► (017) ◄
My Loyal, Unshakeable Brothers and Heirs !
There are three reasons for the oppression I now suffer:
The First: On the decision of the Cabinet, the order was received here to give me an allowance of two and a half liras a day for my living and other expenses and to build me a house according to my specifications. But I did not accept this and took only a sum for my travelling expenses from Denizli. They were angry with me and started to have me watched.
The Second Reason is ill-intentioned persons being unnecessarily worried that the people here will start to show an interest in me as they did in the Denizli region, in a way far exceeding my due, on account of the Risale-i Nur.
The Third are the malicious pretexts voiced by the governor of Afyon, intending to take revenge on me for the sake of that man who died. But divine determining transformed their tyranny into mercy for me, and advantages. Don't worry about me. One advantage is that they silence only me rather than the Risale-i Nur. But in my place it speaks wonderfully with hundreds of tongues, and its students with thousands; they teach these lights to those unilluminated heads. There are numerous signs that their obduracy has been broken by their starting to study other parts of the Risale-i Nur, on having been made curious by The Fruits of Belief, and especially by The Conclusive Proof of God Collection (Hüccetullahi'l-Bâliğa Mecmûası).
Just as their being busy with my person aids the Risale-i Nur's free spread to an extent, so their not allowing me to meet with my brothers is another advantage. In fact, it was truly advantageous that one of my brothers came all this way to see me, spending a hundred liras, and had to turn back without doing so. The groundless suspicions of malicious and mistrustful people would be aroused if the door were to be opened and visitors were to pour in from everywhere, and it would also be detrimental to our principles and way and the mystery of sincerity. My isolation is therefore an instance of divine grace for us.
The gains in these blessed months are a hundredfold. We have the greatest need for the prayers of our blessed brothers and sisters and the innocent children and respected elderly. God willing, you will shaken by no storms and your steely fortitude will not be undermined. ∗∗∗