This treatise describes more than three hundred miracles. And as it describes the messengership of Muhammad (UWBP), itself a miracle, so is it itself a wonder in three or four respects, proceeding from the miracle of his messengership.
The First : Although it is more than a hundred pages in length and is based on traditions and narrations, it was written in an unusual fashion—in the mountains and countryside, completely from memory, and without referring to any book. It was completed, moreover, in a few days by working two to three hours every day, for a total of twelve hours.
The Second : Despite its length, this work did not cause tedium to its writer, nor does it lack pleasantness for its reader. In fact, it aroused such ardour and enthusiasm in even my lazy scribes that in these hard and distressing times, as many as seventy copies were handwritten in this neighbourhood within a single year. Those aware of this property of the treatise concluded that this must be a wonder proceeding from the miracle of his messengership (Blessings and peace be upon him.)
The Third : In the copies handwritten by nine different scribes who did not communicate with one another, including one very inexperienced and unaware of ‘coincidence’ (1) – it was also before we were aware of the phenomenon – the words referring to the Noble Messenger coincided to such a degree throughout the whole of the treatise, and in the fifth part for the words referring to the Qur’an, that anyone who is fair to the slightest degree would not consider it to be the result of chance. In fact, whoever observed it concluded that it was a mystery of the Unseen and a marvel proceeding from the miraculousness of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace).
The principles explained at the beginning of this treatise have extreme importance. As for the prophetic Hadiths related, they are accepted as authentic by the authorities on Hadith, and they report the most established phenomena concerning the messengership of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace). Now, to enumerate the merits of this treatise, another treatise of the same length would be needed; we therefore invite those who wish to read it, if only once.
S a i d N u r s i
1 ‘Coincidence’ (T. tevafük; Ar. Tawafuq) refers to the unintentional correspondence of letters or
words in lines or patterns on one or several pages. (Tr.) (Go back ↑)
A REMINDER: In this work, I have related many Hadiths, despite having no books to refer to. Should there be any errors in their wording, I request that they either be corrected, or be considered as paraphrases. For, according to the prevailing opinion, “To relate the meanings of Hadiths is permissible,” in which case the narrator puts the meaning of the Hadith into his own words. This being the case, Hadiths with possible errors of wording should be regarded as paraphrases.
* NOTE: The present translation of the Nineteenth Letter is based on a translation prepared by members of the Risale-i Nur Institute of America in 1976. (Tr.)
The Miracles of Muhammad (UWBP)
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