account of irreligion. Such modesty would be shameful abasement. Could it in any way be self-advertisement to display in the face of them heroic fortitude and moral strength in order to preserve religious pride and the honour of learning? Could it be fame-seeking or love of self, so that person imagined it to be thus? Also, of those who need the Risale-i Nur and seek it in order to strengthen their belief and to save it, three or four out of ten look not to my person but suffice with the decisive proofs of the Risale-i Nur, and five or six look to me because they do not know the value of those proofs. So is it egotism if I draw a veil over my hidden faults and do not destroy their good opinion of me, so as to prevent them from wondering whether or not I am deceiving them or saying what is true?

In accordance with the verse, "Nor do I absolve my own self [of blame]: the [human] soul is certainly prone to evil" (Q 12:53), I do not trust my evil-commanding soul. The soul is always faulty. But in my defence, at this time when secret atheistic societies like dragons and demons are on the attack, to dwell on the faults apparent in me that have the importance of a fly's wing means assisting in their destructive assaults. It also means depriving five or six out of ten needy people of the remedies of the Risale-i Nur. Relying not on my own strength and virtues in this matter, but solely on the truth of the Qur'an and on the truths of belief which expound it, I proclaim to the whole world that were all irreligious people to gather together, I would not shrink back from them but would challenge them. I would not bow before them, nor violate the honour of learning. Even if this was egotism, it would in no way pertain to me; it would not be egotism. It would be firm strength of belief. Just as I deny nature in respect of creative power, and the Risale-i Nur has proved this decisively; so I deny the holding of power that drives men to pride, egotism, and arrogance. Human beings possess only an insignificant acquisition (kesb) due to genuine need, which is a sort of active prayer and sort of acceptable supplication. Almighty God accepts this. That He bestows the wonders called discoveries which are necessary for humanity has been proved by the scholars of the science of the principles of religion in their discussions of divine determining and human choice (kader ve cüz'-i ihtiyarî). Similarly, because I have become absolutely certain through the effulgence of the Qur'an and proofs of the Risale-i Nur that the sense of self and power in firstly myself and then in others is only a veil for divine creativity, bestowal, and assistance, I have proclaimed to my brothers and the Risale-i Nur that I was merely a seed; I rotted, and in consequence of powerlessness, need, sincere seeking, and active prayer, the Most Merciful of the Merciful created the