age, and on the other, he was training these students in the way of the Risale-i Nur for their important future roles in the movement.
It was at this time that Bediuzzaman starting holding readings and study of the Risale-i Nur (ders) as a group. This practice was followed by Risale-i Nur Students all over the country and became the hallmark and central feature of the Risale-i Nur movement. Bediuzzaman and his students held these readings after the morning prayers and very often they would continue for as much as five or six hours. All present would read out loud in turn from one of the books of the Risale-i Nur, and Bediuzzaman would explain and illustrate it. Bayram Yüksel, who has provided the most details of these years, writes that Bediuzzaman "had the energy and youth of someone of twenty, growing younger the more he read", while his young students did not have the endurance to keep going for that length of time.
In his account, Bayram Yüksel gives many personal details about Bediuzzaman, about his food, his dress and his cleanliness, the awe-inspiring manner in which he performed the five daily prayers - always just as the time for each had been entered, how he was never idle, the importance he attached to the prompt and efficient carrying out of any matter in hand, and to the correction of proofs and hand-written copies of the Risale-i Nur. He describes his extreme frugality, and also his kindness to animals. In connection with this last he writes that when going for excursions in the countryside, Bediuzzaman would study `the Great Book of the Universe', and urge them to study it. He had affection for all creatures and extraordinary compassion for them. This interest and compassion extended to all the creatures they encountered from dogs to ants. He also tells of how in the house in Isparta, which was a traditional house made of wood, the mice used to eat all the books and papers they put in the loft for safekeeping except copies of the Risale-i Nur. Bediuzzaman used to say that the mice would not harm them, and indeed they did not. Bayram Yüksel goes on to say that he witnessed many things of this nature, but that he did not record them as Bediuzzaman did not wish attention to be drawn to kerametler, or