this: many Arabic hocas now come to this impotent, humble wretch and are in wonder at what he has studied. Those who have previously received training from perfect guides come and are captivated by the words they hear from me. Many hocas come in all humility and get me to read the Risale-i Nur. If my voice was sufficiently powerful I would shout with all my strength to the young people on the earth: "Writing and studying the Risale-i Nur seriously is superior to studying in a medrese for twenty years and more beneficial!.. ..."

• The Risale-i Nur Spreads

By degrees the Risale-i Nur was disseminated as the writing of it became more widespread. Particularly in the area of Isparta, there were eventually thousands of Students of the Risale-i Nur, men and women, young and old, who devoted themselves to writing out copies of it. Of Lhese Students, there were some who did not emerge from their houses for seven or eight years. In the village of Sav even, which came to be known as the Nur School, the treatises of the Risale-i Nur were duplicated by literally a thousand pens. And this continued for a considerable number of years. A duplicating machine was first used continuously in Inebolu in 1946 or 47, while it was not till 1956 that it was possible to print the whole Risale-i Nur Collection, and in the new script. The number given for hand-written copies of the various parts of the Risale-i Nur is six hundred thousand.
Radiating out from Bediuzzaman himself through these Students of the Risale-i Nur was a courage and hope which countered the pervading air of defeat and despair engendered by the pressure, propaganda, and terror directed against Islam and those who practised it. This courage and hope were contagious and generated a positive movement which eventually spread through the whole country. And so too all these Students were undaunted by the intimidation and official efforts to prevent them. They suffered every sort of persecution. They lived under the constant threat of having their houses raided and searched for copies of the Risale-i Nur.