impossibility of translating it, and pointing out the evil intentions of those who were urging it.
For example, some people said that words of the Qur'an and those used by the Prophet (PBUH) in various prayers and supplications illuminate man's inner faculties and are spiritual sustenance for him. Just the words are not enough if their meaning is not known. The words are like clothes; if they are changed, would that not be more beneficial? To which Bediuzzaman replied:
"The words of the Qur'an and those of the glorifications of the Prophet (PBUH) are not lifeless clothes; they are like the living skin of a body. Indeed, with the passage of time, they have become the skin. Clothes can be changed, but if skin is changed it is harmful to the body. Indeed, the blessed words like those in the prescribed prayers and in the call to prayer, for example, have become the signs and marks of their accepted meanings. And as for signs and names, they cannot be changed." Bediuzzaman then goes on to say that whenever they are repeated, each of man's subtle inner senses takes its share from these phrases, whereas if they are in a language other than the revealed Arabic of the Qur'an, man's spirit remains in darkness, and he becomes heedless of the Divine presence. So also Bediuzzaman provides arguments stating it to be contrary to the Seriat to change these `marks of Islam'.
In another letter after pointing out that it was blind imitation of Europe that was the source of these attempts to change the `marks of Islam', as in all bad things; Bediuzzaman stressed the importance of an environment which constantly reminds Muslims of the meanings of these sacred phrases, and instructs them in them - these phrases which are "each a seed of the pillars of belief."
Bediuzzaman said that when the proposal was first made to translate the Qur'an, it was part of the conspiracy against the Qur'an and was made with the direct intention of discrediting it. "But," he wrote, "the irrefutable arguments of the Risale-i Nur have proved that a true translation of the Qur'an is not possible. No other language can preserve the subtle points and fine qualities of the