the understanding like telescopes, so that they are readily understandable by ordinary people and those with no previous knowledge of these questions.
Another aspect of the Risale-i Nur related to the face of the Qur’an which looks to this age, is that it explains everything from the point of view of wisdom; that is, as is mentioned again below, it explains the purpose of everything. It considers things from the point of view of the Divine Name of All-Wise.
Also, following this method, in the Risale-i Nur Bediuzzaman solved many mysteries of religion, such as bodily resurrection and Divine Determining and man’s will, and the riddle of the constant activity in the universe and the motion of particles, before which man, relying on his own intellect and philosophy, had been impotent.
While in Barla, Bediuzzaman put the treatise on Resurrection and the pieces that followed it together in the form of a collection and gave it the name of The Words (Sözler). The pieces were thirty-two in number, the thirty-third was added later. The treatise on Resurrection became the Tenth Word. The first nine are short, simple pieces describing through the use of comparisons the virtues and benefits of belief and of worship -- in the Risale-i Nur are many analyses and comparisons of guidance and misguidance, belief and unbelief, which point out the grievous pains of unbelief and demonstrate that man’s true happiness and progress are only to be found in recognition of the world’s Owner and submission to Him.
The Words that follow the Tenth comprise numerous subjects, all of great importance; among them are the Twelfth and Thirteenth Words and their comparisons between the Qur’an and philosophy; the explanations of Divine Unity, Oneness, and God’s closeness to us and our distance from Him in the Sixteenth and Thirty-Second Words; the proofs of the Qur’an’s miraculousness in the Twenty-Fifth Word, which answers in particular criticisms made by atheists and scientists; the Twenty-Sixth on Divine Determining and man’s faculty of will; the immortality of man’s spirit, the angels and resurrection in the Twenty-Ninth Word; and the nature of man’s ego and the transformation of minute particles of the Thirtieth. Readers may refer to the Contents at the beginning of the book for details. The Words was followed by Mektubat, Letters, a collection of thirty-three letters of varying lengths from Bediuzzaman to his students. And this was followed by Lem’alar, The Flashes Collection, and Şualar, The Rays Collection, which was completed in 1949. Included in these last two are Bediuzzaman’s defence speeches from the trials at Eskişehir in 1935, and Afyon in 1948-9. Together with these are three collections of letters, one for each of Bediuzzaman’s main places of exile: Barla Lahikası, Kastamonu Lahikası, and Emirdağ Lahikası.
The way the Risale-i Nur was written and disseminated was unique, like the work itself. Bediuzzaman would dictate at speed to a scribe, who would write down the piece in question with equal speed; the actual writing was very quick. Bediuzzaman had no books for reference and the writing of religious works was