cers who were being held as prisoners-of-war. I used to give them religious instruction from time to time. One day the Russian commander came and he saw this, and said: “This Kurd was made a militia commander and he slaughtered many of our men. Now he’s giving political instruction here. I am forbidding this. He must give no instruction.” Two days later he again came, and this time permitted it, saying: “Since what you are teaching is not political, but religious and moral, you may continue.”
During my second captivity, here in this prison, the court officials forbade one of my close brothers to come to me, although he has listened to my reading from the Risale-i Nur for twenty years, and himself reads better than I do. Neither did they permit those who attend to my essential needs to come, lest they received instruction from me. However, the Risale-i Nur leaves no need for other teaching, and we have no other teachings, and we have no secrets that have not been divulged. Anyway, certain circumstances have made me cut a long story short.
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In His Name, be He glorified!
My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
Two or three times I have been afflicted with an important state of mind. Thirty years ago it made me leave Istanbul’s glittering social life while I was in the Darü’l-Hikmeti’l-Islâmiye and took me up the high hill known as Yûsha Tepesi, where it did not even permit me to have the late Abdurrahman, who was in Istanbul and was the first student and hero of the Risale-i Nur, with me to attend to my needs. Now the first stages of a state of mind similar to that revolution of the spirit, which showed up the nature of the New Said, have begun in me. I reckon it is a sign a Third Said will appear, who will abandon the world altogether. That means, the Risale-i Nur and its heroic students will perform my duties, and no need remains for me. Anyway, all the comprehensive parts of the Risale-i Nur and all its unshakeable, sincere students give instruction far better than me.
Firstly: I have surmised from a number of signs that of the collections that have been published, it is the Guide For Youth that they give most importance to. I reckon that Hüve Nüktesi (The Air: A Window Onto