The Third Said

The Third Said

#### Introduction

Introduction

We come now to the last ten years of Bediuzzaman's life and the last of its three main stages, in his own words, that of the Third Said. The Third Said is generally defined in terms of changes Bediuzzaman made in the way he had patterned his life over many years, the expansion of activities associated with the Risale-i Nur, and his involving himself more closely with social and political developments.

The emergence of the Third Said roughly coincided with the defeat of the Republican People's Party in the general elections of May, 1950, and coming to power of the Democrat Party under Adnan Menderes, although while still in Afyon Prison Bediuzzaman wrote that he "surmised" that "a Third Said" would emerge. [^1] With the end of RPP rule the restrictions on his movements were lifted and he spent these years largely in Emirdağ and Isparta, with visits to Istanbul, Ankara and other places as was required by either the ever-expanding activities connected with the Risale-i Nur, or to make court appearances. For despite the new government, the bureaucracy and governing structure of the country were still largely in the hands of supporters of the former regime. Thus, copies of the Risale-i Nur continued to be seized, Bediuzzaman and his students continued to suffer repression, the court cases continued.

[^1]:Nursi, Şualar, 446 (Eng. tr.: Rays, 523).

In the early fifties, in numerous villages and towns in many regions of Turkey Risale-i Nur Students continued to write out copies by hand and distribute and read them, while in Isparta and Inebolu it was reproduced on the duplicating machines and distributed in the form of collections. Then, in 1956, on Afyon Court reaching a final decision and lifting all legal restrictions on the Risale-i Nur, in four places but primarily Istanbul and Ankara, a new generation of young Students set about printing and pub-