He notes that he now proceeded "through an alliance of mind and heart". That is, through the guidance of the Qur'an he found a way to the essence of reality through employing both the heart and the mind. And since it employed both heart and mind, he found that before anything it cured his wounded spirit and heart, and silencing Satan and his evil-commanding soul, rescued him from doubts and scepticism. This then was the way of the New Said. It was also to be the way of the Risale-i Nur. In fact, the first work the New Said wrote was a collection of eleven or so treatises in Arabic called al-Mathnawi al-'Arabi al-Nuri, which he described as "a kind of seed of the Risale-i Nur", and as "the seedbed" and the Risale-i Nur as "its garden." [^343]

[^343]:Nursi, Mesnevi-i Nuriye (Turkish tr.), 7-8.

As will be recalled, Bediuzzaman had undergone "a radical change in his ideas" at the turn of the century on learning of the explicit threats to the Qur'an and Islamic world made by the British Colonial Secretary, and had understood that he should dedicate his life to the defence of them with his learning. However events and his youth had served as "obstacles", preventing him "taking up the duty." [^344] From his own accounts of his transformation into the New Said quoted above it is seen that his first realization was of the deficiency of "human philosophy" as opposed to revealed knowledge. And so, in addition to the other "obstacles" which had prevented his "taking up his duty to defend the Qur'an and Islam" was his preoccupation with "philosophy". Now some twenty years later at the age of forty-three or four, through what was clearly an overwhelming mental and spiritual upheaval, he had found what he had been searching for. Near the end of his life, he described this search in the presence of his close student, Mustafa Sungur:

[^344]:Nursi, Sikke-i Tasdik-i Gaybî, 76.

Sixty years ago, I was searching for a way to reach the truth and reality at the present time. That is, I was searching for a short way to obtain firm faith and belief and a complete understanding of Islam which would not be shaken by the attacks of the numerous negative and damaging currents. Firstly, I had recourse to the way of the philosophers; I wanted to reach the truth with the reason alone. I reached it only twice with extreme difficulty. I looked and saw that even the greatest geniuses of mankind had gone only half the way, only one or two had been able to reach the truth by means of the reason alone. Then I said: 'A way which even the greatest geniuses had been unable to take cannot be made general for everyone', and I gave it up. For numerous philosophers, even Ibn Sina [Avicenna], Farabi, Aristotle and others had only got half way. I saw that only one or two had been able to rise to the truth. Then I understood that a path and way by which not even the great geniuses had been able to rise, could not be the way for everyone.