Whenever  their power and will are perfected, then their sustenance does not hasten to them and is not made to do so. The sustenance remains in its place, saying: “Come and search for me and take me!” That is to say, sustenance is in inverse proportion to power and will. We have indeed explained in many parts of the Risale-i Nur that animals most lacking in will and power are better nourished and live better than those with greater will and power.

S e c o n d P o i n t : There are different sorts of possibility, like reasonable possibility, customary possibilit y, and ordinary possibility. If an event is not within the bounds of reasonable possibility, it is rejected, and if it is not within the bounds of customary possibility, it is a miracle but may not easily be wonder-working. If there is nothing similar to it, either according to common usage or in principle, it can only be accepted through a categorical proof as clear as witnessing.

In consequence of this, the extraordinary states of Sayyid Ahmad Badawi,2  who for forty days refrained from eating bread even, are within the bounds of customary

possibility. It may have been both wonder-working and an habitual practice out of the ordinary.  Yes,  there  are  numerous  unanimous  reports  concerning  Sayyid  Ahmad Badawi’s (May his mystery be sanctified) wondrous states and absorption in ecstasy. On occasion, he ate only once in forty days, but he did not do that all the time; he achieved it sometimes as an instance of wonder-working. It possibly became a habit for him because he did not feel the need to eat while in a state of ecstasy. Wonders of this sort have been reliably narrated about many saints of his kind. As we proved in the first Point, stored-up sustenance remains undepleted for more than forty days, and it is possible not to eat for that length of time through habit, and such a state has been reliably reported about people who were out of the ordinary.  It  therefore cannot be denied.

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2   Sayyid Ahmad Badawi (d. 675/1276). He was born in Morocco and eventually settled in Tanta in Egypt. He is famous as one of the four Spiritual Poles whose saintly powers persisted after their deaths.