The Thirteenth Ray

[The light-scattering, highly valuable letters Ustad Bediuzzaman Said Nursi sent his students while in Denizli Prison, which illustrate in brilliant fashion the great exertions of the Risale-i Nur.]

In His Name, be He glorified!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I congratulate you with all my being on the Night of Power which has passed and the coming festival, and I entrust you to the unity and mercy of the Most Merciful of the Merciful. Although in accordance with the meaning of “he who believes in Divine Determining is saved from unhappiness,” I do not consider you to be in need of consolation, I say that I received from the allusive meaning of the verse,

Now await in patience the command of your Sustainer, for verily you are in Our eyes, and glorify with praise your Sustainer,(*)all the solace the verse affords. It was like this:

While thinking of passing Ramadan tranquilly, in forgetfulness of the world, this unimaginable and completely unendurable episode befell us, yet I observed that it was pure grace both for me, and for the Risale-i Nur, and for you and our Ramadan, and our brotherhood. I shall describe only two or three of its many benefits for myself.

One of them: The intense excitement, seriousness, entreating and seeking refuge with God I experienced overcame a serious illness, and made me work in Ramadan.

The Second: I had a powerful desire to see all of you this year and be near you. I would have agreed to the difficulties I have suffered to see only one of you and to come to Isparta.

The Third: In an extraordinary way, all the painful circumstances both in Kastamonu, and on the way here, and here, suddenly change, and contrary to what I hoped and desired a hand of grace is apparent, making one exclaim: “Good is in what God chooses.” What made me realize this most was that the most heedless and high- ranking persons are being made to read the Risale-i Nur with careful attention, opening up new fields for its triumphs.

I was suffering all the pains and regrets of everyone else as well as my own, but then since this calamity increased the hundred merits of each hour’s worship to a thousand —for the blessed month of Ramadan makes each hour the equivalent of a hundred hours— my pity and sorrow for sincere people like you who have learnt thoroughly the lessons of the Risale-i Nur, so know that this is a fleeting place of trade, who sacrifice everything for their belief and lives in the hereafter, and believe that the transient hardships of this ‘School of Joseph’(*)will produce everlasting pleasures and benefits, —my pity and sorrow for you were transformed into congratulations and appreciation and applause at your steadfastness. I declared: “All praise and thanks be to God for all circum-stances other than unbelief and misguidance!”

I am of the opinion that in this respect there are such benefits both for myself, and for our brotherhood, and for the Risale-i Nur, and for our Ramadans, and for you, that if the veil was drawn back, it would make us declare: “Thanks be to You, O God! This Divine Decree and Determining are an instance of Your grace for us.”

Do not blame those who were the cause of this affair. The far-reaching and fearful plans for this calamity had long since been laid, and in the event we have got off lightly. God willing, it will pass quickly. In accordance with the meaning of the verse, It may be that you hate a thing, and it is good for you,(*)do not be grieved.

Said Nursî

My Dear Brothers!

I am very happy to be close to you. From time to time I converse with you in imagination and am consoled. Know that if it had been possible, I would proudly and happily have endured all your difficulties. Because of you, I love Isparta and its environs down to its very stones and soil. I declare even, and I shall say so officially, if the Isparta authorities were to inflict some penalty on me and another province was to acquit me, I would still choose here.

Yes, I am from Isparta in three respects. I cannot prove it genealogically, but I have the conviction that the forebears of Said, who came into the world in the sub- district of Isparit, went there from here. And the province of Isparta has given me such true brothers that I would be happy to sacrifice not Abdülmecid(*)and Abdurrahman,(*)but Said [myself] for each one of them.

It is my guess that there is no one on earth at this time who suffers less —in their hearts, spirits, and minds— than the Risale-i Nur students. For due to the lights of certain, verified belief,(*)their hearts, spirits, and minds do not suffer distress.

As for physical hardships, they know from the teachings of the Risale-i Nur, that they are both transitory, and unimportant, and yield reward, and are a means by which the service of belief unfolds in other channels, and so meet them with thanks and patience. They prove through their states of mind that certain, verified belief leads to happiness in this world too.

Yes, they say “Let’s see what God does, whatever He does, it is good,” and steadfastly work to transform these transient difficulties into permanent instances of mercy. May the Most Merciful of the Merciful increase the numbers of those like them, make them the cause of pride and happiness for this country, and grant them eternal happiness in Paradise. Amen!

Said Nursî

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

In regard to this Divinely ordained event from the point of view of the justice of Divine Determining: because some of the new students sought worldly things by means of the Risale-i Nur, which were not in keeping with the true meaning of sincerity, they found themselves confronted by self-seeking rivals, and obtaining from somewhere a long way off from me the Fifth Ray, the original of which was written twenty-five years ago and in the past eight years copies of which have only twice come into my possession and were then mislaid, a number of jealous people like that corrupt hoja aroused the suspicions of the judiciary with it. At the same time, The Supreme Sign (Âyetü’l-Kübra) was printed without my agreement instead of The Key To Belief (Miftahü’l-Iman Mecmuasi), which I wanted printed in the new letters; on the arrival of copies of it, it was reported to the Government, and the two matters were confused. Suggesting the Fifth Ray had been printed in opposition to the Civil Code, some malicious people made a mountain out of a molehill and had us put away in this place of penitence.

Nevertheless, Divine Determining drove us here for our own good; it called us again to the ‘School of Joseph,’ where, being far more meritorious than the places of ordeal of former times, we could receive a thorough lesson in sincerity and rectify our attachment to the affairs of this world, which in truth are valueless.

We say in the face of the unfounded suspicions of the worldly:

from beginning to end the Seventh Ray (The Supreme Sign) is about belief; you have been deceived; it is completely different to the Fifth Ray, which has been held strictly private and was not found in my possession in any of the scrupulous searches, and was originally written twenty years ago. We did not agree to show it to anyone at the present time, let alone have it printed; it nevertheless is a verified prediction, and does not contest anything.

In His Name, be He glorified!

I again congratulate you on the festival; do not be sorry that we could not meet in person. In truth we are always together, and God willing this togetherness will continue on the road to eternity. It is my opinion that the eternal merits, and the virtues and joys of the spirit and heart that you obtain in serving belief reduce to nothing the present temporary, passing sorrows and hardships.

Up to now, there has been no one who has suffered as few difficulties as the Risale-i Nur students in such sacred service. Yes, Paradise is not cheap. To save others from absolute disbelief, which destroys the life of both this world and the hereafter, is of the very greatest importance at this time. If there is a little hardship, it should be met with enthusiasm, thanks, and patience.

Since our Creator, Who employs us, is All-Compassionate and Wise, we should rely on His mercy and wisdom and meet everything with resignation and joy.An heroic brother of ours has assumed all responsibility for The Supreme Sign affair. He has shown how much he deserves the extraordinary honour and merit pertaining to the hereafter he has gained through his pen and the Hizb al-Qur’an(*) and Hizb al-Nuri,(*)and made me weep at the deep joy I felt. There is much wisdom in The Supreme Sign, the Seventh Ray, attracting attention to itself, and preparing the ground for the future triumphs it deserves: its temporary confiscation will not nullify the work and expenses of that brother and his wife; God willing, it will make them shine even more. This we await from Divine mercy.

From your brother who, through the use of the first person plural in all his supplications, such as: “Deliver us; have mercy on us; preserve us,” includes all of you in them without exception; who works in accordance with the principle of our partnership of the spirit, as though we were numerous bodies and a single spirit and is more concerned with your distress than you are yourselves; and who, from your collective personality awaits strength, assistance, constancy, steadfastness, and intercession.

Your Brother

Said Nursî

At a time when, under the effects of this event, I determined to completely resign myself to sacrificing myself for my innocent brothers and was seeking for a solution, I read Jaljalutiya.(*)It suddenly occurred to me that Imam ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him) prayed: “O God! Deliver us!”; God willing, you shall be delivered through the meaning of his supplication.

Yes, in his Qasidat al-Jaljalutiya, Imam ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him) gave news of the Risale-i Nur in two ways, and alluded to The Supreme Sign with the lines “And through The Supreme Sign, secure me from sudden disaster.” Through this allusion, he is indicating that due to The Supreme Sign, a disaster of significant proportions will be visited on the Risale-i Nur students and is beseeching God to deliver the students from the calamity for the sake of The Supreme Sign; he is making the treatise and its source an intercessor. Yes, the printing of The Supreme Sign was made the pretext for the calamity that occurred, and confirmed exactly that sign of the Unseen.

Also, on the opposite page in the qasida, it says at the end of the allusions to the important parts of the Risale-i Nur and their arrangement, in meaning:

These letters of light, gather together their properties; And study their meanings, for through them good is fulfilled.

That is: “The words and letters of the Risale-i Nur, which we alluded to; collect their properties and study their meanings, for all good and happiness is achieved through them.” It may be inferred from the phrase “Study the meanings of the letters” that it refers not to the letters, which express no meaning, but to the treatises called Sözler, which means The Words.

Our Sustainer! Do not call us to task if we forget or do wrong.(*)

None knows the Unseen save God.

Said Nursî

My Dear, Loyal Brother, Re’fet Bey!

I cannot meet with indifference your learned questions since they are the keys to important truths contained in the part of the Risale-i Nur called Mektûbat (Letters). A short answer is as follows:

Since the Qur’an is a pre-eternal address and speaks with all the classes of humanity and all the groups of worshippers, it has to possess numerous meanings conformable with them, and numerous levels of the universal meanings. Some commentators choose only the most general or the most explicit meaning, or one which expresses an obligatory act or a confirmed practice of the Prophet (PBUH).

For example, for the verse, And in the night glorify God(*)they mention an important sunna, the two rak‘as of the tahajjud prayer, and for the verse the flight of the stars(*)the early morning Fajr sunna, which is a confirmed Practice of the Prophet (PBUH). And there are numerous other constituents of the former meaning. My brother! Speaking with you does not cease.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I have just performed the noon prayer and it occurred to me when I was reciting the tesbihat that you were all probably sad at thinking of yourselves and your relations at home.

It suddenly came to mind that if those of former times who chose the hereafter over this world and passed their lives mortifying the flesh in caves and other places of ordeal with the intention of being saved from the sins of society and of working sincerely for the hereafter, had lived now, they would have been Risale-i Nur students. Certainly, those living under the conditions of these times are ten times more needy than they were and gain ten times more merit, and are ten times more comfortable.

My Dear, Blessed Brothers!

Very many greetings... In former times in my native region, we used to recite Sura al-Ikhlas a thousand times on the Day of ‘Arafa.(*) Now, I am able to recite five hundred on the day before, and five hundred on the Day of ‘Arafa. Those who are confident may recite them all at once. I cannot see you and cannot speak with you all personally, but most of the time I can converse with you all while praying, sometimes by name.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I reckon that up to now two leaders of the main group of the Light (Nur) Factory circle have been saved. That circle, that group, has truly accomplished the triumphs of twenty to thirty years in six or seven; as though it was a souvenir of their shining pens, their service does not cease; it causes merits to be recorded in the books of their deeds in their places. In fact, the Hizb-i Nuri has achieved such overwhelming conquests and entered such important places that it is as if those who published it are continuously working. I supposed that like the first person, Hafiz Mustafa, who has worked so hard and is so hardworking, was outside, then I heard that he is here too. Thinking it was perhaps another Mustafa, I found consolation.

My Dear Brothers!

This morning while reciting the tesbihat, I pitied Hafiz Tevfik.(*)I recalled that it is the second time he has suffered this trouble. Then it suddenly occurred to me: Congratulate him! With needless caution, he wanted to withdraw himself a little from his important position and his large share in the Risale-i Nur. But the vastness and sacredness of his service again awarded him a large share and vast merit. One should not flee from spiritual honour such as that due to a little distress and fleeting hardship.

Yes, my brothers! Everything departs, and after it has gone, if it was pleasure and enjoyment, it goes for nothing, while if it was distress and hardship, it yields such pleasurable benefits, both in this world and in the hereafter, and from the point of view of being sacred service, that it reduces the trouble to nothing. With the exception of one of you, I am the most elderly and it is I who suffers the most troubles, yet I assure you that by practising total patience, offering thanks, and endurance, I am happy at my situation.

Thanks in the face of disaster is for the reward to be had from disaster, and for the benefits in this world and the next.

My Dear Brothers!

With the disappearance of the things preventing the completion of the ‘Topics’ of The Fruits of Belief, writing will recommence, God willing. One of these was the cold, the other was the fright the Masons took at its power. I think of this calamity from the angle of Divine Determining, and my difficulties are transformed into mercy. Yes, as is explained in the Treatise On Divine Determining, there are two causes for every event:

one is apparent; people base their judgements on this and frequently act unjustly.

The other is reality, according to which Divine Determining judges; it acts with justice in the events in which man acted unjustly. For example, a man is sent to prison for a theft he did not commit. Divine Determining also sentences him to imprisonment, but for a secret crime, and acts justly within the human injustice.

Thus, there are two causes for our having been set this severe trial, the purpose of which is to separate out the diamonds from the pieces of glass, the veracious devotees from the inconstant waverers, and the purely sincere from those unable to give up their egotism and self-interest:

The First is a powerful solidarity and a sincere and remarkable service of religion which aroused the suspicions of the worldly and the politicians; human injustice looks to this.

The Second: Since not everyone on their own could demonstrate their worthiness of this sacred service through complete sincerity and total solidarity, Divine Determining looked to this too.

But that Determining is now pure mercy for us within the pure justice, for it brought together brothers who greatly missed each other, and transformed their hardships into worship and their losses into alms-giving. It is also pure mercy in many other respects, like attracting attention from all quarters to the treatises the brothers have written out; and not allowing worldly possessions and children and comfort, which are temporary, fleeting and which one day they will be bound to leave behind when they enter the grave, to damage their lives in the hereafter; and making them accustomed to patient endurance; and their being heroic models for the believers of the future, and even their leaders.

But there is one aspect that caused me some thought, which is that if a finger is wounded, the eye, mind, and heart neglect their important duties and become preoccupied with it. Similarly, our lives, which reach this pitch of distress, busy our hearts and spirits with their wounds. Then just when I should be forgetting the world, the situation took me to the Masons’ council, and busied me with dealing them blows. I was consoled by the possibility that Almighty God might accept this state of heedlessness as a sort of intellectual striving.

I received the greetings of Ali Gül, the brother of Hafiz Mehmed, the Risale-i Nur’s esteemed teacher. I send greetings and prayers both to him, and to all his fellow villagers, and to all the people of Sava,(*)both living and dead.

In His Name, be He glorified!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Your constancy and steadfastness foil all the plans of the Masons and dissemblers. Yes, my brothers, there is no need to hide it, those atheists draw comparisons between the Risale-i Nur and its students, and the sufi orders and particularly the Naqshbandi Order, and with the idea of refuting us and scattering us, attack us with the schemes with which they defeated the sufis.

Firstly: To intimidate and scare, and show up the abuses of the sufi way.

And secondly: To publicize the faults of its leaders and followers.

And thirdly: To corrupt them with the enticing vices and stupefying, pleasurable poisons of materialist philosophy and civilization; and destroy their solidarity; and disparage their leaders with treacherous lies; and discredit their ways with some of the principles of science and philosophy. They attacked us with the same weapons they used against the Naqshbandis and sufis, but they were deceived.

For since the essence of the Risale-i Nur’s way is complete sincerity, and the giving up of egotism, and to search out and perceive the mercy within difficulties and the permanent pleasures within pains, and to point out the grievous pains within fleeting dissolute pleasures, and that belief is the means to innumerable pleasures in this world too, and to teach the points and truths that the hand of no philosophy can reach, God willing it will make all their plans come to nothing, and showing that no comparison can be made between the way of the Risale-i Nur and the sufi orders, it will silence them utterly.

A Subtle Point This morning someone called me from the gendarmes’ ward next to me and I went to the window. He said: “Our door has closed by itself and whatever we do we can’t open it.” So I told him: “It is a sign for you that among the people you guard and keep behind bars, are those who are innocent like yourselves. They even insulted me on the pretext of my seeing one of my brothers I had not seen for ten years, and on another pretext, closed the second of our outer doors. As a punishment, your door closed too.”

Said Nursî

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

There are three further points concerning the subtle point I wrote to you yesterday:

The First: As a representative of the collective personality of a blessed group that will be formed in the future, through the blessings of that collective personality, the bolted door opened of its own accord; again, they were angry with a representative of a blessed group which is now in existence meeting with me for half a minute, after ten years. I too was angered, and again said: “Let the doors close!” The following morning —it had never happened before— the guards’ doors closed, and did not open for two hours.

Second Elegant Point: I sent a note to the public prosecutor by means of the prison governor. I said in it: “I am being kept in isolation and I can’t meet with anyone. Even if I was to, I do not know anyone in this town. .. with someone from the town council here... and so on.” Later the prosecutor asked if I was in solitary confinement. The prison governor said: “No.” Both of them objected to my note. The same day, a distant and half crazy relation came and visited me for half a minute, and it was portrayed in such a way as to show that I had never been in solitary confinement. Their objections rebounded on themselves.

The Third: The noise of the troublesome youths next door to me between the evening and night prayers disturbed me, but not too much. It was that day that they found an excuse and shut the door. The foul stench also grew worse in my cell, and the din the youths made by my door disturbed me excessively. I again said: “Let the doors close! Why are they doing this?” That morning, the incident occurred.

My Brothers!

The two Topics you have written in the new letters have had a tremendous effect. It will be excellent if the First, Second, and Third Topics are written out as well. But I find it worrying if it is Husrev and Tahiri who do this since their pens are particularly suited to the Qur’an and the Qur’anic script, and are charged with it. It will better if others write them.

My Dear Brothers!

For the past year I have been using an amount, that is, around a kilo, of vermicelli and rice. I have no doubt that they are a means of plenty. But you do not leave them with me now so that I can cook them. So I give them to you as a gift, as a means to blessings and plenty. On one occasion, I saw a wondrous increase in the star-shaped vermicelli. I used to dry the pieces after cooking them. I myself and others saw that one single piece was ten times larger than normal.

My Dear Brothers!

Last night while I was reciting my invocations, the guards and others could hear me. I wondered anxiously to myself if such a display did not decrease the merit. Then I remembered a famous saying of Hujjat al-Islam Imam Ghazali:

“Sometimes doing something openly is better than concealing it.” That is, in many ways it may be far more meritorious to do something openly, for others may benefit from it, or copy it, or be aroused from heedlessness; or it may be display the marks of Islam in the face of those who persist in misguidance or vice, and preserve the dignity of religion. Especially at this time and if done by those who have learnt thoroughly the lessons of sincerity, and no hidden artificiality intervenes. I thought of this and was consoled.

Two days ago, the examining magistrate summoned me, and when wondering how I could defend my brothers, I opened the Hizb al-Masun of Imam Ghazali. These verses struck my eye:

Verily God will defend [from ill] those who believe.(*)* ...how their light runs forward before them and by their right hands.(*)* God watches over them.(*)* For those... is [every] blessedness.(*)

I saw that if the doubling and madda (long a) are not counted —the waw is also a madda— according to abjad and jafr reckoning, it makes one thousand three hundred and sixty-two, which is exactly this year’s date; both its meaning and number coincide with the time we resolved to defend our believing brothers. All praise be to God, I said, this leaves no need for my defence.

Then the thought “I wonder how it will turn out” occurred to me. I was curious.

I saw that according to jafr reckoning, on condition the tanwin is counted, the two phrases God watches over them and Tuba (blessedness) make exactly one thousand three hundred and sixty-two. If one madda is not counted, it makes two, and if it is counted, three. Coinciding exactly —at this time we are so needy for Divine preservation— with this year’s date, and with next year’s date, it consoles us with the assurance that we shall be preserved, despite an awesome assault against us which has been prepared over the last year on a grand scale and over a wide field.

The Risale-i Nur’s making more brilliant conquests in ruling circles due to this episode means that its temporary arrest does not and should not cause us to despair. Also I consider The Supreme Sign’s being confiscated due to its printing to be a proclamation, attracting attention from all quarters to its shining station.

I have just read the verseO our Sustainer! Perfect our light for us, and grant us forgiveness.(*)The phrase grant us forgiveness makes exactly one thousand three hundred and sixty- two. It coincides exactly with this year’s date, and summons us and orders us to constantly seek forgiveness so that our light may be completed and the Risale-i Nur too not remain deficient.

In His Name, be He glorified!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

It is my opinion that those who are not shaken by the severe ordeal of these two ‘Schools of Joseph,’(*)the former and the present, and do not abandon its lessons, and do not give up being its students although their mouths have been burnt by the scalding soup, and whose morale is not broken despite all this aggression, will be applauded by the people of reality and coming generations; just as the angels and spirit beings applaud them.

However, since among you are some who are ill, delicate, or poor, the physical distress is excessive. But thinking of the others of you consoling them and being perfect examples in patience and good conduct, and compassionate brothers offering solidarity and kind attention, and intelligent companions in discussing lessons, and mirrors reflecting fine moral qualities, thus reducing the physical hardships to nothing, my concern for you, whom I love more than my own spirit, was allayed.

One day, I shall send you Mawlana Khalid’s jubba,(*)which is one hundred and twenty years old. I invest each of you with it in his name, in the same way that he invested me with it. Whenever you want it, I shall send it.

When we first arrived, the doctor gave me a chickenpox vaccination. It formed a boil and my arm swelled up. The swelling has moved down my arm; it does not let me sleep and makes it difficult to take ablutions. I wonder if I can’t take vaccinations, or if it has some other meaning! Twenty years ago they vaccinated me in Ankara, and it still suppurates from time to time and causes me pain. I thought of this and hoped the new one would not be the same; how are yours?

Said Nursî

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

One reason for the justice of Divine Determining driving us to the Denizli School of Joseph is both its prisoners, and its people, and perhaps also its officials and judiciary being in greater need of the Risale-i Nur andits students than people anywhere else. It is because of this that we have been put to this arduous test, with a task pertaining to belief and the hereafter.

Only one or two prisoners out of twenty to thirty performed the obligatory prayers as they should be performed; but following the Risale-i Nur students, forty to fifty without exception have begun to perform them perfectly; this is such instruction and guidance through the tongue of disposition and action, that it reduces to nothing the distress and hardship; indeed, it makes one love it. We hope from Divine mercy and grace that just as the students have taught this through their actions, so through the powerful true belief in their hearts, they will become like a fortress of steel, delivering the believers from the doubts and suspicions of the people of misguidance.

The worldly here preventing us from speaking and having contact causes no harm. The tongue of disposition is more powerful and effective than verbal speech. Since imprisonment is for training and education, if they love the nation, they should allow the prisoners to meet with the Risale-i Nur students so that in one month or even a day, they may receive more training and education than they would otherwise receive in a year, and may all become persons beneficial both to the nation and country, and useful for their own futures and their lives in the hereafter. It would have been very useful if we had had A Guide For Youth here. God willing, it will be brought in.

Said Nursî

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Today I recalled the conversation between my elder brother, Molla Abdullah, and Hazret-i Ziyaeddin, which you know about. Then I thought of you and said to myself:

if the Unseen was to be revealed, if each of these sincerely religious and earnest Muslims who display such constancy in these inconstant times, not being shaken by these tortuous, testing circumstances, were to appear to be saints or even spiritual poles, the importance they have in my view, and my concern for them, would increase very little; or if they were to appear to be commonplace and ordinary, the value I attach to them would in no way diminish.

For the task of saving belief under such extremely severe conditions is of greater worth than everything. In such stormy, unstable conditions, the virtues afforded by personal ranks and the good opinions of others dissolve when those good opinions are destroyed, and their love lessens. The one possessing the virtues then feels himself obliged to adopt artificial manners, empty formalities, and a burdensome dignity in order to preserve his position in their eyes. Endless thanks be to God, we have no need for cold artificiality such as that.

Said Nursî

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

I congratulate you with all my spirit, heart, and mind on your ‘ten nights,’ and beseech Divine mercy that they will bring great gains to our spiritual partnership. Last night I dreamt that I had come to you and awoke when I was about to lead the prayers as imam. When, according to my experience, the dream was going to be interpreted, two of our brothers from among the heroes of Sava and Homa arrived in the name of all you to interpret it. I was overjoyed, as though I had seen all of you.

My Brothers! Certainly, the situation has caused some officials and others to withdraw from the Risale-i Nur, and has scared them, but it has aroused the attention of, and a longing in, all opponents and religiously minded people and officials connected with the business. Do not worry, these lights shall shine out!(*)

Said Nursî

According to Sabri’s interpretation, in conformity with the allusion of Sura Wa’l-‘Asr, the Risale-i Nur is a means of preserving Anatolia, and Isparta and Kastamonu, from heavenly and earthly calamities, like the ark on Mount Judi; they should not therefore interfere with it, or the expected disasters will shortly be visited on them. They should come to their senses. I say again what I said shortly before the disaster, and before those letters had been sent to you. According to news I have now received, Kastamonu and its surroundings and citadel are weeping as though mourning the Risale-i Nur; it has caught a fever and is shaking with earthquakes; God willing, it will be reunited with the Risale-i Nur, and will laugh again and offer thanks.

I wrote to you the other day about my two important gains. In the econd I said, offering supplications and glorifications with hundreds of tongues... till the end. Some is missing here, it should be: Each one of us, according to his degree, offers... with hundreds of tongues... and so on.

Also, a venerable elderly man from the village of Sava, to which I am very attached, was handcuffed to me and we came together; it pleased me greatly and I understood from it the village’s strong attachment to me. I send special greetings to that brother.

My Dear Brother!

The verse, And even thus did the rejecters of God perish [utterly](*)

indicates the allusion of By [the token of] time [through the ages], * Verily man is in loss,(*)that all the wars and destruction of the infidels have caused untold damage and loss. There is  also an indication in the phrase Wa’l-‘Asr (By [the token of] time) which points to the date 1360 according to the Rumi calendar, in which year dissemblers and disbelievers  would  attack  the Risale-i  Nur,  but they would be the losers. For the Risale-i Nur is a cause of  calamities  like earthquake and war abating. It may be a concealed sign that its ceasing from activity attracts disaster.

Said Nursî

My Dear Brothers!

It is my guess that our final and true defence will be the short treatise that is the fruit of Denizli Prison. For the extensive plots hatched against us over the past year, originally due to unfounded suspicions, are the following: they attacked us on baseless pretexts such as founding a sufi order, establishing a secret society, being a tool of external forces, exploiting religious feelings for political ends, working against the Republic, meddling in government and breaching public security.

Thanks be to Almighty God, their plans failed. Other than the truths of belief and the Qur’an, study of the hereafter, and working for everlasting bliss, they found nothing, even over such an extensive area, among hundreds of students, in hundreds of treatises, in the letters and books written over a period of eighteen years. They began to seek out anything at all to make a pretext of, in order to conceal their plots.

But I think that in the face of a fearsome, covert atheistic organization which has deceived some leaders of the Government, turning them against us, possibly attacking us directly on behalf of absolute disbelief, we were made to write the treatise of The Fruits of Belief, which is as clear as the sun and dispels all doubts and is as firm and unshakeable as a mountain, as the most powerful defence against them and to silence them.

My Brothers!

Your place is very constricted, but the expansiveness of your hearts does not allow this to distress you; it is also relatively freer than where I am. Know that our firmest strength and support is solidarity. Beware! Do not let irritability caused by these tribulations make you find fault with one another. Complaining and blaming each other and saying “If such-and-such had not happened it would not have been like this” is the equivalent of complaining about fate and Divine Determining; do not do this. I have realized that there was no way we could have been saved from their assaults, whatever we did they would have attacked us. For the short time till Divine grace comes to our assistance, we must respond with patience and thanks, and resignation towards the Divine Decree and submission to Divine Determining, and try to gain plentiful reward and merit with few acts.

I pray for the well-being of our brothers there.

Said Nursî

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

A significant solace in the face of the swift changes of this worldly life and its decline, and its fleeting, fruitless pleasures, and its blows of separation, is meeting with true friends. Yes, sometimes one travels for twenty days and spends a hundred liras to see a single friend for an hour or two. So now in these strange, friendless times, our seeing forty to fifty friends all together for one or two months and our speaking together for God’s sake and receiving and giving true consolation, make these difficulties and financial losses that have befallen us extremely cheap and unimportant. I myself would have accepted this hardship to see only one of my brothers here after having been parted from them for ten years. Complaint is criticism of Divine Determining, while thanks is submission to it.

I assure you that if the appointed hour was to come now and I was to die, I would meet it with perfect ease of heart. For I know that among you are many strong, steadfast young Said’s who will ‘own,’ ‘inherit,’ and protect the Risale-i Nur far more effectively than this wretched, elderly, ill and debilitated Said. I felt very grateful and happy at those whose names are written in Nazif’s note, who effectively strengthen morale. I had anyway guessed that they would be thus. May Almighty God give them success and make them good examples to others. Amen.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Since you have attached yourselves to the Risale-i Nur for the hereafter, and for good works, and worship and reward, and for belief and your lives in the hereafter, it is surely necessary to offer thanks for your being here to meet your fate and eat the sustenance appointed to you and earn reward for it. These have been determined by Divine Determining in this School of Joseph, an arena of trial in which each hour in its severe conditions is the equivalent of twenty hours’ worship. Since those twenty hours are a striving in the service of the Qur’an and belief, they have the value of a hundred hours. And those hundred hours consist of meeting with true brothers, who are striving on God’s way, each of which have the importance of a hundred people, and to pledging your brotherhood, and strengthening them and receiving strength, and consoling them and receiving consolation, and steadfastly persisting in this sacred service in true solidarity, and profiting from their fine qualities, and acquiring worthiness to be students of the Medresetü’z-Zehra. It is necessary to think of all these benefits in the face of all the hardships, and to respond to them with patient endurance.

My Brothers!

I sincerely hoped that resolute heroes like those of Isparta and its environs (like the Husrev’s and Hafiz Ali’s), strong as steel, would appear here from Kastamonu as well. Endless thanks be to God that that province fulfilled my hopes, sending numerous heroes to our assistance. I send greetings to all my self-sacrificing brothers who are with you, who are always present in my imagination but whose names I cannot write, and I pray for their well- being.

My Dear, Loyal, Constant, and Faithful Brothers!

I am describing some of my circumstances here, not to sadden you or to take any physical measures, but so that I might profit more from your shared prayers, and you might practise greater self-restraint, caution, patience, and forbearance, and earnestly perserve your solidarity.

The torment and distress I suffer here in one day is more than I suffered in a month in Eskişehir Prison. The ghastly Masons have inflicted one of their unfeeling fellows on me so that out of anger I should lose patience in the face of their torments, and they could then use it as a pretext and make it the reason for their cruel aggression, and so conceal their lies. As a wondrous mark of Divine grace, I merely offer thanks in patience and I am resolved to continue to do so.

Since we have submitted to Divine Determining and in accordance with the meaning of “The best of matters are the most difficult,”(*)and we know these difficulties to be a Divine bounty through which we may gain greater merit;

and since we have the absolutely certain conviction, at the degree of ‘absolute certainty,’ that we have dedicated our lives to a truth more brilliant than the sun, as beautiful as Paradise and sweet as eternal happiness; certainly, knowing that we are carrying out this immaterial struggle in God’s way, proudly and offering thanks, despite the distressing conditions, we should not complain.

My Dear Brothers! My first and last advice to you is to preserve your solidarity; avoid egotism, selfishness, and rivalry, to preserve your composure, and be cautious.

Said Nursî

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

It is understood from the public prosecutor’s indictment that the plans of the covert atheists who deceived some of the leaders of the Government, prompting them to move against us, have come to nothing and turned out to be false. They are now trying to conceal their lies by accusing us of forming a political society and a secret revolutionary committee, and as a result of this, they do not allow me to have contact with anyone. As though all those who have contact with us join us. High officials too are careful to avoid us, and they try to curry favour with their superiors by harassing us. I was going to add the below passage to the end of my objections, but I had an idea that did not allow me to. The passage was this:

Yes, we are a society and we are a society that every century has three hundred and fifty million(*) members. Every day through the five obligatory prayers, its members demonstrate with complete veneration their attachment to the principles of that sacred society. Through the sacred programme of The believers are indeed a single brotherhood,(*)they hasten to assist one another with their prayers and spiritual gains.

We are members of that sacred, vast society, and our particular duty is to teach the believers in certain, verified fashion the Qur’anic truths of belief, and save them and ourselves from eternal annihilation and everlasting solitary confinement in the Intermediate Realm.

We have absolutely no connection with any worldly, political, or intriguing society or clandestine group, or the baseless, meaningless secret societies concerning which we have been charged; we do not condescend to such things.

My Dear and Loyal Brothers!

Before dawn today I felt real pity for all of you. Then I remembered the Treatise For The Sick (Hastalar Risalesi ), and it consoled me.

Yes, this calamity is a sort of social sickness. Most of the remedies connected with belief in that treatise are in this too. As I told that blessed sick person in Erzurum, the pain of all past tribulations has passed; what remains of it is its good, and its benefits that look to this world, the hereafter, belief, and the Qur’an. That means the single transitory tribulation has been transformed into numerous permanent bounties. As for the future, since it is non-existent at the present, the tribulations that will continue in it give no pain now. To suffer pain due to delusions is to lack confidence in Divine mercy and Determining.

Secondly: Most of mankind on the earth now are afflicted with calamities, physical and non-physical, and in their hearts, spirits, and minds. Compared with theirs, our calamity is both extremely light, and profitable. There are pleasures for the heart and spirit, springing from belief, good health, and well-being.

Thirdly: If we had not entered here amid these storms, due to our contact with suspicious officials, this slight calamity would have been even severer, and there would have been the calamity of having to toady to them and flatter them.

Fourthly: Seeing with very little expense true friends more compassionate than brothers, and brothers of the hereafter like spiritual guides, here in the workless, compounded physical and spiritual winter of this School of Joseph, which is a department of the Medresetü’-Zehra; and visiting them, profiting from their personal qualities, and receiving strength from their fine characteristics, which like light are diffused through transparent objects, and from their spiritual assistance, joy, and consolation; all changes the form of this calamity, making it a sort of veil to Divine grace.

Yes, a subtle facet of this hidden grace is that all the Risale-i Nur students here are called “Hoja;” they are spoken of respectfully as “the hojas... the hojas.” There is a further subtle allusion in this, that just as this prison has turned into a medrese (religious school), so the Risale-i Nur students have all become teachers, and thanks to these hojas the other prisons will also all become schools, God willing.

My Brothers!

If the short letters written before to console you, like this one, are read and studied together with the last parts of The Fruits of Belief, and any matters of the Risale-i Nur that occur to you are discussed, God willing it will gain for you the honour of being ‘students of the religious sciences.’ Pre-eminent figures like Imam Shafi‘i (May his mystery be sanctified) attached the greatest importance to this, saying “the sleep even of students of the sciences is counted as worship.” If at this time of no religious schools, a hundred difficulties are suffered in these places of torment due to being such elevated students, no importance should be given to them, or else, saying “The best matters are the most difficult,” we should smile happily at those hardships.

As for the families of our needy friends and their having enough to live on, in consequence of the rule of the Qur’an, belief, and the Risale-i Nur, which is to look at those worse hit by disaster than oneself and at those in greater deprivation, they are better off than eighty per cent of people. They have no right to complain; their right, their obligation, is to offer eighty degrees of thanks.

Divine Determining ordained that we meet our fate here and eat the food appointed for us. The justice of Divine mercy gathered us together here; the families have been entrusted to their true Provider, relieving those brothers temporarily of their duties of supervision. Just as one day they will be relieved of them entirely and dismissed... Since the reality is this, we should say For us God suffices, and He is the Best Disposer of Affairs,(*)and offer thanks.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

For sure I can’t meet with you in person, but I am happy and thankful that I am close to you in the same building. It came to me involuntarily that some necessary precautions should be taken.

One of these: a prisoner was sent to the ward next to mine by the Masons who is both a liar and a spy. Since destruction is easy, especially among idle youths such as those, I knew from the scoundrel’s excessive harassment of me and his corrupting the youths, that atheism is attempting to corrupt their morals in the face of our guiding and reforming them.

Extreme caution is necessary in this situation, and it is absolutely essential as far as is possible not to be offended by the old prisoners nor to offend them and not to allow any disagreements, and to keep cool and put up with things, and as far as is possible for our brothers to strengthen their brotherhood and solidarity through humility and modesty and giving up egotism.

It pains me to concern myself with worldly matters, so having confidence in your perceptiveness, I do not consider them so long as it is not essential.

My Brothers!

Against all eventualities, I have to explain a matter that was imparted to me this morning. Asking: “I wonder what atheist philosophers can say to this, and with what will they support themselves?”, for twenty years my soul and my satan have investigated whether or not the truths we have taken from the Qur’an leave any room for doubt or hesitation, and if they are as clear as daylight. They could find no fault in any nook or cranny, and fell silent.

I reckon that a truth which silences my soul and devil, which are extremely sensitive and involved in the matter, will silence also even the most obdurate of them. Since we are working for the sake of and on the way of a truth which is thus unshakeable, elevated, vast, and important, and is of inestimable value, and if the whole world and a person’s life was given as its price, it would still be cheap; we should certainly respond with complete steadfastness to all the tribulations, distress, and enemies.

They have also confronted us with a number of deceived or hoodwinked hojas, shaykhs, and apparently pious people. We must preserve our unity and solidarity in the face of them, and not bother with them or argue with them.

Said Nursî

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

It was disclosed to me this morning before dawn that the real reason for this extensive and significant aggression against us is not the Fifth Ray, but the Hizb al- Nuri, and The Key To Belief, and Hüccetü’l-Baliga (The Eloquent Proof).(*)

I read part of the Hizb al-Nuri carefully, and thought of The Key To Belief, and I understood that the atheists had put forward the Fifth Ray, which has a slight connection with politics, as the apparent reason, because they could not defend their way of absolute disbelief against the blows of these two keen swords.

So they deceived the Government, making it move against us. It occurred to me at the same time that if some of our weak brothers temporarily give up, they might be able to save themselves from this calamity, and I wanted to give them permission.

Suddenly it was imparted to me that those who are closely concerned and have twice been put to this test and in return have suffered so much hardship, would not then give it up in a heartfelt way that was both harmful and without benefit, but might possibly apparently hold back just to deceive them. It would otherwise cause harm both to himself, and to us, and to our sacred way, and as a penalty, the person would receive a blow contrary to his intentions.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Certainly according to the degree of their being the cause of this imprisonment, which is more distressing and colder than other places, those who are suffering its hardships will feel inclined to escape them. But since the certain, verified belief that the Risale-i Nur —its apparent cause— gains for those who suffer these hardships, and the happy death its gains through the certain, verified belief, and the good works of a hundred men it gains through the spiritual partnership, all transform the bitter hardship into sweet mercy, then the price of these two results is unshakeable fidelity and steadfastness. To be regretful and give it up would therefore be a great loss.

For those of the students who have no connection with the world, or very little, this imprisonment is preferable to freedom, and in one respect is a place of freedom.

While since for those who are connected and who are well-off, the money spent becomes multiple almsgiving, and the hours spent are transformed into multiple worship, they should offer thanks rather than complaining.

As for those who are impecunious and needy, their lives outside afford them merits that are without benefit and hardships for which they are responsible, while the hardships here produce many merits and much reward and entail no responsibility, and are alleviated by the solace of their companions; this demands that they offer thanks.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

A pious person in Kastamonu said by way of complaint: “I have declined; I have lost my former spiritual state, lights, and illuminations.”

I told him: “Perhaps you have progressed so that you have left behind your illuminations and revelations, which flatter the ego, give a taste of the fruits of the hereafter while still in this world, and encourage self-centredness. By giving up egotism and not seeking fleeting pleasures and through self-abasement, you have perhaps flown to a higher station.”

Yes, an important Divine bounty is not making the person who has given up his egotism perceive the bounty so that he does not become proud and conceited.

My brothers! In consequence of this truth, those who think similarly to that person or who take into account the brilliant stations that the good opinions of others give, look at you, and among you see the students who appear in the garment of humility and self-abasement and service, to be common, ordinary people, and they say: “Are these the heroes of reality who challenge the whole world? Alas! Who are these? Where are the people who are striving to perform this sacred service, before which even the saints are impotent at this time?” If they are friends, they experience disappointment, and if opponents, find their opposition justified.

Said Nursî

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

In my view your prison fruits(*)are as agreeable and valuable as fruits of Paradise. They confirm the great hopes I had for you and what I had claimed, as well as demonstrating beautifully the power of solidarity. As when three or four ‘alifs’(*)are put side by side, those blessed pens uniting while suffering severe oppression showed a value of three or four hundred. The state of mind which preserves your unity in these confused conditions proves what I said yesterday.

Yes —there is no error in the comparison— just as according to the Sunnis the position of a great saint regarding service of Islam is lesser than that of a Companion of the Prophet (PBUH), so a sincere brother who forgoes the pleasures of the soul in serving belief at this time and practising humility preserves solidarity and unity, is afforded a position higher than that of a saint. This was the conclusion I came to and you confirm it constantly. May God be eternally pleased with you. Amen!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

The Fruits of Belief is most important and very valuable. It is my hope that in time it will achieve great triumphs. It seems you have thoroughly understood its value, for you have not left this place of study without lessons. On my own account I say that if the fruit of all this trouble and expense is only this treatise and Müdâfaa Risalesi (The Defence Speeches), and being together with you in the same place, it reduces to nothing the expense and the trouble, and even if I were to suffer this calamity ten times over, it would still be cheap.

Due to many experiences and especially in this distressing, restricted prison, I have formed the firm conviction that being occupied with the Risale-i Nur, both reading it and writing it out, greatly lessens the distress and gives one a feeling of expansiveness. When I am not busy with it, the calamity doubles and I am upset by trifling things. Although I reckoned that for various reasons Husrev, Hafiz Ali and Tahiri would be suffering most, I saw that it was they and those with them who had the greatest composure and submission and ease of heart. I asked myself why.

Now I have understood that they are carrying out their true duties; since they are not occupied with anything frivolous, and do not interfere in the functions of Divine Decree and Determining, and are not boastful, critical, or panicky, all of which spring from egotism, with their self-possession and their steadfastness and peace of mind, they have exonerated the Risale-i Nur students and demonstrated their moral strength in the face of atheism. May Almighty God make the true dignity and heroism within their utter humility and self-abasement spread to all our brothers. Amen!

My Brothers!

A fearful egotism arising from heedlessness and love of this world rules at this time. The people of reality, therefore, have to give up egotism and selfishness, even if it is in a licit form. Since the Risale-i Nur students dissolve their egotism, which is an ice-block, in the joint pool of their collective personality, they will not be shaken by this storm, God willing.

Yes, a well-tried method of the dissemblers is to collect together people who are all like officers and judges, concerning some common question in constraining places which make them stand-offish, and irritable and critical of each other; stirring them up so they fight among themselves, they destroy their morale. The dissemblers then easily deal blows at those who have lost their strength, and kill them.

Since the Risale-i Nur students have taken the way of love and brotherhood and ‘annihilation in the brothers,’ God willing, they will foil this well- tried, divisive stratagem.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

One time, a shaykh had so many followers the Government became anxious regarding its political implications and wanted to scatter his community. The shaykh told the Government: “I only have one and a half followers. No others. If you like we can put it to the test.” So he had a tent pitched somewhere and gathered together all his thousands of followers there. He told them: “I am going to put you to the test. Whoever is my disciple and complies with my command will go to heaven.” He summoned them into the tent one by one. He had a sheep slaughtered secretly, as though he had killed his favourite disciple and sent him to Paradise. When the thousands of followers saw the blood, they no longer obeyed the shaykh and started to denounce him. Only one man said “May I be sacrificed for you,” and went to him. Then a woman went to him too, and the rest dispersed. The shaykh told the government men: “Now you have seen for yourselves that I only have one and a half followers.”

Endless thanks be to Almighty God that in the test and trial of Eskişehir, the Risale-i Nur lost only one and a half of its students. Through the efforts of the heroes of Isparta and its surroundings, in their place ten thousand were added, just the opposite to the shaykh. God willing, in this ordeal too, through the efforts of the heroes of both the east and the west, few will be lost, and ten will come in place of any one that goes.

One time, someone who was not a Muslim found a way of succeeding to the leadership of a sufi order and began to give guidance. The disciples under his training began to advance, then one of them saw through a revelation that their guide had suffered a serious decline. With his insight, the guide told his disciple: “So you have understood.” But the disciple said: “Since it was with your guidance that I rose to this station, I shall follow you even closer from now on.” He beseeched Almighty God and saved his unhappy shaykh, who all of a sudden advanced, and outflanking all his disciples, again became their true guide. This means that sometimes a disciple becomes the shaykh’s shaykh.

But the true skill is that when one sees his brother in a bad situation, he does not abandon him, but strengthens their brotherhood and tries to reform him. This is the mark of the loyal and faithful. Because the dissemblers want to destroy the solidarity of brothers in such situations and spoil their good opinions of each other, they say: “See, those you think so highly of are common, ordinary people.” Anyway,

we have suffered much in this calamity, but since it is a matter concerning the whole world of Islam, it is very cheap and of high value. Due to their being politics of religion or for other reasons, similar events have not been of concern for the whole Islamic world.

Since the strange signature at the beginning of the printed edition of the Old Said’s work Lemeât coincides with little change with my present circumstances and exactly with my seventy-second year, I have included it here. If you consider it suitable, you can add it to the end of the defences in place of a signature, and to the Fruits and the short letters. That strange signature consists of the following three and a half lines:

The Supplicant

My demolished grave in which are heaped up sixty-nine dead Said’s with his sins and sorrows.

The seventieth is a gravestone to a grave; altogether they weep at Islam’s decline.

I have hope that the skies of the future and Asia will together surrender to Islam’s clean, shining hand,

For it promises the prosperity of belief; it affords peace and security to mankind.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

The reason for the supreme importance I give your solidarity is not only because of its advantages for us and the Risale-i Nur, but for the mass of believers who are not within the sphere of certain, verified belief, and are much need of a point of support and a truth which a community unshaken by events finds certain. Since it is an authority, a guide, a proof, which is unfearing, unflinching, incorruptible, and undeceiving in the face of the currents of misguidance, one who sees your powerful solidarity forms the conviction that there is a truth that may be sacrificed for nothing, that does not bow before the people of misguidance, nor is it defeated; his morale and belief are strengthened, and he is saved from joining the worldly and their vice.

In His Name, be He glorified!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Size kat’î haber veriyorum ki: Buradaki zatların, bizimle ve Risale-i Nur’la münasebeti olmayan veya az bulunan veya inkâr edenlerden başka, istediğiniz kadar hakiki kardeşlerim ve hakikat yolunda hakikatli arkadaşlarım var. Bizler, Risale-i Nur’un keşfiyat-ı kat’iyesiyle iki kere iki dört eder derecesinde sarsılmaz bir kanaatle bilmişiz ki ölüm, bizim için sırr-ı Kur’an ile idam-ı ebedîden terhis tezkeresine çevrilmiş. Ve bize muhalif ve dalalette gidenler için o kat’î ölüm, ya idam-ı ebedîdir (eğer âhirete kat’î imanı yoksa) veya ebedî ve karanlıklı haps-i münferiddir (eğer âhirete inansa ve sefahet ve dalalette gitmiş ise).

Acaba dünyada bu meseleden daha büyük daha ehemmiyetli bir mesele-i insaniye var mı ki bu, ona âlet olsun? Sizden soruyorum! Madem yoktur ve olamaz, neden bizimle uğraşıyorsunuz? Biz en ağır cezanıza karşı kendimize, âlem-i nura gitmek için bir terhis tezkeresini alıyoruz diye kemal-i metanetle bekliyoruz.

Fakat bizi reddedip dalalet hesabına mahkûm edenler! Sizi gördüğümüz gibi, idam-ı ebedî ile ve haps-i münferidle mahkûm ve pek yakın bir zamanda o dehşetli cezayı çekeceklerini müşahede derecesinde biliyoruz ve görüyoruz; onlara insaniyet damarıyla cidden acıyoruz.

Bunu kat’î ispat etmeye ve en mütemerridleri dahi ilzam etmeye hazırım! Değil vukufsuz, garazkâr, maneviyatta behresiz ehl-i vukufa karşı belki en büyük âlim ve feylesoflarınıza karşı gündüz gibi ispat etmezsem, her cezaya razıyım!

İşte yalnız bir numune olarak iki cuma gününde mahpuslar için telif edilen ve Risale-i Nur’un umdelerini ve hülâsa ve esaslarını beyan ederek Risale-i Nur’un bir müdafaanamesi hükmüne geçen Meyve Risalesi’ni ibraz ediyorum ve Ankara makamatına vermek için yeni harflerle yazdırmaya müşkülatlar içinde gizli çalışıyoruz. İşte onu okuyunuz, tam dikkat ediniz, eğer kalbiniz (nefsinize karışmam) beni tasdik etmezlerse bana şimdiki tecrid-i mutlakım içinde her hakaret ve işkenceyi de yapsanız, sükût edeceğim!

Elhasıl: Ya Risale-i Nur’u tam serbest bırakınız veyahut bu kuvvetli ve zedelenmez hakikati elinizden gelirse kırınız! Ben şimdiye kadar sizi ve dünyanızı düşünmüyordum ve düşünmeyecektim fakat mecbur ettiniz; belki de sizi ikaz etmek lâzımdı ki kader-i İlahî bizi bu yola sevk etti. Biz de مَن۟ اٰمَنَ بِال۟قَدَرِ اَمِنَ مِنَ ال۟كَدَرِ düstur-u kudsîyi kendimize rehber edip her bir sıkıntınızı sabır ile karşılayacağız diye azmettik.

Mahkemede son sözüm:

Efendiler!

Çok emarelerle kat’î kanaatim gelmiş ki hükûmet hesabına “hissiyat-ı diniyeyi âlet ederek emniyet-i dâhiliyeyi ihlâl etmek” için bize hücum edilmiyor. Belki bu yalancı perde altında, zındıka hesabına, bizim imanımız için ve imana ve emniyete hizmetimiz için bize hücum edildiğine çok hüccetlerden bir hücceti şudur ki:

Yirmi sene zarfında, Risale-i Nur’un yirmi bin nüshalarını ve parçalarını yirmi bin adamlar okuyup kabul ettikleri halde, Risale-i Nur’un şakirdleri tarafından emniyetin ihlâline dair hiçbir vukuat olmamış, hükûmet kaydetmemiş ve iki mahkeme bulmamış. Halbuki böyle kesretli propaganda, yirmi günde vukuatlar ile kendini gösterecekti. Demek, hürriyet-i vicdan prensibine zıt olarak bütün dindar nasihatçilere şâmil, lastikli bir kanunun 163’üncü maddesi sahte bir maskedir. Zındıklar, onunla hükûmeti iğvâ ederek ve adliyeyi şaşırtıp bizi herhalde ezmek istiyorlar.

Madem hakikat budur, biz de bütün kuvvetimizle deriz: Ey dinini dünyaya satan ve küfr-ü mutlaka düşen bedbahtlar! Elinizden ne gelirse yapınız. Dünyanız başınızı yesin ve yiyecek! Yüzer milyon kahraman başlar feda oldukları bir kudsî hakikate, başımız dahi feda olsun! Her cezanıza ve idamınıza hazırız! Hapsin harici bu vaziyette, yüz derece dâhilinden daha fenadır. İstibdad-ı mutlak altında hiçbir hürriyet –ne hürriyet-i ilmiye ne hürriyet-i vicdan ne hürriyet-i diniye– olmamasından ehl-i namus ve diyanet ve taraftar-ı hürriyet olanlara ya ölmek veya hapse girmekten başka bir çare kalmaz. Biz de اِنَّا لِلّٰهِ وَاِنَّٓا اِلَي۟هِ رَاجِعُونَ diyerek Rabb’imize dayanıyoruz.

Risale-i Nur’a ait dava ve itiraz, cüz’î bir hâdise ve şahsî bir meselede değil ki çok ehemmiyet verilmesin. Belki bu milleti ve memleketi ve hükûmeti ciddi alâkadar edecek ve dolayısıyla âlem-i İslâm’ın nazar-ı dikkatini ehemmiyetli bir surette celbedecek bir küllî hâdise hükmünde ve umumî bir meseledir.

Evet Risale-i Nur’a perde altında hücum eden, ecnebi parmağıyla bu vatandaki milletin en büyük kuvveti olan âlem-i İslâm’ın teveccühünü ve muhabbetini ve uhuvvetini kırmak ve nefret verdirmek için siyaseti dinsizliğe âlet ederek perde altında küfr-ü mutlakı yerleştirenlerdir ki hükûmeti iğfal ve adliyeyi iki defadır şaşırtıp der: “Risale-i Nur ve şakirdleri, dini siyasete âlet eder, emniyete zarar ihtimali var.”

Hey bedbahtlar! Risale-i Nur’un gerçi siyasetle alâkası yoktur fakat küfr-ü mutlakı kırdığı için, küfr-ü mutlakın altı olan anarşiliği ve üstü olan istibdad-ı mutlakı esasıyla bozar, reddeder. Emniyeti, asayişi, hürriyeti, adaleti temin ettiğine yüzer hüccetlerden birisi, bu müdafaanamesi hükmündeki Meyve Risalesi’dir. Bu risaleyi, âlî bir heyet-i ilmiye ve içtimaiye tetkik etsinler. Eğer beni tasdik etmezlerse, ben her cezaya ve işkenceli idama razıyım.

Said Nursî

In His Name, be He glorified!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Beware! Do not dispute among yourselves, spying ears will take advantage of it. Right or wrong, those who argue in our situation are wrong. Even if they are right to one degree, by disputing they could cause us untold harm. I shall repeat a story I once told my irritable brothers in Eskişehir Prison.

During the Great War, I was being held as a prisoner together with ninety officers in a long dormitory in northern Russia. Since they had a regard for me far higher than was my due, through my advice to them, I did not allow any noise or trouble. But then, irascibility arising from the constraints and irritations began to give rise to violent rows. I told three or four of them that whenever they heard a noisy dispute, to go and help those in the wrong. They did this, and the damaging rows ceased. They asked me why I had taken such unjust precautions, and I told them: “A person who is in the right, is fair; he will sacrifice his one ‘dirhem’s’ worth of right for the general peace, which is worth a hundred ‘dirhems.’ Those in the wrong are mostly egotistical; they will sacrifice nothing, so the din increases.”

My Brothers! You should repeatedly and carefully read the pieces in the treatise containing the short letters, which are a means of consolation and enjoin forbearance and patient endurance. I am the weakest of you and I have the greatest share of this distressing calamity. Thanks be to God, I am enduring it and I have not been vexed by those who have piled all the blame on me, nor annoyed at those who because it is the same matter have defended themselves alone, and implying we have formed a political association, put the blame on me. I request that since we are brothers, you imitate me in this patience.

In His Name, be He glorified!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers and Friends in this Hostel of the World!

I thought tonight of our being led handcuffed together to the court by soldiers with bayonets fixed. The Old Said’s proud vein of temperament made me feel exceedingly angry.

But it was suddenly imparted to me that we should respond to this situation not with anger, but with pride, thanks, and joy, for in the eyes of the intelligent, and of incalculable numbers of angels and spirit beings and the people of reality and those among men with consciences and certain, verified belief, we appear as a caravan of heroes on the way of truth, reality, the Qur’an, and belief, challenging this century. In the face of their elevated regard, applause, and appreciation, which is indicative of dominical acceptance and Divine mercy, the insulting looks of a limited number of dissolute layabouts, can be of no importance.

One day, even, when I went by car because of illness, I felt a constrictedness. But then when I went together with you with my hands bound, I felt an expansiveness and joy of the spirit. That is to say, my state of mind arose from this meaning.

I have said it many times and I shall repeat it: none have been seen in history who have performed as great service on the way of truth and have earned so much reward while suffering so little difficulty, as the Risale-i Nur students. However much hardship we suffer, it is still not costly.

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

Our escaping from this calamity and being saved from it is impossible in two respects:

The First: Since Divine Determining appointed that we should meet part of our fate here, we would anyway have come here. This way is therefore the best.

The Second: We found no way of being saved from the plots that were being hatched against us. I perceived them, but there was no way out. The unfortunate late Shaykh Abdülhakim, and Shaykh Abdülbaki could find no way to save themselves. This means that to complain about one another in this calamity is both unjust, and meaningless, and harmful, and is to feel a sort of offence at the Risale-i Nur.

Beware! To consider some of the activities of the leading students to be the cause of this calamity and to feel indignant at them, is to withdraw from the Risale-i Nur and regret having learnt the truths of belief. This is a far greater calamity than the material calamity.

I swear that although my share of this calamity is twenty or thirty times greater than each of yours, because they have acted with a pure intention, I would not be annoyed at them even if the calamity, which occurred due to lack of caution, was ten times greater. It is also meaningless to object to things that are past, because they cannot be repaired.

My Brothers! Anxiety doubles the calamity; it also roots the physical calamity in the heart; it also suggests objection to and criticism of Divine Determining and accusation against Divine mercy. Since everything has a good side and in everything is a manifestation of Divine mercy, and Divine Determining works with justice and wisdom; we are surely bound not to give importance to any slight trouble we may suffer as a result of the sacred task we are performing which concerns the whole Islamic world at this time.

[An unimportant, commonplace condition of mine necessitated that I write this to you.]

My Brothers!

I have formed the firm conviction that the evil eye affects me severely and makes me ill. I have experienced it on numerous occasions. I want with all my heart and soul to be a companion to you in all circumstances, but in accordance with the famous rule, “The evil eye puts the camel in the cooking-pot and man into his grave,”(*)the evil eye has an effect on me. For those who look at me, do so with either violent hatred, or appreciation. Both these are present in the looks of some people who possess the ability to affect with the evil eye. I have formed the intention therefore that if it is possible and they do not force me, I shall not always accompany you while going to the court.

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

My Dear Brothers!

This morning before dawn a piece was suddenly imparted to me. Yes, I confirm the wonder (keramet) of the Risale-i Nur concerning the earthquake what Husrev wrote in detail; what I thought also centred on that. For just as the coinciding of the four occasions of severe aggression against the Risale-i Nur and its students and the four occasions of the assaults of earthquakes were not chance, so the exact coincidence of the two centres of the Risale-i Nur’s dissemination, Isparta and Kastamonu, being preserved from disaster relative to other places; and as alluded to by Sura al-‘Asr, since the means of salvation from the Second World War —mankind’s greatest ‘loss’ at the end of time— is belief and good works; it cannot be mere chance that the Risale-i Nur has spread certain, verified belief all over Anatolia, and Anatolia was saved from the great losses of war in extraordinary fashion.

Also, just as the exact coinciding of those who impede the Risale-i Nur’s service or those who err in that service receiving blows either of compassion or wrath, cannot be mere chance —of which there have been hundreds of incidents; so too the thousands of incidents of, almost without exception, all those who serve the Risale-i Nur well experiencing plenty in their livelihoods and ease of mind and happiness, cannot be mere chance.

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

According to the inner meanings of “good is in what God chooses,” and, It may be that you hate a thing and it is good for you,(*)the most confidential pieces of the Risale-i Nur have emerged from behind the veil of “sirran tenevveret”(*)so as to come into the possession of the most undesirable people, to strike the arrogant, and show up the errors of those at the top. They wanted to make the matter appear unimportant, but somehow or other they understood that it has great importance, and attracting attention to it in a big way, leads to shining triumphs for the Risale-i Nur and its enemies being made to read it in wonderment. In fact, it illuminated many hesitant, bewildered, and needy people during the Eskişehir trials, and saved them, transforming our hardships into mercy. God willing, on this occasion it will perform that sacred service on a wider scale, in many courts and centres.

Yes, those who see the Risale-i Nur’s style and explanations cannot remain indifferent to it. It not only makes the mind and heart submit like other works, it also conquers the soul and emotions.

Your being released causes no harm to this fact, but my acquittal would be detrimental. Even my soul agrees to sacrifice for a truth that concerns the whole Islamic world not only the life of this world but if necessary that of the next, and to sacrifice through the Risale-i Nur my own happiness for that of the people of belief.

[Included here is the continuation of the earthquake incident from Husrev’s letter; the beginning is not included.]

I later saw in another newspaper, the following amazing, complementary facts: before the earthquake, the cats and dogs gathered together in groups of four or five. They silently sat down together looking at each other pensively and blankly, then dispersed. None of these animals was to be seen either during the earthquake, or immediately before it, or after it; they disappeared into the countryside away from the towns. Another strange thing they write is that these animals gave news of the coming disaster, which resulted from our sins, through the tongue of disposition, and they did not understand it and are amazed.

Among the hundreds of things that for years Bediuzzaman has predicted in the Risale-i Nur, is that the atheists should avoid interfering with the Risale-i Nur and its students, for if harm comes to them, the disasters waiting in the offing will make them regret it a hundred time over. The earthquake verified this with its signature, then four more disasters occurred...

May Almighty God bestow belief on our hearts and on the hearts of those who attack the Risale-i Nur, and give them minds that will recognize the truth, and save us from these dungeons and them from disasters. Amen.

Hüsrev

My Dear, Loyal Brothers and Companions in Disaster!

There being blessed scholars, good organizers, and sincerely devoted students among you, I felt firmly confident that you would preserve your unity and solidarity in the face of our powerful, cunning, and numerous enemies. I felt easy and was not preoccupied with you. But it has now become necessary to explain a number of matters.

The First: I was not going to send anything to Ankara, lest it delay your release. But since the court mixed up the treatises that are confidential and those which are not and the old letters and the new, and sent them to Ankara, it was essential to send to those departments Müdafaat Risalesi (The Defences), which supplies extremely powerful replies concerning the confidential treatises, especially the Sufyan and Islamic Dajjal (Antichrist) in the Fifth Ray, and The Fruits of Belief, which smashes the arrogant disbelief arising from Naturalist philosophy and its insolent attacks on belief, so that the committee of experts there would not base their judgements on those confidential treatises and rule against us like the first committee.

İkinci Nokta: Aziz kardeşlerim! Sizin bu ehemmiyetli mektubunuzun cevabını yazarken, benim elime aynı mektubu verdiler. “İkinci Nokta”ya başladım, kaldı. İşte tamam ediyorum.

Dikkat ediniz; eğer bu fikrin faydasız avukatınız tarafından tervici varsa herhalde mahkûmiyetimize taraftar olanların bir tedbiridir ki Ankara’daki ehl-i vukuf buradaki ehl-i vukuf gibi neşrolunmayan mahrem ve hususan Beşinci Şuâ risalelerini esas edip bütün Risale-i Nur’a teşmil edip müsadere etmek ve Beşinci Şuâ’nın meselelerini, Risale-i Nur’u okuyan bütün bîçare talebelerin dersleridir diye onları benim suçumla tam bağlamak için dehşetli bir plandır. Beni konuşmaktan men’etmek ve yazdıklarımı müsadere ile Ankara’ya göndermemek fikriyle, müdür ve müddeiumumî muavini müşkülat vermeleri kuvvetli bir emaredir ki müdafaatın cerh edilmez cevapları yetişmeden Ankara aleyhimize hüküm vermek içindir.

Üçüncü Nokta: Zaten meseleyi uzatacak ehemmiyetli kitapları ve evrakları ve müdafaaları dahi Ankara’ya göndereceğini, mahkeme reisi o gün söyledi. Elbette şimdi yetişmiş. Şimdi benim muntazam ve izahlı iki müdafaanamem gitse belki meseleyi çabuk halleder, mesele uzanmaz, tacil eder, çabuk aile sahipleri kurtulurlar. Fakat ben ve benim gibi alâkasızlar kurtulmaya değil belki hakaik-i imaniyeyi mülhidlere, mürtedlere karşı müdafaa etmek için en müsait bir yer olan hapiste kalmak lâzımdır.

Dördüncü Nokta: Risale-i Nur beraet etmezse ve benim müdafaatım nazara alınmazsa; faydasız, zâhirî inkârınız sizi kurtarmayacak. Vahdet-i mesele haysiyetiyle biz birbirimizle bağlanmışız, yalnız münasebetleri pek az bulunan bir kısım arkadaşlar kurtulabilirler. Eskişehir Mahkemesi, bunu bilfiil gösterdi.

Bir seneden beri, gayet dikkatle içimize casusları sokan ve safdil ve cüretkâr talebelerin ifşaatını zapt eden ve bi’l-iltizam bizi perişan ve mesleğimizden pişman etmek için her vesileyi istimal eden, hattâ aleyhimize Şeyh Abdülhakîm’i sevk ettikleri halde, onu ve Şeyh Abdülbâki’yi ve bana ara sıra itiraz eden Şeyh Süleyman’ı bizim gibi perişan eden adamlara karşı inkârlarınız ve kaçmanız, onların kanaat-i vicdaniye dedikleri düşüncelerinde beş para etmez ve Eskişehir’de dahi etmedi.

Beşinci Nokta: Biz hem burada hem Eskişehir’de tecrübe ile kat’î anladık ki: Biz, vahdet-i mesele cihetiyle tam bir tesanüde şiddetle muhtacız. Sıkıntıdan gelen gücenmekler ve titizlikler ve itirazlar, bizim perişaniyetimizi ikileştirir. Maatteessüf en ziyade güvendiğim ve itimat ettiğim, sizlerdiniz. Bazı hatırıma bir telaş geldiği vakit, İstanbul’dan gelen kâmil ve sıddık hocalar ve Kastamonu vilayetinde fevkalâde sadakat gösteren zatları tahattur ile o endişem zâil olurdu. Dikkat ediniz, küfr-ü mutlakı müdafaa eden gizli komite içinize parmak sokmasın. Benim komşudaki koğuşa parmağını soktu, beni azap içinde bıraktı.

Şimdi siz, mabeyninizde münakaşasız bir meşveret ediniz. Kararınızı kabul ederim. Fakat benim müdafaatım tâ Ankara’ya gitse ve medar-ı nazar olsa buradaki mahkeme, kurtulması mümkün olanlar hakkında kararını vermek ihtimalini hem şimdi bizimle uğraşan ve Abdülbâki ve Abdülhakîm ve Hacı Süleyman’ı nefyeden ve Yeşil Şemsi’yi tahliyeden sonra burada durduran adamlar, elbette Hâfız Mehmed ve Seyyid Şefik gibi salabet-i diniyeleri ile ve onların ölmüş reislerine ve suretine baş eğmemesiyle ve ilhad ve bid’alara taraftarlıklarını göstermemesiyle beraber, serbest bırakmamak ihtimalini de hem Risale-i Nur’un tesettür perdesinden çıkıp gayet büyük ve umumî bir meselede kendi kendine merkezlerinde mübarezesi zamanında şakirdlerini arkasında bulmak ve kaçmamakla sarsılmaz ve mağlup olmaz bir hakikate bağlandıklarını mütereddid ve mütehayyir ehl-i imana göstermesi gayet lüzumlu olduğunu dahi nazarınıza ve meşveretinize alınız. Sakın sakın birbirinizin kusuruna bakmayın; hiddet yerinde hürmet ediniz, itiraz yerinde yardım ediniz.

Aziz, sıddık ve sadık kardeşlerim!

Ben birkaç gündür bir duamı değiştirdim. Şimdiye kadar bazen yüz defa tekrar ile وَاغ۟فِر۟ veya وَفِّق۟ gibi dualarda طَلَبَةَ رَسَائِلِ النُّورِ الصَّادِقٖينَ cümlesinden اَلصَّادِقٖينَ kelimesini kaldırdım; tâ ki ruhsatla amele kendini mecbur bilen ve sıkıntının verdiği evham ve meyusiyet cihetiyle, zâhirî inkâr ve çekinmekle azîmetli sadakate muhalif hareket eden kardeşlerimiz o dualardan mahrum kalmasınlar.

بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ

Aziz kardeşim Hâfız Ali!

Hastalığına merak etme. Cenab-ı Hak şifa versin, âmin! Hapiste her bir saat ibadet, on iki saat ibadet yerinde bulunmasından çok kârlısın. İlaç istersen bir kısım dermanlar bende var, sana göndereyim. Zaten ortalıkta bir hafif hastalık var. Ben mahkemeye gittiğim gün, herhalde hasta oluyorum. Belki sen bana yardım etmek için eski zamanda birbirinin bedeline hasta olması ve ölmesi gibi hârika fedakârlık gösteren zatlar gibi benim bir parça rahatsızlığımı aldın.

(Güzel ve tam yerinde bir taziyename)

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

لِكُلِّ مُصٖيبَةٍ اِنَّا لِلّٰهِ وَاِنَّٓا اِلَي۟هِ رَاجِعُونَ

Ben hem kendimi hem sizi hem Risale-i Nur’u taziye ve merhum Hâfız Ali’yi ve Denizli mezaristanını tebrik ediyorum. Meyve Risalesi’nin hakikatini ilmelyakîn ile bilen bu kahraman kardeşimiz, aynelyakîn ve hakkalyakîn makamına çıkmak için kabre cesedini bırakıp melekler gibi yıldızlarda, âlem-i ervahta seyahate gitti ve tam vazifesini yapıp terhisle istirahate çekildi.

Cenab-ı Erhamü’r-Râhimîn, Risale-i Nur’un bütün yazılan ve okunan harfleri adedince defter-i a’maline hasenat yazdırsın, âmin! Ve onların sayısınca onun ruhuna rahmetler yağdırsın, âmin! Ve kabrinde Kur’an’ı, Risale-i Nur’u ona şirin ve enis arkadaş eylesin, âmin! Ve Nur Fabrikasına onun yerine on kahramanı ihsan edip çalıştırsın, âmin âmin âmin!

Siz dahi benim gibi dualarınızda onu yâd ediniz. Bin lisan onun lisanı yerine istimal edip o kaybettiği bir hayat ve bir dil yerinde manevî bin hayat kazandı diye rahmet-i İlahiyeden ümitvarız.

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

Cenab-ı Erhamü’r-Râhimîn’e hadsiz şükür olsun ki bu acib zamanda ve garib yerde, talebe-i ulûmun kıymetli şerefini ve ehemmiyetli hizmetlerini kazanmayı sizler vasıtasıyla bizlere de müyesser eyledi. Ehl-i keşfe’l-kuburun müşahedesiyle, müteaddid vakıatla, tahsil-i ulûm anında vefat eden bazı müştak ve ciddi bir talebe-i ulûm, şehitler gibi kendini hayatta ve kendi dersiyle meşgul görüyor.

Hattâ meşhur bir ehl-i keşfe’l-kubur, vefat eden ve ilm-i sarf ve nahiv okuyan bir talebenin kabrinde, Münker Nekir’e nasıl cevap verecek diye murakabe etmiş ve müşahede edip işitmiş ki: Melek-i sual ondan sordu: مَن۟ رَبُّكَ “Senin rabbin kimdir?” dediği zaman o nahiv dersiyle iştigal ederken vefat eden talebe, o meleğin cevabında demiş: “ مَن۟ mübtedadır رَبُّكَ onun haberidir.” Nahiv ilmince cevap vermiş, kendini medresede zannetmiş.

İşte bu vakıaya muvafık olarak ben, merhum Hâfız Ali’yi aynen hayattaki gibi Risale-i Nur’la meşgul olarak en yüksek bir ilimde çalışan bir talebe-i ulûm vaziyetinde ve tam şehitler mertebesinde ve tarz-ı hayatlarında biliyorum ve o kanaat ile ona ve onun gibi Mehmed Zühdü’ye ve Hâfız Mehmed’e bazı dualarımda derim:

Yâ Rabbî! Bunları kıyamete kadar Risale-i Nur kisvesinde hakaik-i imaniye ve esrar-ı Kur’aniye ile kemal-i ferah ve sevinçle meşgul eyle, âmin!

بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

Ben merhum Hâfız Ali’yi unutamıyorum. Onun acısı beni çok sarsıyor. Eski zamanlarda bazen böyle fedakâr zatlar, kendi dostu yerine ölüyorlardı. Zannederim, o merhum benim yerimde gitti. Onun fevkalâde hizmetini eğer sizler gibi o sistemde zatlar yapmasa idi; Kur’an’a, İslâmiyet’e büyük bir zayiat olurdu. Ben, onun vârisleri olan sizleri tahattur ettikçe o acı gidiyor, bir inşirah geliyor.

Medar-ı hayrettir ki ben şimdi onun manevî, belki maddî hayatıyla âlem-i berzaha gitmesi cihetiyle, o âleme gitmek için bende bir iştiyak zuhur etti ve ruhuma başka bir perde açıldı. Nasıl ki buradan Isparta’daki kardeşlerimize selâm gönderip muarefe, muhabere ile sohbet ediyoruz; aynen öyle de Hâfız Ali’nin tavattun ettiği âlem-i berzah; nazarımda Isparta, Kastamonu gibi olmuş. Hattâ bu gece, mesmuata göre buradan birisi oraya gönderilmiş. On defadan ziyade teessüf ettim, ne için Hâfız Ali’ye onunla selâm göndermedim. Sonra ihtar edildi ki: Selâm göndermek için vasıtalara ihtiyaç yok, kuvvetli rabıtası telefon gibidir hem o gelir alır.

O büyük şehit, Denizli’yi bana sevdiriyor, daha buradan gitmek istemiyorum. O ve Mehmed Zühdü ve Hâfız Mehmed, hayatlarında gördükleri vazife-i imaniye ve Nuriyeye devam ediyorlar. Onlar pek yakından temaşa ediyorlar, belki de yardım ediyorlar. Evliya-i azîmenin dairesinde kıymetli hizmet noktasında mevki almalarından ben de o ikisinin Hâfız Mehmed’le beraber isimlerini silsilemde aktabların isimleri yanında yâd edip hediyelerimi bağışlıyorum.

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

Sizdeki ihlas ve sadakat ve metanet, şimdiki ağır sıkıntılarda birbirinizin kusuruna bakmamaya ve setretmeye kâfi bir sebeptir ve Risale-i Nur zinciriyle kuvvetli uhuvvet öyle bir hasenedir ki bin seyyieyi affettirir. Haşirde adalet-i İlahiye, hasenelerin seyyielere râcih gelmesiyle affettiğine binaen, siz de hasenelerin rüçhanına göre muhabbet ve af muamelesini yapmak lâzımdır. Yoksa bir seyyie ile hiddet etmek, sıkıntıdan gelen bir titizlik, bir asabîlik ile zararlı bir hiddet, iki cihetle zulüm olur. İnşâallah, birbirinize sürurda ve tesellide yardım edip sıkıntıyı hiçe indirirsiniz.

Aziz, sıddık, mübarek kardeşlerim!

Birkaç gündür sizin ile konuşmadığımın sebebi, şimdiye kadar emsalini görmediğim şiddetli ve zehirli bir hastalıktır. Ben, Risale-i Nur hesabına âhir ömrüme kadar Nur ve Gül dairesindeki sebatkâr ve metin ve sarsılmaz kardeşlerimle, Kastamonulu fedakârlar ile ebeden müteşekkirane iftihar ediyorum ve onlarla bütün zalimlerin sıkıntılarına karşı bir kuvvetli nokta-i istinad ve tam bir teselli buluyorum. Şimdi ölsem onlar var, diye ferah-ı kalple ecelimi karşılayacağım.

Ehl-i dünya, ben onlarla mübareze ediyorum diye asılsız tevehhüm ederek beni hapse attılar. Fakat kader-i İlahî, ben onlarla konuşmadığım ve ıslah-ı hallerine çalışmadığımdan beni hapse attı. Ve hapiste yalnız birkaç arkadaşımla kalsam Ankara makamatına karşı âlem-i İslâm’ı alâkadar edecek bir alenî muhakeme isteyeceğim ve dava edeceğim ve Meyve Risalesi’ni ve müdafaat parçalarını yeni harfle müteaddid nüshalar çıkarıp mühim makamata göndereceğiz inşâallah.

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

Bu nevi hadîsler, müteşabih kısmındandırlar. Hem cüz’î ve hususi değiller, umum yerlere bakmıyorlar. Bu rakam ise ümmetinin başına gelen dinî fitnelerden yalnız bir tek zamanı ve Hicaz ve Irak’ı misal olarak gösterir. Zaten Abbasîlerin zamanında, o tarihte Mutezile, Râfızî, Cebrî ve perde altında zındıklar, mülhidler, İslâmiyet’i zedeleyen çok fırak-ı dâlle meydana gelmiştiler. Şeriat ve itikad noktasında ehemmiyetli sarsıntılar olması hengâmında Buharî, Müslim, İmam-ı A’zam, İmam-ı Şafiî, İmam-ı Mâlik, İmam-ı Ahmed İbn-i Hanbel ve İmam-ı Gazalî ve Gavs-ı A’zam ve Cüneyd-i Bağdadî gibi pek çok eâzım-ı İslâmiye imdada yetişip o fitne-i diniyeyi mağlup ettiler.

O tarihten üç yüz sene sonraya kadar o galebe devam ile beraber, perde altında yine o ehl-i dalalet fırkaları, siyaset yoluyla Hülâgu Cengiz fitnesini İslâmların başına getirdiler. Bu fitneden hem hadîs hem Hazret-i Ali radıyallahu anh sarîh bir surette aynı tarihiyle işaret ediyorlar.

Sonra bu zamanımızın fitnesi en büyük bir fitne olduğundan hem müteaddid hadîsler hem çok işarat-ı Kur’aniye aynı tarihiyle haber veriyorlar. Buna kıyasen, ümmetin geçireceği safahatı küllî bir surette bir hadîs beyan ettiği vakit, bazen o küllînin bir tek hâdisesini, misal olarak tarihi gösterir.

Böyle müteşabih ve manası tamam anlaşılmayan hadîslerin Risale-i Nur eczaları kat’î bir surette tevillerini beyan etmiş. Yirmi Dördüncü Söz’de ve Beşinci Şuâ’da, bu hakikati düsturlarla beyan etmiş.

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

Birbirinizi enaniyetle veya sadakatsizlikle ittiham etmemek için bir hakikati beyan etmek ihtar edildi.

Ben bir zaman enaniyetini bırakmış ve nefs-i emmaresi kalmamış büyük evliyadan şiddetli bir surette nefs-i emmareden şikâyet ettiklerini gördüm, hayrette kaldım. Sonra kat’î bildim ki âhir ömre kadar mücahede-i nefsiyenin sevaptar devamı için nefs-i emmarenin ölmesi üzerine onun cihazatı damarlara ve hissiyata devredilir, mücahede devam eder. İşte o büyük evliyalar, bu ikinci düşmandan ve nefsin vârisinden şikâyet ederler.

Hem manevî kıymet ve makam ve meziyet, bu dünyaya bakmıyor ki kendini ihsas etsin. Hattâ en büyük makamda bulunanlardan bazı zatlara verilen büyük bir ihsan-ı İlahîyi hissetmediklerinden, kendilerini herkesten ziyade bîçare ve müflis telakki etmeleri gösteriyor ki avamın nazarında medar-ı kemalât zannedilen keşif ve keramat ve ezvak ve envar, o manevî kıymet ve makamlara medar ve mihenk olamaz.

Sahabelerin bir saati, başka velilerin bir gün belki bir çilesi kadar kıymeti olduğu halde; keşif ve manevî hârikulâde hâlâta evliya gibi mazhariyetleri her sahabede olmaması, bu hakikati ispat ediyor.

İşte kardeşlerim! Dikkat ediniz; sizin nefs-i emmareniz, kıyas-ı bi’n-nefs cihetinde sû-i zan ve gurur noktasında sizi aldatmasın; Risale-i Nur terbiye etmiyor, diye şüphelendirmesin.

بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ

Risale-i Nur’un Gençlik Rehberi’nde ve Meyve Risalesi’ndeki beş meselesinin haylaz gençlerde dokuz tokadı, Risale-i Nur’un bir latîf kerameti olduğunu o gençler dahi tasdik ediyorlar.

Birincisi: Bana hizmet eden Feyzi. Ona bidayette dedim: “Sen Meyve’nin bir dersinde bulundun, haylazlık yapma.” O yaptı, birden tokat yedi, bir hafta eli bağlı kaldı.

Evet, doğrudur.

Feyzi

İkincisi: Bana hizmet eden ve “Meyve”yi yazan Ali Rıza. Bir gün yazdığını ona ders verecektim. O, haylazlığından yemek pişirmek bahanesi ile gelmedi, birden tokat yedi. O vakit onun tenceresi sağlam iken dibi, yemeği ile beraber tamamen düştü.

Evet, doğrudur.

Ali Rıza

Üçüncüsü: Ziya. “Meyve”nin gençliğe ve namaza dair meselelerini kendine yazdı, namaza başladı. Fakat haylazlık yaptı, namazı ve yazıyı bıraktı. Birden o vakitte tokat yedi. Hilaf-ı âdet ve sebepsiz, başı üstündeki sepeti ve elbiseleri yandı. O kadar kalabalık içinde yanıncaya kadar kimse farkında olmaması kasdî bir şefkat tokadı olduğunu gösterdi.

Evet, doğrudur.

Ziya

Dördüncüsü: Mahmud. Ona “Meyve”den gençlik ve namaz meselelerini okudum ve dedim: “Kumar oynama, namaz kıl.” Kabul etti. Fakat haylazlık galebe etti, namaz kılmadı ve kumar oynadı. Birden, hiddet tokadını yedi. Üç dört defada daima mağlup olup fakir haliyle beraber kırk lira ve sakosunu ve pantolonunu kumara verdi, daha aklı başına gelmedi.

Evet, doğrudur.

Mahmud

Beşincisi: On dört yaşında Süleyman namında bir çocuk, ziyade haylazlık yapıp başkalarının da iştihalarını açıyordu. Ona dedim: “Uslu dur, namazını kıl. Senden büyük haylazların içinde bu halin, sana tehlike getirir.” O, namaza başladı fakat yine namazı terk ve haylazlığa girdi. Birden tokat yedi. Uyuz illetine müptela oldu, yirmi gündür yatağında yatmaya mecbur oldu.

Evet, doğrudur.

Süleyman

Altıncısı: Bana bidayette hizmet eden Ömer, namaza başladı, şarkıları bıraktı. Fakat bir akşam, kapıya yakın bir şarkı kulağıma geldi, evrad ile meşguliyetime zarar verdi. Ben hiddet ettim, çıktım gördüm ki hilaf-ı âdet Ömer’dir. Ben de hilaf-ı âdet bir tokat vurdum. Birden, sabahleyin hilaf-ı âdet olarak Ömer, başka hapse gönderildi.

Yedincisi: Hamza namında on altı yaşında sesi güzel olmasından şarkı söylüyor, başkalarının da iştihalarını açıyor, haylazlık ediyordu. Ona dedim: “Böyle yapma, tokat yiyeceksin.” Birden, ikinci gün bir eli yerinden çıktı, iki hafta azabını çekti.

Evet, doğrudur.

Hamza

Bu gibi tokatlar var fakat kâğıt bitti, mana da bitti.

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

Bir maarif vekili, perdeyi yüzünden kaldırdı ve küfr-ü mutlakı başka bir kisvede gösterdi. Bizim son gönderdiğimiz müdafaatı daha almadan başka sâikle o beyannameyi yazmış. Gerçi ben, o daireye göndermeyi düşünmüyordum fakat kardeşlerimizin tensibiyle onlara da göndermek hem münasip hem lâzım olduğunu bu hal gösterdi. Çünkü herhalde bu derece ilhadda taassup taşıyan bir vekil, Ankara’ya gönderilen evrak ve mahrem risalelere karşı lâkayt kalmazdı. Birden, doğrudan doğruya cerh edilmez müdafaatlar başına vuruldu, çok iyi oldu. İnşâallah o dairede dahi Risale-i Nur lehinde kuvvetli bir cereyan uyandıracak.

Kardeşlerim! Madem bir kısmın mahiyetleri bu tarzdır; onlara, o kısma teslim olmak, manevî bir intihardır, İslâmiyet’ten pişman olmaktır belki dinden insilah etmektir. Çünkü o derece ilhadda taassup izhar etmiş ki bizim gibilerden yalnız teslimiyetle ve tasannu ile razı olmuyorlar. “Kalbini ve vicdanını bırak, yalnız dünyaya çalış.” derler.

İşte bu vaziyete karşı inayet-i Rabbaniyeye dayanıp metanet ve sabır ve tevekkül ederek dört sandık Risale-i Nur eczaları, o merkeze yetişip kuvvetli hakikatleriyle galebe çalmasına dua etmekten başka çare yoktur. Biz birbirimizden çekinmekle ve gücenmekle ve Risale-i Nur’dan çekilmekle ve onlara teslim ve hattâ iltihak etmekle fayda vermediği şimdiye kadar tecrübe edildi.

Hem hiç merak etmeyiniz. O vekilin o farfarası ve telaşı, zaafına ve tam korkusuna delâlet eder. Tecavüze değil belki tedafüe mecburiyetini bildiriyor.

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

Homalı kardeşlerimizden Ali namında bir şakird, Hâfız Ali’nin vefatı günlerinde vefat ettiğini Sami Bey bana söylediği gibi Homalı kahramanlardan Mehmed Ali dahi bana yazdı. Ben de o Ali’yi o büyük şehit Ali’ye çok dualarda arkadaş yaptım.

Bu yakında, bizimle alâkadar bir hanım, üç kardeşimizin öldüğünü görmüştü. Tabiri: Bu iki Ali ve Risale-i Nur’a hapiste tabi olmak isteyen, asılan Mustafa, umumumuzun bedeline âhirete gittiler ve selâmetimizin hesabına feda oldular, demektir.

بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ

Aziz, sıddık, sarsılmaz ve tevekkülün mahiyetini ve kıymetini anlayan kardeşlerim!

Yirmi seneden beri hiçbir gazeteyi ne okumak ve ne sormak merakım olmadığı halde, pek çok teessüf ile yalnız bir kısım zayıf kardeşlerimizin hatırları için bugün bir gazetenin bir bahsini gördüm. Bundan bildim ki perde altında ve üstünde ehemmiyetli cereyanlar rol oynuyorlar. Meydanda biz göründüğümüzden, bizler o cereyanlarla alâkadar tevehhüm ediliyoruz.

İnşâallah, Risale-i Nur’un dört sandık kuvvetli cerh edilmez risaleleri ve pek kat’î müdafaa defterleri, bizim hakkımızda hem iman ve Kur’an, İslâm hakkında bir hayırlı netice verecekler. Biz onların dünyalarına karışmadık ve karışacağımızı hiçbir cihetle daha tesbit edemediler. Mecburiyetle bütün Risale-i Nur’u Ankara tahkik için istedi.

Madem hakikat budur ve madem şimdiye kadar Risale-i Nur’un hizmetinde inayet-i Rabbaniyenin tecellisini inkâr edilmeyecek derecede gördük, her birimiz cüz’î ve küllî bunu hissetmişiz ve madem şimdi siyasetin ve dünyanın çok cereyanlarının birbirine karşı tahşidatı oluyor ve madem elimizden kazaya rıza ve kadere teslim ve hizmet-i imaniye ve Kur’aniye ve Nuriyenin verdikleri büyük ve kudsî teselliden başka bir şey gelmiyor. Elbette bize en elzem iş, telaş etmemek ve meyus olmamak ve birbirinin kuvve-i maneviyesini takviye etmek ve korkmamak ve tevekkülle bu musibeti karşılamak ve habbeyi kubbe yapan farfaralı gazetecilerin kubbelerini habbe görüp ehemmiyet vermemektir.

Bu dünya hayatı, hususan bu zamanda, bu şerait altında kıymeti yoktur. Başa ne gelse gelsin, hoş görmeli.

بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

İki üç kardeşlerimiz şöyle güzel bir teselli kendilerine bulmuşlar. Diyorlar ki:

“Bu hapiste bir kısım yeni kardeşlerimiz, bir iki saat gayr-ı meşru bir hareket yüzünden, bir iki belki on sene bu musibet içinde sabır ve tahammül ediyorlar. Hattâ bir kısmı şükrederek başka günahlardan kurtulduk dedikleri halde; biz Risale-i Nur vasıtasıyla en meşru bir hareket ve hizmet-i imaniye yüzünden altı yedi ay hayırlı bir sıkıntıdan neden şekva ediyoruz?” diyorlar. Ben de bin bârekellah onlara derim.

Evet, beş on sene hem imanını hem başkaların imanlarını kurtarmak niyetiyle zevkli, tatlı, hayırlı, kudsî bir hizmet ve yüksek bir ubudiyet-i fikriye yüzünden beş on ay zahmet çekmek, medar-ı şükür ve iftihardır.

Bir hadîste ferman etmiş ki: “Bir tek adam seninle hidayete gelse sahra dolusu kırmızı koyun, keçilerden daha hayırlıdır.” İşte burada, mahkemede ve Ankara’da, sizlerin yazılarınız ve hizmetleriniz vasıtasıyla ne kadar insanlar imanlarını dehşetli şüphelerden kurtardığını ve kurtaracağını düşününüz, sabır içinde kemal-i rıza ile şükrediniz.

Eğer Ankara’da hâkim olan Halk Partisi, oraya giden Risale-i Nur’un kuvvetli kitaplarına karşı inat etse ve musalaha niyetiyle himayesine çalışmazsa bizim en rahat yerimiz hapistir ve mülhidler, Bolşevizm’i zındıka ile birleştirdiğine alâmettir ve hükûmet onları dinlemeye mecbur olur. O zaman Risale-i Nur çekilir, tevakkuf eder, maddî ve manevî musibetler hücuma başlarlar.

بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

يَا مَع۟شَرَ ال۟جِنِّ وَال۟اِن۟سِ ۝ اَلَم۟ يَا۟تِكُم۟ رُسُلٌ مِن۟كُم۟

âyet-i celileleri mûcibince cinlerden de peygamber geldiği bildiriliyorsa da bu husustaki müşkülün halli için vaki suale, üstadımızın verdiği cevaptır:

Aziz kardeşim!

Hakikaten senin bu sualinin çok ehemmiyeti var. Fakat Risale-i Nur’un en ehemmiyetli vazifesi, beşeri dalaletten ve küfr-ü mutlaktan kurtarmak olmasından bu çeşit meselelere sıra gelmiyor, onlardan bahis açmıyor. Selef-i Salihîn dahi çok bahsetmemişler. Çünkü öyle gaybî ve görünmeyen işlerde sû-i istimal düşer. Hem şarlatanlar, hodfüruşluklarına bir vesile yapabilirler. Nasıl ki şimdi ispirtizmacılar “cinler ile muhabere” namıyla şarlatanlık yapıyorlar; dinin zararına âlet ederler diye çokça medar-ı bahis edilmez. Hem Hâtemü’l-enbiya’dan sonra, cinlerde peygamber gelmemiş.

Hem Risale-i Nur, bu zamanda bir taun-u beşerî olan maddiyyunluk fikrini iptal etmek için cinnî ve ruhanîlerin vücudlarını kat’î hüccetler ile ispat etmeye çalışmış, bu meseleye üçüncü derecede bakmış, tafsilini başkalara bırakmış. Belki inşâallah Risale-i Nur’un bir şakirdi, Sure-i Rahman’ı tefsir edip bu meseleyi de halleder.

بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

لِكُلِّ مُصٖيبَةٍ اِنَّا لِلّٰهِ وَاِنَّٓا اِلَي۟هِ رَاجِعُونَ

Hakikaten Hâfız Ali, Hâfız Mehmed ve Mehmed Zühdü’nün vefatları; değil yalnız bize ve Isparta’ya, belki bu memlekete ve âlem-i İslâm’a büyük bir zayiattır. Fakat şimdiye kadar bir cilve-i inayet olarak Risale-i Nur’un bir şakirdi zayi olduğu zaman, der-akab iki üç tane o sistemde meydana çıktığından, kuvvetle ümitvarız ki başka şekilde o kahramanların vazifelerini görecek, ümit ettiğimizden ciddi şakirdler çıkarlar, görürler. Zaten o üç mübarek merhum zatlar, az bir zamanda, yüz senelik vazife-i imaniyeyi gördüler. Cenab-ı Erhamü’r-Râhimîn, onların yazdıkları ve neşrettikleri ve okudukları huruf-u Nuriye adedince onlara rahmetler eylesin, âmin!

Benim tarafımdan o Hâfız Mehmed’in akrabasını ve mübarek köyünü taziye ediniz. Ben de onu Hâfız Ali ve Mehmed Zühdü’ye arkadaş edip üstadlarımın aktab kısmının isimleri içinde o üçünün isimlerini dâhil edip Hâfız Âkif’i dahi Âsım ve Lütfü’ye arkadaş ettim.

بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

اَل۟خَي۟رُ فٖى مَا اخ۟تَارَهُ اللّٰهُ sırrıyla, bu meselemizin tehiri hayırdır. Çünkü bütün mekteplerde ve dairelerde ve halkta, o ölmüş dehşetli adamın muhabbeti telkin ediliyor. Bu hal ise âlem-i İslâm’a ve istikbale pek elîm ve acı bir tesiri olacaktı.

Şimdi ihtiyarımızın haricinde onun mahiyeti ne olduğunu, en başta ve en ziyade alâkadar ve en son ondan vazgeçecek adamların ellerine kat’î hüccetler ile gösteren ve ispat eden Risale-i Nur geçmesi, kemal-i merak ve dikkatle okunması öyle bir hâdisedir ki bizler gibi binler adam hapse girse hattâ idam olsalar din-i İslâm cihetiyle yine ucuzdur. Hiç olmazsa küfr-ü mutlaktan ve irtidaddan en mütemerridleri bir derece kurtarır, meşkuk bir küfre çıkarır, mağrurane ve cüretkârane tecavüzlerini ta’dil eder.

Mahkemede son söz olarak yüzlerine söylediğim bu cümle: “Milyonlar kahraman başlar feda oldukları bir kudsî hakikate, başımız dahi feda olsun.” ile bizim nihayete kadar sebat edeceğimizi dava etmişiz. Bu davadan vazgeçilmez. İçinizde vazgeçecek yok ümit ediyorum. Madem şimdiye kadar sabrettiniz, “Daha kısmetimiz ve vazifemiz bitmedi.” diye tahammül ve sabrediniz. Herhalde “Meyve”deki kat’î hüccetler ile kabil-i inkâr olmayan idam-ı ebedî ve nihayetsiz haps-i münferid mesleğini müdafaa etmek için Risale-i Nur’a karşı anûdane hareket edilmeyecek, belki musalaha veya mütareke çaresi aranılacak.

اَلصَّب۟رُ مِف۟تَاحُ ال۟فَرَجِ وَالسُّرُورِ

بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

اَوَمَن۟ كَانَ مَي۟تًا فَاَح۟يَي۟نَاهُ وَجَعَل۟نَا لَهُ نُورًا يَم۟شٖى بِهٖ فِى النَّاسِ âyeti hem Risale-i Nur’a hem مَي۟تًا kelimesiyle üç kuvvetli emare ve münasebetler ile Risale-i Nur’un bu bîçare şakirdine işareti Birinci Şuâ’da izah edilmiş. Şimdi bu hâdisede, o emarelerden birisi tam hükmediyor.

Çünkü bize zulmedenler, ellerinde hayat ve medeniyeti ve lezzeti tutup bizi o tarz-ı hayata ehemmiyet vermemekle ittiham edip mes’ul ederler, hattâ idam ve ağır ceza ile hapse sokmak isterler. Fakat kanunca sebep bulamıyorlar.

Biz dahi elimizde hayat-ı bâkiyenin mukaddimesi ve perdesi olan mevti ve ölümü tutup onların başlarına vurup intibaha getirmek ve onların hakiki mes’uliyet ve mahkûmiyetten ve idam-ı ebedî ve daimî haps-i münferidden kurtulmalarına bütün kuvvetimizle çalışıyoruz. Hattâ Ankara’ya giden şiddetli risaleler sebebiyle en ağır ceza nefsime verilse fakat ceza verenler o risaleler ile ölümün idamından kurtulsalar hem kalbim hem nefsim razı olurlar.

Demek, biz onların iki cihanda yaşamalarını istiyoruz, arıyoruz. Onlar bizim ölmemizi istiyorlar, bahaneler arıyorlar. Fakat güneş gibi zâhir ve göz ile görünür gündüz gibi bir hakikat-i mevtiye ve her gün insanlarda otuz bin cenaze, ehl-i dalalet hakkında otuz bin idam-ı ebedî, otuz bin haps-i münferid fermanlarını, i’lamnamelerini gösterdiklerinden, biz onlara karşı mağlup değiliz. Ne yaparlarsa yapsınlar.

اِنَّ حِز۟بَ اللّٰهِ هُمُ ال۟غَالِبُونَ âyeti on iki seneden beri en acınacak mağlubiyetimiz zamanında dahi cifir ve ebced hesabıyla galibiyetimize aynı tarihiyle müjde ediyor. Madem hakikat budur, biz şimdiden sonra hem mahkemeye hem halka diyeceğiz ki:

“Bu gözümüz önünde ve bizi bekleyen ölümün idam-ı ebedîsinden ve karşımızda kapısını açan ve bizi cebr-i kat’î ile çağıran kabrin daimî karanlık haps-i münferidinden kurtulmaya çalışıyoruz. Hem sizin de o dehşetli ve çaresiz musibetten kurtulmanıza yardım ediyoruz. Sizin nazarınızda en büyük bir mesele-i dünyeviye ve siyasiye, bizim nazarımızda ve hakikat cihetinde kıymeti pek azdır ve bilfiil vazifedar olmayanlara malayani ve ehemmiyetsizdir ve kıymeti yoktur. Fakat bizim iştigal ettiğimiz vazife-i zaruriye-i insaniye ise herkese her zaman ciddi alâkası var. Bu vazifemizi beğenmeyenler ve kaldıranlar, ölümü kaldırmalı ve kabri kapamalı!”

İkinci ve üçüncü noktalar şimdilik geri kaldı.

بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ

Risale-i Nur’un kerametlerindendir ki Üstadımız Hazretleri: “Ey mülhidler ve ey zındıklar! Risale-i Nur’a ilişmeyiniz! Risale-i Nur, âfatın def’ine sadaka gibi vesile olmasından ona karşı olan hücum ve onun tatili, âfata karşı olan müdafaasını zayıflaştırır. Eğer ilişirseniz, yakından bekleyen belalar, sel gibi üstünüze yağacaktır.” diye on senedir kerratla söylüyordu.

Bu hususta şahit olduğumuz felaketler pek çoktur. Dört seneden beri Risale-i Nur’a ve şakirdlerine her ne vakit ilişilmiş ise bir felaket, bir musibet takip etmiş ve Risale-i Nur’un ehemmiyetini ve âfatın def’ine vesile olduğunu göstermiştir.

İşte Üstadımız Bediüzzaman’ın Risale-i Nur ile haber verdiği yüzler hâdisat içinde felaketler, zelzele eliyle doğruluğunu imza ederek gelen dört felaket, Risale-i Nur’un bir vesile-i def’-i bela olduğunu gösterdi.

Cenab-ı Hak, bize ve Risale-i Nur’a taarruz edenlerin kalplerine iman ve başlarına hakikati görecek akıl ve göz ihsan etsin; bizi bu zindanlardan, onları da bu felaketlerden kurtarsın, âmin!

Hüsrev

بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

Bir cilve-i inayet-i Rabbaniyedir ki daha müdafaatımızı ve evraklarımızı ve kitapları görmeden, yalnız perde altında hissedip Maarif Vekili’nin dehşetli püskürmesi ve hücumu, Beşinci Şuâ ve Hücumat-ı Sitte’nin Zeyli gibi gayet şiddetli mahrem risaleleri en ehemmiyetli makamat, bilfiil tenkit için tetkik etmesi ve müdafaatımın ciddi, dokunaklı küfr-ü mutlaka cüretkârane darbeleri Ankara’nın bize karşı çok şiddetli davranmasını beklerken, meselenin azametine nisbeten gayet mülayimane belki musalahakârane vaziyet almış.

Ve bu cilve-i inayetin bir hikmeti de şudur: Risale-i Nur’un umum memlekete alâkası cihetiyle, umumî bir dershanede ve büyük makamatta dikkat ve merakla okunmasıdır. Evet, bu zamanda böyle yüksek bir ders, elbette böyle cem’iyetli ve küllî ve umumî dairelerde okunması, büyük bir inayettir ve küfr-ü mutlakı kırdığına bir kuvvetli emaredir.

Kardeşlerim! Herhalde bu kadar sıkıntı ve zararı çeken zayıf bir kısım aile sahipleri, bir derece Risale-i Nur’dan ve bizden çekinmek belki vazgeçmek için bir mazeret olabilir zannıyla, tahliyeden sonra değişmek ihtimaline binaen derim:

Bu derece kıymettar bir mala bu maddî ve manevî fiyat veren ve bu azabı çeken, o maldan vazgeçmek büyük bir hasarettir. Hem her birisi, Risale-i Nur’un eczalarını ve alâkadarlarını ve bizi muhafaza ve yardım ve hizmeti birden bıraksa hem ona hem bizlere lüzumsuz bir zarardır. Onun için ihtiyatla beraber, sadakati ve irtibatı ve hizmeti değiştirmemek lâzımdır.

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

Bir cilve-i inayet-i Rabbaniye ve bir himayet-i hıfz-ı İlahiyedir ki Ankara’da ehl-i vukuf heyeti, Risale-i Nur’un hakikatlerine karşı mağlup olup şiddetli tenkit ve itirazın çok esbabı var iken âdeta beraetine karar verdiklerini işittim. Halbuki mahremlerin şedit ifadeleri ve müdafaatın dokunaklı meydan okumaları ve Maarif Vekili’nin dehşetli hücumu ve ehl-i vukufun heyetinde Maarif Dairesine mensup ehemmiyetli iki maddî feylesofların ve yeni icadlara taraftar büyük bir âlimin bulunması ve bir seneden beri gizli zındıka komitesi aleyhimize Halk Fırkasını ve Maarif’i sevk etmesi cihetiyle, ehl-i vukufun pek şiddetli itirazları ve bizi ağır cezalarla ittiham etmelerini beklerken, himayet ve inayet-i Rahmaniye imdada yetişip onlara Risale-i Nur’un yüksek makamını göstererek, şiddetli tenkitlerden vazgeçirmiş.

Hattâ bizi cezalardan kurtarmak fikriyle ve Eskişehir Meselesi ve 31 Mart hâdise-i meşhuresiyle beni sâbıkalı bir mücrim-i siyasî nazarıyla baktırmamak ve sırf din ve iman için hareket ettiğimizi ve siyaset fikri bulunmadığını göstermek fikriyle demişler ki: “Said Nursî, eskiden beri ara sıra peygambere verasetlik davasında bulunur. Kur’an ve iman hizmetinde müceddidlik tavrını alır, yani bazen bir nevi cezbeye mağlup olup meczubane hareket eder.”

İşte bu fıkra ile feylesofların dinsizce tabirler ile kim olursa olsun din lehinde kuvvetli hareket edenlere: Vazifesi, müceddidlik irsiyetiyle yapıyor diye hem bir kısım kardeşlerimizin haddimden çok ziyade hüsn-ü zanlarını tenkit etmek hem bana bir cezbe isnad ile şiddetlerimde beni siyasetten ve cezadan tebrie etmek ve bize muarız ve düşman olanlarını bir derece okşamak ve işarat-ı Kur’aniye ve keramat-ı Aleviye ve Gavsiye hakikat ve kuvvetli olduklarını göstermek ve herkese kıyasen bende dahi bulunması tahminlerince muhakkak olan hubb-u câh ve enaniyet ve hodfüruşluğu kırmak için o dinsizce, feylesofane tabirini istimal etmişler.

O tabire karşı, Risale-i Nur baştan nihayetine kadar güneş gibi bir cevaptır. Ve mesleğimiz, terk-i enaniyet ve uhuvvet olmasından, bizde hodfüruşane şatahat bulunmadığından, Yeni Said’in Risale-i Nur zamanındaki mahviyetkârane hayatı ve mübarek kardeşlerinin ifratkârane hüsn-ü zanlarını hatıra bakmayarak mükerrer derslerle ta’dil etmesi, o tabir ile işmam edilen manayı tam çürütüyor, izale eder.

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

Bize ihbar edene ve yazana zarar gelmemek için şimdilik ehl-i vukufun ittifakıyla kararlarını size göndermeyeceğim. Bu son ehl-i vukuf, bütün kuvvetiyle bizi kurtarmak ve ehl-i dalalet ve bid’iyyatın şerrinden muhafaza etmek için çalışmışlar. Bize isnad edilen bütün suçlardan tebrie ediyorlar. Ve Risale-i Nur’dan tam ders aldıklarını ihsas edip Risale-i Nur’un ilmî ve imanî kısmının ekseriyet-i mutlaka ile vâkıfane yazıldığını ve Said ise hem samimi hem ciddi kanaatlerini beyan ederek ondaki kuvvet ve iktidar; isnad edildiği gibi tarîkat icadı veya cemiyet kurmak veya hükûmet ile mübareze etmek değildir, belki yalnız Kur’an’ın hakikatlerini muhtaçlara bildirmek kuvvet ve iktidarıdır diye müttefikan karar vermişler.

Ve gayr-ı ilmî tabir ettikleri mahremlere karşı demişler ki: “Bazen cezbeye ve şuurun heyecanına ve ihtilal-i ruhiyeye kapılmasından, bu eserler ile mes’ul olmamak lâzım geliyor.” manasını ifham ediyorlar.

Ve “Eski Said” “Yeni Said” tabirinde, iki şahsiyet ve ikincisinde fevkalâde bir kuvvet-i imaniye ve ilm-i hakaik-i Kur’aniye manasını, feylesofların hatırı için “Bir nevi cezbe ve ihtilal-i dimağiye ihtimali var.” diye hem bizi şiddetli tabiratın mes’uliyetinden kurtarmak hem muarızlarımızı okşamak için “Sem’ u basar cihetinde halüsinasyon hastalığı ihtimali nazar-ı dikkate alınabilir.” demişler.

Onların bu ihtimalini esasıyla çürüten, ellerine geçen ve bütün akılları geri bırakan Nur risaleleri ve bütün avukatlara hayret veren Müdafaa ve Meyve Risaleleri kâfi ve vâfi bir cevaptır. Ben çok şükrediyorum ki bir hadîs-i şerifin mazhariyeti bu ihtimal ile bana verilmiş.

Hem o ehl-i vukuf, bütün kardeşlerimizi ve beni tam tebrie edip derler: “Said’in âlimane ve vâkıfane eserlerine iman ve âhiretleri için bağlanmışlar; hiçbir cihette hükûmete karşı bir suikastlarına dair bir sarahat ve bir emare, ne muhaberelerinde ve ne de kitap ve risalelerinde bulmadık.” diye o heyetin ittifakıyla karar verip biri feylesof Necati, biri Yusuf Ziya (âlim), biri de feylesof Yusuf namlarında imza etmişler.

Latîf bir tevafuktur ki biz bu hapse kendimiz hakkında bir medrese-i Yusufiye ve Meyve Risalesi onun meyvesidir dediğimiz gibi bu iki Yusuf dahi perde altında “Biz dahi o Medrese-i Yusufiyedeki derse hissedarız.” lisan-ı halleriyle ifade etmeleridir.

Hem cezbeye latîf bir delilleridir ki: “Otuz Üçüncü Söz ve otuz üç pencereli Otuz Üçüncü Mektup” gibi tabirleri hem kendi kedisinin “Yâ Rahîm! Yâ Rahîm!” tesbihini işitmesi hem kendini bir mezar taşı görmesi, cezbe ve halüsinasyon ihtimaline delil göstermeleridir.

Said Nursî

بِاس۟مِهٖ سُب۟حَانَهُ

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim!

Madem biz, çok emarelerle inayet altındayız ve madem gayet çok ve insafsız düşmanlara karşı Risale-i Nur mağlup olmadı, Maarif Vekili’ni ve Halk Fırkasını bir derece susturdu ve madem bu kadar geniş bir sahada ve meselemizi pek ziyade i’zam ile hükûmeti telaşa düşürenler, herhalde iftiralarını ve yalanlarını bir derece setretmeye bahaneler ile çalışacaklar. Elbette bize lâzım: Kemal-i teslimiyetle sabır ve temkinde bulunmak ve bilhassa inkisar-ı hayale düşmemek ve bazen ümidin hilaf-ı zuhuruyla meyus olmamak ve muvakkat fırtınalar ile sarsılmamak!

Evet gerçi inkisar-ı hayal, ehl-i dünyada kuvve-i maneviyelerini ve şevklerini kırar fakat meşakkat ve mücahede ve sıkıntıların altında inayet ve rahmetin iltifatlarını gören Risale-i Nur şakirdlerine inkisar-ı hayal, gayretlerini ve ileri atılmasını ve ciddiyetlerini takviye etmek lâzım geliyor.

Kırk sene evvel ehl-i siyaset, bana bir cinnet-i muvakkate isnadıyla tımarhaneye sevk ettiler. Ben onlara dedim: “Sizin akıllılık dediğinizin çoğunu ben akılsızlık biliyorum, o çeşit akıldan istifa ediyorum وَ كُلُّ النَّاسِ مَج۟نُونٌ وَ لٰكِن۟ عَلٰى قَدَرِ ال۟هَوٰى اِخ۟تَلَفَ ال۟جُنُونُ kaidesini sizlerde görüyorum.” demiştim.

Şimdi dahi beni ve kardeşlerimi şiddetli bir mes’uliyetten kurtarmak fikriyle bana mahrem risale cihetiyle ara sıra bir cezbe, bir cinnet-i muvakkate isnad edenlere aynı sözleri tekrarla beraber iki cihetle memnunum:

Birisi: Hadîs-i sahihte vardır ki: “Bir adam kemal-i imanı kazandığına, avam-ı nâsın akıllarının tavrı haricindeki yüksek hallerini mecnunluk, divanelik saymaları, onun kemal-i imanına ve tam itikadına delâlet eder.” diye ferman ediyor.

İkinci cihet: Ben, bu hapisteki kardeşlerimin selâmetleri ve necatları ve zulümden kurtulmaları için değil yalnız bir divanelik isnadını, belki kemal-i fahir ve ferahla tamam aklımı ve hayatımı feda etmesini kabul ediyorum.

Hattâ siz münasip görürseniz, o üç zatlara benim tarafımdan bir teşekkürname yazılsın ve onları manevî kazançlarımıza teşrik ettiğimiz bildirilsin.

Aziz, sıddık kardeşlerim ve hizmet-i Kur’aniyede ve imaniyede hâlis arkadaşlarım ve hak ve hakikat ve berzah ve âhiret yolunda ayrılmaz yoldaşlarım!

Biz, birbirimizden ayrılmak zamanı yakın olması cihetiyle, sıkıntıdan neş’et eden gerginlikler ve kusurlar yüzünden İhlas Risalesi’nin düsturları muhafaza edilmediğinden, siz birbirinizle tamam helâlleşmek lâzımdır ve zarurîdir. Siz, birbirinize en fedakâr nesebî kardeşten daha ziyade kardeşsiniz. Kardeş ise kardeşinin kusurunu örter, unutur ve affeder.

Ben burada hilaf-ı me’mul ihtilafınızı ve enaniyetinizi nefs-i emmareye vermiyorum ve Risale-i Nur şakirdlerine yakıştıramıyorum; belki nefs-i emmaresini terk eden evliyalarda dahi bulunan bir nevi muvakkat enaniyet telakki ediyorum. Siz benim bu hüsn-ü zannımı inat ile kırmayınız, barışınız.

Kardeşlerim!

Ehl-i vukuf raporundan anlaşılıyor ki: Risale-i Nur, bize karşı bütün muarız taifeleri mağlup ediyor ki “Hüccetullahi’l-Bâliğa” ve “İhtiyar” ve “İhlas” Risalelerine tekrar ile nazar-ı dikkati celbediyorlar. Hem gayet sathî ve cevapları pek zâhir ve güya mutaassıbane hocavari tenkitleri ve hiç münasebeti olmayan ve hakiki mütetabık olan meseleleri anlamadan “Mabeynlerinde tezat var.” demeleri ve risalelerin yüzde doksanını tamamıyla çekinmeyerek tasdik ve takdirleri ve teslimleri ve Hücumat-ı Sitte Zeyli’nin pek şiddetli bir surette yeni icadlara fetva verenleri cerh ve tezyif etmesine mukabil, yalnız nezahet-i lisaniye değil demişler. Ve dinsizler tarafından öldürülen mazlum ve dindar Hristiyanlar, âhir zamanda bir nevi şehit olabilir dediğimi; baş açık namaz kılmak ve Türkçe ezan okumaya Zeyl’in şiddet-i hücumunu zıt göstermeleri ile iktifa etmeleri, kat’iyen onların Risale-i Nur’a karşı mağlubiyetlerini gösteriyor kanaatini veriyor.

Said Nursî

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