it is untrue... whereas most of Kurdistan knows that it is true. Or although it is true... like you said, O Doctor, things like pride and self-praise would indicate my madness.

That is to say, it is our doctors' understanding that is sick, and their reports which are mad, and the Minister of Public Security is mad, because he was angry. Hey, doctor! You are a good doctor, cure those unfortunates first, then me! [^105]

[^105]:Nursi, Asar-ı Bedi'iyye, 324-9; Şahiner, Said Nursi, 89-95.

It became plain to the doctor, then, that Bediuzzaman was in no way deranged [^106] and he prepared his report accordingly; whatever the reasons were for his being sent to the mental hospital, they were not medical, and the doctor did not concern himself with them. Of course, it was for political reasons that Bediuzzaman had been incarcerated, and on his release he was still held in custody. The Palace then embarked on a new tactic to silence him; they tried to buy him off. But to no avail. Just as Bediuzzaman did not know the meaning of fear, and could not be cowed or scared into abandoning the path he knew to be right, so too he had no desire for wealth or position, throughout his life one of his most salient characteristics was his refusal to accept any personal benefits, material or otherwise; there was no way he could be bought. If the Islamic world was to progress and be revitalized, it would be through Freedom and constitutionalism; he could not be made to renounce the cause. The proposals were put to him by Şefik Pasha, the Minister of Public Security, and the exchange between him and Bediuzzaman went as follows:

[^106]:Two other accounts may be referred to, showing that other doctors reached similar conclusions. See, N. Şahiner, Türk ve Dünya Aydınları Gözüyle Nurculuk Nedir, 142- 3; N. Şahiner, Said Nursi (8  th edn.), 106-7.

The Minister: "The Sultan sends you greetings. He has assigned you a thousand kuruş as a salary. He said that later, when you return to the East, he will make it twenty to thirty liras. And he sent you these gold liras as a royal gift."

The Reply: "I am not a beggar after a salary; I could not accept it even if it were a thousand liras. I did not come to Istanbul for myself, I came for my people. Also this bribe that you want to give me is hush-money."

The Minister: "You are rejecting an imperial decree. An imperial decree cannot be rejected."

The Reply: "I am rejecting it, so that the Sultan will be annoyed and will summon me, and I can tell him the truth."

The Minister: "The result will be disastrous."