disclosures of simple-minded and rash students, and have employed every means to wreck us and make us regret our way, and have even mobilized Shaykh Abdülhakim against us. But they have ruined him the same as they have ruined us and Shaykh Abdülbaki and Shaykh Süleyman, who has objected to me from time to time, so your denials to them and your running away will make absolutely no difference to what they think, and what they call “discretionary conviction,” just as it made no difference in Eskishehir.

Fifth Point: We have understood certainly through our experiences of both here and Eskishehir that due to it all being the same case, our greatest need is for complete solidarity. Taking offence and being irritable and critical due to the hardships doubles the wretchedness of our plight. Regretably, it was you that I had the most confidence in and trusted most. Sometimes when I feel a twinge of anxiety, I think of Kamil Hoja and Siddik Hoja from Istanbul and the people in the province of Kastamonu who have displayed an extraordinary loyalty, and my anxiety evaporates. Be careful that the secret organization that supports absolute disbelief does not infiltrate you. It infiltrated the ward next to me and caused me indescribable torment. Discuss this among yourselves now without argument; I shall accept your decision. But if in your discussions you take into consideration the possibility that if my defence goes to Ankara and is studied there the court here may come to a decision about those whose release is possible; and the possibility that those who struggle against us, and exiled Abdülbaki, Abdülhakim, and Haji Süleyman, and made Yesil Semsi remain here after he had been officially released, will not release those like Hafiz Mehmed and Seyyid Sefik, with their firm adherence to religion and refusal to bow before the dead leader and his picture, and their demonstrating their lack of support for atheism and innovations. You should also take into consideration that it is of the greatest importance that the Risale-i Nur emerges from obscurity and in a momentous general question at a time they are contesting themselves in their centres, the hesitant and bewildered people of belief can find the students behind them and by not running away it can be shown to them that the students are bound to an unshakeable and invincible truth. Beware! Take no notice of each other’s faults; have respect instead of feeling angry, and help each other rather than being critical.

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