IN THE NAME OF GOD,THE MERCIFUL, THE COMPASSIONATE

And from Him do we seek help

             The First Letter

                       In His Name, be He glorified!

  And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.1

[This consists of the brief answers to four questions.]

FIRST QUESTION

Is Khidr alive? If he is alive, why do some leading religious scholars not accept it?

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Th e   A n s w e r : He is alive, but there are five levels of life. He is at the second. It is because of this that some religious scholars have been doubtful about it.

The First Level of Life is that of our life, which is very restricted.

The Second  Level  of  Life is that  of Khidr  and  Ilyas  (May God  grant  them peace), which is free to an extent. That is to say, they can be present in numerous places at the same time. They are not permanently restricted by the requirements of humanity like we are. They can eat and drink like us when they want to,  but  are  not  compelled  to  like  we  are.  Saints  who  attain  to  direct  vision  and knowledge of reality have reported virtually unanimously their adventures with Khidr and these elucidate and prove this level of life. One of the degrees of sainthood, even, is called the degree of Khidr. A saint who reaches it receives instruction from Khidr and  meets  with  him.  But  it  sometimes  happens  that  such  a person  is mistakenly thought to be Khidr himself.

1 Bediuzzaman explained as follows his reasons for heading his letters with this verse (17:44): “This was the first door opened to me from the sacred treasuries of the All-Wise Qur’an. Of the divine truths of the Qur’an, it was the truth of this verse that first became clear to me and it is this truth that pervades most parts of the Risale-i Nur. Another reason is that the masters in whom I have confidence used it at the head of their letters.” (See, Barla Lahikası, 335.) (Tr.)