in Anatolia, among whom were now university students. Others are replies to their questions and other matters.
Volume Il: The letters in this volume were written following Bediuzzaman's release from Afyon Prison on 29 th September, 1949, after twenty month's imprisonment. Following his release, he returned to Emirdağ, where he remained till 1951, when he went to Eskisehir. In 1952 and 1953 he visited Istanbul, on both occasions remaining for three months, then returning to Emirdağ. His 1952 visit was in response to the summons to attend the Guide for Youth trial, which resulted in an acquittal. After 1953, Bediuzzaman spent most of his time in Isparta. The greater part of the letters in this second volume of Emirdağ Letters were written prior to this and cover many subjects including matters connected with the court cases and trials of the Risale-i Nur and his students.
Bediuzzaman wrote fewer letters after 1953. The letters and notes he wrote to his students while in the prisons of Eskişehir, Denizli, and Afyon were included by their author in The Rays Collection as the Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Rays.
Bediuzzaman himself attached great importance to these additional letters, which were written contemporaneously with the Risale-i Nur. For together with explicating matters contained in the Risale-i Nur and explaining the method of service Bediuzzaman envisaged in the conditions of the times, they offer guidance to the students concerning their conduct towards others in the various, often hostile, situations in which they found themselves, and motivated them and urged them to persist in their sincerity, devotion, and unwavering steadfastness. The letters set out the principles of their service.
In a letter written to Bediuzzaman by 'the first Nur student,' Hulusi Bey, he points out his need for such guidance. He wrote: "If you want to forget the world and withdraw from it, you may not, for even if there were no other reason, you cannot leave without answer those people who have become bound to The Words and who seek explanations of them ... The various matters which are not included in The Words and which you have clarified and expounded in your invaluable writings for those who love you for God's sake and have sought explanations, show quite definitely that neither has the need ceased nor is your service completed." The additional letters that subsequently met the need thus expressed, confirm the apt words of that blessed person.
As may be seen from these letters, the Risale-i Nur's author, Bediuzzaman, attached the greatest importance to the reading and writing out of the Risale-i Nur, and continuously encouraged his students to be occupied with