and Bediuzzaman beckoned to him. Wondering what this elderly hoja wanted, he climbed the stairs up to the house. But Bediuzzaman merely gave him a copy of a prayer called the Tahmidiye, and asked him to write out copies of it. Hilmi Bey agreed, and on returning home, sat down immediately and started to write it out. He continued far into the night. When he had finished, his mind had been changed completely and he had given up all idea of his projected crime. Thereafter, he became a devoted student of Bediuzzaman, dedicating himself to writing out the Risale-i Nur and serving its author. [^144]

[^144]:Hilmi Semâ, in Son Şahitler, v, 202-3.

At Avni Doğan's instigation, Bediuzzaman's house was frequently searched by the police for copies of the Risale-i Nur, and they had to hide them in whatever unlikely places they could find. However some of the police officers charged with plaguing him paid for it. One called Hafız Nuri would come every few days and go through Bediuzzaman's house with a tooth-comb; he was finally struck down by a mysterious illness and died. Another called Safvet in Mithat Altıok's time also came to a sorry end. Bediuzzaman wished them no ill; as he told Hafız Nuri's family who came to plead for him, they received these blows from the Qur'an. [^145]

[^145]:See, Çaycı Emin, in Son Şahitler, i, 110-111; and, Mehmed Münip Yalaz, in Son Şahitler, ii, 188.

Another of Bediuzzaman's students was Tasköprülü Sadık Bey, [^146] the local ağa or lord. The grandson of Sadık Pasha, one of the heroes of Plevne and educated in the Military Academy in Istanbul, he cast aside his rank and position and devoted himself to serving Bediuzzaman and the Risale-i Nur, His village of Taşköprü became a centre for the writing out of the Risale-i Nur, as did the town of İnebolu. The Risale-i Nur was introduced into İnebolu by two other important students, Nazif and Selahaddin Çelebi, who were father and son. Selahaddin recounted this while describing his first visit to Bediuzzaman, when he took to be corrected a copy of the Fourth Ray which his father had written:

[^146]:Sadık Demirelli, in Son Şahitler, ii, 135-157.

I climbed the mountain. .. under a tree a person dressed in white was performing the prayers. "This must be him", I said to myself. After finishing them, he motioned with his head for me to sit. I knelt down and said 'Amen' to his supplications; in a touching voice he was beseeching Almighty God for the peace and happiness in this world and the next of humanity and the Islamic world. Finally I gave him the book I had brought. "Welcome, my brother", he said. "Let's correct it." It took half an hour. I studied the Hoja Efendi carefully, whom I was seeing for the first time. He