bribery and not by any educative or preventative measures. There are numerous examples proving this fact so I am cutting it short and refer it to your intelligence.

Sweden, Norway, and Finland have felt an intense need this century for the Qur'an, it is essential that you do not lag behind them. Your duty is to act as guide to them and to others like them. If you ascribe the errors of the reforms that have occurred up to the present to the three or four men and try to repair the destruction caused under the constraints of the World War and other revolutions - especially the destruction caused to the religious traditions - it will both win you great honour in the future, and be atonement in the hereafter for your serious mistakes, and be a useful service for the country and nation, and make you deserving to be known as patriotic and a lover of the nation.

Fourthly: Since death cannot be killed nor the door of the grave be

closed, and since like everyone you are racing towards it, and since for the people of misguidance certain death means being sentenced to eternal nonbeing and no matter how zealous, preoccupation with politics and worldly matters cannot change this; and since you now have in your possession the Risale-i Nur, which proves as clearly as daylight that for the believers the Qur'an transforms everlasting execution into discharge papers, and in twenty years no scientist or atheist has been able to challenge it - on the contrary, it has brought to belief scientists who have studied it attentively, and in the space of twelve years four of your criminal courts and committees of experts made up of philosophers and religious scholars have applauded, affirmed and appreciated it and have been unable to object to the proofs it contains of the matters of belief; and since I can put forward as witnesses one hundred thousand members of the Turkish nation, especially its youths with a secular education, that together with its being in no way harmful for this nation and country, it is a Qur'anic barrier resembling the barrier of Dhu'l-Qarnayn that withstands the fearsome currents that are assaulting them; most certainly, it is encumbent upon you that you consider fully these ideas of mine that I am presenting to you. At all times you lend an ear to worldly diplomats, so should therefore heed, if only a little, a wretched person like myself who is at the door of the grave and speaks on behalf of the hereafter and weeps at the circumstances of his fellow citizens.

Although for twenty years I had never applied to the authorities, this petition was written once off when I was angry and addressed the Interior Minister, Hilmi, and for the record was sent to the Afyon police chief. Four or five times they unnecessarily and meaninglessly caused me distress, calling me to the police station officially and asking me: "Your handwriting isn't like that; who wrote that for you?" I replied: "Petition shouldn't be made to such people; I was right to remain silent for twenty years!"

Police and authorities of Emirdağ! I wrote this conversation a year ago, but I didn't send it and kept it. Now in five ways that are illegal they have interfered and prevented me from having anyone to assist me in the place I stay and enforce out-and-out tyranny on me in a way unheard of in this world. I am informing you of this with the idea that those who act illegally in the name of the law will come to act justly. [Author]

A Brief Postscript

Hilmi Bey! You are fortunate! While in prison and here I considered you to be pitiless towards us. Whenever I became angry, I intended to curse you. But whenever I mentioned in my prayers a select Nur student and brother of mine called Hilmi Bey, the name Hilmi Bey, the recipient of the prayer, virtually became an intercessor and prevented me, although I had intended to curse you. So I revoked that intention and enduring the illtreatment

of your officials who tormented me, gave up the idea of cursing you. Often I was astonished at this; I was not angry at you despite your causing all this unjustifiable torment. That is to say, a premonition was inspired in my heart that in the end we would be friends.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

I have been the target of an injustice the like of which has never at any time occurred on the face of the earth, and of cruel persecution which is illegal in ten respects. It is like this:

I am both ill at having been poisoned due to a violent conspiracy, and an extremely weak elderly seventy-one-year-old; I am all alone in piteous exile; and so poor as to sell my slippers to buy bread; and I'm solitary and unsociable and, having lived alone for twenty-five years, can meet only with one out of a thousand people who is totally loyal. This person, myself, has been declared innocent by three courts of law and the Ankara experts' committee, which having scrutinized down to the finest details his life and works of twenty years, gave the decision unanimously for their acquittal and ruled that his works were harmless for the country and nation, indeed, were beneficial. He is a son of this land who performed important services in the First World War; and is a patriot who with all his strength strives with his effective works which are there for all to see to save this nation and country from anarchy and the corruption of foreigners; and is a harmless person who, as has been proved by seventy witnesses in court, has not read a newspaper for twenty-five years nor has been curious about the news, and for seven years has not shown any interest in the Second World War nor asked about it, nor known about it, and whose works contain powerful proofs showing that he has severed all connections with politics, and concerning whom your judiciary has officially admitted that he has not interfered in your world. I, this wretched Said, who flees with all his strength from public regard lest harm comes to his sincerity and life of the hereafter, and shrinks from and dislikes his brothers' good opinions and praise of him, - which of your benefits demands that you, the Interior Minister, set the Governor of Afyon and Emirdağ police to pester me, and inflict on me in one day the torments of a month's solitary confinement,

and compel me to remain all alone by myself in lonely isolation? What law permits this dire cruelty? I am informing the Interior Minister of the above by means of the high office of the judiciary, which protects the rights of the public.

Recently, two high-ranking colonels (both were gendarme officers) and a deputy who was a party inspector visited our Master. Having held a long conversation with him, they decided with complete resignation to be friends with him. And now one of them has become a Nur student. The deputy and chief inspector was evidently a friend of the Old Said. After they had gone, we learnt that through him that Hilmi Bey, the former Interior Minister and now General Secretary of the party, was going to visit our Master privately and have a friendly meeting with him. We have therefore sent this note to you so that an exact copy should be given him and this matter should be discussed. Our Master gave us permission to send it to you to inform you before he comes.

He also wrote a prayer at the end of the short treatise written out by Hüsnü, Re'fet Bey's blessed son, and we include this as an enclosure. Endless thanks be to Almighty God that a kaymakam has been appointed here who is both a Nurju, and an earnest friend, and religious. We are sending also the piece called "A Conversation with the Interior Minister." Our Master is going to read it to him as well.

The hero Nazif and Yâkub Cemal say that the coinciding (tevâfuk) with the publication of Zülfikar of the acceptance of the Qur'an by three states in the north-west, and this confirming the statement last year that if Zülfikar was to appear it would lead to great conquests at home and abroad, is truly auspicious, and we share in the conviction of those two brothers. It is most significant that in this stormy and godless century three states should openly acknowledge humanity's intense need for the Qur'an, and one, the German, should do so secretly. It is indeed good news for us and for the Islamic world that three states in far-off lands should all

together affirm the Qur'an. In fact, it would be good news if only ten famous people or scientists (feylesof) affirmed it; it would truly boost the morale of the people at large.

The wisdom in the Qur'anic symbols and coincidences in such parts of the Risale-i Nur's Twenty-Ninth Letter as The Six Attacks (Hücumat-ı Sitte) and its appendix, and The Seven Signs (İşârât-ı Seb'a), and The Nine Allusions (Telvihat-ı Tis'a) was their being a factor that silenced the courts and the committee of experts and our not being held guilty because of them. It is as though those symbols and subtle, profound matters told them in unexpressed words to be fair-minded and not to bother those working at such deep mysteries of the Qur'an. Now, the confused arrangement of the symbols and coincidences in those treatises is quite inapt, for only one person out of twenty is needy for them and may understand them, whereas nineteen out of twenty people may need and understand them in the other treatises.

The Nur students here say that their brothers in Denizli have examined our miraculous Qur'an for three years, so they should now permit us to peruse it for three months. The students here are also going to get in touch with Istanbul from here, to have the Hizb-i Nûriye and Hizb-i Kur'aniye printed photographically.

Tell that friend and brother of ours who wants to send Zülfikar and The Staff of Moses to the Muslim committee in America via the American ambassador that because ambassadors' heads are busy with politics and the Risale-i Nur is unconcerned with politics, such political heads cannot quickly appreciate it. In addition, the Risale-i Nur does seek customers; the customers have to seek it out and plead for it. America follows even the most trifling events here inquisitively, so it will certainly be curious about the Risale-i Nur, the event of greatest importance here, and will seek it out. Subsequently, you and the select students who represent the Risale-i Nur's collective personality will manage all our affairs. I too have a vote for now.

Your brother who sends thousands of greetings to all our brothers and prays for their well-being and requests their prayers.

Endless thanks be to Almighty God, for owing to the wondrous effects (kerâmet) of true solidarity and unshakeable unity, the pillars of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ are overcoming all difficulties and obstacles and are being successful in getting the Risale-i Nur's diamond Zülfikar and its miracuIous proofs to those in need. Even if the troubles we suffer in securing this result were a thousand times greater, they would count for little and be insignificant.

We congratulate the three children Münevvere, Nazmiye, and Sâim, who our brother Re'fet says in his letter, have in three months succeeded in reading the whole Qur'an having started from scratch (lit. elif), and in addition to their Qur'an lessons, listen innocently and eagerly to the truths of belief of the Risale-i Nur. We congratulate them and their teachers and parents. God willing, Münevvere and Nazmiye will complete the tasks connected with the Risale-i Nur that Abdülbaki and Mehmed Celâl left unfinished.

May Almighty God restore to health the sick person mentioned in the heroic Burhan's letter, who has filled us and the Risale-i Nur with gratitude, and may God bestow mercy on our brother's Zekâi's mother, who has died. Amen.

Sabri, who is the Nur power station and one of the pillars of the Risale-i Nur and a fine representative of those who are hojas, tells me in his letter that Ahmed Fuad wants to sacrifice his life for his elderly Master, whose duties are almost fulfilled, and to go soon to the Intermediate Realm in his stead, and that he wants to be the successor in service of the late Hâfız Ali and Hasan Feyzi. Sabri says too that if possible he wants to give his life as well, as the fourth of them, and is persuading his soul and his heart. I declare "Bârekâllah!" a thousand times over to this staunch, most useful brother of long-standing who has dedicated his life to the Risale-i Nur, and I accept the life he has dedicated to me like Ahmed Fuad and entrust what remains of my life to those two brothers, those two new Saids, so that they may persist in the service of belief and the Risale-i Nur in my place.

He also says in his letter that Sıddık Süleyman's son Yûsuf is learning under Şamlı Hâfız Tevfik, the chief scribe of Barla's Nur School, the script and lessons of the Qur'an and the Risale-i Nur, like the sons of the late Mustafa Çavuş and Ahmed; and that Hulûsi and Hâfız Hakkı are enthusiastically writing out the Risale-i Nur; all of which strengthened my hopes for Barla and caused me deep joy and happiness. May Almighty God grant them success. Amen! And to Tevfik. Amen!

I was also greatly pleased with the letter included in Sabri's letter from Hüseyin, the nephew of Sıddık Süleyman, who assisted me so much while

I was in Barla and whom I often remember. It also satisfied my curiosity. Mâsha'llah, he continues his previous involvement, just like the old Sıddık Süleyman!

Also sent with Sabri's letter were those of Şükrü, Süleyman, and Osman Çavuş, Nur students from the village of Cire near Eğirdir, which show their serious and sincere attachment to the Risale-i Nur, to which I say: Bârekâllah! May Almighty God bless them and grant them success!

I have received the treatises sent by the Husrev and Rüştü of Kastamonu, Mehmed Feyzi and Emin, that belonged to me and remained in Kastamonu and were being held in trust by them. Mehmed Feyzi, the Risale-i Nur's chief scribe, has written a glossary for The Staff of Moses, which I have sent to you. It is written in truly fine and learned fashion although he is ill. He included a noteworthy piece at the head of it, and sent me a letter also. His wondrous loyalty and superior devotion, and his serving belief in various ways, despite the numerous difficulties and obstacles there, show that just as he is a young Husrev, so he is fully a Hasan Feyzi. But because when I was there, I was not bothered by a very high-ranking and egotistical person who had formerly been an official and had leanings towards Sufism, and a most notable, knowledgeable hoja who was deeply involved in the world and was a politically oriented businessman, I did not attempt to draw them into the fold of the Risale-i Nur, and I did not bother them, Now, Mehmed Feyzi wants to deliver Kastamonu from their ascendancy, but is unable to achieve this as in Denizli. Moreover, such Nur champions as Hilmi, Sadık, and Ahmed Kureyşi are away in their villages, so Feyzi's work remains a bit personal. God willing, sometime they will succeed in this completely.

In another field (in the world of women), Kastamonu's Zehrâs, Hacers, Lütfiyes, Ulviyes, and Necmiyes accompany Feyzi in serving the Risale-i Nur.

It says in Feyzi's letter that thanks to the efforts of the Risale-i Nur students, an official Qur'an school has been opened and that the first to attend it were the Nur children and particularly Emin's children and they have been the first to read the Qur'an from beginning to end and to learn some of it by heart. I congratulate them and their fathers and the other students there, and say: "Bârekâllah!" a thousand times over for those innocent children.

Our worthy sister Zehrâ has come here twice in connection with the Risale-i Nur work; her donating two hundred liras to cover the paper expenses of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ shows that among the women are Husrevs, Feyzis, and Ahmeds.

I have received the joint letter of the Nur heroes Hilmi Bey and Emin in Kastamonu and signed by Hâfız İhsan. I send with much longing, greetings to those valuable, steadfast, unshakeable old brothers and the other Nur students there. Also, where is İhsan who was together with us in prison and assisted us so much there? I am curious.

Thanks to the wondrous loyalty and devotion of such people in the vicinity of Safranbolu as the Mustafas, Ahmed Fuad, the late Hıfzı, and Rahmi, our eight years of service for the Risale-i Nur in Kastamonu did not remain fruitless; they prove materially that there will be a shining Nur School in Safranbolu. I consider to be most significant the good news given in Mustafa Osman's latest letter that the Risale-i Nur will make many conquests among the hundreds of young people and workers in the manufacturing town of Karabük.

It is truly most auspicious what the two young Nur heroes, Mustafa Sungur and Rahmi, tell in their fine letter of Ahmed Fuad's earnest efforts to teach the Risale-i Nur in their villages, and the district of Eflâni coming to resemble a Nur School like Barla, with its people attending the lessons enthusiastically; and two young teachers embracing the Risale-i Nur still in the old script; and the children starting to learn the Qur'anic script, and starting to write out the Risale-i Nur. May Almighty God grant success to those innocent children and may He be pleased with their teachers and parents. They are included among the children mentioned in my prayers. We congratulate the district of Eflâni, and foremost Ahmed Fuad, Mustafa, and Rahmi.

Mustafa Sungur, one the young Nur heroes, has written out the conclusion of the Eleventh Topic of The Fruits of Belief perfectly in a short space of time in the old letters, and Rahmi, the other, has written out beautifully A Guide for Youth in the old letters, and sent these to me together with my books that arrived from Kastamonu. In truth, this pleased me so much, it was as though two new nephews resembling Abdurrahman and Fuad had come into the world.

An immigrant in Balıkesir and follower of Jalal al-Dîn al-Rumi called Edhem Hoja has for nearly twenty years been busy teaching the Qur'an to children and acting as a village hoja, and now works for the Risale-i Nur in Balıkesir and the vicinity of Kırkağaç. The lengthy letter he has written in the name of the Nur students in that area and signed İbrahim Edhem, Imam of the village of Alamescid near Sandıklı, contains some important passages

as well as some slaps for the cowardly hojas, whom he invites and encourages to embrace the Risale-i Nur. I congratulate him earnestly. May Almighty God grant him success! And I send my greetings to both to himself and to the many Nurjus and the new ones whose names are mentioned in his letter. But owing to my illness, I am unable to correct and moderate his long letter. The excessive praise of me needs to be either excised or to be altered. I am sending you a copy to include among The Additional Letters. God willing, just as Hasan Feyzi and Ahmed Feyzi drew the teachers to the Risale-i Nur, so this enterprising brother will attract the hojas.

I also send my greetings to the baker Mustafa, who from time to time assisted me together with his son while I was staying in the hotel in Denizli, and brought me and embers for heating and bread, and sent me a letter via Tahir Çavuş.

I send many greetings to everyone and pray for their well-being.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

It is asked: Why don't you accept for yourself the powerful good opinions of the Nur students and their certain convictions concerning your self, or a rank or position that would further encourage them to serve the Risale-i Nur? Why do you ascribe all these to the Risale-i Nur and show yourself to be a faulty servant?

The Answer: Endless thanks and praise be to Almighty God that the Risale-i Nur contains supports so powerful and unassailable and proofs so brilliant and incisive that no need remains for the qualities or abilities imagined in my person. It does not look to its author's abilities and receive its power and acceptability from them, as with other works. It is clear for all to see; for twenty years, by virtue of its decisive proofs, it has forced the enemies of my person, both physical and non-physical, to submit. If it had relied on my personality to any great extent, my irreligious enemies and cruel opponents could have dealt serious blows at it by discrediting my person. In their lunacy, they still tried to discredit me with every sort of stratagem and to destroy public regard for me, but they have been unable to halt the Risale-i Nur's conquests or to diminish its value. Even if they confuse a few, new, weak adherents, they cannot make them give it up.

By reason of this fact, and also because egotism prevails at the present time, I cannot accredit myself with their good opinions, which far exceed my due. I anyway do not have a good opinion of myself as my brothers do. Also, if the station pertaining to the hereafter that my brothers ascribe to this wretched brother of theirs had truly been a high station of piety; and if, according to the rule at the end of the Second Letter, I had ascribed the spiritual gift of those perfections they attributed to my person, to myself, it would have proved that I was not as such; and if I do not recognise myself as such, I should not accept that gift of theirs. Moreover, egotism might interfere if one looked on oneself as having attained to some high spiritual station.

There is one more thing: it may be said that if, from the worldly point of view, the person charged with disseminating the truths of belief were to attain to some station, it would be more effective. There are two obstacles to this:

The First: Even if the person has the rank of sainthood (velâyet), to knowingly and covetously seek high stations is contrary to the sincerity and self-abnegation which is intrinsic to sainthood. He cannot display or claim such things like the Companions, who were the heirs of prophethood, and may not be compared with them.

The Second Obstacle: The station may be refuted in many respects, and if its holder is a transitory, insignificant, ephemeral, and faulty person, it would be harmful for the Risale-i Nur and for the conquests of the truths of belief. There is this point, though: it prompts thanks, for my enemies among the politicians did not know these facts, and thinking me to be the proud and self-esteeming Old Said, they have continually busied themselves with insulting and belittling my person rather than the Risale-i Nur. They have also turned some bigoted, egotistical hojas against me as though trying to extinguish the Risale-i Nur, but they have merely assisted in making it shine even brighter. Its lights are illuminated by the sun of the Qur'an, not by my inferior person.

İbrahim Edhem, the hoja of the village of Alamescid, has written in his sincere letter that six innocent young children who have benefited thoroughly from his lessons and entered the fold of the Risale-i Nur, on their own initiative and not telling their teacher, wrote six notes with their own pens expressing their wish to hand over to this elderly, ill Said a part of each of their lives, which was indeed an astonishing and laudable event

pertaining to the Risale-i Nur. For my part, I accepted the gifts of those innocents and returned them to those young Saids as gifts for them to work in my place. May God Almighty grant them success! According to what they have written, they are İbrahim, nine years old; Mustafa, eleven; Halil İbrahim, twelve; Emin Yılmaz, fourteen; Mehmed, eleven; and Abdullah, twelve years old.

Hâfız Mehmed, who is one of the heroes of the Nur School and its blessed master, and is the son and heir of the late Haji Hâfız, wrote in the letter he sent in the name of all the medrese's students, that working with the Risale-i Nur is the remedy for all calamities and illnesses other than death, and that even death it shows to be the door to Paradise, making the believers look to it eagerly and joyfully. Numerous incidents have demonstrated the truth of this. Moreover, his innocent child has begun to memorize the Qur'an. God willing he will be successful and perpetuate the blessed title of his father and grandfather.

Mustafa Yıldız, one of the diamond-penned champions of the Nur School, wrote in his letter which was short in length but long and valuable in meaning, that having been referred to the heroes of the Nur medrese, The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen was as though applauded by three or four hoopoes on being written out on waxed paper. This shows, God willing, that The Ratifying Stamp will emerge shining from the Nur School and win some fine victories.

The short invocation (münâcât) heroic Tahirî has sent is correct, but only the first part has been translated, and my circumstances at the moment do not permit the translation to be completed. This brief invocation shows that selfish egotism and the desire for life were not dominant when the Risale-i Nur was being composed, and they did not mar its purity and sincerity. During the Great War, I was perpetually ready to fall as a martyr, owing to which the Qur'anic commentary Isharat al-I'jaz (Signs of Miraculousness) was written with complete sincerity. Similarly, a powerful manifestation in this invocation of the readiness for death (rabita-ı mevt) has been the means of the Risale-i Nur acquiring a pure sincerity. God willing, no selfish emotions interefered in it.

Two of the prominent young students from Barla, which is the first Nur School and with which I am closely connected in spirit, came here - an Ahmed and Mehmed just like the Ahmed and Mehmed who came to visit me from Denizli. They were Ahmed, who came on behalf of his father, the late Mustafa Çavuş, and the barber Mehmed, who came in place of his father-in-law, the late Muhâjir Hâfız Ahmed, with whom together with Mustafa Çavuş I was formerly most closely involved and who served me

loyally for eight years; they visited me in the name of the Barla Nur students. Truly I was as happy as if I had returned to Barla and those times. Mâshallah, Barla has begun to feel that it is the first Nur School; an earnest awareness and concern is being shown there. Haji Bekir, even, who had the Tenth Word printed, has taken on himself all the expenses and prevented the room I stayed in there being sold, and has sent news to Barla that it should be preserved as a sort of guest house for the Nur students.

I have received a short letter from the wife of our brother Hoja Sabri, the Nur Power Station, who like him has for years been a Nurju, and from his innocent son, Nureddin May Almighty God grant them health, happiness, and well-being. Amen!

It is strange that although there was need everywhere for rain, it was only in Emirdağ that there were heavy showers and an unparalleled hailstorm with hailstones as large as hazelnuts, all of which was extremely beneficial for the crops. The two Nurju brothers who are now with me say that the causes of the rain falling were both the arrival of the miraculous Qur'an, and the police chief reading Zülfikar and appreciating it although an assault was expected since a copy of it had been seized, and thirdly, three high-ranking officials called Ismail becoming students of the Risale-i Nur at the same time and spreading it. Numerous occurrences upto the present have established that the free dissemination of the Risale-i Nur leads to the raising of calamities, while its being silenced and attacked leads to their visitation. This has even been proved in court. It is understood that, in pursuit of their own aims, four currents, two internal and two external, have wanted to dampen the Nurjus' eagerness and spoil their efforts this stormy spring and to turn their attention towards politics and this world, and this resulted in the drought. God willing, an end will soon be brought to it.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Although it is opposed to my usual custom, a Nur student told me about an event that was reported in the official newspapers as having definitely occurred. It concerned the preliminary raining down of meteorites more terrible than the heavenly stones visited on the people of Lot, in a way previously unseen in human history, on a country that, on account of irreligion and through ghastly means, is driving millions of believers and innocent people to transgress the revealed religions and divine laws. I told the student

that although for twenty-five years I had shown no interest in the newspapers and the events they describe, he should go and study the news carefully since the meteorites represented the blows the Risale-i Nur deals at the irreligious and that it had predicted this five or six years ago. He went and investigated the matter and came and told me that this spring, meteorites of unequalled size had fallen in the forests of Vladivostok in Russia. {[*]:} The largest of them was twenty-five metres in length and ten metres wide. It uprooted all the trees in the vicinity in which it fell, and in all around thirty large craters were formed. Examination of the meteorites showed them to contain a random mixture of iron, steel, and other materials.

Just as the official newspapers reported this true event; so the miracuIous verse, «striking them with stones» (Q 105:4) in Sura al-Fil (The Elephant), which was revealed one thousand three hundred and sixty years ago, predicts that like the «flights of birds» (Q 105:3) and as a preliminary to the raining down of meteorites from the heavens, bombs from the heavenly aircraft would rain down in the year 1359 (1940 or 1941) on the heads of those who give preference to this world over religion and who, taking irreligion as the basis of their creed, drive humanity down the paths of misguidance on account of a sort of civilization. The words «go astray» (Q 105:2) indicate the date 1360 (1941 or 1943) and predict threateningly that subsequently to that date meteorites would shower down, recalling the heavenly stones rained down on Lot's people as the penalty for misguidance. The following sentence is found in the Risale-i Nur, in a footnote to the explanation of the subtle piece about Sura al-Fil: "Allusively, this sura threatens sinful humanity: if in consequence of these blows it does not turn from idolatry to offering thanks and if it does not give satisfaction to the Qur'an, heavenly stones will be rained down by the angels on the heads of men."

This sentence contains two signs that indicate the meteorites directly.

The First: Although up to the present meteorites have generally been around twenty centimetres long, the present ones are huge, being twenty-five metres in length and ten metres wide. This is surely a sign of the heavens' anger towards irreligion.

The fact that Sura al-Fil looks to them and expounds them is right. The incident deserves such a prediction, because it is unprecedented.

The Second Sign is their falling on a centre of fearsome atheism that threatens the whole face of the earth and all humankind. The irreligious must have sensed this, because for the past month or two they have been trying to downplay this extraordinary, awe-inspiring event, although normally they publicize the most trivial incidents and give them importance.

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise! (Q 17:44)

My Dear, Loyal Brothers, Tahirî, Sabri, Salâhaddin, Mehmed, and Mustafa!

Firstly: Out of respect for the Three Months and on account of the Nur students' loyalty and sincerity, we are going to try to repair the harm caused by a significant incident that led to our being rebuked and reprimanded. It was like this: last night I received a severe warning in the form of a punishing reprimand unlike anything I had experienced previously. This was imparted to me:

You have been charged with not stooping to this world with its pleasures and enjoyment, and with preserving the disinteredness and sincerity of the Risale-i Nur. It was your duty to try to correct the malaise of this age, which in accordance with the verse «Those who love this world» (Q 14:3), chooses this world over religion and knowingly exchanges diamonds for fragments of glass. You have understood too, thanks to a hundred experiences, that the gifts, presents, and charity of people upset you and make you ill even. You see the results of this every day. But you have directed the faces of the Risale-i Nur's devoted heroes, in whom you place most trust, away from its service to your own comfort and ease, and so on. Many other things were imparted to me, rebuking me harshly. I am still frightened of receiving another slap. The sole remedy for this situation is that you should tell those of you who bought the car that your brother Said was unable to accept it and that he felt an awesome spiritual loss.

The Second: The car should now be sent to Konyalı Sabri; it should be sent there. If he does not want it, it should be sent to the leading students (erkân) of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ. Sabri should not worry about this; the wondrous services he performs every month for the Risale-i Nur are greater than the price of a car. So he should not be offended.

Secondly: You should feel certain about this, for the reason I received

that terrible reprimand was a sort of wish and desire. I had exclaimed wishfully when I went for a drive in the car and the seller had said that there are small cars now that are sold for a thousand liras: "If we had a small car like that on loan, I could go to visit my Nurju brothers in other places." It was not a serious decision; only a wish, But then two of our close brothers here supposed it to be serious and with great self-sacrifice tried to collect not one, but four thousand liras. When they arrived here, I was pleased for seven hours and imagined that that wish of mine had been accepted as a prayer. But then last night I suddenly received the rebuke and objection, and I understood that my wish had been a mistake. There are three reasons for the reprimand, which I will explain another time.

The five brothers who bought the car should know certainly that they gave not a car but almsgiving, a gift, and a present. Perhaps by reason of their good intentions in serving the Risale-i Nur, the present of each of them was equal to the price of a car, which is a sure sign for me that it has been accepted. Since, my brothers, this sincere service of yours is acceptable, you should not feel sad. You should also redeem the rebuke I have received. Also, you should repair the damage that may be caused to both the rule of my life, and to the mystery of the Risale-i Nur's sincerity. Also, the car should not remain here; it should go to whoever gave the largest amount. You will understand the reason for my alarm when I explain those three important reasons. I am compelled by the Three Months not to consider this until they have passed and the main collections have been published, even if rule over the whole world were to be given to me. If you do not get back all the money you gave for the car, I have decided to make up the difference, come what may, even if I have to sell everything, I send my greetings to everyone. Forgive me, as I forgive you.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Don't worry, divine providence continues. God willing, this new assault will come to nothing, and even will assist in the Risale-i Nur's conquests. For now, calmly, one of our brothers should go to Ankara to repulse, within the framework of the law, the illegal treatment being meted out to us. They should meet with such persons as Hilmi Uran, the chief inspector of the former party, Celâl, who is a deputy and inspector of Afyon Province; Ahmed Hamdi of the Directorate of Religious Affairs; and Yûsuf Ziya, a member of the experts' committee; and they should try to have changed the arbitrary and illegal measures taken against us.

Also, concerning the confiscated copies of Zülfikar and The Staff of Moses and the duplicating machine, tell the court and the police that the copies that were being duplicated were for abroad and were going to be sent outside the country. Since three countries in the north have accepted the Qur'an and have begun to have it taught in their schools; and since India has requested two million liras' worth of Qur'ans from this government; and since three of your courts and your philosopher scholars gave the unanimous decision for our acquittal having scrutinized all the parts of Zülfikar and The Staff of Moses for two years, and they appreciated and applauded them; and since these two books are two cutting swords of the Qur'an, and two shining proofs of it, and they compel even the most obdurate people to submit; and since thousands of investigative scholars and scientists have testified that these two works have the power to reply to the atheistic current coming from the north which gives rise to awesomely destructive anarchy; and since the present government is opening Qur'an courses and has ordered that religious instruction be given in schools; most certainly, the treatment now being meted out to us is an unprecedented, arbitrary injustice and a crime against t is country and nation and public security and freedom of conscience. We in no way want to be tainted by politics, but you should know that if needs be, we are capable of defending our rights in every respect. So don't compel us to do so!

I send many greetings to all of you.

When it is convenient, you can send some of the copies of The Staff of Moses you have had bound for me, Husrev has performed his duties fully, so the material loss he has suffered has no importance at all. Zülfikar has spread everywhere and although there have been some small losses with The Staff of Moses, the non-material benefits will be abundant, God willing. However, the Nurjus must preserve their resolution and solidarity, and not be alarmed, nor let their enthusiasm be dampened.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Since Isparta has become like the Nur study centre and more than anywhere uptil the present its authorities and police have looked on the Nurjus tolerantly and even as friends and have not harmed them excessively, for our part, on account of this blessed quality of Isparta, we are not offended at its authorities interfering in this question. In fact, in one way we congratulate them, because they have found the opportunity due to their duties of studying the Risale-i Nur and reading it and profiting from it. To do so is anyway their right, A policeman or court official with strong belief may be as beneficial for the country and nation as ten men. In the face of such benefits, our material losses hold no importance. If appropriate, convey my greetings to the police chief and public prosecutor, and tell them that I do not curse them; on the contrary, I offer this prayer: "O Lord! Bestow on them perfect belief and a happy death and render them useful to the Risale-i Nur. Amen!"

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Although the benefits would have amounted to forty thousand liras and there was also need for it, I did not accept the car that five of our brothers had bought expecting nothing in return so that I might visit our brothers in other towns and to assist in the Risale-i Nur's work, a d this was supposed to be an apparent loss. But as a result, the Nur students obtained certain proof that, in the face of hostile hojas and politicians who, pleading necessity, cause harm by exploiting knowledge and religion for this world, the elevated truth of the Risale-i Nur does not stoop to any worldly advantages, nor can it be exploited for them. This incident provides a proof more powerful than its extraordinary wonder-working that effectively silences those hojas and politicians. Some of them, even, who were very suspicious and avoided the Risale-i Nur and did not believe that it stooped to absolutely nothing of this world, are now obliged to bow to its truth and to accept that it is above everything. That is to say, divine providence transformed the loss into a significant instance of mercy.

{(*):}

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: With all my life and spirit I congratulate you on the past Night of the Ascension (Mi'rac), a night of abundant mercy, rain, wonders, and bestowals, and I entreat divine mercy that you will see many more of them. Just like last year, rain falling in unprecedented fashion both previously and on the night, and its continuing that day, was a sign that the universe and elements were applauding that blessed night; just as it was a sign of the conquests of Zülfikar and The Staff of Moses, especially in official quarters. I feel absolutely certain about this. Also, the fact that the pain and indisposition I suffered until midnight, which was quite severe and was preventing my working, suddenly disappeared, made me certain that it resulted from the acceptance of the prayers for my health that my brothers offered for me that blessed night, and that, due to the illness, each hour of the first half of the night had been as meritorious as ten hours. I as though received this good news too and offered thanks to Almighty God. I exclaimed: Endless thanks be to the Most Merciful of the Merciful!

Secondly: Doubtless, on his trip to Ankara, our brother Re'fet Bey, one of the Nur commanders, was successful in performing a great service for the Risale-i Nur in a short time. God willing, its results will soon be seen. It was especially important that the members of the Directorate of Religious Affairs received the collections of Zülfikar and The Staff of Moses appreciatively, and said they would preserve and defend them, rather than criticizing them. It was also a brilliant advertisement for the two works.

My Esteemed Master!

Our brother, the contractor Ismail Efendi, frequently meets privately with Hilmi Bey, so I gave him all the necessary details and handed over this matter to him, and we went directly to the Directorate of Religious Affairs. First of all, I met for a while with the teacher (müderris) Hasan Hüsnü Bey, whom we knew in Isparta and who is a member of the Directorate Consultative Committee, and I explained our matter privately. Then we went together to the Consultative Committee's room where I met with the teacher Yûsuf Ziya, whose signature is on the Ankara experts committee's report. I saw that the documents about us and Zülfikar and The Staff of Moses were sitting in front of him. He showed me to a place beside him, and I gave him a detailed explanation. I asked him the reason for our harassment and for the seizure of our books in spite of his report and the

Denizli Court decision, and its being upheld by the Court of Appeal. Then I said to him that the law is superior to everything in the government of the Republic, and its rulings prevail, so since we have been acquitted by the law, we should not be made subject to such interference, and that it could be prevented in the event of his giving the appropriate orders. Otherwise, we could seek redress. He later replied that the difficulties arose from the court officials and police there being inadequately informed about our case. He said that the papers were all with him and that he would reply to all their remarks, which had been misunderstood. He said that he regarded the works highly. I conveyed our Master's greetings to him, and he did likewise and requested his prayers.

Later, I left him and visited the Director of Religious Affairs. I conversed with him for a while and gave him the details. He replied that he knew our Master from the Darü'l-Hikmet and that he had great respect for him, and asked me to convey his greetings and respects to him. He said that he would give the requisite answer and that he hoped it would be satisfactory.

All the members of the Directorate are appreciative of the works. I understood that the only reason for irregularities of this kind is that they do not maintain good intentions when studying religious works and that they interpret them arbitrarily according to their own ideas. The following day, our brother Mehmed Efendi met with Vehbi Pasha, the Erzurum deputy, who undertook to see the Interior Minister and discuss the matter at length. He sent his greetings and respects to our Master. Whereupon I left it to İsmail Efendi to meet with the party leaders, and I left Ankara.

I went out in the carriage for a couple of hours to see the flowers this splendid spring. {(*):} And I felt with absolute certainty (hakkalyakîn) that the flowering grasses which had sprung up and burgeoned in a way I had never before seen in my life and unfurled their blossoms, were offering glorifications with the tongues of their beings and hymning the praises of their

Glorious Maker's art. Then taking advantage of this situation, my emotions which are so enraptured by worldly life and my heedless and impatient soul aroused objections in my heart, which was wearied by this distressing, sickness-filled life and which had decided to depart for the Intermediate Realm to see the ninety per cent of my friends who were already there, and my soul too began to object, since it seeks permanent pleasures in transitory things, But then the light of belief infused my emotions and those veins of character; it pointed out the following in the face of those objections:

Since the earth displays only materially so much beauty, mercy, life, and fine decoration, it must be a veil to beneficent mercy and nothing that enters it remains idle. There must, therefore, be beneath and behind the veil of the earth some sort of non-material centres and workshops for all these external, physical beauties and decorations, and fine things, loveliness, mercy, and life. So to enter under the earth, our protective mother, and seek refuge in her embrace, and gaze upon those true, everlasting, nonmaterial flowers is far more deserving of love and worthy to be yearned after. This silenced completely those blind emotions and the objections of my world-worshipping soul and repulsed them, causing my soul to exclaim: "All praise be to God for the light of belief from every angle!'

We send endless greetings to all our brothers, and we pray for them.

My Dear, Innocent Children!

You are trying to study and to learn the Qur'an, But the new letters, which you know, are deficient, so as far as is possible, it is better not read it in them.

Also, the Qur'an should not be read just to become a hâfız nor memorized in its entirety to win a rank in this world and earn a salary. Rather, one should think that each of its letters yields from at least ten merits to hundreds or thousands of fruits of Paradise and benefits in the hereafter, and read it with the intention of securing the ease and happiness of eternal life.

If the benefits of studying science in school to secure a livelihood and ranks or positions in this brief worldly life have the value of one, learning for eternal life the Qur'an and its sacred words and lum٦ّءus belief-inducing meanings are thousand of times more valuable. The former resemble fragments of glass, and the latter, diamonds.

Also, you will be true, beneficial children for your parents. You are innocent and still without sin, so if you study with such a sacred intention, you will be accepted among the innocent Risale-i Nur students and you will receive a share of the prayers of all the students, and be light-scattering, blessed students yourselves.

I congratulate both your teacher, and yourselves, and your parents, and your country.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: I congratulate you with all my spirit and life on the past Night of Acquittal. {[*]:}

Secondly: It is indeed good and useful that Re'fet Bey, a leading commander and publisher of the Risale-i Nur, has gone to Istanbul in connection with its service. A Nurju like himself was anyway needed there. May Almighty God grant him success! Amen!

Thirdly: I have prepared three copies each of Zülfikar and The Staff of Moses, one of each to be sent to the ulema of al-Azhar University, one of each to the religious scholars around the holy grave of the Prophet (UWBP) in Medina, and one of each to the ulema in Damascus. A letter addressing the al-Azhar ulema, which I have sent to you, has been inserted at the beginning of them, God willing, we shall send them to you as quickly as possible.

Fourthly: Because I have been unable to perform them all myself, for two reasons I am in severe need of your spiritual services and your prayers and the assistance of the spiritual gains you have earned in my place.

First Reason: Never before in my life have I experienced the powerlessness and gradually increasing weakness I now feel, Due to the many difficulties, I can recite only deficiently some of the invocations I have always recited, despite the fact that during these blessed days and nights I need to work a hundred times more. And although by reason of my share in your spiritual partnership I should assist in it and should hasten to share in your prayers with "amens" to a far greater degree, my feebleness allows me to help in only the slightest way, The solution for this is for my duties in the work of the Risale-i Nur to be given to you, and for me to rely on your

spiritual assistance for the performance of my duties in that partnership. I beseech divine mercy that my work may be commensurate with your good will towards me and your favourable opinion of this weak brother of yours, which far exceeds his due and abilities.

The Second Reason for the need: Both yourselves and some other persons suppose the extraordinary results that have appeared from the Risale-i Nur's truths and its students' collective personality to have emerged from this wretched brother of yours, although enormous power and endurance would be necessary, My very minor and personal efforts and my illness and weakness, therefore, render me severely needy for your help and assistance. So in order to induce your spiritual assistance to hasten to me, I intend you when I recite such phrases as "Save us! Have mercy on us!" which are in the first person plural, as if I am working together with all of you. And when I say "Amen," I intend an "amen" to all of your prayers. God willing, in His mercy, the Most Merciful of the Merciful accepts my extremely deficient and minor work as a perfect "amen" to your vast works.

Fifthly: I was very anxious about your situation after the former incident. Then, thanks be to God, your letter said that the hero Tahirî had gone to Istanbul to get the duplicating machine and paper, which shows that the trouble has abated and will not prevent the Risale-i Nur's publication, on the contrary, there as in other places, it is making triumphant conquests, God willing.

The most excellent peace and blessings be upon the one resting in that tomb!

The Staff of Moses and Zülfikar have been presented to the esteemed ulema residing in the vicinity of the Immaculate Tomb of the Prophet (UWBP). They were sent to visit those blessed sites in place of their author, to be a means whereby intercession and well-wishing prayers in that sacred place may be received. These lines were written only for the Muslim communities of al-Azhar, Damascus, and India, from those who had visited the Immaculate Tomb from al-Azhar, Damascus, and India. We wrote this at the head of four copies of Zülfikar and The Staff of Moses, and sent two copies to al-Azhar University in Cairo, one to the ulema of Damascus, and one to the committee from India which has requested copies of the Qur'an to the value of two million liras.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

When you deem it appropriate, send copies of the collections, The Staff of Moses and Zülfikar - The Miracles of Muhammad and of the Qur'an to the ulema in the vicinity of the Immaculate Tomb, and write to them saying that the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ of the Risale-i Nur {(*):} is a spiritual child and student of the ulema in the vicinity of «The most excellent peace and blessings be upon the one resting in that tomb!» and is in great need of their kindness; it is a pupil of theirs who is exposed to the vicious attacks of enemies, and is a minor branch of that great medrese of theirs, which permanently illuminates the Islamic world. We therefore await the good offices of those lofty masters, kindly fathers, and zealous supreme guides, and their full assistance for this wretched son of theirs. The two works presented to those lofty masters resemble a student's lessons, however much of which he has understood he shows to his teacher and father in the evening. Write a letter presenting the two lessons of ours to the tolerant gaze of those kindly scholars, and convey to them my greetings and respects and say that I kiss their hands. Say, the author of these treatises, Said Nursi, says that he has lived as a solitary recluse for twenty-two years, and because he is in solitary confinement, he cannot meet with people. He can converse with others only briefly and concerning essential matters. He has no books with him. The Qur'an is the sole source of the one hundred and thirty treatises he has written. And we confirm this with all our strength. He is ill, in exile, and lives in deprivation, so sometimes errors are found in the treatises which he writes at great speed. He requests therefore that great scholars like themselves should look on them tolerantly. As for us, we convey his requests, and kiss your hands.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Sweden, Norway, and Finland in the north have accepted the Qur'an as the greatest saviour and are teaching it in their schools, and now with the intention of keeping the Ramadan fast, the foremost pillar of Islam, they are

asking al-Azhar University whether there is a way of shortening or postponing the fast during those extremely lengthy northern days. Indeed, this does not concern only those small states: it may be surmised that the former Great Powers, on seeing that their former superior positions have been nullified by the awesome blows dealt by the world's transience, and in order to maintain those positions, will find true consolation only in the truths of the Qur'an, thus becoming equal with those small states - although they would not want to publicize this or make it government policy.

For sure, once the true nature of this world is understood, only everlasting life and the Qur'an can heal the wounds of humanity caused by the collapse of their dreams.

Dear, Loyal, Heroic Sabri!

May Almighty God produce numerous devotees like Galib Bey in the army of Islam. He serves belief in the west as Hulûsi Bey does in the east. He tries to draw the believers from misguidance by way of Sufism (tarikat). Before ever seeing the Risale-i Nur, he tried to act in accordance with its way; now that he has stronger connections with it, he may perform greater services. However, fundamental to the Risale-i Nur's way are reality (hakikat), the Prophet's (UWBP) practices (Sunna), being attentive to obligatory acts, and avoiding serious sins; it looks to the Sufi way in second or third place, Our brother Galib is thinking of giving instruction in the Sufi way in the form of a summary of the Qadiri, Shazali, and Rufa'i ways, among the Alevis and encompassing love of the Prophet's (UWBP) family, within the bounds of the Sunna but not vilifying the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs and the Ten Promised Paradise. There are three or four benefits in this endeavour being in the name of reality (hakikat) and on account of saving belief and preserving it from innovations.

The First: It is most beneficial to prevent the Alevis joining harmful movements and to preserve them from extreme Alevi'ism (Râfizîlik) and political Bektaşi currents.

The Second: Whatever excesses they go to, even if they are Rafizis, Alevis who take love for the Prophet's (UWBP) family as their way do not embrace atheism. For as long as love of the Prophet's (UWBP) family is firmly established in their spirits, they cannot embrace absolute disbelief since it infers hostility to the Prophet (UWBP) and his family. By virtue of their love, they adhere fervently to Islam. It is truly beneficial to draw such people into the bounds of the Sunna in the name of Sufism.

Furthermore, it is most advantageous at this time to attract the Alevis to the fold of the Risale-i Nur so that the political currents that cause great harm to unity among the believers do not profit from their natural devotion and self-sacrifice and exploit them for themselves. Since Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) is the Nur students' master and love of the Prophet's (UWBP) family is fundamental to the Risale-i Nur's way, it surely demands that true Alevis should enthusiastically enter the Risale-i Nur's fold.

Send my congratulations and greetings to that brother and tell him that the present is the time to save belief. Since at this time of innovations there are many problems and pitfalls in traversing the Sufi path while journeying with the heart, he may secure the benefits of those paths by following the way of reality within the fold of the Risale-i Nur. And let him pray for us.

We accepted on account of the paradisaical Ramadan gift sent in the name of all the members of the Safranbolu and Eflâni Nur Schools, the congratulations written with the blessed pens of seven-year-old Yılmaz and thirteen-year-old Hüsnü and their respected mothers who work at the Risale-i Nur like themselves. They are the very hardworking young and innocent children in the tiny Nur School of Hıfzı, who is one of our sincere brothers in Safranbolu. Yılmaz's dream turned out exactly.

Part of the fine, sincere letter sent by Mustafa Sungur, who in truth is one of the young heroes of Eflâni, will be added to The Additional Letters. Indeed, Mustafa Osman finding the two namesakes and serious companions, Mustafa Oruç and Mustafa Sungur, to assist him in the Risale-i Nur's service seems like a wonder of his loyalty and success. I send my greetings to all those named in the letters of particularly Ahmed Fuad - the Hasan Feyzi of Safranbolu - and others, and I pray for them and congratulate them on their superhuman efforts. I send greetings to all our brothers.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: The Shining Lamp (Siracü 'n-Nur) has turned out beautifully and perfectly correct. It is a new lesson for the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ of the greatest importance which shall be read with interest within the sphere of the Risale-i Nur, God willing.

Secondly: The letters sent by Nihad and Abdurrahman show that Kastamonu's Husrev, Mehmed Fevzi, is working at the Risale-i Nur unshakeably and with complete eagerness, and is getting others to work at it and to read it, and other people who have come here from there have given the same news. He is performing fully the duties of a Nur student. May God Almighty grant him success!

We also congratulate, together with the Night of Power, the undercover activities in Karabük of Mustafa Osman, who is one of the Nur heroes, and his work for the Risale-i Nur, and congratulate also the enthusiasm and efforts of the students in Eflâni and thereabouts.

{(*):}

If it is easy, it would be appropriate if the books that are being sent to Istanbul could be sent via here. It would also be useful if twenty or thirty copies could be bound for me in Istanbul and then sent to me. I do not at present have the money for them to send, and there are numerous people I am obliged to give copies to.

I am obliged to explain the inner meaning of something, because when one or two doctors who are leading Nur students come to visit me, I do not consult those sincere, loyal persons concerning my illness although it is very severe, nor do I take their medicines despite my acute need and pains. I say nothing about the illness, so they become anxious and eager to know. Thinking that it may be useful for you too, I am writing it here. I told them:

Prompted by Satan's whisperings, both my covert enemies and my soul search out my weak points so that by means of them they may get a grip on me and damage the purely sincere service of the Risale-i Nur. Illness is a person's weakest point and the most serious obstacle. The more he attaches importance to illness, the more the bodily and instinctive senses come to rule him, compelling him to submit to them and silencing his spirit and heart. They make the doctor a dictatorial ruler, forcing the person to obediently take his medicines. This is detrimental to self-sacrificing, sincere service. My covert enemies have tried to exploit this weak point of mine and they are still trying, just as they have tried to exploit fear, greed, and

the desire for fame and renown. But they failed with respect to fear, one of man's weakest points, for they understood that we attach not the slightest importance to their threats of capital punishment.

Then they conducted numerous investigations about our means of livelihood with a view to greed and ambition, another human weakness, but they could find nothing. So they realized that worldly wealth and possessions, for which they themselves had sacrificed all things holy, held no importance for us whatsoever; on numerous occasions this was proved to them. Even, over a period of ten years more than a hundred times they made official inquiries through the local authorities to learn what I lived on.

Then they received orders to try to catch me out with respect to fame, renown, and rank, desire for which is another human weakness and one of my weak points. But they in no way succeeded despite dealing out grievous insults, humiliations, and riling torments. So they understood certainly that the worldly fame and acclaim that they so worship, we look on as hypocrisy, self-praise, and showing off. We attach not the slightest importance to the high worldly ranks and prominence that they exalt above everything; in fact we look on them as crazy in that respect.

Then there were spiritual ranks and advancing through the degrees of sainthood and considering oneself to be the recipient of such divine bounties, which we consider to be weak points in connection with our service but everyone considers acceptable in respect of reality and is eager to attain. There is no harm in these, only benefits, but at a time when egotism, self-interest, selfishness, and saving oneself alone prevail, personal spiritual ranks should not be sought through the service of belief, which rests on true sincerity and being made the tool of nothing. They should be neither desired nor considered in one's actions lest true sincerity be spoiled. It was in consequence of this that those who were attempting to fasten on my weak points understood that I was not seeking outside of the Risale-i Nur's service the wonders, illuminations, and spiritual attainments that everyone seeks. They were defeated on this point.

I send my greetings to each and every one of our brothers, and seeking the intercession of the Night of Power, I beseech divine mercy that for all the Nurjus that night will be the equivalent of an eighty-three-year lifetime of worship.

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise! (Q 17:44)

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: A Hadith announces the strong possibility that the Night of Power may fall on any of the last ten days of Ramadan, especially the odd numbers. The Nurjus therefore should try to profit from that supreme light.

Secondly: The sending to the magistrates' court of two of our brothers who perform their duties to the letter like Husrev and Tahirî, together with another Nurju who follows their system, will turn out to be a signficant instance of divine providence and a victory, God willing. Don't worry about it. In accordance with an inner meaning of the verse, «It may be that you hate a thing that is [in fact] good for you» (Q 2:216), it will lead to the oppressors winning material and spiritual Hellfire and Nurjus winning Paradise, both in this world and the next, God willing.

Thirdly: I told the high-ranking official who visited me the other day in connection with this letter that it has now become clear that three extraordinary events which occurred during the Old Said's adventurous life were wonders of the Risale-i Nur, which was to appear in the future. As follows:

During the Thirty-First of March Incident when Mahmud Şevket Pasha, the commander-in-chief of the army, was extremely angry with me, Hurşid Pasha, the chief of the military court, asked while I was being tried and outside fifteen bodies were hanging on the gallows: "Did you call for the Shari'a? Look! Those who clamoured for it are hanged like that!" I replied: "If I had a thousand lives, I'd sacrifice all of them for one matter of the Shari'a!" Although I said this and because of the calumnies of informers there were numerous reasons to condemn me, exceptionally the court gave its unanimous decision for my acquittal.

Also, following the Great War in Istanbul, copies of The Seven Steps (Hutuvat-ı Sitte), a furious piece I had written against the British, and another insulting their chief cleric, came into the hands of the commander of their occupation forces, and it was a hundred per cent certain that he would have me eliminated, but he suppressed his anger and did not bother me.

Also, in Ankara in the president's office in the National Assembly when there were numerous deputies present, Mustafa Kemal entered the office in a towering rage and yelled at me: "We summoned you here to tell us your lofty ideas, but you came and wrote a few things about the obligatory prayers, causing discord amongst us!" In the face of his anger, I replied:

"Those who neglect the prayers are traitors, and traitors may not hold positions of authority!" I smashed an awesome idol. My friends among the deputies who were present were alarmed, and just when they reckoned he would crush me, he uttered what was in effect an apology. He suppressed his anger in the Assembly as though he perceived an awesome power and truth, and he withdrew. Two days later in his private office, from The Six Attacks (Hücumat-ı Sitte) I read from the sentence "For example, at a time Aya Sophia is filled with eminent and blessed people, virtuous and excellent ..." in the section entitled "First Stratagem," to the "Second Stratagem, {[*]:} which took a whole hour. I wounded all his feelings and slighted his principles, yet he could do nothing against me and even made serious efforts to placate me.

Thus, the remarkable responses of these three imperious commanders and their quite simply being intimidated by the Old Said was definitely a shining wonder of the Risale-i Nur and showed the extraordinary future power of the collective personality of its heroic students.

Fourthly: In response to the congratulations for Ramadan and the Night of Power sent by our brother Yâkub Cemal in the name of Denizli students, we say: "May God bless you!" and to his struggling with his own soul: "May God grant you success! And we say "All praise be to God!" to his describing how he had heard that his friends had read in the latest newspapers that in the British capital orators had declared from their platforms that the English should now embrace Islam and that they are reading and expounding the verses of the All-Wise Qur'an since they teach all the true needs of humanity. Indeed, with the Qur'an that country could save both its worldly possessions, and its hegemony, and its prosperity.

We say too: "May God bless you!" on the success with Lemeât of Küçük Ali, who is small in name but great in spirit and the hero and senior Abdurrahman of the Nur students; and: "What wonders God has willed!" and "May God grant you success!" a thousand times over on his innocent young son Nur Mehmed's memorizing the Qur'an. But we leave it to your discretion to decide whether or not the pieces included in The Shining Lamp (Siracü 'n-Nur) and The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen and Mysteries Collection are also added to The Flashes Collection (Lem 'alar Mecmuası).

Endless greetings to all of you.

Furthermore, say about myself:

We are absolutely certain that although this person has been severely ill for six or seven months, he has never called on the doctors whom he loves dearly nor has he taken their medicines, and has acted thus so that no importance or attention should be given to his person. And in order not to consider the world and so that his sincerity in serving belief should not be impaired, over a period of ten years he has paid no attention to the World War nor been curious about it, as has been proved in court. And so as to not awaken any interest in politics and this world, for twenty-five years he has not read a newspaper nor listened to one being read, and has advised all his brothers and students not to become involved in politics either. Also, although he is single, alone, and elderly, he has endured all the difficulties that have been inflicted on him, and has not looked to this world, nor applied to the government for twenty years for his own comfort, nor accepted anyone's assistance or charity, He says this:

In order to strengthen the belief of the people of this country and nation, which I know to be most necessary service at this time, I have written about the truths of belief as a remedy for my ills and as a sort of miracle of the All-Wise Qur'an. The unanimous decision was given for those writings' acquittal after three courts and the Ankara experts' committee had scrutinized them over two years and found that they contained nothing harmful for this country and nation. In consequence, intending that this work for the cause of belief should continue, he gave his friend permission for some of those parts to be duplicated. We have heard from this person that the country, nation, and government have intense need for these works. He says:

I was hoping that some leading members of the government would take up these works, for I am close to death, and my hands are tied and I cannot undertake the necessary work. I am consoled by the hope that religious, capable people like Ahmed Hamdi will take it on themselves in my place, God willing. I pray that this sacred service that you will perform for this country and the community of Islam will act as an intercessor for you at the Last Judgement. Also, I send my greetings to those two persons in particular.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: We shall allude briefly to a most extensive and lengthy truth which occurred to my heart on the Night of Power.

Because of the extreme tyranny and despotism of this last World War and its merciless destruction, and hundreds of innocents being scattered and ruined on account of a single enemy, and the awesome despair of the defeated, and the fearsome alarm of the victors and their ghastly pangs of conscience arising from the supremacy they are unable to maintain and the destruction they are unable to repair, and the utter transitoriness and ephemerality of the life of this world and the deceptive, opiate nature of the fantasies of civilization becoming apparent to all, and the exalted abilities lodged in human nature and the human essence being wounded in universal and awesome manner, and man's innate love and desire for immortality being aroused and awakened, and heedlessness and misguidance and deaf, lifeless nature being smashed by the diamond sword of the Qur'an, and the exceedingly ugly, exceedingly cruel true face of world politics becoming apparent, which is the widest and most suffocating and deceptive cover for heedlessness and misguidance, most certainly and without any shadow of a doubt, since the life of this world - which is the metaphorical beloved of mankind - is thus ugly and transient, man's true nature will search with all its strength for eternal life, which it truly loves and yearns for, just as there are signs of this occurring in the north, the west, and in America.

Most certainly, there is also no doubt that since the Qur'an of MiracuIous Exposition, which each century for one thousand three hundred and sixty years has had three hundred and fifty million students, and sets the seal on each of its pronouncements and claims through the affirmation of millions of profound, veracious scholars, and each minute has been present with its sacredness in the hearts of millions of hafiz's and given instruction to mankind through their tongues, and which in a way unmatched by any other book conveys the good news of eternal life and everlasting happiness to mankind and heals all their wounds, - since the Qur'an has given the certain good news of eternal life and happiness with thousands of its insistent, powerful and repeated verses, and with its certain unshakeable proofs and innumerable indubitable arguments which invite and give news explicitly and implicitly tens of thousands of times, so long as humankind does not altogether lose its mind and a material or immaterial doomsday does not erupt over its head, the broad masses and great states in the world will search out the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, and having grasped its truths, will embrace it with all their lives and spirits, just as there are now

famous preachers in Sweden, Norway, Finland and England working to have the Qur'an accepted, and the important community of America is searching for the true religion. In view of this fact, the Qur'an by no means has - nor can have - any equal. Absolutely nothing can take the place of this greatest miracle.

Secondly: The Risale-i Nur has performed the service of a diamond sword in the hand of this greatest miracle and compelled its stubborn enemies to submit, and acts as a herald to the treasures of the Qur'an in a way that illuminates and heals completely both the heart, and the spirit, and the emotions, and has no source or authority other than the Qur'an and is its miracle; it performs that duty perfectly.

Furthermore, the Risale-i Nur has completely routed the obstinate atheists and their fearsome propaganda against it, and smashed to pieces with the treatise Nature: Cause or Effect nature, which is the most impregnable bastion of misguidance, and, with the Sixth Topic of the treatise The Fruits of Belief together with the First, Second, Third and Eighth Proofs all of which are included in the book The Staff of Moses, has banished heedlessness in brilliant fashion in its most dense, suffocating and extensive form beneath the wide-reaching veils of science and has demonstrated the light of divine unity.

For sure, since religious instruction is now officially permitted and permission has been given to open private places of study, it is necessary for us and essential for the nation that, as far as is possible, students of the Risale-i Nur open small Risale-i Nur study centres everywhere. Everyone will benefit to some extent, though not everyone will understand every matter completely. But since these matters are explanations of the truths of belief, they are both learning, {(*):} and knowledge of God, and lead to a sense of God's presence, and are worship. God willing, these Nur schools will secure in five to ten weeks the results that the former medreses produced in five to ten years - and they have been so doing for twenty years.

Also, it is essential that the government does not interfere with these flashes of the Qur'an, the Risale-i Nur, which is the Qur'an's herald and is beneficial in many ways for the worldly and political life of this nation and country, and for its life in the hereafter. Indeed, it should work for its total spread and acceptance, so that it may atone for the grievous sins of the past and form a barrier to the severe trials and anarchy of the future.

Thirdly: I have great need this Ramadan to read the Qur'an with fervour and pleasure, but I have become nervous due to the effects of my painful illness, and physical and spiritual distress, weariness, and preoccupations. Then one after the other I began to read the miraculous portions of the Qur'an written by Husrev with his elegant pen and the wondrous Hizb al-Akbar al-Qur'aniyya, {[*]:} which will gain numerous merits for Hâfız Ali and Tahirî, and they filled me with such pleasure and eagerness that they dispelled all that weariness. While listening to those shining lessons from the Qur'an, which disallow every sort of doubt and scruple, I desired with all my life and spirit and resolved determinedly to print our miraculous Qur'an photographically, as far as is possible, just as the Hizb al-Akbar al-Qur'aniyya has been printed, God willing.

It is indeed a good omen that thanks to the Risale-i Nur's conquests and on the orders of Ankara, your confiscated books have been returned to you. In so far as it will contribute to the Risale-i Nur's winning its complete freedom, it is a great victory for it and most advantageous. All praise be to God, this is through the grace of my Lord!

We congratulate Alil Ali Osman and Çilingir Ali, our extremely hardworking brothers, both on their good wishes and on the festival and the Night of Power, and on their wondrous, valuable, and highly meritorious services for the Risale-i Nur, and we pray for their success and their protection. They have made all those connected with the Risale-i Nur indebted to them for all eternity. May God be pleased with them. Amen! I send my greetings to all the brothers and sisters named in Ali Osman's letter, and we pray for them and request their prayers. May Almighty God bestow mercy on our brother Kazım's spirit and fill his grave with light, Amen!

It was a wonder of Ali Osman's pen that the fifteen short treatises that he sent arrived at the same time as two of the leading students from the Konya Nur School. They said they needed those treatises and they were given to them. They will gain reward for Ali Osman on a wider scale.

We send our greetings to everyone and offer prayers for them.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

The teacher Mustafa Sungur, one of the young Nur heroes, brought me festival greetings from our brothers in Eflâni, Safranbolu, Kastamonu, İnebolu, Daday, and Araç. So as a young Said, we sent him to those brothers to congratulate them on both the material and spiritual festival. And we sent diligent Mehmed Çalışkan, the Süleyman Rüştü of Emirdağ, to Istanbul to get The Shining Lamp and to enquire about the books that are being sent abroad.

Having been defeated in every respect, those opposed to the Risale-i Nur are pursuing a plan that on the face of it looks unpleasant for us, but in reality is more beneficial for the Risale-i Nur. They seem to think that they are going to break the solidarity of the Nur students and for some unknowable reason cause some of their leading members to go elsewhere. But if they do go, it is because they are needed in those places and it will not injure their unanimity. For instance, they are the cause of Muharrem going to Tavas, Mustafa Osman to Karabük, and Re'fet to Istanbul and of dispersing them. These brothers of ours depart for those places as though voluntarily, but in reality the ground is being prepared imperceptibly with the intention of damaging their solidarity.

Another of their schemes is that although according to their principles we deserve to be imprisoned, they appear not to support it and apparently oppose it. The reason for this is that our covert enemies were quite astonished when Denizli Prison became a Nur School and some people who were transferred from there to other prisons, started to illuminate them too; that is why they supported our release from prison. Also, acknowledging in a sort of way the justice and rightness of the Risale-i Nur, the judiciary held back in order to avoid the severe objections of the future and disregarded the articles of the arbitrary laws that were prejudicial to us. Some obdurate atheists were defeated in the face the Risale-i Nur's truth and gave up their obstinacy. And the covert enemies demanded in alarm that we should be released from prison so that the prisons should not turn into Nur Schools. That is to say, three groups of people supported the unanimous decision for our acquittal. This was a wonder bestowed on the Risale-i Nur by divine providence. Yes, this evening I felt quite certainly that just as three of this century's most fearsome commanders had been intimidated: both the Operation Army's commander-in-chief during the Thirty-First of March Incident, and the foreign commander of the Istanbul occupation forces during the national movement following the First World War - his being intimidated and not attacking us, and in Ankara in the

president's office that awesome leader suppressing his anger and virtually apologizing; and now three courts of law justly and conciliatorily acquitting us unanimously, although they had previously invoked innumerable pretexts in the face of our fiery, impassioned defences - I felt quite certainly that these were a wonder of the Risale-i Nur, which is a sort of miracle of the Qur'an, and so I have written and described it. But it has been sent to you without being corrected, so is in a state of disorder.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: We have received two pieces: one, The Shining Lamp in its entirety; the other, some leftover parts of it. They contain only a few errors; I am sending a short list of them attached to this letter.

Secondly: Since Isparta is a sort of Medresetü'z-Zehrâ and since upto the present the authorities of that blessed place of learning have behaved leniently, and foremost the police chief, have been appreciative of the Risale-i Nur, we look on them as friends; so whatever they do, do not feel affronted or take offence. Moreover, upto now important advantages have been secured as a result of their not pressurizing us unduly. So now, it may be opposed to the inner meaning of "‌ illuminates discreetly" {[*]:} to disseminate the Risale-i Nur everywhere completely freely, and there may be some advantages in their warnings of caution.

Thirdly: In response to the festival congratulations of Hâfız Hasan, who is a prominent teacher in Daday and a valuable publisher of the Risale-i Nur, and the congratulations of his two blessed Nurju children, and of our worthy brothers Doctor Hakkı Hüsnü, Tahir from Araç, and Fuad from Daday, we congratulate with all our life and spirit both the past festival and their unwavering successes in the service of the Risale-i Nur. I am forwarding his letter to you to be included in The Additional Letters.

Fourthly: Our brother Re'fet, one of the Nur heroes, has found a brother in Istanbul who is devoted to the Risale-i Nur, a high-ranking hoja of the greatest importance called Abdülehad, who resembles himself in method. May Almighty God grant them both constant success. Amen!

Fifthly: To an extent I have never before seen, when I go out in the phaeton, innocent children aged two to ten display an extraordinary affection

for me and race up to me from quite a distance and eagerly catch hold of my hands as they would their parents' if they had not seen them for a long time. I was astonished at this and wondered about the reason. Then suddenly it occurred to me that with a sort of premonition, these innocent children perceived that in the future they would find happiness through the Risale-i Nur and be saved from moral and spiritual dangers; indeed, perhaps many of them would become Nur students. I felt that my not leaving here although the physical and spiritual climate does not agree with me and the other exiles have been given their freedom, inferred that they were saying: "We're within the fold of the Risale-i Nur; don't leave us and go!"

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings, for ever and ever!

My Very Dear and Loyal Brothers!

My brothers, I observed in a subtle point concerning God's unity, which suddenly became clear while studying the page of the air on a journey of the imagination and mind, that is, in the word 'He' (Hu) in the phrases «Say, He is God» (Q 112: 1), and «There is no God but He» (Q 2: 163, 3:2, 59:22), - and that was only in its material aspect - that the way of belief is infinitely easy, easy to the point of being necessary, and that the way of misguidance and associating partners with God is infinitely difficult, so difficult as to be impossible. I shall explain that long and extensive point with an extremely brief indication.

Yes, if soil, one handful of which can act as a flowerpot for hundreds of plants in turn, is attributed to nature or causes, it becomes necessary either for there to be present in such a handful hundreds of immaterial machines, indeed, machines and factories to the number of the plants, or for each particle of that small amount of soil to know how to make all those different plants together with their different characteristics and living organs; quite simply, each would have to possess infinite knowledge and limitless power like a god.

The same is true for the air, which is a place of maximum manifestation of the divine will and command: either there would have to be present on a

minute scale in each of its molecules, in each waft of wind, each breath, and in the tiny amount air expended with the word 'He' , the innumerable different exchanges, centres, receivers and transmitters of all the telephones, telegraphs and radios in the world so that each could perform those innumerable acts at the same time; or else, each particle of each molecule of air exhaled with 'He' , and indeed of the element air, would have to possess abilities and personalities to the number of all the different telephone users, telegraphers, and those who speak on the radio, and know all their different languages and broadcast them to the other particles at the same time. For such a situation is actually apparent and every bit of air possesses that ability. Thus, in the ways of the unbelievers, naturalists, and materialists not one impossibility, but impossibilities and difficulties are clearly apparent to the number of molecules of air.

If attributed to the All-Glorious Maker, however, the air together with all its particles becomes a soldier under His command. With its Creator's permission and through His power, and through being connected to its Creator and relying on Him, and through the manifestation of its Maker's power, in an instant with the speed of lightning and with the ease of uttering the word 'He' and the movement of the air in waves, its innumerable universal duties are performed as easily as an orderly, single duty of a single particle. That is to say, the air becomes a page for the endless, wonderful, and orderly writings of the pen of power, and its particles become the nibs of the pen, and their duties the points inscribed by it. The air functions as easily as the movement of a single particle.

Thus, while on my journey of contemplation prompted by the phrases «There is no God but He,» and, «Say, He is God,» and while observing the world of the air and studying the page of that element, I witnessed this brief truth with utter certainty and clarity, and in detail. And I understood with knowledge of certainty that it was because there is in the word 'He' , in the air of its utterance, such a brilliant proof and flash of divine unity; and also in its meaning and allusions such a luminous manifestation of divine oneness and powerful proof of divine unity; and in that proof an indication that since the pronoun 'He' is unconditional and indefinite, it suggests the question, "Who does it refer to?"; that both the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition and those who constantly recite the divine names frequently repeat this sacred word in the station of unity.

If, for example, there is one point on a piece of white paper and two or three other points are jumbled around with it and then someone who already has numerous jobs tries to distinguish them, he will be confused; and if many burdens are loaded on a small creature, it will be crushed; and

if numerous words issue from one tongue and enter one ear altogether at the same time, their order will be broken and they will all be a muddle.

Despite this being the case, I saw with complete certainty that with the key and compass of 'He', although thousands of different points, letters and words had been put in each molecule - and even in each particle - of the element air, through which I journeyed in my mind, neither did they become mixed up nor did they spoil their order; and although they performed a great many different duties, these were carried out without being confused in any way; and although very heavy loads were laid on each molecule and particle, they bore them in order without lagging or displaying any weakness at all. And I saw that thousands of different words of all different sorts enter and issue with perfect order from what is in effect those minute ears and tongues without being mixed up and spoilt in any way, they enter those minute ears and issue from those tiny tongues, and by performing these extraordinary duties, each particle and each molecule declares through the enraptured tongue of its being and its perfect freedom, and through the testimony and tongue of the above truth: «There is no God but He,» and, «Say, He is God, the One,» and travels among such air-clashing waves as storms and lightning and thunder without in any way spoiling their order or confusing their duties; one duty is not an obstacle to another duty, I observed this and was utterly certain.

That is to say, either every particle and piece of the air has to possess infinite wisdom, knowledge, will, and power, and the qualities for being absolutely dominant over all the other particles so that it can be the means of those functions being carried out, which is absurd and impossible to the number of particles, and no devil even could imagine it, or else - and it is self-evident to the degree of knowledge of certainty, vision of certainty, and absolute certainty - that the page of the air functions through the boundless, infinite knowledge and wisdom of the All-Glorious One, and is the protean page for the pen of divine power and determining, and like a signboard for writing and erasing, known as a Tablet of Appearance and Dissolution, which has the function of the Preserved Tablet in the world of transformation and change.

Thus, just as the element of air demonstrates the above-mentioned wonders and manifestation of divine unity in only the duty of transmitting sound and shows the impossibilities of misguidance, so does it perform other important duties with order and without confusing them, such as transmitting subtle forces and energy, like electricity, light, and the forces of attraction and repulsion. At the same time as conveying these, with perfect order, it carries out duties essential for the lives of plants and animals,

such as respiration and pollination. It proves in decisive fashion that it is a place of maximum manifestation of the divine will and command. I came to the firm conclusion that it proves that in no way is there any possibility of vagrant chance, blind force, deaf nature, confused and aimless causes, and powerless, lifeless, unknowing matter interfering in the writing and duties of the page of the air. And I understood that every particle and part of it declares with the tongue of its being: «There is no God but He,» and, «Say, He is God, the One.» Just as with the key of 'He' I saw these wonders in the material aspect of the air, so also, as a 'He' , did the element air become a key to the World of Similitudes and the World of Meaning.

I have not been inspired to write the rest of this for now. Endless greetings to everyone.

My Brothers!

Don't worry! Be content with the Risale-i Nur's extraordinary hidden vrviories. At no time upto the present has any work spread so effectively in such difficult conditions. The reason it has not been given its complete freedom is that they are scared of its unusual power. Although they recognize and appreciate it, news has been received of the Director of Religious Affair's meeting with the top man and that they are frightened to have it officially disseminated at present, surmising that it might lead to disturbances. They are not attacking it as formerly; indeed, they want to be conciliatory. God willing, the powerful currents in favour of the Risale-i Nur will turn their unease into the desire to publish it officially. Also, numerous egotistical people do not support the Risale-i Nur's open publication because they are jealous and want to spread their own works. But don't worry, the Risale-i Nur will prevail!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: I have received the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ's twenty lessons and gift. In return, in order to assist its sacred lessons, I have sent with Hâfız Mustafa, who is a leading disseminator of the Risale-i Nur and Hâfız Ali's diligent heir, the ninety liras which is what remains from the salary given

me while I performed my scholarly duties in the Darü'l-Hikmet, which at that time I spent on printing the treatises I had written and with which I intended to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, and for twenty to thirty years has been my reserve fund. For me it has the value of a thousand liras. The price of these new lessons should be seven and a half liras, the same as The Shining Lamp and The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen, for I am obliged to give many people copies as presents, Nevertheless, I look on every single lesson and copy as a thousand gifts from the leading members of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ.

Secondly: The Risale-i Nur is spreading through the Islamic world by means of people making the Hajj, and is conveying itself to the worthy. The committee of scholars who studied the handwritten copies of The Staff of Moses and Zülfikar that we sent to Damascus decided that they should print the collections section by section, a sign that they thought highly of them. It would be very expensive to print them in their entirety. Also, it would take a long time to translate them into Arabic, which is not possible. Due to this, my old student who is there and the student I have just sent tried to get the copies off them and did not print them so that they might earn the money. Those brothers are now reading them to people who are eager. Anyway, I am not giving permission for them to be printed. Now is not the time. A group of prominent scholars is needed, with the co-operation of Egyptian ulema. This matter was carried out too hastily.

Thirdly: The reason the copies we were going to send to Istanbul to send abroad have not yet been sent is that not many people were keen to go on the Hajj , and a person who was going to go and had with him something on trust, said that too much notice was being given to the hajis at the borders and they were being turned back on false pretexts. He wrote to me advising that it would be better to send them by post directly to Mehmed Ali Mâliki at Vaziye, Mahalle-i Shamiyya in Mecca. He did not take them lest he was turned back at the frontier. It was indeed judicious. For to send these collections now in my name and in that of the Nur students might have given Islamic unity - which is anyway now starting to gain strength and its politics, the idea of trying to use the Risale-i Nur as a source of power for itself and to exploit it, which would have compelled us to consider Islamic politics. Whereas the meaning of true sincerity in the Risale-i Nur's way does not permit it to be made the tool of anything other than belief and the truths of the Qur'an, nor to follow them. Also, the Risale-i Nur does not hunt for customers; rather, feeling their true need, its customers have to seek out the Risale-i Nur so that it may heal their wounds. Whereas the blessed centres it was going to be sent to should be thinking

now, not of its true need for the Risale-i Nur, but of those matters concerning the Islamic world's religious life. Also, the Risale-i Nur's way looks on egotism and ostentation as a sort of fame-seeking and rejects them, so since in this age of egotism, to try to sell oneself and make oneself liked, and for the Nur students to all of a sudden display themselves through these works in famous places as though they were highly privileged would be a sort of ostentation and pretentiousness. To preserve total sincerity, therefore, divine determining does not permit the Nur students to do this at the present time.

Fourthly: May Almighty God perpetually bestow His grace on Süleyman Rüştü in his material and spiritual commerce in this world and the next, for he is unwavering in his heroism and loyalty, and with his brother is innocent and has performed invaluable services in a short time. Amen!

Fifthly: "A Fine Point Concerning 'He' (Hüve Nüktesi)" is truly subtle though very brief and concise; it has been sent to you, for everyone may perceive the powerful light of belief in it, The phrase: "with the tongue of being and through the testimony and tongue of the above-mentioned truth" is to be added to the sentence near the end: "every particle says with the tongue of its being: 'There is no God but He,' and, 'Say, He is God, the One,' and travels e" This piece on 'He' , together with the imaginary journey related to the verse: «God is the Light of the heavens» (Q 24:35) in the Fifth Section of the Twenty-Ninth Letter, and the other imaginary journey explaining the meaning of community through the door of «do we worship» (Q 1:4) in the Sixth Point of the First Section of the Twenty-Ninth Letter should be together added at the end of The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen or where you deem appropriate. If the «Inâyât» (the Seventh Part of the Twenty-Eighth Letter) has not been put in The Ratifying Stamp, a summary of it may also be added. I am leaving it up to you.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

According to what I have heard, Şemsi and certain authors whose names I consider inappropriate to mention, are publishing a number of parts of the Risale-i Nur in their own names. I consent to this and forgive them and am pleased. They are students of the Risale-i Nur too, and are publishing it in this way. For the past twenty years, many people including high-ranking hojas and authors have taken numerous parts of the Risale-i

Nur and included them in their own works, and they are continuing to do so, I forgive not only such friendly people, but also those holding high positions who write works themselves and do not favour the spread of the Risale-i Nur and even prevent its publication so that their own works become popular, for their preventing it assists in its conquests and its spreading in other useful ways. I have paid no attention to the present state of affairs and do not know. Without wanting to, I heard that some high officials who compose works and have plagiarized the Risale-i Nur, tell others that they may read it but not give it to others, as though the Risale-i Nur will obscure their own works. But the Risale-i Nur affirms the truths in those works, and corroborates them and increases demand for them. God willing, some time they will be compelled to publish it officially. But as the judge in İzmir said: "The Risale-i Nur cannot be concealed; it does not resemble other books; no one can claim possession of it. Wherever it is found, it declares: I proceed from the Light!"

Also, for the past eight years the most important parts of the Risale-i Nur have been going to Istanbul and have been read enthusiastically by authors. Basically, it seems to belong to everyone on condition they are its students.

I have decided to make those blessed brothers who are going on the Hajj from Isparta and have promised to perform it in my stead shareholders in all the spiritual gains accruing in the sphere of the select students. May Almighty God grant them happiness in this world and the next. Amen!

Soon, I am going to send the sixty liras remaining from the cost of The Staff of Moses which the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ has sent this time.

Also, I congratulate the Nur Trading House. God willing, we shall soon communicate by means of its owner. I send my greetings to everyone.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: I bought a hundred copies of A Guide for Youth from the publishers for fifty liras, and I gave them some of the my own copies of The Staff of Moses which I had sold. I am sending them to you in lieu of my debt of sixty liras that remains from the cost of the copies of The Staff of Moses which you last sent to me. You can send twenty or thirty of them to the internal Medresetü'z-Zehrâ and the rest in any amounts you deem suitable to such places as Denizli, Milâs, Burdur, Antalya, Aydın, and İzmir. Essentially, the true, all-important price of these is that the person who

buys them gets at least ten other people to read them. Because there are only a few copies.

Secondly: I liked your defence speech in the court; it is very good. It is also good that the trial has been postponed to the twenty-second of December (Teşrin). The parts they are holding are anyway the share of officials; they should read them. If they don't, those parts just being found in the offices near them means that they receive instruction in some way, so don't worry. The unfolding and conquests of the Risale-i Nur are slowly increasing, covering numerous officials. The officials have begun to be curious and are seeking it out. When they find it, they respect it although they receive a slap from it.

Thirdly: I was overjoyed by the letters sent by young İbrahim and Salih, two of the young heroes of Isparta. May God bless them! And just as those two brothers visited our leading brothers in that region and described how they were in their letters; so I have received a fine letter from a new brother describing how such places on the Black Sea coast as Ordu, Sinop, Gerze, Ayancık, Bartın, and Zonguldak are being illuminated by the Risale-i Nur. He says that Nurju preachers in Üsküdar in Istanbul are working at it, and that he himself has a business in Gerze, is most eager for the Risale-i Nur, and has resolved to work wholeheartedly at it. I send many greetings to him and to İbrahim and Salih, and congratulate them and pray for their success.

Fourthly: The Imam of Alamescid, our active brother İbrahim Edhem, has found two preachers, Ali Şentürk and Osman Nuri, who are fully Nurjus like himself. With their sincere, devoted, and resolute services for the Risale-i Nur, the preachers have been admitted to the circle of select students in the way they wished for in their letter. May Almighty God grant them success. Amen! I send many greetings to Ali Rıza, the mufti of that district, who is named in Ali Şentürk's letter. Many valuable brothers so-named have entered the fold of the Risale-i Nur so tell him that he will be a fine example to many people. I send endless greetings to everyone.

I have sent to the printer Aziz in Istanbul the thirtieth part of the Qur'an (cüz') containing the subtle coincidences (tevâfukat) in Sura al-Rahman together with another part with fine coincidences. He liked them very much and gave his word that whenever we want he will print them photographically, as he did the Hizb-i Kur'âniye and the Hizb-i Nuriye. He had promised to send one million copies of the Qur'an to India and said it

would be splendid to include copies of the miraculous Qur'an with them. Hopefully, God Almighty will bestow success on the Nurjus, if He so wills.

As the price of The Ratifying Stamp, I have obtained fifty copies of A Guide for Youth from the publishers and have given the money. Also, in exchange, as the blessed price of that blessed collection are two saucepans which have served me well but are not now necessary and which I did not want to give to anyone, and a cotton robe I have worn for fifteen years, and a truly blessed book; a kettle and teapot, a razor I have used to shave with for twenty-four years, and a sheet which has served me for a long time past. As reckoned and recommended by Kılınç Ali's father, who was present, and Ahmed Rasih, nine liras for the saucepans, nine liras for the kettle and teapot, nine liras for the razor, and for the cotton robe, sheet, two hand-towels, some underpants and a cotton shirt a total of one hundred and twenty-five liras. They estimated these prices, but I thought it should be less and said that was too much. Greetings to all.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: Besides congratulating you on the Ten Nights, {[*]:} we want to tell you about two wonders of the Risale-i Nur. The many-sided expansion of the Nur service, especially with the duplicating machines, has confused the covert hostile atheists. Using a wretched unthinking man and following an unimportant but grievous plan, they provoked an incident that might have given rise to numerous suspicions and calumnies: four shots were fired right beside the house of one of the leading Nur students here who performs the most vital tasks, wounding some wretched man. The doctor said it was one hundred per cent certain that he would die. Although there were many people, official and unofficial, to support the wounded man's case and a ninety-per-cent possibility that the crime would be attributed to that leading Nur student and in connection with this, his house would be searched and all the treatises and letters of the Risale-i Nur would be

seized, and I myself and the Nurjus would be incriminated, and the innocent student would be defamed with unwarranted slanders - despite all this, in accordance with the meaning of, "You are protected by divine providence," divine providence again came to our assistance. The man did not die, although he had been hit right in the face at close range by four bullets. Also, there were no witnesses. And no evidence at all was found. The man told neither the court, nor his father, nor his brothers who had shot him, although they insisted. That is, he was not permitted to say. If he had said, dissemblers who make mountains out of molehills would have cooked up outrageous slanders. Through His grace and munificence, Almighty God protected the Risale-i Nur and the Nurjus, and the explosion of the incident caused us no harm. I felt absolutely certain that it was a wonder of the Risale-i Nur. Furthermore, on the one hand the man had read a part of the Risale-i Nur and his life was spared as a wonder of it; and on the other, due to the sense he had obtained through the small lessons in reality he had received from it, he was silenced so that no harm should come to the Risale-i Nur, and he was prevented from telling it to either the court or his relations. One time he came and visited me and gave his word that he was going to behave properly, but he did something wrong and received a blow. Indeed, we understood that even Nur students who may be subject to false accusations although they act with perfect sincerity and loyalty, may suffer compassionate slaps due to negligent persons.

I saw that the World of Similitudes is all the time taking innumerable photographs without confusing them, and that each photograph contains innumerable events occurring in this world. I understood that it was a gigantic camera, and a vast cinema of the hereafter thousands of times larger than the world for showing in eternal theatres the fruits of the transient, impermanent states and lives of ephemeral beings, for showing to those enjoying everlasting bliss in Paradise scenes from their old memories and adventures in this world.

While the faculties of memory and imagination, which are two proofs, two small examples, and two points of both the Preserved Tablet and the World of Similitudes situated in man's head, are as tiny as lentils, within

them are written in perfect order and without being mixed up as much information as may be contained in a large library. This proves decisively that the World of Similitudes and the Preserved Tablet are large examples of those faculties.

It is definite and as certain as the knowledge of certainty (ilmelyakîn) that the elements air and water, particularly seminal fluid and the air, are far superior to the element earth and are written with more wisdom and will, and with the pen of divine determining and power, and that it is completely impossible for chance, blind force, deaf nature, and lifeless and aimless causes to interfere in them, and that they are a page of the pen of power and the wisdom of the All-Wise One of Glory. This was known with the knowledge of certainty.

The rest of this was not written for now.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; You are indeed All-Knowing, All-Wise! (Q 2:32)

My Dear, Loyal Brothers and Active, Steadfast Friends in the Service of the Qur'an!

Firstly: We congratulate you with all our life and spirit on the first ten nights of Dhu'l-Hijja, which this year bear the meaning of the Greater Hajj.

Secondly: The Risale-i Nur's conquests continue both at home and abroad. But the people of vice and misguidance, our covert enemies, alarm the Nur students by causing minor incidents, and making mountains out of molehills, unnerve them. Recently, an incident occurred close to the house of a leading student, where most of my books and my letters of three years were openly found, There was a strong, ninety per cent, possibility of this being taken advantage of and his house being searched, but through Almighty God's providence, protection, and preservation, it was saved from this. If that morning I had not sternly admonished two of our ingenuous brothers and got them to remove them from there, once again the Risale-i Nur and its circle would have been in an awkward situation. It appears that a sort of fear of politics caused the incident that did occur. It is true that divine providence preserved us, but at present the collections are being published and are circulating so we are obliged to be calm and circumspect;

any such commotion allows our enemies to blow up things out of all proportion and to dismay and alarm us. Divine providence repulsed their scheme and protected us. But thinking of the considerable harm that would come to the Risale-i Nur's work and due to the trepidations and blows I felt in my spirit arising from that uncustomary and unforeseen event, I felt a distress I had never before experienced in my life and my nerves felt all afflicted with wounds. I was crushed by the involuntary grief I felt. Then out of His perfect compassion, on the second day the Most Merciful of the Merciful sent the truly devoted Nuri Benli, and Sadık Bey, the hero of Kastamonu, and Ismail, one of the İnebolu heroes, as a perfect salve for the distress of those spiritual wounds and a total remedy. And I received the good news in a letter from our brother Emin, who had gone to his native region, that Molla Hamza was alive although fifteen years ago I heard he had fallen as a martyr, and for whom I have prayed continually together with my other martyr students like Ubeyd, and who printed both Isharat al-I'jaz and the Tenth Word, and that he was now living in Iraq and was searching for the Risale-i Nur. This healed my wounds completely. I offered endless thanks to Almighty God.

We send numberless greetings to all our brothers.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: The time has come to relate to you a both strange, and sad, and subtle story from my life, to describe my enemies' slanders which are both vile and with which no Satan even could deceive anyone, and to show that absolutely no weapon remains to them to utilize against the Risale-i Nur. It is like this:

It is well-known by those who are familiar with the story of my life that fifty-five years ago when I was in my twenties, I stayed for two years in the residence of the governor of Bitlis, Ömer Pasha, on his insistence and because of his extreme respect for learning. He had six daughters. Three of them were small and three of them were older. Although I stayed in the same house as them for two years, I could not tell the three older ones apart. I paid them so little attention, how could I have done? Another scholar came and stayed together with me as a guest, and within two days he knew them and could tell them one from the other. They were all perplexed at my attitude and asked me: "Why don't you look at them?" I replied: "Preserving the dignity of learning does not allow me to look at them."

Also, forty years ago on the day of the Kâğıthane fair in Istanbul and the two sides of the Golden Horn from the bridge as far as Kağıthane were lined with thousands of unveiled Greek, Armenian, and Istanbul women and girls, I boarded a rowing-boat with the late deputy Molla Seyyid Tâha and the deputy Haji İlyas and we passed by all those women. I was not aware of it, but Molla Tâha and Haji İlyas had decided to test me and they observed me in turn. At the end of the hour-long trip, they confessed what they had done, and said: "We are astonished at your behaviour; you didn't look at them at all!" I replied: "Unnecessary, fleeting, sinful pleasures yield only pains, so I have no desire for them!"

Also, all those who have been companions to me know that throughout my life I have avoided accepting gifts and becoming beholden to people and accepting their charity and benefactions. Also, it has become absolutely clear in the two court cases in the course of my twenty years of torturous captivity that in order to defend the honour and benefits of the Risale-i Nur and its services to belief and the Qur'an, I have evinced no curiosity about the material, social, and political matters of this world and I have renounced all their pleasures, and that I attach not the slightest importance to any of the threats of our malicious enemies, including the gallows.

While this has been my principle in life for seventy-five years, a man who occupies an official position calumniated me in a way that devils even could not dream up in order to denigrate the extraordinary value of the Risale-i Nur. He said: "He is being visited at night by prostitutes and other evildoers with trays of baklava!" But my door is locked on both the inside and the outside at night, and on the orders of that wretch a watchman was posted at the door till the morning. And my neighbours here and all my friends know that I receive no one at all from after the late-evening prayer until the morning. An idiotic fool, or an ass, or even Satan could not utter such slander. The man understood this and gave up such schemes, and left here and went elsewhere, to Hell, With this scheme which he devised, not in his official capacity, in order to smear the Nurjus, not me, he was the cause of this new incident and intended to blacken the students' reputation. But in wondrous fashion, divine protection, preservation, and providence confounded it. I am not exonerating my own soul with these explanations; I want to say rather that the sacred service for belief induced my soul to give up all its desires and that the spiritual (mânevî) pleasures in that service suffice it. I am making clear too the Nurjus' need for caution and vigilence.

Secondly: I am sending to you my private scribe, who is experienced and capable, with the duplicating machines. I write only with difficulty and will henceforth write to you briefly. So don't be offended.

Thirdly: I send my greetings to the preacher Mehmed and Tevfik, who are in the whereabouts of Eflâni; his dream is auspicious.

Fourthly: I have this minute received the fine letter of Mehmed Feyzi, the Husrev of Kastamonu, containing the good news of the Risale-i Nur's conquests and his congratulations. And with all my life and spirit, I congratulate foremost that valuable brother of ours, and Hilmi, Emin, and the Beşkardeş's, and our Nurju sisters the Ulviyes, Zehras, and Lütfiyes, on both the Ten Nights, and the festival. Also, we are sending attached the letters of both Hulûsi and Feyzi.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: A leading, most worthy Nur student asked me in the name of many of them: "A number of sincere, leading Nur students persistently suppose you to be the supreme guide who is to come at the end of time and will belong to the Prophet's (UWBP) family. They insist on this despite your holding back so much. You do not accept this idea of theirs that they so insist upon and you shrink from it. For sure, they have decisive proof and are in possession of some truth, yet you do not concede to it for some reason or owing to some truth. This is a contradiction and come what may we want to solve it."

I say in reply to the many matters that this person represents: Those select Nurjus are in possession of some truth, but it has to be defined and interpreted in two respects:

The First Respect: As I have indicated in many of my letters, the collective personality of the sacred community that the Mahdi of the Prophet's (UWBP) family will represent, has three functions. We may await from divine mercy that if the end of the world does not happen soon and humankind does not stray from the path completely, his community and the community of sayyids will perform those functions. He will have three major functions.

His First Function: Since science and philosophy are now dominant and the plague of materialism and naturalism has spread among the human race, before everything belief should be saved in such a way that it silences philosophy and materialism. Since preserving the people of belief from misguidance necessitates leaving aside both this world and everything in it and demands prolonged and devoted study, neither the Mahdi's time nor his situation would permit him to perform this duty himself; preoccupation

with the rule of the Caliphate of Muhammad (UWBP) would not leave him the time. Most probably a group preceding him will perform it in some respect. He will take the work which that group wrote as a result of lengthy study as a pre-prepared programme for himself, and with it will find the first duty to have been performed to the full, The force or spiritual army which has undertaken this duty consists only of a number of students who possess fully the attributes of sincerity, loyalty, and mutual support. However few they are in number, in meaning they should be deemed as powerful and valuable as an army.

His Second Function: With his title pertaining to the Caliphate of Muhammad (UWBP), this is to revive the marks of Islam, and making the unity of the Islamic world his source of support, to save humanity from material and spiritual dangers and from divine wrath. This function will require armies with millions of men to support it and serve it.

His Third Function: Since many Qur'anic precepts have suffered harm with the vicissitudes of the times, and the Shari'a of Muhammad (UWBP) has been suspended to an extent, the person in question will try to perform that mighty task with the moral assistance of all the believers, the help of Islamic unity, and with the participation of all the scholars and saints, particularly the millions of devoted sayyids, who are descended from the Prophet (UWBP) and every century are numerous and powerful.

Although the reality of the matter is this, since the duty of saving belief, the primary duty and highest way, and instructing the people generally in certain, affirmative belief and even making the belief of the common people thus, is guidance and instruction both in spirit and in fact - since the Nur students have beheld this duty fully in the Risale-i Nur, they rightly consider the collective personality of the Risale-i Nur to be a sort of Mahdi, and the second and third duties to be in second and third place. And since they suppose one representative of that collective personality to be a collective personality arising from the mutual support of the Risale-i Nur students, and a sort of representative of that collective personality to be the unfortunate interpreter, they sometimes give him that name too. This is actually a point of confusion and an error, but they are not responsible. For since early days he has been looked on too favourably, and this was never objected to. So I look on those excessively good opinions of my brothers as a sort of prayer and good wish and a manifestation of the perfect belief of the Risale-i Nur students, and I do not rebuke them. In fact, some of the saints of olden times foresaw with their wondrous predictions that the Risale-i Nur would be the guide at the end of time, and this is understood

through these verifications. This means that there are two points of confusion, which need to be explained.

The First Point: For sure in reality the second two functions are not equal in degree to the first, but in the general view, particularly in the view of the the mass of people and of politicians in particular, and especially in contemporary thought, pursuing Islamic rule on the face of the earth with the armies of the Caliphate of Muhammad (UWBP) and Islamic unity appear a thousand times more extensive than the first function. And when someone is given that name, the latter two functions come to mind and it is given a political meaning; indeed, it may infer self-advertisement, or even hint at the wish for fame, glory, and high standing. There always have been, and still are, many ingenuous rank-seeking people desiring and claiming to be the Mahdi. It's true that a guide, a sort of Mahdi and Renewer appears every century, and has appeared, but because each has performed only one of the Mahdi's three functions, none has been accorded the title of the Supreme Mahdi of the end of time.

Also, in Denizli Court, the experts' committee said to me in connection with this belief of some of the students: "If he claims to be the Mahdi, all his students will accept it." So I told them: "I don't know whether or not I'm a sayyid People's genealogies aren't known today. But that great figure of the end of time will belong to the Prophet's (UWBP) family. For sure, I'm a sort of spiritual son of Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) and have received instruction in the realities from him, and since in one meaning the family of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace) encompasses true Nur students, I too may be counted among his family. But the present is the time of the collective personality, and in the way of the Risale-i Nur there can be no egotism of any sort, or personalities, or the desire for personal rank or for winning fame and renown. And since it would totally opposed to the mystery of sincerity, and since, endless thanks be to God Almighty, He did not make me fond of myself, I would not fasten my sights on personal positions and ranks infinitely higher than my due such as that. Even if I were to be given high rank in the hereafter, I would consider myself obliged to refuse it so as not to spoil the sincerity of the Risale-i Nur." I said this, and the experts' committee were silent.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: We congratulate both all the Nurjus on their holy festival, and the Nur students who are making the Hajj and the supporters of the Risale-i Nur who are also on the Hajj. The festival brings us good news, for it is celebrating the preliminaries of the Islamic world's great festival of the coming together in unity as Islamic states of such large countries in the Islamic world as India and Arabia, which have for a long time past lost their independence and been in subjection - an Islamic state in India with its population of one hundred million, and an Islamic state in Java with its population of more than fifty million, and four or five governments in Arabia coming together in Arab unity as united republics and forming Islamic unity.

Secondly: According to what Re'fet Bey and Mustafa Oruç have written, in Istanbul, over the portal of the splendid building that served as the Ministry of War and headquarters of the army, from which for years the army of Islam was commanded and was subsequently handed over to the university, are inscribed in the Qur'anic script the meaningful verses: «Verily We have granted thee a manifest victory ... And that God may help thee with powerful help.» (Q 48: 1, 3) These verses were later covered with marble slabs and their lights were concealed. Now, as an example of the Qur'anic script once again being permitted, the marble slabs have been removed, which assists the objectives the Risale-i Nur follows and is a sign that in the future the university will be a Nur School. And in a passage the Denizli Nurju Ahmeds have taken from one of the works of Bismarck, {[*]:} who was one of the nineteenth century's most eminent social philosophers and a great genius, he says: "I have studied the Qur'an from every angle, and I have seen wisdom in every one of its words. It is unequalled and for the government of humankind there is no work to match it." And addressing the Prophet (UWBP), he says: "O Muhammad! I am indeed sad that I am not your contemporary. Only once has humanity seen a power as outstanding as yours. I therefore bow in reverence in your presence." Bismarck put his signature to this. He so belittled the corrupted, abrogated revealed scriptures in the piece he wrote, those sentences should not have been written; I indicated this too.

The facts that Bismarck was the most brilliant and eminent philosopher

of the nineteenth century and one of its most illustrious and powerful figures in political and social life; and the Islamic world is now winning its independence to an extent; and foreign governments are searching for the Qur'anic truths; and there is a powerful current favouring the Qur'an in the west and north-west; and just like Bismarck, Mister Carlyle, America's most eminent and famous philosopher, has said categorically that none of the scriptures can compare with the Qur'an, and that what it says is true so they should listen to it; {[*]:} and the Risale-i Nur is progressing and making conquests - these are all auspicious signs that many Bismarcks and Carlyles will appear in Europe and America. We present these to you as a festival gift and send attached the piece written by Bismarck.

I took a look at the beautifully written letter sent by the innocent son of the barber Ali Osman, who is one of the İnebolu heroes, and it suddenly occurred to me that in three important centres of the Risale-i Nur, three barbers are performing great services for it in such a way that they all resemble each other, together with their children, and I felt most happy. Burhan, Hıfzı, and Ali Osman, each a valuable champion of the Risale-i Nur! May Almighty God grant them happiness together with their children in this world and the next. Amen!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

With a firm conviction and corroborated by numerous signs, we give the good news that in return for the light one-month prison sentence the three students of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ received and their suffering the judge's extremely unwarranted, meaningless, and cold anger, the spirit beings, angels, and coming generations will applaud them exceedingly in place of that man's trifling penalty and meaningless anger, and they congratulate such students. And because harrassment and torments of this sort are means of being saved from millions of years' punishment in everlasting

imprisonment, they are as nothing and do not have the importance of a fly's wing; indeed, they make one pleased and proud.

The self-important and famous Prince Bismarck, who a century ago was considered to be the world's most intelligent and scrupulous philosopher and imperious ruler, and although a Christian belittled all the former religions and their scriptures and was even so bold as to deny them, affirmed in writing that he had bowed before the All-Wise Qur'an and assented to it with all his strength, and he announced in the newspapers to all the world that he had renounced his obstinacy, egotism, and irreligion and surrendered to the Qur'an. Just when this was being published, the present terrible government to the north-east, which denies all the revealed religions, is sending many of its Muslim population to the Hajj to make a show before the Islamic world as though it has given up its irreligion, obduracy, and hostility, and no longer denies the Qur'an and as though it recognizes the Qur'an's importance better than the people here and is surrendering to its greatness and having recourse to it in a sort of way. They say that the authorities here are lagging behind them in this question and do not send as many people to the Hajj as they do. In the face of this, at a time our authorities are allowing complete freedom in the question of the Hajj and political propaganda of this type is being carried out, and the Nur students of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ are publishing with their pens those vast and splendid truths of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition with such wondrous treatises as Zülfikar and The Staff of Moses, and compelling the most obdurate atheists to affirm them - at such a time, the assaults of the people of misguidance surely cause not only the people of truth to weep, but also the spirit beings and angels, and even enrage the earth and the heavens.

Since a thousand copies of The Supreme Sign (Âyetü'l-Kübrâ) printed in the old letters and all the treatises of the Risale-i Nur have been unanimously acquitted and returned having been scrutinized for two years, to deem it a crime to duplicate in the old letters a number of treatises that have been returned and impose a sentence is a matter of serious concern for the judiciary and insults its honour.

Secondly: I do not have a personal scribe now and the other scribes do not understand my language at all well. Also I am unwell and can only write slowly and with difficulty. Since yesterday, close on twenty letters have arrived and they contain the names of very many of our brothers and sisters. So I congratulate all of them on the festival and with all my life and spirit accept those who wish to be new students. May God Almighty be pleased with both them and those who so prompted them, and may He grant them success in whatever their hearts wish for.

Thirdly: Both myself and the whole Nur circle have been made pleased and happy by the fine letter of Sabri, the Nur Power Station, which will be added to The Additional Letters; and the sacred services of Ali Osman and Çilingir Ali in publishing the Risale-i Nur; and by İbrahim Edhem's effective activities in Balıkesir and that region and many people entering the fold of the Risale-i Nur through his guidance; and similarly to Hasan Feyzi, by Ahmed Fuad's activity and devotion in the vicinity of Eflâni; and by Sabri from Konya's efforts to induce students of the secular schools to enter the fold of the Risale-i Nur in large numbers; and by the good will and ratifying stance towards the Risale-i Nur of foremost Hoja Vehbi Efendi, the Qur'anic exegetist, and other Konya ulema; and by the teacher Abdurrahman İhsan's sincere and earnest devotion in his letter; and by the two or three people described in the preacher Osman of Tavşanlı's letter who have with the utmost earnestness become Nur students; and by truly sincere Nurjus emerging in the villages of Eğirdir, as affirmed by Ali Osman and Halil İbrahim; and by Abdullah from Araç, who was the first of the Kastamonu secular-school students to embrace the Risale-i Nur and has performed many services for it in Ankara University and has described in his heartening letter which shows his firm adherence to belief and religion, his efforts to protect and defend Abdurrahman's son Vahdet in Ankara, and that due to the many readers of the Risale-i Nur there, they have insufficient copies of it, and that he is spreading it among the young people there together with his friend Mehmed from Konya; and by the prayers and descriptions of the Risale-i Nur's effectiveness in the sincere letter sent by Ali Akdağ, who is closely concerned with it and, God willing, will be a second Ahmed Feyzi in the region of Aydın: all these messages have filled both us and all the Nur circle with joy, and by implication are a vast gift this festival. May Almighty God be pleased with all of them. They should not be offended that I have been unable to write personally and separately to each of them.

I have approved without altering it Husrev's petition to the Court of Appeal; you may send your copy of it to the court. Since you have a copy, you can also add it to The Additional Letters without my sending this letter. You know better than I do concerning the price of A Guide for Youth, which you asked about in the letter that has just arrived, It shouldn't be less than one or one-and-a-half liras. We say, may God grant blessings on Husrev's pen, which has started on the Fourth Word. May God grant him success. Amen!

I send in return for their festival congratulations, congratulations to the barber Hıfzı, the hero of Safranbolu, and his two innocent Nurju sons,

Hüsnü and Yılmaz, and to the İnebolu heroes, Ali Osman and his two Nurju sons, and I offer prayers for their success.

My Dear, Loyal Brother, Re'fet Bey!

Firstly: I received an acute warning in my spirit that I should explain a matter in connection with a number of minor incidents that have slightly affected us. It is like this:

Of course, you select Risale-i Nur students know that the Risale-i Nur can be made the tool of nothing, nor be made the means of anything other than God's pleasure, and that before everything it teaches the truths of belief and saves the belief of the weak and unfortunate, and those who have fallen to doubt.

Secondly: The Risale-i Nur's most powerful force in the face of so many opponents is sincerity, and just as it can be made the tool of nothing in the world, so it cannot be concerned with any currents based on feelings of partisanship, particularly currents connected to politics. For partisanship destroys sincerity and distorts the truth. In fact, the reason I have given up politics these last thirty years is this: because of his feelings of bias towards the political current he supported, a revered scholar of religion insulted another prominent, sound scholar to the extent of calling him a depraved sinner because he held opposing views, while at the same time he praised and applauded a famous and aggressive dissembler who agreed with his ideas. It caused me to shudder to the very depths of my being. Thinking, when involvement in politics is combined with feelings of bias, it gives rise to quite extraordinary mistakes, I declared: "I seek refuge with God from Satan and from politics," and from that time I gave up politics.

In consequence of that state of mind, brothers like yourself know that for the last twenty-five years I have neither read a newspaper, nor listened to one being read, nor have I been curious. And for the past ten years, I have evinced no interest or curiosity in the World War, nor have I known about it. You know too that, apart from my court defences, in the twenty- two years of this distressing captivity, so as to avoid having any contact with politics and partisanship and to prevent marring the sincerity of the Risale-i Nur, I have never applied to the government for my own wellbeing. You also know that, as I wrote and told you while in prison, if those who condemn me to death and torment and maltreat me save their belief through the Risale-i Nur, bear witness that I forgive them. And so that no

harm should come to sincerity due to feelings of bias, I have had nothing to do with the stormy political currents that have emerged from home and abroad these last two or three years, and I have also warned my brothers about them, to an extent.

Thirdly: You know that I do not accept alms or charity, nor can I be an intermediary for such benefactions, Due to this, I am selling my clothes and other necessities, and buying with the money my own books from the brothers who wrote them out. In this way, no worldly benefits will impair the Risale-i Nur's sincerity and it will be an exemplary lesson for our other brothers so that they will avoid making it the tool of anything.

Fourthly: The Risale-i Nur suffices for its true students. They should be content with it and not set their sights on other honours or benefits, material or spiritual. Also, so as not to make people hostile and resentful towards the Risale-i Nur, one should not enter into arguments, disputes, or biased discussions on religious questions that are going to upset them. In fact, I had a premonition at exactly the same time that our brother Mustafa Oruç was disputing with someone in a fashion contrary to the Risale-i Nur's way, and I felt an intense anger and indignation at him my heart. I felt truly saddened and wanted to demote him from the high rank he had won from the Risale-i Nur. But he was an Abdurrahman for me, so why did I feel such anger towards him? Then he visited me this festival; thanks be to God, he had heeded a crucial lesson and understood that serious mistake of his; he had confessed to his error at the very time I was angry with him here. God willing, it was atonement for him and he was saved, completely purified.

Fifthly: For the past four or five months, a person has evidently been sending me a newspaper here. I have only just learned that it was being sent to me. My friends here know my habits, and they were scared and did not tell me, since apart from the Risale-i Nur I accept no book or magazine, let alone newspapers, and anyway I don't know a single letter of the new alphabet. Now, someone showed me a journalist's letter, who is friendly and from the same region, which contained a one-page interview with me. They told me that he had been sending a paper to me, but they were frightened to show it to me. So I told them: "Send that friend many greetings from me. The Old Said, who he knew, has changed and cut all ties with this world. He is also ill and cannot write a personal letter to that brother, so he should not be offended."

I send greetings to all the friends there, especially brothers like Hâfız Emin and Hâfız Fahreddin, and I again congratulate them on the festival.

For the past three years, our brother Ahmed Feyzi, who is the Risale-i Nur's lawyer and the Hasan Feyzi of Aydın and a Husrev of that region has affirmed the hundreds of allusions to the Risale-i Nur made by The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen, and most powerfully and definitely proved - in agreement with the meaning of certain Hadiths and verses from the Qur'an and with the science of divination (cifir; jafr) - the Risale-i Nur's collective personality. He ascribes to the Risale-i Nur's Interpreter, a number of allusions made by Hadiths to the Nur students' collective personality, which is a representative of the Risale-i Nur's collective personality. The fact is, though, he is a sort of representative of that collective personality only in regard to the Risale-i Nur's composition. It is neither my right nor my due that I should be the object (lit. means, pivot - medâr) of that sacred allusion. In any event, I have not studied it very closely. If my time and indisposition permit me to do so and to modify the minute investigations over three-and-a-half years of that extraordinarily intelligent brother, I shall send them to you to write out and add as an addendum to The Mysteries Collection (Tılsımlar Mecmuası) or to The Flashes Collection, as a proof of the Risale-i Nur's authenticity. Send in my name a copy of The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen to our brother, Ahmed Feyzi, the Risale-i Nur's lawyer, in return for his gifts of figs so that they will not upset me. For recently, numerous experiences have made it understood that unreciprocated presents make me ill.

In return for the sincere letters they have written me, I offer many prayers for that brother's blessed wife and respected mother and their children called Said and Nuri. With all my life and spirit I accept within the fold of the Nur innocents, the innocent children and respected, pious wife of such a heroic Nurju whom he has entrusted to the Risale-i Nur to serve it as devotees. And I send greetings to Mehmed Emin, Ali Akdağ, and Ahmed Feyzi, and to all our brothers, and we pray for them.

In His Name, be He glorified!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Having sold some unnecessary foodstuffs and clothes, I am sending you as the price of The Flashes Collection a truly blessed hundred liras together with ten blessed liras, which is what remains of my salary from the Darü'l-Hikmet - with which I was going to go on the Hajj, and is left from what I have spent on food this last twenty-two years.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Endless thanks be to Almighty God, a sign of the Risale-i Nur's acceptance by Mecca and Medina is this: the Denizli hero Hâfız Mustafa obtained from Istanbul the Zülfikar, Staff of Moses, and Shining Lamp that were going to be sent to the Indian ulema, and on the road, read them to some people travelling to the Hajj. Then in Medina, they together handed them over to a very famous Kashmiri scholar and to someone who knew Turkish well. The two young Nurju hajis who had accompanied Hâfız Mustafa and read the Risale-i Nur on the journey, and some other hajis, brought me this good news, and that the person to whom they had given those collections thought very highly of them and undertook to send them to the centre of the Indian ulema, and also that the collections designated for Medina had arrived in good condition, as had those sent to other places; they brought the good news of the Risale-i Nur's spread and acceptance abroad. Only, of the three collections sent to al-Azhar University, Zülfikar remained here; we were unable to send it; only two of them went. The wisdom in this is that Zülfikar is an extensive, scholarly lesson. It would not have been appropriate to send it as instruction to al-Azhar University, which is the supreme medrese of the Islamic world. Also, there is a cholera epidemic there at the moment, so Zülfikar would not have received the attention it deserves.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: May God bless and bestow endless happiness on our brother Hâfız Mustafa, a leading Nur champion, who took the main Risale-i Nur collections to Mecca and gave them to the eminent Indian scholar Ahmad 'Ali Shimshiri, who assured him that they would be translated into Urdu (lit. Hintçe) and be sent to India. The Medresetü'z-Zehrâ should write a letter to that lofty scholar. His address is: Ahmad 'Ali Shimshiri, Bab al-Salam, Mecca.

Secondly: We learnt that the incident this time was due to their unfounded suspicions and making mountains out of molehills. A sign of it was this: on orders from the Minister of the Interior, the governor of Afyon and chief of police came here at night, intending to raid my house, but because the public prosecutor did not agree, they had to wait till morning. They then appointed two men who were most hostile to us and who without ado smashed the lock and entered. The same day when I went out in

the phaeton, {(*):} in a way that was quite unprecedented, five aeroplanes flew over us very low because they knew it was my phaeton, and twice returned. Then the next day, we went in a different direction, and while passing along a fairly concealed valley in the phaeton, we saw five planes flying very low as though they were searching for something. We understood that they were looking for us, Just like the previous day, those five planes flew over us and over the town, and when I returned to my room, they disappeared. This was a powerful sign that they had made a hundred mountains out of one molehill. You may convey my thanks and gratitude to the authorities and judiciary in Isparta, for here, I am subjected to this meaningless harassment due to groundless suspicions. The heroes of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ there have been subjected in three years to only a tenth of it, so I forgive the Isparta authorities their persecution.

Thirdly: Concerning the present calamity, I considered as usual the justice of divine determining and outpouring of divine providence, and I saw that compared with other provinces, Kütahya had lagged behind in regard to the Risale-i Nur despite being close to its circle, so to awaken its interest and that of its judiciary and administration in the Risale-i Nur like those of Denizli and Kastamonu ... Yes, however much his ideas and duties are against us, he was sent to that province so that he might profit from the Risale-i Nur in respect of belief and win reward for the Nurjus. Divine determining also dealt me a compassionate slap because I told myself: the Interior Minister comes from Erzurum and my home region and the governor of Afyon (from Antalya) and uptil now they have not bothered me; I'm free now and I've found a fair-minded governor; I'm not going to leave Emirdağ; but in punishment for the sort of joy I felt and my lack of caution, divine determining dealt me a blow at the hands of those two men, and acted justly.

The governor of Afyon, the chief of police, and the committee here wrote to Ankara concerning our case: "There's no question of founding a Sufi order or political society, but there are two hundred thousand Nurju brothers who are ready to sacrifice themselves for anything Said Nursi says." They caused serious consternation to the government in another way. But there may possibly be an advantage for the Risale-i Nur and the Nurjus in that memo of theirs, as well as some harm for my person. One aspect of the advantage is this: the conditions are indeed harsh, but there is

a truth as unassailable as steel for which two hundred thousand Turks are eager customers, and to which they are ready to devote themselves and their spirits. It strengthens the belief of anyone whose belief is weak on this point. The politicians and those who have lost their belief are frightened to provoke it and will no longer swiftly attack it. As for the harm towards my person, Almighty God is the Preserver. They may try to damage my prestige with slanders that would not occur to Satan even, in order to denigrate me, induce my brothers to flee from me, and rupture our brotherhood.

Yûsuf Ziya, who was a member of the experts' committee and is a consultant at the Directorate of Religious Affairs, and the other hojas, have asked for a complete set of the Risale-i Nur from us. As a respectful request, they sent with Hasan Çalışkan, whom we had sent there, such pieces as the Thirtieth Word (Second Station), about the transformation of minute particles, the discussion about particles at the beginning of the First Stopping-Place of the Thirty-Second Word, the piece about the air (Hüve Nüktesi) and the parts about particles in the Treatise on Nature. It is as though they want to understand the meaning of the verse, «And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise» (Q 17:44), and it may be understand through those pieces. Those pieces also silence the materialists, who have now started to corrupt ideas freely.

Legally, they should have taken my statement but they neglected to do so, so I am now presenting my statement to the collective personality of the judiciary and for the information of the Interior Minister.

By reason of your job and duty, you are obliged and compelled to heed a person who has caused no harm to this country and nation this last forty years; indeed, has been most beneficial for them. In short, during the Thirty-First of March Incident, with one speech this person induced eight mutinying regiments to obey their officers and he saved many of those officers; and with his pamphlet The Six Steps in the midst of the national movement he turned the ulema, Şeyhülislam, and Istanbul away from supporting the foreign occupation forces; and performed courageous services during the First World War that were praised and applauded by the late Enver Pasha; and whom three awesome commanders did not dare to touch, although they were angry with him; and before the truth which he had followed, three courts of law were confounded and did not have the courage

to condemn him, although he could have been legally charged due to the calumnies of covert atheists; and whose treatises have been praised and commended by scholars of religion and science, and who speaks on account of those treatises.

I begin. Truth and right are with us! May Almighty God not compel us to seek our rights by force or in any other way. Amen!

These twenty years, hundreds of experiences have shown that divine providence has protected us and saved us from ghastly oppression; we should therefore feel quite certain that it will save us from this new, completely illegal and cruel injustice. We nourish powerful hopes from divine mercy that even if we suffer some minor difficulties, troubles, and harms, we shall receive divine mercy and grace and rewards far greater than the troubles, which will be transformed into another form of the sacred service of saving the wretched believers' belief.

I declare that the incident in question was illegal in ten ways:

The First: For two years the Risale-i Nur was in the possession of the judiciary, and was scrutinized and investigated by three courts and three committees of experts, and was passed around seven government offices in Ankara; and all the treatises of the Risale-i Nur were unanimously and without objection acquitted together with Said and his seventy-five friends, with not even a single day's penalty being given; so anyone the tiniest bit fair-minded would know just how contrary to the law it is to again seize them as though they were dangerous documents.

The Second: Accusing him of involvement in politics, detectives smashed the lock on the door of a man who, after his acquittal has lived for three and a half years as a recluse and stranger in Emirdağ, with his door locked on both the outside and the inside, who has received only one person in a hundred to perform his necessary tasks, and has even given up composing works, which he had previously done for twenty years, but they could find nothing except a poster with some words about belief. Surely anyone with even a grain of intelligence would understand how contrary to the law this torment was.

The Third: To raid a man's house as though he were a monstrous politician or political conspirator, although as testified to by seventy witnesses in court he has neither known about the World War, nor asked about it or been curious about it - and now the same situation has continued for ten years, and for twenty years has neither read a newspaper nor listened to one being read, and for thirty years, exclaiming "I seek refuge with God from Satan and politics," has fled from politics with all his might, and despite suffering torturous distress has not applied once to the government

for his own comfort so as not to attract attention to himself or interfere in politics; with which law does it accord to raid his retreat and cause unimaginable distress to his spirit while he lies ill? Anyone with an atom's conscience would pity him.

The Fourth: Although a number of judicial authorities were prompted against him due to groundless fears concerning the founding of a Sufi order and political society, and due to the personal grudges of a great leader, he was acquitted of the charges after six months of investigations by Eskişehir Court and of charges connected with the Risale-i Nur. Only, on the pretext of a short part of the Risale-i Nur about the veiling of women, the court imposed a sentence of six months on five or ten students out of a hundred, not as dictated by the law, but at its discretion. They had already been under arrest for four months by the time the investigation commenced; that is, they had been held in prison for one-and-a-half months; then ten years later Denizli Court scrutinized all the letters and writings of twenty years, and they remained in prison during the investigations conducted by Ankara and Denizli. Then the courts passed down a unanimous decision for their acquittal regarding the Sufi order and political society {(*):} and the other pretexts, and they acquitted Said and his friends and returned that book and all the letters to their owners. So to now look on them as a political society and accuse him of being a political intriguer, and to incite the officers of the law against them as though they were members of a political society and Sufi order, is totally opposed to the law, as anyone who has not lost his humanity would know.

The Fifth: It is like this: owing to the compassion which is the basis of the Risale-i Nur's way and has been a guiding principle of my life for thirty years, so that no harm should come to any innocent, I do not vex the criminals who persecute me, let alone curse them. I feel anger at the depraved sinners who oppress me with terrible hatred, indeed, irreligious tyrants, yet that compassion prevents me from responding physically, or even with curses. For those cruel evildoers have wretched elderly parents or innocent children; lest they suffer any blows, I refrain from annoying

them for the sake of those innocents, and sometimes I even forgive them. It is owing to this compassion that just as we have done nothing to infringe public order and security, so too, I have advised all our friends to such an extent that some fair-minded police in three provinces have admitted that the Nur students are moral police and preserve public order and security. This fact has been corroborated by the students' lives over twenty years by thousands of witnesses, and by no incident at all being recorded by the police despite there being thousands of students. So which law would permit the house of that person to be raided as though he were a lawless revolutionary, and for unscrupulous men to insult him, and although they were unable to find anything incriminating, to seize his Qur'an and the posters on his wall as though they were dangerous papers and he was a multiple lawbreaker?

The Sixth: Thirty years ago, that person realized through the grace of God and the effusions of the Qur'an just how harmful, just how profitless, just how meaningless are fleeting honour and renown in this world, and egotistical self-advertisement and love of fame. From that time he has struggled with all his strength with his evil-commanding soul and has striven as far as he possibly can to abnegate himself and renounce egotism and to act without artificiality and hypocrisy. Although his companions and those who serve him know this; and although contrarily to everyone else, for the past twenty years he has fled with all his strength from the excessively good opinions of people and their regard and praise for his person, which everyone wants for themselves, and from looking on himself as a holder of high spiritual rank; and although he has rejected the favourable opinions of his select brothers and offended them, and in his replies to their letters has rebuffed their praises for him and broken their excessively high opinions, and has shown himself to be bereft of virtue, and has ascribed all virtue to the Risale-i Nur, which is a commentary on the Qur'an, and thus indirectly to the collective personality of the Nur students, and that he considers himself to be a common servant; and although this proves decisively that he has not tried to make himself liked, and has not wanted this, and has rejected it; and although without his consent, some of his friends a long way off evinced an excessively favourable opinion of him and applauded him and accorded him a high rank; according to which law could he be indicted due to some things a preacher in the region of Kütahya said and due to a letter bearing my forged signature, although I have never sent a letter to Kütahya, and due to an inflamatory book being found in Balıkesir whose author is unknown? Is there any law in the world, any policy, that would permit the smashing of the lock on the door of a wretched, ill, very

elderly recluse who is a stranger as though he had committed some crime, and for detectives to search it but then could find nothing but a book of invocations and some posters?

The Seventh: What law would permit such an assault on a person who, at this time when there are so many lively internal and external political currents in this country and the time is ripe to profit from them; - that is, to win to his side many high-ranking politicians instead of his few friends, he wrote and warned his friends not to get carried away on any of the political currents or enter politics or disturb public order, solely not to interfere in politics or harm sincerity or attract the government's attention to himself or to busy himself with this world; and although the two main currents caused him trouble and difficulties due to his avoidance of them, the former one out of their groundless fears, the new one because he does not assist it, he does not meddle in the world of the worldly at all but is busy with his life in the next world, and in twenty-two years has not written a single letter to his own brother in his home region and the village of Nurs, and in twenty years has not written ten letters to his friends in those provinces. So which law would permit such harassment of so wretched a man and his preoccupation with the hereafter? Although the law allowing freedom of speech and ideas does not intervene in the dissemination of the books of the irreligious and the communists' publications, which are most damaging to this country, nation, and morality, would any law, any conscience, any fair-mindedness permit the seizure as though they were dangerous documents of such parts of the Risale-i Nur as Zülfikar and The Staff of Moses, which contain nothing indictable as has been proven by three courts, and for twenty years has been striving to hold together society for this nation and country and to maintain its morality and security, and to restore the Islamic world's brotherhood and friendship for this nation, which is its true source of support, and to strengthen it effectively, and the value of which was recognized by the scholars of the Directorate of Religious Affairs on their scrutinizing them for three months on the orders of the Interior Minister, although their intention had been to find fault with it; what law and conscience would permit their being handed over to the courts?

The Eighth: This person has not departed for his native region where he has thousands of relations and friends, although he has been given his complete freedom after twenty years of distressing exile without cause; he has preferred to remain alone and in exile so that he should have no contact with this world, and the life of society, and politics; he has eschewed the rewards of performing the prayers in congregation in the mosque, and preferred

to perform them alone in his room, that is, his state of mind causes him to shrink from the people's esteem; and as testified to by his life of twenty years and affirmed by hundreds of thousands of valuable Turkish people, prefers one religious and pious Turk to numerous negligent Kurds; in fact, has proved in court that he would not change his sincere Turkish brothers whose belief is as powerful as that of Hâfız Ali for hundreds of Kurds; and if not obliged to, does not meet with people or go to the mosque so as not to be acclaimed and be treated with reverence; and for forty years has striven with all his strength and his works for the brother- hood of Islam and to strengthen love between Muslims; and who does not act negatively towards fierce enemies and does not even busy himself with them or curse them; and who loves the Turkish nation since it is the Qur'an's standard-bearer and has been praised by the Qur'an, and has passed his life among them. Which law would permit such a person to be insulted in officialese saying: "He's a Kurd, you're Turks; he's a Shafi'i, you're Hanafis!" just for propaganda and to scare his friends and to make the people avoid him; and permit a brimmed hat to be forced on the head of that recluse, although in twenty-two years and two courts he has not been compelled to change his dress, and the peaked cap for soldiers even has been partially modified?

The Ninth: This is very important {(*):} and very powerful, but I am remaining silent since it touches on politics.

The Tenth: This was an assault that would be permitted by no law and in which there were no benefits; it was covered by no law and resulted from making mountains out of a molehill due to unfounded suspicions. So keeping silent so as not to look to politics as is demanded by our way, we merely say in the face of such treatment that was illegal in ten respects: «God suffices us, and He is the best Disposer of Affairs!» (Q 3: 173)

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Endless thanks be to Almighty God that this last attack, and very extensive and suspicious assault, has lessened considerably. The day before yesterday, they took my statement in court for four hours. I replied exactly as I had explained in the statement I sent you before. May God be pleased with the Isparta judiciary, for the notification in our favour that they sent here helped us immensely, We would otherwise have had considerable difficulties due to the baseless suspicions of Afyon and some officials here helping our covert enemies.

They sent our Qur'an, which they had confiscated, to the Head of the Directorate of Religious Affairs. So we wrote a letter to the Head together with the two portions of the Qur'an we had sent to Istanbul and some of the portions from the beginning. We said in the letter that we were trying to have it printed photographically and were hoping that he would approve of this and assist us.

Among the futile questions they asked me this time in court was about what I lived on. I told them that I lived on the plenty resulting from living frugally, and that one Ramadan while in Isparta I had lived on one loaf of bread, a one-kilo-bag of yoghurt, and a kilo of rice. A person who lives thus would not condescend to worldly preoccupations for his livelihood, nor be obliged to accept gifts.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: I congratulate you with all my life and spirit on your success, and steadfastness, and for the wonder of the alifs in the Twenty-Ninth Word being preserved when written on the waxed paper, and on your never slacking in your work.

Secondly: The fact that the fire at the Ministry of Education, which caused two million liras' worth of damage, occurred at virtually the same time (ten hours later) as the unprecedented anguish I felt on giving my statement for four hours, showed that the Risale-i Nur is a means of calamities being repulsed, and if it is attacked, the calamities find a way and descend.

Thirdly: The piece written about the fire to show an instance of the Risale-i Nur's wonder-working, had been waiting for a week to be sent to you. They watch the post offices very closely due to their unfounded suspicions, so we did not send it by post. You are curious as to what your position

is vis-à-vis the court. Our brother Burhan writes that he has suffered a small setback, what was it? I was curious. May Almighty God repulse it. I was very pleased to receive the letters of Re'fet Bey and Abdullah Çavuş. I send them greetings in particular. Greetings to all.

The chief reason those malicious people attack and oppress me is their friendship and partiality for Mustafa Kemal. So I say to them, thirty years ago I said about a man who is now dead and gone and whose connections with the government are severed, that according to a Hadith, someone would emerge who would cause harm to the Qur'an, and subsequently time showed that man to be Mustafa Kemal.

Also, because I did not wrongfully ascribe to M. Kemal the honour and victory of a valiant army which with its heroism and love of truth had for five hundred years challenged the world, his malicious friends have been tormenting me for the last twenty years on false pretexts.

Yes, as I proved in court, in accordance with a veracious rule, honour, glory, distinction, and material and moral booty are given to the army and community, and distributed; errors and faulty strategies are ascribed to the commander and chiefs, hence the victories and glory of a heroic army and its soldiers and the valiant officers at their head should not be ascribed to Mustafa Kemal, rather, the errors and faults should be ascribed to him. So I consider those who accuse me of not loving him, and of not loving the heroic army and of slighting their honour, to be traitors to this nation. I have proved this in court and I am ready to prove it to his obdurate friends. I love the millions of members of this blessed nation's courageous army and its officers, and I do whatever I can to protect their reputation and honour. My malicious enemies who oppose me in effect betray those millions of soldiers out of their love for that one man, and are hostile to them, even.

Yes, numerous signs led me to understand that what incites those who attack me are my objections to Mustafa Kemal and my not being friendly towards him. The other reasons are mere pretexts. I have therefore been obliged to say to those enemies of mine: he summoned me to Ankara to act

graciously towards me and appoint me as general preacher to all the eastern provinces. So I went there, and the following three matters made me turn down his friendship. But for twenty years I have suffered torments in isolation, and have not interefered in their world.

The First Matter was his showing through his actions that he was the man that a Hadith had predicted would try to harm Islamic traditions at the end of time. I had expounded the Hadith thirty-six years previously and the man turned out to be the person it was referring it. There is an explanation of this in the third part of my court defences.

Second Matter: It is a correct rule that the existence, construction, and life of something is possible through the existence of all the conditions and elements that pertain to it, but its non-existence, destruction, and death occur on the spoiling of a single condition. That destruction is far easier than construction is a proverb on everyone's lips. In consequence of this certain rule, since the serious mistakes and destruction that are there for all to see resulted from that commander's errors, and the great honours and victories resulted from the army's heroism, it is an awesome injustice to ascribe the good of the community to the man at the top and his evil to the community, when it should have been exactly the reverse.

Third Matter: To ascribe the community's good acts and army's victory to the man at the top and his error to the community, means reducing thousands of instances of good to a single good and increasing a single error to thousands. For if a regiment kills a terrible enemy, each of its soldiers receives the rank of ghazi, a champion war veteran, but if it is ascribed only to the colonel, the honour is reduced a thousandfold to there being a single ghazi. And if due to his own error the colonel becomes a bloody murderer but the murder is ascribed not to him but to the regiment, a single crime multiplies a thousand times and a thousand soldiers become answerable and subject to punishment.

Similarly, if the open, serious errors are not ascribed to the deceased man who committed them, by attributing them to an army which for five hundred, indeed a thousand, years has demonstrated its fighting spirit and love of truth to the world and put its signature with its swords and blood to its being the standard-bearer of the noble Qur'an, those errors increase thousands of times over, to the number of its officers; it tarnishes terribly the army's shining past and shames this century's army before those armies of the past, and makes it culpable. And if the present glories and victories are given to a single man, they diminish thousands of times over, and the fighting spirit and virtues to the number of officers and men are reduced to one and are extinguished. Such faults could never be atoned for.

It is for these reasons that I forwent his friendship, and in his place, I received the friendship of the army of which, at a crucial time, I was a member and had effectively served, and I strove with the Risale-i Nur to preserve its honour and glory, which was thousands of times more important.

For twenty years, no police in any province have bothered with my dress. Only, twenty-five years ago, Nevzad Bey, the governor of Ankara, attempted to intervene forcibly, but he was unsuccessful and he also received a blow by committing suicide.

Also, in reply to the orders given by a high-ranking official under the Afyon governor to forcibly intervene in my dress, a low-ranking official in Emirdağ said that they could do nothing contrary to the law and demonstrated his love of legality.

Also, because the district official (kaymakam) here was not prone to suspicions and did not mistreat me, they tried to have him moved elsewhere.

Also, due to my indisposition which makes me unsociable and some other physical illnesses, which were preventing me from going to the mosque and the Friday prayers, I acted in accordance with the doctors' law and obtained a weekly report, so as not to be sent to give a statement. But in spite of this, I was subject to some arbitrary laws whereby they sent two doctors from Afyon to nullify the previous report, and even sent the previous doctor to court.

The Addendum to the Statement Made While Being Interrogated in Emirdağ and Presented for Its Information to the Judiciary's Collective Personality and to the Interior Minister

I had not read any newspaper for twenty years, nor listened to one, then the day before yesterday a person who assists me read me part of a paper. When I heard that both the Ministry of Education in Ankara (with two million liras worth of damage), and a garage again in Ankara, and at the same time a large factory in İzmir, and a large building in Ada had all been completely burnt down, I was extremely sorry and pitied this penurious nation. At that very same time, feeling a distress I had never felt before in my life, though elderly and ill and unlike in any court, I was interrogated continuously for four and a half hours. If the judiciary here had not been humane and kind to a degree, I would never have been able to endure it, and I decided to say something harsh in this cold and being sick so as to be sent to prison. In fact, we decided that one of my helpers should put someone to bed in my room and beat someone up so as to join me in prison to assist me. But the humanity shown by the judiciary here and divine providence gave me patience, and I endured it.

I was curious about this extraordinary situation and true reason for their suspicions. A Guide for Youth being printed and published officially had illuminated many secular schools; valuable youths in Ankara University and Istanbul University had learnt the Risale-i Nur's principles and understood that they were a means of securing the happiness of this country and nation; and many teachers were enthusiastically showing interest in the Risale-i Nur out of national and patriotic zeal and for scholarly concerns, and all this had attracted the attention of the Ministry of Education and they wanted to inhibit the Risale-i Nur somehow since they dislike it,

Even, here, informers said: "The young people are being lost to us; school children are being turned towards religion through the printed Guide for Youth." Whereupon, both myself and most of the Risale-i Nur students in a number of provinces were subject to harassment, Although I ought to have expected the assistance of the hojas (teachers of religion) since I was educated in the medrese, I wanted to rely with all my strength on the Ministry of Education and the secular school teachers, andino depend on them. For it is mostly people from the secular schools who enter the Risale-i Nur's fold and there are only a few hojas. The latter mostly hold back, while since the secular school pupils and teachers appreciate the Risale-i Nur and take it up, I used to hope fervently that the Ministry of

Education would protect the Nur students. But while awaiting their help, the passage at the end of the printed Guide for Youth which says: "Now there is government permission, Nur students should open Nur study centres as far as they can," led to this new assault, and with it our covert enemies tried to turn the Education Ministry against us.

Uptil the present those enemies of ours have many times wanted to wreck us with their strategems and the judiciary, but they have been unsuccessful and their plans have misfired. Then they tried to incite the bigoted, egotistical hojas in high positions against us, and again they failed, Now, by using the Education Ministry against us, on whose assistance I had most relied, they are trying to get certain officials in this government to accuse the unfortunate, innocent Nur students of belonging to Sufi orders and political societies, concerning which we have been acquitted by three courts, and to deprive them and myself of studying the Risale-i Nur. The Education Ministry's catching fire at exactly the same time as my pitiful interrogation for four and a half hours, and there being no means of extinguishing the fire and its being completely burnt down does not resemble a coincidence; it seems to be more a mark of anger.

At the end of my statement and at the same time, I said: "Don't prevent me in my loneliness and exile from studying my books; it'll be a shame both for me, and for this country. {(*):} Perhaps the earth will again shake with an earthquake and anger." Three minutes later an earthquake occurred that lasted three seconds. Then at the same time I repeated that passage in court, the earth attacked the Education Ministry with fire, and as has been proved four times in court, numerous times, whether night or day, earthquakes have happened simultaneously with assaults on the Risale-i Nur and its students, which surely could be no coincidence. This means that since the Risale-i Nur is a weighty foundation stone of this country and nation's order and security, with such occurrences and blows, its truths turn the nation's attention to itself, which is a true, veracious, and powerful commentary on the Qur'an, and urging the nation towards itself, it deals compassionate slaps at its opponents.

It is now established that just as almsgiving repulses calamities, so the Risale-i Nur is a means of repulsing disasters. The calamity of the fire occurring just when the Risale-i Nur was being attacked proves that the Risale-i Nur is a means of repulsing disasters.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

In Eğirdir, the man who seized The Staff of Moses and gave it to the court, himself received a prison sentence of two years, and the judge who angrily gave Husrev a two-month sentence was himself compelled to resign and his wife left him, receiving a sort of slap. And the slaps here described in the note sent attached to the letter to you show with certainty that we are under protection and providence, and that those who harm us will receive severe blows in the hereafter, just as some of them are swiftly smitten here.

Also, at exactly the same time as their assaults on us, the winter became very angry; the severe cold and storms showed that the atmosphere had unleashed its fury. Then, when their assaults ceased and the Nurjus became easy, the icy cold days began to smile like the days of springtime. We are of the opinion that their continuing smiles give good news and consolation.

As was written in that note, the fact that the official police who were trying to destroy public regard for us with ridiculous slanders that no devil even could deceive anyone with, received blows at the same time, shows that our attackers are helpless to find anything but lies and calumnies and that nothing else is left to them. So we must be extremely careful and cautious, and not attach any importance to such rumours.

The first volume of the Emirdağ Letters covers the period of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi's first stay in Emirdağ from August 1944 to January 1948, when he was sent to Afyon Prison. The letters and defence speeches he wrote during his incarceration in Afyon Prison from January 1948 to September 1949 are included in the Fourteenth Ray and in his official biography. This, the second volume of the Emirdağ Letters, contains letters written following his release till his death in 1960, during which period he resided mostly in Emirdağ and Isparta.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

In addition to congratulating you on the festival, I am now explaining to you, as I said I would, that in consequence of a sort of admonishment I have accepted each of you according to his degree as a Said, an heir, and a guard and defender of the Risale-i Nur. Since, owing to your excessively good opinion of me, you look on me as a master in the sciences of belief and in serving the Qur'an, I for my part award you diplomas, like the masters of former times awarded certificates for the religious sciences to those of their students who deserved them. And I congratulate you wholeheartedly and with all my life and spirit. God willing, as you have loyally and sincerely published the Risale-i Nur uptil now, so you will continue even more brilliantly, and become thousands of capable and strong Saids, devoted to their duty, in place of this powerless, weak, retired Said.

In His Name, be He glorified!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

One of you should go to the Directorate of Religious Affairs in my place; offer my greetings and respects to Ahmed Hamdi Efendi {[*]:} and tell him:

Two years ago, your esteemed self requested a set of the Risale-i Nur Collection. I would have had it prepared but they suddenly sent me to prison, due to which I was unable to correct and send it. At present I am busy with the corrections. However, I cannot complete them quickly since I am wretchedly ill from poison. God willing, it will be presented to you on completion. In accordance with the rule, "Gifts are not given if none are received," this highly valuable commentary on the Qur'an's meanings is a sacred fee for your esteemed self endeavouring as far as is possible for the unimpeded publication of the Risale-i Nur, and to have our Qur'an printed, three parts of which we showed you previously.

I can tell you with certainty that at no time in history have the science of

reality and truths of belief been subject to such malicious and cruel aggression. Your Directorate and centre of learning make it encumbent on you that before all else you perform this religious and scholarly duty. This last time I was poisoned, I thought I was going to die but thinking that Ahmed Hamdi would take on the Risale-i Nur in my place I felt easy in my heart and comforted. We sent some parts of our court defences to your previous office, and now I am sending a complete, well-written, and absolutely correct copy, so that, on your indication, it may be shown to the people who will work for the Risale-i Nur's freedom.

In His Name, be He glorified!

May God's peace be upon you and His mercy and blessings!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers, the Nur Students of Safranbolu and the Environs of Eflâni!

May God grant you endless blessings for your gift of the parts of the Risale-i Nur that you sent! And may He grant you happiness in this world and the next. Amen!

Each of the blessed Nur students have written out beautifully a number of treatises and recently sent them to me as gifts, and strangely, they arrived together with some sweets while I was severely sick and distressed. Although for a long time past it has been my custom not to accept unreciprocated gifts, the reason I have accepted these ones perfectly happily and gratefully, are three meaningful and strange events.

The First: I was attempting to send both the eleven collections which had been duplicated on the machine and I had myself bought with some money, and the complete set of the Risale-i Nur which had been written by three invaluable, diamond-penned Nur students. A set had been requested five or six times by the Directorate of Religious Affairs, so I had prepared this one, which was also to be a gift to motivate the somewhat neglected muftis and hojas, and I wanted Husrev to come here to perform this most important task. But I was in a difficult position and very anxious. Then suddenly, at that very time, Sungur, the heroic young Husrev, arrived. He both saved me from my anxiety and alarm, and from the expense; and since the task had the importance of two year's service together with me, it made me feel quite certain that it was an instance of the wondrous success won in publishing the Risale-i Nur.

Second Event: At just the time I sent my own copies to the Directorate of Religious Affairs, the same amount, no more and no less, arrived, sent by the young Nur champions of Safranbolu, Eflâni and thereabouts. Their blessed gifts as though said to me through the tongue of disposition: "Don't worry! We're replacing the losses; we're taking their place!" So I accepted them wholeheartedly and congratulated the senders; and their other gifts have not upset me at all yet.

Third Event: Ten minutes before the blessed presents arrived at my room, I saw a bird resembling a sparrow under the foot of my bed, The windows and door were all closed and there was no chink it could have entered by. It did not fly away from me. I gave it a bit of bread, but it did not eat it. I told myself that it must be bringing some good news, like the birds here three or four years ago. Then in truth, both that light-scattering gift arrived, and a fine letter from my mufti brother, Abdülmecid, about whom I had had no news for three years. Halil, who assists me, came and I said to him: "Look at this bird! Just like the ones before, it's a bringer of good news!" Later, we opened the window to let it go, but it remained. He opened it five or six times at the top, but it did not fly away. Later on Sungur came and we showed it to him, so he saw it too. Half an hour later, it disappeared, which was as strange as its appearance. Halil and myself, we both looked for it. It had not flown through the window; we could not find it; it had disappeared. In fact, a certain event demonstrating the importance of the gift's arrival and Sungur's coming to our assistance in place of Husrev, was that two days before Sungur arrived, that is, the day he set out, Halil had a dream in which Sungur and Mustafa Osman had come here and some sort of splendid ceremony had been held. He asked me to interpret it. I was curious too and asked him why he had asked me to interpret it, and wondered if something had happened to them. I worried about it all night long till morning. Then the dream turned out to be true with only a little interpretation.

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise (Q 17:44).

Our Most Esteemed, Most Blessed, Most Kind, and Most Beloved Master!

We presented your valuable, acceptable letter to the Head of the Directorate of Religious Affairs, Ahmed Hamdi Efendi. He was overjoyed to place the blessed collections of the Risale-i Nur in his personal bookcase. He said: "God willing, I shall give these to my closest brothers to read and in this way we shall try to have them published gradually."

My beloved Master! He said he would carry out the orders expressed in your blessed letter, but that they could not be published at once. He said that he would get his close brothers to read them and that they would publish them in the future in accordance with the interest they aroused, and that, God willing, they would try to publish them in their entirety and in superior fashion.

This following point should be written after the question and answer on the first page of the Second Station of the Twenty-Ninth Letter:

The reason this treatise was written was as a sort of response to a terrible conspiracy to have the Qur'an's translation read in the mosques instead of the Qur'an itself. Too many details and unnecessary discussions were included, but perceiving a valuable key to hidden matters in that striving and fervent reply, unnecessary details, and weak and extremely subtle signs were also included.

It occurred to my heart that the Twenty-Ninth Letter's most important, necessary, brilliant, and miraculous First Station would forgive all the faults and excesses of this Second Station. So I happily offered thanks and forgot those faults.

In His Name, be He glorified!

Peace be upon you, and God's mercy and blessings!

Esteemed Ahmed Hamdi Efendi!

I am describing to you a spiritual experience I had: Many years ago, because yourself and the hojas in your profession favoured dispensations and gave up firm adherence to the Shari'a, your ideas were not congruent with my ideas. I used to be angry with them and with you, so did not send you the Risale-i Nur directly. But three or four years ago, I felt a critical, nagging sorrow in my heart, and the following was imparted to me:

"In accordance with the principle, 'the lesser of two evils,' some of your old medrese friends like Ahmed Hamdi performed their scholarly duties as far as they could to preserve sacred matters, so their reducing the danger fourfold will be atonement for the deficiencies and errors they were obliged to make." I received a severe admonishment. Ever since then, I began to look on you and those like you as my old medrese brothers and fellow-students. Because of this, when I reckoned this severe illness resulting from poison would lead to my death, I had the idea that you would a true protector and defender of the Risale-i Nur in my place, and three years ago I intended to send you a complete and perfect set. Now, although ill, I have partially corrected for you a set written out ten or fifteen years ago by three leading Nur students. It is not perfect or complete, but has almost all the parts. Those three students' pens are as valuable as ten sets. The price for the set is three things:

The First is to duplicate twenty or thirty sets, if possible in the old letters, and if not, in the new letters, on condition that one of my close friends is present to help with the corrections, They then should be given to the branches of the Directorate of Religious Affairs throughout the country, for it is the Directorate's duty to publish such works in the face of the influx of irreligious currents from abroad.

The Second: Seeing that the Risale-i Nur is a product of the medrese, and you are both the pillars, and the heads, and the students of the medreses, the Risale-i Nur is truly yours. For now, you may leave out any treatise you deem inappropriate.

The Third: Our Qur'an which shows the coincidences (tevâfuklu) should be printed photographically if possible so that the flashes of miraculousness in the coincidences may be clearly visible. The Turkish definition at the beginning should not be included, but printed separately as a pamphlet, either in Turkish, or translated into good Arabic.

In His Name, be He glorified!

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings, for ever and ever!

Our Most Worthy, Devoted, Nur Hero and Elder Brother, Husrev!

It is now five times that the Head of the Directorate has insistently requested a set of the Risale-i Nur. Our Master, though ill, is correcting it and is about to finish, and he requests of the Director three things as its non-material price. The first is to print photographically the miraculous Qur'an you wrote. He accepted this, but said it would better if the Turkish definition at the beginning is printed separately. For your information, we are sending attached the letter our Master wrote the Director. Our Master said that he is leaving it to you to discuss among yourselves the sending to the Director of both one set of the Risale-i Nur and the collections printed on the duplicating machine, and these books being handed over to himself by one of the brothers like yourself, Husrev, who is most closely concerned with this work. If, having consulted about it, you are in good enough health to go to Ankara to deal with this matter, and you are in agreement with it, you should go there for a time and let us know your address. We shall send to you in Ankara the set and the collections. Even, if you wish, you can give them to the Directorate on your own account, so that the muftis can publish them.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: I offer my condolences on the death of Hâfız Mustafa to both the students of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ, particularly the auspicious committee, and to the province of Isparta, and I congratulate him on his carrying out his duties to the letter over twenty years without getting wearied or shaken, as a second Hâfız Ali, and I congratulate both Isparta Province, and the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ. Truly, just like Hâfız Ali, this deceased heroic brother of ours fulfilled his duties and went to the World of Light and Intermediate Realm to join his brothers, Hâfız Ali and Hasan Feyzi. May Almighty God write merits in the book of his good works to the number of letters of the Risale-i Nur, and grant mercy on his spirit. Amen!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

It was imparted to my heart that I should explain to you a few matters concerning my person.

Firstly: Sometimes, when I have been angry at and scolded some of my select brothers due to their thoughtlessness when serving my person and I have seen them to be less than kind to me, it has occurred to my heart that due to their excessively high opinion they surmise that "If our Master so wishes, some spirit beings and jinns as well will serve him, and perhaps they do. The clear manifestation of providence in the Risale-i Nur's service shows that no opportunity is given for his wretchedness; he does not need our kindness." And they are faulty in serving me. In fact, today someone was going to bring a car, but due to their thoughtlessness, I set out on foot. I suffered the hardship of ten hours in a single hour. A few days ago I said the following to those of them who act thus inconsiderately and now I am repeating it; you may listen too:

Just as the inner meaning of sincerity strongly restrains me from exploiting the Risale-i Nur and the work of serving belief for worldly ranks and high places for myself in the hereafter; so too, I shrink from exploiting that sacred service for my personal ease and comfort or to pass a pleasant, troublefree life in this world. For since consuming the eternal fruits of the good works of the hereafter on trivial pleasures in this fleeting life is opposed to the inner meaning of sincerity, I tell you certainly that if the servants from among the spirit beings and jinns that the ascetics who abandoned the world sought and accepted were to every day bring me the finest remedies when I was hungry and wounded, for the sake of true sincerity I would know myself compelled not to accept them. Even, if some of the saints in the Intermediate Realm were to assume forms and give me sweets and baklavas out of respect for the service we perform for belief, both my soul and my heart would agree not to kiss their hands and accept them so as not to consume briefly in this world the everlasting fruits of the hereafter. But on condition the evil-commanding soul does not interfere, with all my spirit I accept such merciful bestowals as blessings proceeding from divine providence without our intending them.

Secondly: On the Pasinler Front during the Great War, the late Molla Habib and I were moving forward with the intention of attacking the enemy. Their artillery fired three shells at us at one or two minute intervals. The three shells passed right over our heads two metres high, and although our soldiers were concealed in the ravine behind us and could not be seen, they retreated. By way of a test I said: "What do you say, Molla

Habib, I'm not going to hide myself from the shells of these infidels?" He replied: "I'm not going to fall back either, I'll stay behind you." A further shell fell very close to us. Certain that divine succour would preserve us, I said to Molla Habib: "Forward! These infidels' shells can't kill us. We won't deign to draw back!"

Also, during the siege of Bitlis, on the front lines, I was hit by three Russian bullets which should have killed me. One pierced my shalwars and passed between my legs, My state of mind was such that I did not deign to crouch in the trenches in that perilous situation, The commander, Kel Ali, and the governor, Mehduh Bey, heard of this, and although they said: "He should draw back or enter the trenches!" I declared: "These infidels' shells can't kill us!" and attaching no importance to them, took no precautions at all at that time of youth, and did nothing to protect my life. But now, although I am eighty years old, an extraordinary contradiction is apparent: I am in a state of mind whereby I am extremely careful and guard my life and shun dangers to the extent of having scruples about it. Of course, there is a significant instance of wisdom and purpose in preserving one or two years of old age and pleasureless life to this extent when that young life was sacrificed fearlessly, and there are two or three aims:

The First: With their machinations, our malevolent covert enemies, some unofficial and some official, direct all their assaults at my person instead of at the Nur students and they are preoccupied with me, and without knowing it, imagine all importance to lie in myself. Thus, this elderly, wretched life of mine is a means of saving the Nur students to an extent from their stratagems and attacks. For the sake of my brothers, therefore, I temporarily look on it as having the importance of ten lives of the Old Said. If I were to withdraw, the difficulties inflicted on me would be inflicted on my select brothers, whom I love more than life. Then one difficulty would become a hundred.

The Second: It is true that like perfect Saids, my select brothers are each devoted to the Risale-i Nur, but since after sincerity, our greatest strength lies in solidarity, and due to differences in temperament solidarity has been shaken to an extent as it was in prison; owing to the possibility of significant harm occurring to the Risale-i Nur's service, I feel myself obliged to guard this old, sick, wretched life of mine until The Flashes and The Words Collections are published, and the calamity is repulsed of the hojas being scared away from the Risale-i Nur due to such traits as fear and jealousy, and the solidarity between our brothers has become quite firm. For since undergoing lengthy trials, neither the courts nor my enemies could see my hidden faults, and since owing to divine protection they could not completely

discredit me, they were unable to prevail over the Risale-i Nur. But I felt alarmed that they might discredit some of my heirs, the young Saids, who are inexperienced in matters related to the life of society, and might slander them, causing harm to the Risale-i Nur. I even found it necessary to obtain a second revolver, although I already had one. The poison administered by our enemies was renderered ineffective through our brothers' prayers; so also will their other conspiracies be thwarted, God willing.

In Short: The same night that there was a total two-hour lunar eclipse, two men came here from Ankara, sent by our enemies who had asked us for the Nur collections. Surmising on the second day that we had not sent the thirty-six collections that we had sent, in order to learn the books' whereabouts and to inform the one or two Masons who held high official positions in Afyon, and to search my room and put poison in my food and drink receptacles in my two rooms, which were locked, the two men climbed onto the roof and in extraordinary fashion broke in without dam- aging the windows in either room. The room I was sleeping in was locked, so they could not harm me. Divine protection and providence did not allow them the opportunity. I was going to write about more important things, but my indisposition exclaimed: "Enough!" It is absolutely essential to always act with caution, sincerity, solidarity, without being shaken; to perform our duties and not interfere in God's business; to act in accordance with the rule of " ... illuminates discreetly," and not to feel alarmed or despairing. Once again I say, there have been no persons in history who have performed the valuable services of the Nur students with so little trouble for such vast spiritual gains. Sometimes an hour's watch in arduous conditions may be the equivalent of a year's supererogatory worship; similarly, God willing, the hours spent by the Nurjus serving belief and the Qur'an will each gain for them hundreds of hours of merits.

I send greetings to all the brothers and sisters, and pray for their well- being in this world and the next, and request their prayers.

The truly devoted Zübeyir came to my assistance here at a time of great need, just when I urgently required help. I was otherwise going to ask for someone from Isparta who works in that way.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: We congratulate you on the Night of the Ascension and beseech divine mercy that the prayers you offer will be accepted. Exceptionally, the day before that night and the day after, rain fell in this region; a sign that mercy will be manifested in this country generally, God willing.

Secondly: These days, Çaycı Emin, who is Kastamonu's Süleyman Rüştü, is in Van and is endeavouring to give the Risale-i Nur to my old students there, to whom I am most attached and have been curious about. I am overjoyed at this and at his informing me by letter that those old brothers of mine are alive and that they are eager for the Risale-i Nur. This made me feel relieved and happy, yet sorrowful at those old memories. I cannot communicate with there from here, so it would be convenient if the Safranbolu heroes do this in my place.

Thirdly: Although we have given up politics for thirty years and have evinced no interest in current affairs, in unprecedented fashion Afyon Court confiscated our miraculous Qur'an and has held it for two and a half years and not returned it to us, and has prevented the publication of our books, all of which has caused me anguish and suffering. So for five or ten days I took a look at the world of politics and I saw a strange situation. As I said in my defence speeches, an atheistic current which practises absolute despotism and absolute bribery has tried to crush us with these torments on account of Masonry and communism. Then I saw that another current has begun to emerge in this country which will break the other current's power. But I have not taken another look as my way does not permit showing too much interest.

To: Celâl Bayar, President of the Republic

We offer our congratulations. May God Almighty afford you every success in the services you will perform for Islam, and the country and nation!

In the name of the students of the Risale-i Nur, and one of them,

We Nur students have for the past twenty years been the target of unprecedented penalties and torments. We have exercised patience. Now Almighty God has sent you to assist us. Utilizing the correct legal procedures, three courts over thirteen years have been unable to find in one hundred and thirty books and a thousand letters the reason for those torments; as witnesses to this, we cite the Court of Appeal and Denizli Court. I gave up politics thirty years ago. Now, together with congratulating the President of the Republic and the Cabinet on their taking over the leadership of the Ahrar {[*]:} and taking on themselves the nation's destiny, I am divulging a fact; it is like this:

Those who have attacked us and punished us in the courts advanced the possibility that the Nur students might exploit religion for politics and suggested that they were doing so. So in the face of those tyrants we declared the following in our defences supported by thousands of proofs, and we still say: Although they have vindictively scrutinized more than three sack-loads of documents over a period of three years, our enemies have realized that they can convict us of nothing since the basis of our way is not exploiting religion for political ends but to make it the tool of nothing except divine pleasure, not even the world or worldly rule. They could not even find a pretext for the arbitrary sentences they gave us, so the Appeal Court quashed their decision. We do not exploit religion for politics. Our duty in the face of those who in bigoted fashion exploit irreligion for politics to the awesome harm of this country and nation, is - when the definite necessity arises that we do consider politics - to make politics the tool and friend of religion so that it may lead to winning the brotherhood of three hundred and fifty million brethren for the brothers in this country.

In Short: In response to our tormentors fanatically exploiting politics for irreligion, we have worked for the happiness of this country and nation by making politics the tool and friend of religion.

My brothers, I consider this appropriate and refer it to you for your consultation.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I was going to write you a letter today. I was feeling agitated due to my serious indisposition when just at that moment Mustafa Gül and İbrahim Gül appeared, They were both medicine for me, and consolation, and the cause of great joy, so I am sending those two blessed brothers to you as a letter and as my deputies. They are both Saids and are visiting you and congratulating you in my place, and will tell you the other things I had to say to you.

To: Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Emirdağ

I was exceedingly touched at your cordial congratulations and offer my thanks.

In His Name, be He glorified!

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings, for ever and ever

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Firstly: We congratulate you on the month of Ramadan, which with its worship wins a permanent life of eighty years, and beseech from divine mercy that every one of its nights will yield as many benefits for us as the Night of Power, and that in accordance with the inner meaning of the division of labour and each select Nurju receiving a share of the spiritual gains of all the Nurjus, each will be enabled to perform with thousands of tongues, and true brotherhood and sincerity, his worship, supplications, seeking of forgiveness, and glorifications, and so do I hope.

Secondly: Together with the Risale-i Nur's total moral victory, the Mason section of the irreligious and the atheist section of the communists are making mountains out of molehills and trying under false pretenses to

prevent the Risale-i Nur's free publication. For once again they have meaninglessly and without reason postponed our court hearing for thirty-five days. They even had a noisy argument with our lawyer so as not to return our Qur'an, but divine providence thwarts all their schemes. The Risale-i Nur is spreading itself magnificently and enthusiastically among the enlightened youth of Istanbul and Ankara, and is giving instruction to its students. One result of this moral victory is that the enlightened young people are sending thanks and congratulations with hundreds of signatures to the Prime Minister, who is endeavouring to have the call to prayer restored to its original Arabic. {[*]:}

Thirdly: The students here send you congratulations for Ramadan, and have chosen some examples of the many instances of the former communists' torments, having copied them out and are sending them attached. Perhaps at some time they may publish them in a newspaper article.

I send my greetings to all my brothers and sisters, and offer prayers for them

From your brother who due to illness cannot perform his worship in all respects and is in need of the Nurjus' spiritual help, and for their praying in his stead and of their spiritual gains,

In His Name, be He glorified!

[The first example of the hundreds of illegal torments wrongfully inflicted on our Master while the Republican People's Party was in power.]

One example of the injustices perpetrated on our Master over the last twenty-five years by an absolute despotism and due to the stratagems of an atheistic current the likes of which have not been seen this age on the face of the earth, is this:

One day when leaving his house to go out into the countryside in a closed car for a breath of fresh air, a high-ranking official wanted to accost him in connection with his dress. We say the following in the face of this

impudence which was in five ways illegal and in five ways entirely lacking in conscience.

Our Master is someone who could not endure to be slighted by the domineering behaviour of a sultan; and in reply to Hurşid Pasha, the chief of the military court, and its other members, in the Second Constitutional Period, declared: "If constitutionalism consists of one party's absolutism, let all mankind and the jinn witness that I'm a reactionary and ready to sacrifice a thousand lives if I had them for a single matter of the Shari'a!" who told Mustafa Kemal in the National Assembly: "Anyone who does not perform the prayers is a traitor, and traitors do not have the right to govern!" who has never given up his Islamic dress, and who told the Governor of Ankara, called Nevzat, who wanted to interfere with his dress and received a blow by killing himself: "This turban comes off with this head," pointing to his neck and rejecting any interference; whose turban they could not remove in any of the courts of Isparta, or Eskişehir, or Denizli even; and with the exception of the last Afyon trial, he was not ordered to even when there were crowds of thousands of people and twenty police.

Thus, the intention of those ill-mannered officials in intervening in his dress although he is a recluse, and insulting him, was directly on account of anarchy to cast the country and nation into danger. It was also entirely illegal. He is a person who for years and with unequalled self-sacrifice and abnegation of self has striven in the most arduous conditions to save with his wondrous works consisting of one hundred and thirty treatises the belief of this country and nation. To assault such a person in this way surely means assisting the covert enemies of this country, who strive to destroy and corrupt the nation and its youth. We understood from the fact that our Master, who could never endure insults, endured and attached no importance to the denigrating abuse of a couple of obdurate wretches in Afyon, joined and incited by an atheist Mason, was that he has sacrificed even his honour, reputation, self, spirit, and tranquillity so that no harm should come to this country and nation because of himself.