In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Story of the Mercy of your Lord to His servant Zakariya, when he called upon his Lord with a hidden call, saying: "My Lord, indeed the bones have weakened from me, and the head has turned white with gray, and I have not been wretched in my prayers to You, my Lord." 1
This is the Twenty-Sixth Letter.
FIRST PETITION
Dear esteemed elder brothers and sisters who have reached the age of old age! I am also old like you. In order to share with you the occasional petitions I have found in my time of old age and the comfort light in those petitions, I will write about some of the events that have happened to me. The sights I have seen and the doors of petitions I have encountered, of course, have been seen and opened according to my limited and imperfect capacity. I hope that your pure and sincere capacities will illuminate the sights I have seen and strengthen the petitions I have found even more.
Indeed, the source, the spring, the fountain of these coming petitions and sights is faith.
SECOND PETITION
When I entered old age, one day in the spring season, at the time of Asr prayer, I looked at the world from a high mountain. Suddenly, a very delicate and sorrowful and in some ways dark state came to me. I saw that I had grown old, the day had grown old, the year had grown old, and the world had grown old. Because in these old ages, the time of separation from the world and from loved ones was approaching, old age shook me more than I expected. Suddenly, the Divine Mercy unfolded in such a way that this delicate sorrowful separation was transformed into a strong petition and a bright light of comfort.
Lem'alar
·Yirmi Altinci Lema
·machine translation (qwen3-32b-sre)
· · ·
Yes, in the Yusufiyya madrasa, with many signs, they see with their eyes that every hardship and toil brings tenfold, perhaps a hundredfold, material and spiritual benefits, good results, and sincere services to faith, and thus they achieve true devotion and do not descend to petty and particular interests.
These monasteries have a special grace and a sad yet sweet condition for me. For example:
When I was young, I saw the same condition in the old madrasa of our country. Because in the eastern provinces, according to the old custom, some of the appointments for madrasa students came from outside. And some madrasas prepared food inside.
And in how many other ways these monasteries resembled those madrasas. As I look at this place with a pleasant feeling, I mentally travel back to that old youth and sweet time, forgetting the conditions of old age.
Addition to the Twenty-Sixth Letter
The Twenty-First Letter, which was incorporated into the collection of letters, is not included here.
Lem'alar
·Yirmi Altinci Lema
·machine translation (qwen3-32b-sre)
· · ·
I had even resolved that after my friends' release, I would be imprisoned by presenting a charge. Let the pure ones like Husrev and Feyzi stay with me and, for an excuse, I would be in a solitary cell so that I would not meet people and would not waste my time in unnecessary conversations, vanity, and show-off. But the Divine decree and our fate led us to another school of hardship.
"Perhaps you dislike something, yet it is good for you. The good is in what Allah has chosen."
In secret, out of mercy for my old age and to serve religion more, a task was given to me in this third medrese-i Yusufiye, beyond my will and power.
Yes, the Divine providence, out of mercy for my old age, and for my youth, which has no strong or hidden enemies, has transformed my caves into solitary prison cells, and there are three wisdoms and three important benefits for the service of Nuriyye:
First wisdom and benefit: The students of Nur can gather in the medrese-i Yusufiye without harm during this time. Meeting and conversing with each other would be costly and suspicious outside. Indeed, some of them would spend forty or fifty pounds to come and meet me, only to leave after twenty minutes or not at all. I would gladly accept the burden of imprisonment to see some of my brothers closely. So, imprisonment is a blessing and mercy for us.
Second wisdom and benefit: At this time, the service of Nur in religion is done everywhere through announcements and attracting the attention of those in need. Thus, our imprisonment attracts attention to the Nuriyye, becomes like an announcement. The most in need or those in distress find it, save their faith, break their stubbornness, escape danger, and the school of Nur expands.
Third wisdom and benefit: The students of Nur who enter prison do not seek worldly benefits in the service of Nur, but learn lessons from each other's conditions, behaviors, sincerity, and sacrifices.
Lem'alar
·Yirmi Altinci Lema
·machine translation (qwen3-32b-sre)
· · ·
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Story of the Mercy of your Lord to His servant Zakariya, when he called upon his Lord with a hidden call, saying: "My Lord, indeed the bones have weakened from me, and the head has turned white with gray, and I have not been wretched in my prayers to You, my Lord." 1
This is the Twenty-Sixth Letter.
FIRST PETITION
Dear esteemed elder brothers and sisters who have reached the age of old age! I am also old like you. In order to share with you the occasional petitions I have found in my time of old age and the comfort light in those petitions, I will write about some of the events that have happened to me. The sights I have seen and the doors of petitions I have encountered, of course, have been seen and opened according to my limited and imperfect capacity. I hope that your pure and sincere capacities will illuminate the sights I have seen and strengthen the petitions I have found even more.
Indeed, the source, the spring, the fountain of these coming petitions and sights is faith.
SECOND PETITION
When I entered old age, one day in the spring season, at the time of Asr prayer, I looked at the world from a high mountain. Suddenly, a very delicate and sorrowful and in some ways dark state came to me. I saw that I had grown old, the day had grown old, the year had grown old, and the world had grown old. Because in these old ages, the time of separation from the world and from loved ones was approaching, old age shook me more than I expected. Suddenly, the Divine Mercy unfolded in such a way that this delicate sorrowful separation was transformed into a strong petition and a bright light of comfort.
Lem'alar
·Yirmi Altinci Lema
·machine translation (qwen3-32b-sre)