handkerchief. This degree of fever was new. At two thirty in the morning Bayram kept pulling up the covers, which Bediuzzaman kept throwing off. He draped a cloth over the light to reduce its brightness. Then suddenly Bediuzzaman reached up with his hand and touched Bayram's neck; he was massaging Bediuzzaman's arms. Bediuzzaman put his hands on his chest and slept. Or so Bayram thought. But Bediuzzaman had not fallen asleep, he had departed this life and his spirit had flown to the eternal realm. It was three o'clock in the morning of Wednesday, 23 March 1960; 25 Ramadan 1379.

#### Bediuzzaman is Buried in the Halilürrahman Dergah

Bediuzzaman is Buried in the Halilürrahman Dergah

Bayram lit the stove so that Bediuzzaman would not get cold, for he thought he was sleeping. A while later Zübeyir and the others came. Bediuzzaman's body was hot, but no sound came from him. It was not till they sent for Vaiz Ömer Efendi, a well-known religious figure who was visiting Urfa, who as soon as he entered the room, uttered the words, "To God do we belong, and to Him we shall return," that they could accept that Bediuzzaman had died.

The news spread instantly around Urfa. Zübeyir, Hüsnü, and Abdullah went to telephone and telegraph Risale-i Nur Students in Emirdağ, Isparta, Istanbul, and all over Turkey. The hotel owner came to the door, and started wailing when he saw what had happened. He met the police chief on the stairs and told him the news. The police chief had come to the hotel together with a troop of gendarmes to take Bediuzzaman by force back to Isparta; they returned to the police headquarters. The police sent a doctor to make out a report. But the doctor felt doubtful and only later wrote his report, for the body was so hot; it did not resemble the normal state of death. He did not want him to be buried immediately.

Then the estate lawyer came; he noted down Bediuzzaman's personal effects and fixed their value. According to the report in the newspaper, Akşam, this was 551 liras 50 kuruş. That is to say, apart from his watch, gown, prayer-mat, tea-pot and glasses, and a few odds and ends, Bediuzzaman owned nothing in the world. On the request of his students, Bediuzzaman's only surviving brother, Abdülmecid, was made the sole heir to these.

As the news spread, thousands of people started to pour into Urfa. It was decided that Bediuzzaman's body would be washed and buried in the Dergah, where the Patriarch Abraham lies. He was taken there after the midday prayers. The people of Urfa closed all the shops and filled the