Biography of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi | PART ONE - The Old Said | 13
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debate, he was made much of by the others, and was held in great esteem. This appealed to the young Said, too.
In addition, more than being merely independent-minded, it was as though from his very earliest years, Said was reaching for or was being driven to discover a way other than that which those around him followed, as the following, written by some of his students, shows:
"Our Master himself said: `When I was eight or nine years old, contrary to my family and everyone else in the vicinity, who were attached to the Naksi tarikat and used to seek assistance from a famous figure called Gavs-i Hizan, I used to say: `O Gavs-ı Geylani!' since I was a child. if some insignificant thing like a walnut got lost, [I would say] `O Seyh! I'll say a Fatiha for you and you find this thing for me!' It is strange and yet I swear that a thousand times the venerable Seyh came to my assistance through his prayers and saintly influence. Therefore, however many Fatihas and supplications I have uttered in general in my life, after the Person of the Prophet (PBUH), they have been offered for Seyh-i Geylani. While I am a Naksi in three or four respects, the Kadiri way and love of it prevail in me involuntarily. But preoccupation [with study of the religious sciences] prevented my becoming involved with the tarikat."' Although, as is stated here, Said never joined a tarikat or followed the Sufi path - he was later to describe Sufism as being inappropriate for the needs of the modem age, his close relationship with Seyh Abdulkadir Geylani continued throughout his life; on many occasions throughout his life Said received guidance and assistance through his saintly influence.
· Said Begins His Studies
Said started his studies at the age of nine. He appears now as a pugnacious child. prone to quarrelling with both his peers and his elders. But this sprang not from any innate fault, but from the frustration at bearing within him a great and brilliant spirit which as yet could find no way to express itself, and at the incomprehension which he often met with, from both his teachers and his fellows.
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Biography of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi