the matter in no time. Since it illustrates the authority Bediuzzaman wielded, despite his position, as well as his concern for the downtrodden, a few lines are quoted in full:

When I got there, Ustad met me at the door. On my explaining the situation to him, he said to me: "I understood that you were upset. Go and tell the headman of the quarter, Çarikçi lhsan Efendi, to come here." I went and told him and he said he would go immediately with pleasure. He went at once. Ustad told him: "Go and tell Süleyman not to bother these people!" So lhsan Efendi went to Süleyman and repeated this. From there he came to us and consoled us, saying: "Relax! No one is going to bother you. If you have any difficulties, I'm here!" And so the problem was solved. [^194]

[^194]:Nadir Baysal, in Son Şahitler, iv, 282-6.

Well-known in Kastamonu was the story of how Bediuzzaman saved Araçlı Deli Mu'min. Deli Mu'min had not been aptly named and was one of the roughs and rowdies of the district notorious for his acts of banditry. Drink and gambling were his normal pursuits. He had even killed a few people. Then one day, Çaycı Emin went in the darkness just before dawn to Bediuzzaman's house, to light his stove. Going to open the door, he made out a figure slumped on the doorstep. He drew closer and peered at it; it was Araçlı Deli Mu'min. He said to him: "What do you want here? You're drunk again. Do you know whose doorstep you're on?" Deli Mu'min knew where he was. He started pleading: "I've repented! Pray for me! Accept me as your student!" Çaycı Emin went up and told Bediuzzaman. And Bediuzzaman did not turn him away. He said: "Yes, my brother", and received the drunk bandit. But from then on Araçlı Deli Mu'min was saved from drink, from banditry, from crime. Now he lived up to his name, he was a believer. And this is just one example of many. [^195]

[^195]:Şahiner, Son Şahitler, ii, 193-5.

#### The Risale-i Nur becomes Established

*The Risale-i Nur becomes Established*

During these years the Risale-i Nur became firmly rooted in Turkish society, and Bediuzzaman wrote that now it was certain to continue into the future. He felt certain of this as women and children responded to it so enthusiastically, both in the region of Isparta, and in Kastamonu, and so too it began to have readers among schoolboys in Kastamonu. He mentions this in a number of letters, expressing his extreme pleasure at the large numbers of parts of the Risale-i Nur written out by children, women, and the elderly. In one letter he writes: