written. I could not understand much because I am not educated, but whenever I saw Molla Said, my courage soared. He was a formidable person, but he acted most kindly towards us. [^253]

[^253]:Mustafa Yalçın, in Son Şahitler, ii, 21-22.

#### Signs of Miraculousness

Signs of Miraculousness

The book Mustafa Yalçın describes Bediuzzaman as writing here was his commentary on the Qur'an, Signs of Miraculousness (Isharat al-I'jaz fi Mazann al-Ijaz), and it was Molla Habib who used to act as his scribe. Written on horseback, in the trenches and the skirmishing lines, this Arabic commentary, only the first section of which was completed, was later acclaimed by the 'ulema in Damascus and Baghdad, while Ali Rıza Efendi, the head of the office for issuing fatwas in Istanbul (fetva emini), described it as: "As powerful and valuable as a thousand other commentaries." [^254] In the work, Bediuzzaman described its purpose as follows:

[^254]:Tarihçe, 99.

Our aim from these indications is a commentary on a number of the symbols of the Qur'an's word-order, for [one aspect of] its miraculousness is manifested in its word order. Indeed, the embroidery of its word-order is its most brilliant [form of] miraculousness. [^255]

[^255]:Isharat al-I'jaz, 11 (Eng. tr. Signs of Miraculousness. The Inimitability of the Qur'an's Conciseness. Istanbul: Sözler Publications, 2004, 19).

In addition, in the preface, [^256] setting out the method by which Qur'anic commentaries should be written in the modern age, he explains further his purpose in writing it. He first explains the nature of the Qur'an as Divine speech which addresses all men in every age then points out that it also encompasses the sciences which make known the physical world. Indeed, the Qur'an's truths become manifest through the discoveries of science. Thus, in the modern age when the cosmos is being opened up and its workings are being revealed by science, commentaries on the Qur'an must keep pace with the giant strides science is taking. It is beyond the capacity of an individual or even a small group to be familiar with all the sciences, and a commentary should therefore be written by a committee of scholars who are specialists in a number of sciences, both religious and modern. It will be recalled that among his proposals for educational reform were the combining and joint teaching of the religious and modern sciences, specialization, and the application of the principle of mutual consultation.

[^256]:Ibid., 7-8 (Eng. tr.: Signs of Miraculousness, 14-15); Tarihçe, 99-100.