dent that although for twenty-five years I had shown no interest in the newspapers and the events they describe, he should go and study the news carefully since the meteorites represented the blows the Risale-i Nur deals at the irreligious and that it had predicted this five or six years ago. He went and investigated the matter and came and told me that this spring, meteorites of unequalled size had fallen in the forests of Vladivostok in Russia. [^88] The largest of them was twenty-five metres in length and ten metres wide. It uprooted all the trees in the vicinity in which it fell, and in all around thirty large craters were formed. Examination of the meteorites showed them to contain a random mixture of iron, steel, and other materials.

[^88]:This refers to the Sikhote-Alin meteorite, which fell on 12 February 1947, 440 km north-east of Vladivostok in the far east of Russia, after fragmenting on entering the atmosphere. Its estimated overall weight was 100,000 kg. Largest crater was 26 m wide and 6 m deep. It consisted of 93% iron, 5.9% nickel, and other minerals

Just as the official newspapers reported this true event; so the miracuIous verse, "striking them with stones" (Q 105:4) in Sura al-Fil (The Elephant), which was revealed one thousand three hundred and sixty years ago, predicts that like the "flights of birds" (Q 105:3) and as a preliminary to the raining down of meteorites from the heavens, bombs from the heavenly aircraft would rain down in the year 1359 (1940 or 1941) on the heads of those who give preference to this world over religion and who, taking irreligion as the basis of their creed, drive humanity down the paths of misguidance on account of a sort of civilization. The words "go astray" (Q 105:2) indicate the date 1360 (1941 or 1943) and predict threateningly that subsequently to that date meteorites would shower down, recalling the heavenly stones rained down on Lot's people as the penalty for misguidance. The following sentence is found in the Risale-i Nur, in a footnote to the explanation of the subtle piece about Sura al-Fil: "Allusively, this sura threatens sinful humanity: if in consequence of these blows it does not turn from idolatry to offering thanks and if it does not give satisfaction to the Qur'an, heavenly stones will be rained down by the angels on the heads of men."

This sentence contains two signs that indicate the meteorites directly.

The First: Although up to the present meteorites have generally been around twenty centimetres long, the present ones are huge, being twenty-five metres in length and ten metres wide. This is surely a sign of the heavens' anger towards irreligion.

The fact that Sura al-Fil looks to them and expounds them is right. The incident deserves such a prediction, because it is unprecedented.