what our naive brothers and those who are not yet accustomed to being cautious, say. The spies make mountains out of molehills and may inform on them. Our situation now is no joking matter. Nevertheless, do not be at all worried. We are under Divine protection and are resolved to meet all hardships with perfect patience, indeed, with thanks. We are obliged to offer thanks, for a small amount of hardship yields plentiful mercy and reward.

S a i d N u r s i

***

In His Name, be He glorified!

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

For two important reasons, and in consequence of a powerful warning, I have been obliged to leave, with respect to the heart, the task of all the defences to the Risale-i Nur students who have been sent here and will be its leading students in the future, especially H, R, T, F, S.73

First Reason: I understood certainly both in the examining magistrate’s office, and from numerous other signs, that as far as they possibly can they are trying to make difficulties for me and to prevent me defeating them intellectually, and that they have received official communications. They are not allowing me to speak on various pretexts as though if I do, I shall display political and scholarly prowess sufficient to silence the court, and practised diplomats. In fact, while being questioned, I replied “I don’t know” to one of the questions. In astonishment the judge asked: “How could someone of your extraordinary intelligence forget something?” They suppose the wondrous elevatedness of the Risale-i Nur and its scholarly findings to be the product of my thought and they have taken fright. They do not want to let me speak. Also, they think that anyone who meets with me immediately becomes a devoted Risale-i Nur student, so they do not allow me to meet with anyone. The Head of the Directorate of Religious Affairs even said: “Whoever meets with him is immediately drawn to him; his power to attract is considerable.”

This means that the best thing for us now is for me to hand over