My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
I was worrying because I hadn't received Husrev's letter written by himself; and no reply had arrived concerning the collections I had sent to Konya; and because our enemies and foremost the Minister of the Interior together with the anarchists were all pressurizing me; and because some of the dissemblers here had learnt from certain simple‑hearted friends of ours that I had sent books to both Eskişehir and Konya and had received The Staff of Moses collections. Then suddenly in unprecedented fashion in this season, one and a half metres of snow fell and there was a terrible blizzard and cold spell. I wondered if such anger and wrath could be connected with the Risale-i Nur and its students, like the four earthquakes and drought last year. I asked if the calamity was general or just limited to the provinces of Afyon and Eskişehir,
and they replied that it was limited to them.
So I exclaimed: “All praise be to God! That means there is no general attack on the Risale‑i Nur and its students; only on myself and the treatises I have with me.” I had reckoned that Eskişehir, which I so trusted, would be a Nur School like Denizli, but it remained ten degrees below Denizli, the reason for which was the situation scaring them, like with Afyon and Emirdağ. Anyway, don't worry; just like with the Istanbul secular schools, God willing, this weather incident has caused the covert Masons to give up the new assault they were intending. Divine providence is protecting us.
Secondly: This time I received seven or eight letters. My situation, pen, and time do not permit me to write personal replies, so don't be offended. We added the letters from Mehmed Feyzi and Emin to The Additional Letters without touching them. I did not interfere with them since both of them have served me personally for eight years, and their descriptions which far exceed my due are a sort of prayer and source of encouragement and contentment, and a sign of good will and loyalty towards their Master in so far as he is the interpreter of the Risale‑i Nur, and of their belief and attachment. And it is appropriate that Feyzi's description of his mother's beautiful, luminous death due to the lessons of the Risale-i Nur, a shining example of how it comes to the aid of its students at the time of death and other times of difficulty, should be included among The Additional Letters.
An immediate reply to Halil İbrahim's letter asking numerous questions about the whys and wherefores of divine decree and determining, would allow us to strive to perform good works, and would attract everyone's attention to the Risale‑i Nur and get them to read it. But since it would call to mind some sort of objection to divine decree and determining, it would be inappropriate for general circulation in The Additional Letters. However, the sections and invocations at the end of the letter taken from Jaushan al-Kabir are very fine.
Thirdly: Husrev's letter telling of the eager services for the Risale‑i Nur performed by Lame 'Ali of Atabey and Kâzım of Eğirdir prompt even spirit beings to praise and applaud them. And the letter to me of fourteen-year-old Mustafa Yeşil of Ali Köyü and his father, describing their services for both the Qur'an and the Risale-i Nur, and all the innocents of that village working for the Risale-i Nur through the efforts and endeavours of the three 'Ali's, drove not only myself but all the Nur students to applaud them and offer thanks.
Fourthly: Abdurrahman Salâhaddin's belated condolences at the end of the letter Feyzi wrote on the occasion of his mother's death, and his writing in a postscript that he did not accept that I had died, and that in some way Gawth al‑A'zam's protection had passed to The Staff of Moses, made me weep for joy. Also, the Safranbolu heroes participating in the epics of Mehmed Feyzi and Emin; and a general course for the Arabic script and letters being inaugurated in the centre of government and this being a sign of The Staff of Moses' conquests and its wonderworking, and good tidings, caused me the greatest joy and reduced to nothing all the distress I had suffered this winter.
Molla Mehmed of Tavas, one of Denizli's devoted hardworking people, has sent letter which is short in words but long in meaning, from which I understood that he did not believe that I had died either, and that he attributes to me much greater worth than is my due.
I send many greetings both to him, and to my brothers whom I met in prison, and to Feyzi and Hâfız Mustafa and their friends.
Saîd Nursî,who sends greetings to all the brothers, and whoexperiences the healing property of your prayers.