He was an intelligent person; he foresaw the result of the trial from the way it was going. He did not display the slightest trace of anxiety or excitement, and was relaxed and at ease as though speaking with his friends in his own house. He spoke with an Eastern accent. [^27]

[^27]:Şahiner, Said Nursi, 396.

#### Akşehir Palas and Reşadiye Hotels

Akşehir Palas and Reşadiye Hotels

There are numerous accounts of visits to Bediuzzaman in the Akşehir Palas and Reşadiye Hotels from among the many different people who visited him during his brief stay of two to three months. Also there are descriptions by those of his close students who remained with him and attended to his needs. One of these was Muhsin Alev, Bediuzzaman's fellow-accused in the trial. He wrote: "When Ustad came to Istanbul, it was as though its entire populace poured into the Akşehir Palas Hotel. Every day hundreds of people visited him. Among them were many well-known people." Muhsin Alev goes on to describe visits by first the famous poet and writer and producer of Büyük Doğu magazine, Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, [^28] and then, in the Reşadiye Hotel, Osman Yüksel Serdengeçti, who wrote for and published Serdengeçti magazine. [^29] In fact, it was articles appearing in these and other publications of the Islamic press such as Eşref Edip's Sebilürreşad that had contributed to informing particularly the young educated classes about Bediuzzaman and the Risale-i Nur, and continued to do so. Muhsin Alev himself had been active in this field. One of the most descriptive of these accounts is by one of three youths, then students at Galatasaray Lycée, who had benefited from these publications. The student in question, Mehmet Şevket Eygi, himself went on to bring out various newspapers and publications in later years. These three friends, who secretly read handwritten duplicated copies of the Risale-i Nur in school, decided to visit him. His description shows the modest conditions Bediuzzaman chose, even when staying in a hotel, together with the interest he showed these boys.

[^28]:See also, Avni Toktor, in Son Şahitler, iv, 191.

[^29]:Muhsin Alev, in Son Şahitler, i, 220-1; Osman Yüksel Serdengeçti, in Son Şahitler, ii, 61-9.

We entered the small room in which Bediuzzaman was staying on the top floor of the hotel. It had a low ceiling and small windows. Ustad was sitting cross-legged on the bed, and was wearing something like a scarf of coloured material as a turban. There was a small radio made of baccalite on a shelf on the wall. There wasn't anything else. We sat on the floor.