The same had been true to an extent in Eskisehir, but in Denizli Prison the most hardened criminals even learned how to perform the prayers and recite the Qur'an. and some to assist Bediuzzaman’s students in writing out copies of the Risale-i Nur. Bediuzzaman was kept in solitary confinement under the most appalling conditions in a minute damp, dark cell. He was again poisoned on several occasions. Undoubtedly the intention was to do away with him, and anyway the most important of his students. Two in fact died during the nine months they were held, one of which was Hafiz Ali from the village of Islamköy near Isparta. It was widely believed he had been poisoned. Nevertheless, Bediuzzaman relentlessly continued his struggle. His students were forbidden to visit or speak with him, so he wrote them numerous notes and letters encouraging and consoling them , guiding them , and directing the writing-out and copying of these and the Risale-i Nur. Then he wrote the e y Fruits of Belief. And he wrote also his petitions and defence speeches. Since he and his students were charged with virtually the same `crimes as in Eskisehir and he offered the same defence in Afyon Court some four years later in 1948-9, it shall be described only briefly in this chapter.

• Life in Denizli Prison

The Students who had been gathered together in Isparta were transported to Denizli by train. Handcuffed in pairs, they were packed into windowless coal and straw wagons. Bediuzzaman was handcuffed to a ninety-year-old villager called Hasan Dayi from the village of Sav near Isparta who was so weak Bediuzzaman virtually had to carry him. Their handcuffs were not unfastened during the journey. Of the one hundred and twenty-six Risale-i Nur Students who were taken to Denizli from all over 'Turkey, in all seventy-three entered the prison and the remainder were released . Those from Kastamonu, Inebolu, and Istanbul were brought some two months later. They were then put in with the long-term and condemned prisoners.
The prison was new and outside the town, yet despite this it was