Biography of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi | PART ONE - The Old Said | 23
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News of these events spread around Siirt and on hearing it, the ulema of the area gathered together and invited Said to a debate and to answer their questions. Said accepted, and both defeated them in debate and was successful in answering all their questions. Those present were full of praise and admiration for him and when the people of Siirt came to hear of it, they regarded Molla Said as something of a veli, or saint. However, all this aroused the jealousy of the lesser scholars and students in the area, who, since they were unable to defeat him in argument or in learning, tried to do so by force. They set upon him one day, but the people intervened and prevented any harm coming to Said, who told the gendarmes who arrived on the scene, having been sent by the Governor:
"We are students; we fight and make it up again. It is better if no one outside our profession interferes. The fault was mine."
Said answered in this way out of his extreme respect for the learned profession, which he felt would be slighted by the interference of the ignorant and uneducated, although it was to assist him.
After this incident, Said always carried a short dagger with him in order to deter those tempted to fight him. He was strong and agile and now came to be known as Said-i Meshur, Said the Famous. He challenged all the ulema and students in Siirt to debates, letting it be known that he never asked questions, but answered anyone who chose to put questions to him. He also competed in sports and physical feats, and demonstrated his superiority in these too. One day in Siirt, he challenged a friend, Molla Celal, to jump a water canal. He himself cleared the broad canal successfully, then stood back to watch his friend. Molla Celal took a running jump, but alas, not being as athletic as Said, landed in the mud at the edge of it.
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Biography of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi