to Istanbul and had settled in a han, and that he had even hung a notice on his door which said: "Here every problem is solved, all questions are answered, but no questions are asked." I thought that someone who made such a claim could only be mad. But hearing nothing but praise and good opinions concerning Bediuzzaman, and learning of the astonishment of the many groups of 'ulema and students who were visiting him, it awoke in me the desire to visit him myself. I decided that I would prepare some questions on the most difficult and abstruse matters to ask him, At that time I was considered to be one of the foremost members of the medrese. Finally one night I selected a number of subjects from several of the most profound books on the theological sciences, and put them into question form. The following day I went to visit him, and I put my questions to him. The answers I received were quite astonishing and extraordinary. He answered my questions precisely, as though we had been together the previous evening and had looked at the books together. I was completely satisfied, and understood with certainty that his knowledge was not 'acquired' (kesbî) like ours, it was 'innate' (vehbî).

Afterwards he got out a map, and explained the necessity of opening a university in the Eastern Provinces, pointing out its importance. At that time there were Hamidiye regiments in the Eastern Provinces, it was being administered in that way. He explained to us convincingly the deficiencies of this form of administration, and that the region had to be awakened from the point of view of education, industry and science. He explained that he had come to Istanbul to realize this aim, and he said: "The conscience is illuminated by the religious sciences, and the mind is illuminated by the sciences of civilization. [^87]

[^87]:H. Fehmi Başoğlu, "Bir Hatira," Uhuvvet Gazetesi, 11 December 1964, as quoted in Şahiner, Said Nursi, 82-3.

And another account, that of Ali Himmet Berki, a former president of the Court of Appeal:

During those years I was a student in the Medresetü'l-Kuzat [Law Faculty]. I was ahead of the other students. Bediuzzaman's name and fame had spread throughout Istanbul; everyone was talking about him in all the scholarly circles. We heard reports that he was staying as a guest in a han in Fatih, and that he answered every sort of question that anyone put to him. I decided to go with some fellow students. We went to visit this famous person.

That day we heard he was in a teahouse answering questions. We went there immediately. There was quite a crowd, and he was wearing unusual clothes. He was wearing not the dress of a scholar, but the local dress of eastern Anatolia.

When we got close to him, Bediuzzaman was answering the questions