In the preface I wrote about the great Iqbal, I said: "When reading about the lives of great people, and lofty memories of them, and stories, one feels one has entered another world. One's heart is seared by the pure fire of love and is enveloped in a divine effusion. History sometimes tells us of men so great others seem small in comparison.
When recalling the great who honoured history,
The spirit rises to broad worlds from the earth;
It is flooded with a thousands scents
From the rose gardens of the Paradise of the past.
This profound truth overwhelms me in all its splendour as I write this preface. For the work I am presenting to our esteemed readers with all sincerity and good will, belongs to the conqueror of hearts, Bediuzzaman Saîd Nursî, every stage of whose long and fruitful life of nearly a century witnessed thousands of wonders; and to his Risale‑i Nur Collection, which consists of one hundred and thirty parts; and to the Risale-i Nur Students, whose fine conduct and virtues, sincerity and good will, belief and knowledge, offer worthy examples not only to one age group in one country, but to the whole world of humanity.
The introduction to a book is said to summarize the work, but how could the contents of this mighty book, every topic of which is too pro‑ found and comprehensive to be contained in a single independent work, be contained in the few pages of the introduction?
Never in anything I have written, either poetry or prose, have I felt myself to be at such a loss and so bewildered. So those who will read this work with real pleasure, divine happiness, and joyous excitement, will be amazed to see that from his childhood Bediuzzaman was a distinguished scholar whose education was exceptional and who throughout his life was the recipient of divine manifestations.
Having studied this great human being in the minutest detail, as well as his works and students, and having lived in that world of light with my spirit, mind, and senses, I learnt through some lines of an ancient Arab poet that he expressed a most profound truth: “It is not difficult for Almighty God to bring together in one person the whole world.”
The numbers are every day increasing of those who, receiving effulgent inspiration from the loftiness of his goal and cause, and the sublimity of his belief, are drawn to this spiritual pole.
This amazing fact on the one hand angers the deniers, and on the other delights the believers.
See how a great mujahid described this divine phenomenon, which is like a bond in the hearts of believers, in an incomparable style that addresses the heart:
“At this black time when the flooding filth of immorality threatens to sweep down in every direction and carry away whatever virtue exists, I find solace in seeing that the outflowing of his, that is, Bediuzzaman's, grace passes from heart to heart like a secret, swelling to irresistible proportions. Our nights have indeed become dark, but the darkest hour presages the coming dawn.”
Yes, everyone who in every part of the country sees the effulgent effects of this irresistible light, spreading from heart to heart, asks in amazement: “Who is this person whose fame has spread to every corner of the country? What sort of person is he? What has he written? What is his outlook? Has he founded a Sufi order, or a religious community, or a political organization?”
More than this, there have been numerous enquiries instigated by the government and judiciary, and there have been lengthy investigations and protracted court cases. But these have all concluded that this divine manifestation consists only of “a faith movement” established in people's hearts. Divine justice has been manifested in this way; Bediuzzaman Saîd Nursî and his works have been formally acquitted. And now the eternally immutable divine laws, that spirit will always prevail over matter, truth over falsehood, light over darkness, and belief over denial, have appeared like the sun.
It is said the truest criterion for judging the nature, integrity, truth, and sincerity of a reformer of any sort, is the differences in his personal, social, and spiritual life from the day he first annouced his cause and the day he won victory.
For example, in the early days of his mission, he is modest, generous, self‑sacrificing, and humble; he is a perfectly upright and honest, distinguished by his example of virtue and morality. But how is he when he triumphs in his jihad, and he is beloved and feted by everyone; is he still the model of sobriety? Or like many supposedly great persons, drunken with victory, does he become arrogant and overweening?
This is the clearest mirror for displaying the true nature and character of any man with a cause, great or small.
Throughout history, the most brilliant examples of those who have won this terrible trial, have been furnished by firstly the prophets, and especially the Lord of the Prophets (Peace and blessings be upon him), then his Companions and successors, and then the great persons who have followed in his way.
With his miraculous eloquence, the Prophet pointed out with his saying: The scholars are the heirs of the prophets, that it is no easy matter to be a scholar of religion.
For since they are the heirs of the prophets, they have to adhere faithfully to the path of the prophets in questions of truth and its dissemination — even if it passes over rocky mountain, wilderness, muddy bog, stony desert, or abyss; or worse, if they suffer arrest, trial, and imprisonment; exile, isolation, poison, and the gallows; and whatever other unimaginable forms of persecution, oppression, and torture.
Bediuzzaman was such a person; all his life he trod that rough path and for over half a century pursued that sacred jihad, overcoming as lightning the innumerable obstacles confronting him, and proving by act that he was a scholar who was heir to the prophets.
Of all his numerous virtues, scholarly, moral, and literary, what captivates me most was his belief; it was firmer than mountains, deeper than the ocean, and broader than the skies.
O Lord, what sublime belief! What enduring, inexhaustible patience! What a steel will! His head unbowed, his voice unlowered, his breath uncaught, despite all that oppression, repression, torment, and torture, which make one shudder.
At a time I wrote the poem called Mujahid, with the ebullient inspiration I received from the great Iqbal's poetry, some readers suggested that the following lines went too far in their poetic extravagance.
However, any‑ one who reads the masterpiece for which I am writing this introduction, will understand some of God Almighty's servants can do anything and everything if their belief reaches the point of perfection!
If resolve enters a believing heart,
And a person reaches the final point of belief,
The bloodiest death will not restrain him,
A volcano's molten lava will not halt him.
The inspiration from his Lord strengthens his resolve,
Every night the Prophet appears to him in dreams.
Light is the constant mihrab of his believing heart,
Worldly light cannot illumine his horizon.
Neither blizzard nor storm nor pain disconcerts him;
All his life he passes in the cool summer shade.
While here he beholds the worlds of Paradise,
Like a mountain chain, unbending under ruinous blows.
Even if towering cliffs press in on him,
The moon sets, the sun dies, the sky darkens,
And the skies fall — still he does not abdicate his way,
The torch of belief in his spirit never flickers.
How sacred his belief, surging up in his heart!
A voice ever calling out to his conscience:
Traveller, hasten on! The dawn's breaking, don't tarry!
Grasp the torch! Streak the darkness with crimson and ochre!
Step up to the stars, rise to lofty worlds!
A hand's stretched down from Paradise to save humanity.
These lines were as though written for Bediuzzaman, the hero of belief and supreme mujahid. For these are his attributes. See what Almighty God promises the mujahids in this verse:
And those who strive in Our [cause] — We will certainly guide them to Our paths; for indeed, God is with those who do right
That is, with those strivers who worship God as though they were seeing Him.
Thus, Almighty God promises that He will point out the ways of truth and guidance to those who strive to their utmost for the sake of the Qur'an and belief, renouncing the world and their own selves. Almighty God never breaks his promise; however, the conditions have to be met so that the promise can be fulfilled.
The verse illuminates us as to how we should understand Ustad's character and personality; in its shining light, we can perceive its finest, most subtle points. Because a person who receives the bounty of Almighty God's protection no longer feels such things as fear, anxiety, sorrow, distress, boredom, and so on.
What clouds can darken the skies of a heart illumined with God's light? What fleeting hopes and desires, what wretched favours and bounties, what vulgar goals and ambitions can satisfy the spirits of God's servants who attain to a constant sense of His presence?
Allah is his friend, preceptor, and protector;
All his senses and feelings turn into light on recalling Him!
Continuously rising to climes of knowledge,
What horizons the Qur'an unfolds in his spirit!
It recalls to him the vow of “Am I not your Lord?”
Since pre‑eternity the lover is intoxicated with that emanation.
Thus, Bediuzzaman was an exceptional person who received grace so wondrous, prisons were transformed into rose gardens, from where eternal light‑filled vistas opened up for him. The gallows were pulpits for offering guidance, from where he instructed humanity in patience and steadfastness in pursuing a lofty aim, and in courage and firmness. Prisons all became Schools of Joseph (Medrese-i Yusufiye), which he entered as a professor enters a university to teach. For the prisoners were his students, in need of his effulgent guidance. His greatest happiness was to each day save the belief of a handful of people and to transform criminals into angels.
Doubtless, with his elevated consciousness of belief and sincerity, leaving behind him in the dense world of matter the gilded effects of time and space, he rose in his spirit to the pure luminous climes of the non‑physical worlds.
The lofty degree defined by the great figures of Sufism (May God be pleased with them) as 'annihilation in God' and 'permanence in God,' is to attain to this sacred honour.
Yes, all believers have their own particular states of veneration, spiritual advancement, withdrawal, and absorption in God. And every person may receive the outflowing of this divine pleasure proportionately to his belief and knowledge, piety and good works, effulgence and spirituality. But the great mujahids, called “those who do right” in the above verse, experience this sweet state of union perpetually. It is because of this that they do not forget their Maker. Like lions, they spend all their lives fighting. Every breath, they progress and advance to greater heights. Their whole beings are dissolved in the pleasure of the Lord of All the Worlds, with His attributes of beauty, perfection, and glory.
May Almighty God include us among that class of the great! Amen.
Above we mentioned Ustad's tremendous belief, which filled his enemies with fear as much as it captivated those who loved him. Now we shall describe his exceptional personal qualities, morals, and perfections, which enveloped him like a halo of light. As is known, everyone possesses different qualities. Ustad's personality was formed by the following qualities: