In consequence of the lesson I have learnt on my own account, I say: O congregation of Muslims! I give you this good news: the first signs of the true dawn of Arab happiness are just appearing. This will occur through the kindling of the worldly happiness of all Muslims, in particular that of the Ottomans, and especially through the progress of Islam. The emergence of the sun of happiness has drawn close. In order to rub despair's nose in the dust, I say what is my firm conviction so that the world will hear: The future shall be Islam's and Islam's alone, and it shall be ruled by the truths of the Qur'an and belief. Therefore, we must submit to divine determining and our fate of the present, for ours is a brilliant future, while the Europeans' is a dubious past. [^36]

[^36]:The Damascus Sermon (Istanbul: Sözler Publications, 2012), 27-8.

If we were to display through our actions the perfections of the morality of Islam and the truths of belief, without doubt the followers of other religions would enter Islam in whole communities; some entire regions and states, even, would take refuge in Islam. [^37]

[^37]:Damascus Sermon, 29.

O my brothers in this Umayyad Mosque as well as those in the vast mosque of the world of Islam! You too take warning. Take warning from the dreadful events of the last forty-five years. Come to your senses right away! O you who are wise and thoughtful and consider yourselves to be enlightened! We Muslims, who are students of the Qur'an, follow proof; we approach the truths of belief through reason, thought, and our hearts. We do not abandon proof in favour of blind obedience and imitation of the clergy like some adherents of other religions. Therefore, in the future when reason, science and technology prevail, of a certainty that will be the time the Qur'an will gain ascendancy, which relies on rational proofs and invites the reason to confirm its pronouncements. [^38]

[^38]:Damascus Sermon, 31-2.

For sure, even if not now then in thirty to forty years' time, in order to fit out and equip to perfection the three forces of science, true knowledge, and the virtues of civilization, and to rout and put to flight those eight obstacles, the desire to search for the truth, equity, and love of humanity will be despatched to the eight fronts of those eight enemy squadrons. They have already started to drive them back. God willing, in half a century they will scatter them completely. [^39]

[^39]:Damascus Sermon, 34.