himself actually taken into custody, However, the authorities attempted to solve their problem by more dastardly means: they had him poisoned on several occasions. Çaycı Emin stated that from time to time Bediuzzaman suffered severe bouts of illness as a result of being poisoned. [^212] He also described an occasion when Bediuzzaman was poisoned when alone in the mountains having bought some fruit on the way. Mehmed Feyzi also describes it, as it was he who received word from some unknown source and went up into the mountains and found him in a semi-conscious state. Bediuzzaman had known the grocer he had bought the fruit from, since he very often got something from him on his way. The wretch had evidently been persuaded by the agents who followed Bediuzzaman wherever he went to give him pieces they had injected with poison. Mehmed Feyzi had taken the horse Bediuzzaman had been riding, which had made its own way back to the town when he was overcome by the effect of the poison, back up the mountain and brought Bediuzzaman back on it. Bediuzzaman was ill for some time following this, which occurred shortly before the final events before his arrest and another attempt to poison him. This time it was certified by the doctor who attended him. [^213]

[^212]:Çaycı Emin Çayır, in Son Şahitler, i, 113-4.

[^213]:Ibid., 114-5; Mehmed Feyzi Pamukçu, in Son Şahitler, ii, 161; Tarihçe, 288.

In early August 1943, a Risale-i Nur Student who was active in the Denizli region was arrested along with several others. He had been informed on by the local Mufti as a result of which extensive searches were carried out in the area and handwritten copies of the Risale-i Nur were seized. [^214] As with the Eskişehir affair, the matter was taken up by Ankara and blown up out of all proportion. President İsmet İnönü, Prime Minister Şükrü Saraçoğlu, and Education Minister Hasan Ali Yücel were directly concerned. Instructions were sent to chiefly Isparta and Kastamonu, and the houses of numerous Nur Students searched. Then the arrests started in Isparta.

[^214]:Nursi, Müdâfaalar, 97.

#### Bediuzzaman is Arrested

Bediuzzaman is Arrested

Meanwhile Bediuzzaman's house in Kastamonu was searched three times in succession. When after the first time they were unable to find what they were searching for, the Fifth Ray, they determined to do away with Bediuzzaman and succeeded in poisoning him a further time. This was verified by a doctor and when seriously ill with the effects of it and running a temperature of over 40°, his house was searched a second time. This coin-