divine mercy bestowed on me instead of my two or three brothers hundreds of thousands of devoted brothers, in order, like true brothers, to assist me with true compassion, and to help me in the work of the Risale-i Nur, the capital of not only worldly life, but also of the life of the hereafter. It made up for my missing the pleasurable loving of children — since I had no children in this world — and multiplied a particular, personal kindly condition hundreds of thousands of times. For in the future hundreds of thousands of innocent children would be nurtured by the Risale-i Nur. There are numerous signs of this. In fact, those who attend on me know that the respect and attachment innocent children have shown me in Bolvadin and on the roads of Emirdağ, which is greater than what their parents show, has multiplied a particular, personal, private pleasure and kindly respect a thousand times over, and made it universal and general. There are numerous examples of this. Like some blessed spirits experience premonitions, the spirits of the innocent children had a premonition that the Risale-i Nur would train and protect them as would a worldly and otherworldly father, for they showed respect to the Risale-i Nur's servant greater than that they show their parents. In fact, a three-year-old girl whom I had never seen before and did not know came racing over thorny ground to me with bare feet. Indeed, we have so many friends in Bolvadin, we cannot escape them even though we travel swiftly in the motor car. Their everywhere showing attachment for me as they do their parents although they have never before seen or heard me prompted me to see that for myself, a seed of Paradise is found in belief, even as regards my soul, my feelings, and corporeally.

S a i d   N u r s i ∗∗∗

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In His Name, be He glorified!

We are obliged to explain a secret, extraordinary mental state of our Master so that no offence is felt by those who come to visit him and cannot see him, and those who have to return without us letting them see him. Today, even, because we were a little inattentive, he decided to put an end to our service although he is in much need of it, but then he recalled what we are now going to write and he forgave us. It was this:

We have understood quite clearly that just as our Master has passed most of his life in solitude, so he has never accepted unreciprocated gifts and to do so makes him ill; so too, he now finds it most oppressive to be treated over-respectfully and to meet with friends. We have on many occa-