my work to you. And my old and new defence speeches, which you have, should take part in your consultations in my place. That is sufficient.

The Second Reason: This is being left to another time. However, a brief indication of that warning is this: an extremely powerful duty which looks to the hereafter and an effective state of mind, which for twenty-five years have made me give up politics, newspapers, and other transitory things, and prevented me being occupied with them, are most definitely preventing me being preoccupied with this question in detail. When consulting with your two defence lawyers, you may sometimes discuss my duty too.

***

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

This was imparted to me now as I was performing the prayers: because of their excessively good opinion of you, your brothers await instruction and assistance, both material and spiritual, from you. Just as in worldly affairs you have handed things over to the ‘special’ (has) students, leaving them to the leading students (erkan) to confer over, and you were right to do so, so you have appointed the Risale-i Nur and the collective personality of its students to perform your scholarly work related to belief, the Qur’an and the hereafter, and the collective personality of those purely sincere ‘special’ students performs that duty of yours much more completely than you, in addition to the duties of its members. They always have done so up to now. For instance, someone who meets with you and receives brief, minor instruction and a little advice, may receive from a single part of the Risale-i Nur instruction a hundred times greater. They may also receive advice from it. Thinking that their collective personality, whose ‘station’ is extremely elevated and prayers acceptable, is an ‘Ustad’ and helper who, God willing, is always with them, it was consolation for my spirit, and good news, and made me feel at peace.