mystery: man is in the form of Ya. Sin., inscribed in him is the Sura Ya. Sin.

108. Materialism is a spiritual plague which has infected man with a fearsome fever, causing him to be vis-ited by Divine wrath. The more the ability to incul-cate and criticize expands, so does that plague spread.

109. The most wretched, distressed, and suffering of men is the man with no work. For idleness is the cousin of non-existence, while striving is the life of existence and the waking state of life.

110. Profiting from banks, the doors of usury and inter-est, is for the infidels, who are the worst of man-kind, and for the most tyrannous of the former, and for the most base of the latter. They are the cause of absolute harm for the World of Islam, so man-kind’s affluence should not be taken into considera-tion. For if the infidels are warmongers and aggres-sive, so too they are without respect and honour.

111. The Khutba in the Friday Prayers is for mention-ing the essentials and incontestable matters of relig-ion, not for instructing in theoretical matters. The Arabic terms recall these in more elevated fashion. If Hadiths and Qur’anic verses are balanced, it will be apparent that even the most eloquent of men cannot attain to the verses’ eloquence, and cannot resemble them.

S a i d N u r s i