The Risale-i Nur Collection
Bediüzzaman Said Nursî
The Risale-i Nur Collection is an approximately six-thousand-page commentary on the Qur'an written by Said Nursi between the 1910s and 1950s. All books are free to download. Each PDF has been extensively bookmarked to facilitate ease of reading.
The Words
The Words forms the first volume of the Risale-i Nur Collection, comprised of a 130 book masterpiece. It explains and proves for contemporary man the teachings of the Qur'an concerning 'the six pillars of belief' and at the same time makes known the true nature and purposes of man, life and ALL THINGS... such as God's existence and unity, the manifestation of the divine names and attributes in creation, the resurrection of the dead and the life of the hereafter, prophethood, the miraculousness of the Qur'an, the angels, and the immortality of man's spirit, together with such questions as the nature of man and the universe, and man's need to worship God. Each subject is explained with reasoned arguments and logical proofs and the most profound aspects of the truths of belief are explained in such a way that everyone can understand them without difficulty.
The Letters
Largely replying to questions put by the author Bediuzzaman's students, these Letters cover a wide range of subjects: they provide illuminating answers to many questions of belief and Islam; they contain brilliant and unique explanations of the truths of belief and mysteries of the Qur'an, which also illustrate the Qur'anic way of Knowledge of God opened up by the Risale-i Nur; they offer important guidance to contemporary Muslims concerning many questions ranging from nationalism to Sufism; they also shed light on Bediuzzaman's own life in those years of exile and the conditions during the early years of the Turkish Republic; in addition they include the celebrated nineteenth Letter, which describes more than three hundred of the Miracles of Muhammed (PBUH). This forms the second volume of the Risale-i Nur Collection.
The Flashes
This collection, like the first two volumes, consist of thirty-three treatises set in order by the author. Covering various subjects, the main purpose of the topics is similar to that of the Risale-i Nur as a whole; that is, the expounding of various Qur'anic verses and its teachings concerning the fundamentals of belief in a way that addresses modern man's understanding and is relevant to his needs. Some of the subjects discussed include an important explanation of two Qur'anic verses regarding The Prophet Jonah (Yunus) and the Prophet Job (Ayyub); seven predictions concerning the unseen in the three final verses of of Surah al-Fath; "The highway of the practices of the Prophet and antidote for the sickness of innovations"; a reply to the question about the earth resting on a bull and a fish, which sets out three important principles of the understanding of Hadiths of the Prophet; answers to three matters, disputed by atheists: 1 - Dhu'l-Qarnayn "saw the sun setting in a spring of murky water", 2 - where is the the barrier of Dhu'l-Qarnay and who were Gog and Magog? 3 - about coming of the Prophet Jesus at the end of time and killing the Dajjal. In additon, this book discusses "sincerity" and four rules for gaining and preserving sincerity; an important message for the sick, and a treatise for the elderly that consists of twenty-six 'hopes'.
The Rays
With its fifteen pieces of rays, The Rays Collection contains some key sections of the Risale-i Nur. Among these are: The Supreme Sign, which in describing the testimony offered by all the realms of creation to God's Necessary Existence and Unity, is the most complete expression of the reflective thought which is the basis of the Risale-i Nur's way. Further convincing explanations and proofs of divine unity, based also on recognizing and 'reading' the manifestations of the divine in the universe are set out in the Second, Third, and Fourth Rays in this book. While in addition to these questions The Fruits of Belief and The Shining Proof put forward clear, irrefutable proofs of the main 'pillars of belief'.
