Biography of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi | PART ONE - The Old Said | 24
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· Bitlis
Molla Said remained some while in Siirt, then, rather than continuing his journey to Baghdad returned to Bitlis and the medrese of Seyh Emin. There, as before, the Seyh dismissed Said as too young to understand anything. Unable to endure being treated in this way; Molla Said requested once again that he be given the opportunity to prove himself.
So Seyh Emin asked him sixteen questions on various most difficult subjects, all of which Molla Said answered correctly and without hesitation. The Seyh then set him a literary riddle in the form of three letters from the Arabic alphabet written without diacritical points thus: [ A1] Said had to compose a twelve-word sentence using only letters of those shapes and adding the points. They contain a total of ten possibilities with regard to the points distinguishing the different letters, and twelve with regard to the vowels, making a total in all of one hundred and twenty. Molla Said found all those possibilities within three days and composed the sentence accordingly, proving once again his intelligence. He then went to the Kureys mosque and began to preach to the people.
Said became very popular, drawing a large number of the people of Bitlis to listen to him. But it resulted in two factions forming in the town, those who supported him and those who supported Seyh Emin. To forestall any trouble arising from this situation, the Governor expelled Molla Said from Bitlis, and he made his way from there to Sirvan.
· Sirvan
As Said's fame grew so did his difficulties. Some teachers and lesser scholars whom he had previously defeated in debate constantly sought opportunities to reduce his prestige in the eyes of the people. They had him watched and followed, and one day when he missed the time for the morning prayer and performed it late, they started a rumour among the people saying: "Molla Said has given up performing the obligatory prayers." When asked the meaning of
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Biography of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi