It is a manifestation of dominical favour and instance of divine succour and preservation that as I have heard, the committee of experts in Ankara has been defeated in the face of the truths of the Risale-i Nur, and that while there were numerous reasons for their severe criticisms and objections they have quite simply given the decision for its acquittal. [^256]

[^256]:Nursi, Şualar, 287 (Eng. tr.: Rays, 365).

Almost as though to placate those in high places opposing the Risale-i Nur, the committee stated that the treatises marked as confidential, which they described as being "unscholarly", had in part been written when Bediuzzaman was in a state of "mental excitement, ecstasy, or spiritual turmoil", and that he should not therefore be held responsible for them. They wrote also that "there was a possibility he suffered from hallucinations in regard to hearing and sight." As Bediuzzaman pointed out in the letter he described these to his students, the rest of the Risale-i Nur was sufficient to refute such allegations. They showed as evidence titles like The Thirty- Three Windows (The Thirty-Third Letter), the fact that Bediuzzaman heard his cat reciting the divine name, "Most Compassionate One!" and that in another treatise he saw himself as a gravestone! [^257]

[^257]:Ibid., 288 (Eng. tr.: Rays, 367).

In addition, the committee put forward fifteen objections on scholarly grounds. These Bediuzzaman answered and showed to be errors on the part of the committee. [^258] The final and longest answers and corrections he presented to the court on 31 May 1944, the day the prosecutor made his final observations and summing-up, and put forward his requests for the sentences.

[^258]:Nursi, Müdâfaalar, 123-32.

On 16 June 1944, the court reached its decision, Number 199-136, Largely on the strength of the committee's report, it announced its unanimous decision for the acquittal of all the prisoners and their immediate release. The prosecutor insisted on the sentences he was demanding, and so the case was sent to the Appeal Court in Ankara. The request was denied and on 30 December 1944, it confirmed the verdict of the Denizli Court. [^259]

[^259]:Tarihçe, 348.

#### The Şehir Hotel

The Şehir Hotel

When Bediuzzaman and his students emerged from the court, the people of Denizli greeted them with cheers and cries of "Long live justice!" and accompanied them to the prison where they collected their belongings.