two weeks." He had a samovar he used to make tea with and he would offer me some. He had just been released from prison. There was nothing in his room by way of belongings, only his works, both handwritten and in the form of proofs. Thousands of his handwritten books were being passed around from hand to hand. They were being written everywhere, in the villages and towns; everywhere copies of the Risale-i Nur were being written out. That was a heartening time; like the time the sun rises.

Around that time I went to the village of Güveçli near Denizli. His works were being written out in every house, in all the villages around, tens of thousands of pages, such was the eagerness and zeal.

He had a very manly and bold manner. His courage and excellence were immense. Then the things his brilliant mind discovered were extraordinary. He met disasters with patience and resignation. He had given himself to Allah, as a matter of a fact those works of his were all the product of these things. All Denizli was filled with an eagerness and enthusiasm. Friend and foe alike were struck with admiration for him. Denizli's night had turned into day. He had conquered it. [^261]

[^261]:Şahiner, Nurs Yolu, 123-7.

Nevertheless Bediuzzaman felt keenly his being parted from his students and brothers. Above all Hafız Ali's death in prison had caused him great sorrow. The first thing did on being released was to visit his grave. Selahaddin Çelebi was also present and he recalled how after recitation of the Qur'an Bediuzzaman offered a sad prayer then raised his hand and said: "This martyr was a star." Involuntarily all those present raised their heads and in the sky a single star was shining. [^262]

[^262]:Selahaddin Celebi, in Son Şahitler, i, 148.

Bediuzzaman described his state of mind as follows in the Tenth Topic of The Fruits of Belief:

After our release from Denizli Prison, I was staying on the top floor of the famous Şehir Hotel. The graceful dancing of the leaves, branches and trunks of the many poplar trees in the fine gardens opposite me, each with a rapturous and ecstatic motion like a circle of dervishes at the touch of the breeze, pained my heart, sorrowful and melancholy at being parted from my brothers and remaining alone. Suddenly the seasons of autumn and winter came to mind and a heedlessness overcame me. I so pitied those graceful poplars and living creatures swaying with perfect joyousness that my eyes filled with tears. With this reminder of the separations and non-being beneath the ornamented veil of the universe, the grief at a world-full of deaths and separations pressed down on me. Then suddenly, the light the Muhammadan (PBUH) reality had brought came to my assistance and trans-