This document summarizes 10 incidents where individuals working to serve and spread the Quran received "compassionate slaps" from God due to mistakes or faults in their service. These slaps came in the form of unexpected hardships or consequences that served to correct their actions and refocus them on sincere service to the Quran. The slaps aimed to prevent laxness, remove distractions from worldly concerns, and curb behaviors like arrogance or hypocrisy that could compromise pure intention in their sacred work.

1. The Tenth Flash
‘Blows Dealt by Divine Compassion'
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
On the Day when every soul will be confronted with all the good it has done, and all the evil it
has done, it will wish there were a great distance between it and its evil. But God cautions you
[to remember] Himself. And God is full of kindness to those who serve Him.
One meaning of the above verse is expounded by explaining ‘the blows dealt by Divine
compassion' that my comrades in the service of the Qur'an receive in consequence of the
faults and mistakes they make as the result of human nature. A succession of extra-ordinary
events proceeding from the service of the Qur'an and an instance of Gawth al-A'zam's
wonder-working will be explained, who supervises this sacred service with God's permission
and assists it with his saintly influence and help—so that those who perform it may persevere
earnestly in their service.
There are three sorts of wonder-working associated with this sacred service:
The First Sort is that aspect which prepares the service and urges those employed to perform
it.
The Second Sort removes obstacles and repulses the evil of those who oppose it and deals
them blows. There are numerous instances of this Second Sort, and they are very lengthy, so
postponing them to another time, we shall discuss the Third Sort, which are the lightest.
The Third Sort is this: Whenever those who work sincerely in this service become lax, they
receive a compassionate slap. So coming to their senses, they again start working. Incidents of
this sort number more than a hundred. Of only twenty incidents, thirteen or fourteen received
‘compassionate slaps,' while six or seven received ‘restraining slaps.'
• THE FIRST
This concerns this unfortunate Said: whenever I have flagged in my duties, and saying, "What
is it to me?," have become preoccupied with my own private affairs, I have received a slap. So
I have formed the opinion that I received the slap due to my neglect. Because whatever my
purpose was that deceived me and spurred me on, I received a slap that was the reverse of it.
And studying all the compassionate slaps that my other sincere friends have received, the
slaps were the opposite of whatever their aim was—if they were neglectful—so that we have
come to the conclusion that the incidents were wonders proceeding from service of the
Qur'an.

2. For example, so long as this unfortunate Said was busy teaching the truths of the Qur'an in
Van at the time of the Shaykh Said events, the suspicious government did not and could not
interfere with me. Then when I said "What is it to me?," and thinking of myself withdrew into
a ruined cave on Mount Erek in order to save my life in the Hereafter, they took me without
cause and exiled me. And I was brought to Burdur.
There, again so long as I was serving the Qur'an—at that time all the exiles were watched
very closely, and although I was supposed to report to the police in person every evening, my
sincere students and myself were exceptions. The Governor there complained to Fevzi Pasha
when he came. But Fevzi Pasha said: "Don't interfere with him; treat him with respect." What
made him say that was the sacred nature of service to the Qur'an. But whenever I have been
overcome by the idea of saving myself and thought only of my life in the Hereafter, and there
has been a temporary slackening in my serving the Qur'an, I have received a slap contrary to
my intentions. That is to say, I was sent from one place of exile to another. I was sent to
Isparta.
In Isparta I took up my duties once again. After twenty days, a number of cowardly people
said by way of a warning: "Perhaps the government won't look favourably on this situation. It
would be better if you go a bit cautiously." Again the idea of thinking only of myself took
hold of me, and I said: "The people should not come!" And again I was taken from that place
of exile and sent to a third, to Barla.
And in Barla whenever a slackness has come over me and the idea of thinking of myself only
has gained strength, one of these serpents and two-faced hypocrites from among ‘the worldly'
has been set to pester me. During this eight years eighty such incidents have befallen me; I am
able to relate them, but am cutting them short so as not to bore people.
My brothers! I have told of the compassionate slaps I have received, now if you will permit it
and forgive me, I shall relate those that have befallen you. Do not be offended. If anyone is
offended, I will not put his name.
• THE SECOND
My true brother, and first and most superior and self-sacrificing student, Abdülmecid, had a
fine house in Van. He was well-off, and he was a teacher. Following his own ideas, he did not
join those who were attempting to send me to the border region against my wishes, which was
a place more in need of Qur'anic service, and as though for my benefit, did not vote for it. As
though, if I had gone to the border region, both service to the Qur'an would have been
apolitical, not pure, and they would have expelled him from Van—so he did not take part. But
he received a compassionate slap contrary to his intentions, for he left both Van, and his
beautiful house, and his native region; he was compelled to go to Ergani.
• THE THIRD
Hulûsi Bey was a most important member serving the Qur'an. When he returned to his native
region from Eg ridir, there were factors that would allow him complete enjoyment and
worldly happiness, perhaps causing him to become slack in his service of the Qur'an, which
pertains solely to the Hereafter. For he was reunited with his parents, whom he had not seen
for a long time, and he was back home, and because he had returned there with rank and
honour, the world was smiling on him and appeared good. Whereas for those employed in

3. service of the Qur'an, either the world must be vexed with them, or they must be vexed at the
world, so that they can perform that service sincerely and earnestly.
Hulûsi's heart was certainly unshakeable, but since such a situation drove him to slackness, he
received a slap from Divine compassion. For one or two years a number of dissemblers were
set to pester him, who dispelled all his worldly pleasure. They made both the world vexed at
him, and him vexed at the world. So in the true meaning of the word he embraced his duty
earnestly.
• THE FOURTH
This is Muhâjir Hâfi z Ahmed. He himself said the following:
"Yes, I confess that I made a mistake in my interpretation of the question of my life in the
Hereafter in connection with my service of the Qur'an. I had a wish that would cause me to be
lax in my service, and I received a blow that was compassionate, but also severe and was
atonement. It was like this: my Master (Ustad) was not in favour of the new inventions. My
mosque was next to his house and the Three Months were drawing close. If I had abandoned
my mosque, both I would have forgone much reward, and the district would have grown
accustomed to not praying. If I had not carried out the new practices, I would have been
barred. So according to my interpretation I wanted my Master, whom I loved more than my
life, to temporarily move to another village. I did not know that if he moved, or went to
another region, it would cause a temporary lapse in my service of the Qur'an. Just at that
juncture I received a blow. It was compassionate, but so awesome that three months later I
still have not regained my senses. However, praise be to God, according to what my Master
says, it was imparted to him that we may hope from Divine mercy that each minute of the
calamity is equivalent to a day's worship. For the mistake was not due to enmity; the wish
occurred to me only because I was thinking of my life in the Hereafter."
• THE FIFTH
This is Hakki Efendi. Since he is not here now, I am deputizing for him as I did for Hulûsi
Bey, and say this: while Hakki Efendi was carrying out to the letter his duties as student, an
immoral kaymakam came to the district. So he hid what he had written so that harm should
come neither to his Master, nor to himself. He temporarily gave up his service to the Risale-i
Nur. Suddenly, a court case was opened against him, bearing the meaning of a slap dealt by
Divine compassion, as a result of which he would have had to pay a fine of a thousand liras.
He was subject to the threat for a year—until he came here and we met, and on his return he
again took up his service of the Qur'an and the duties of being a Risale-i Nur student. Then
the decree of the compassionate slap was lifted, and he was acquitted.
Later a further duty commenced for the students, which concerned the writing out of the
Qur'an in a new way. A portion was given to Hakki Efendi. He embarked on the portion in the
best way, and wrote out a thirtieth part of the Qur'an. But because of his straitened
circumstances he felt compelled to secretly undertake the defence of someone in a court case.
He suddenly received another compassionate slap. The finger he used to hold his pen was
broken. It was as though warning him: "This finger won't both write out a lawyer's case and
the Qur'an!" We were astonished at his finger because we did not know about his taking on
the case. Then it was understood that the sacred, pure service of the Qur'an did not want to
involve the fingers which were particular to it in other work. Anyway.... I know Hulûsi Bey

4. like I know myself and spoke in his place, and Hakki Bey is just the same. If he does not like
my acting as his proxy, he can write about his slap himself!
• THE SIXTH
This is Bekir Efendi. He is not here at present, so like I acted as proxy for my brother
Abdülmecid, relying on his confidence and loyalty and what all my close friends like S amli
Hafi z and Süleyman Efendi say and know, I say this: Bekir Efendi had the Tenth Word
printed. And we sent him the Twenty-Fifth Word on the Miraculousness of the Qur'an to print
before the new letters were introduced. We also wrote that we would send him the printing
costs, as we sent him the costs of printing the Tenth Word. But thinking of my poverty and
seeing that the printing costs would be around four hundred liras, Bekir Efendi thought to
himself: "perhaps the Hoja won't be pleased if I pay it out of my own pocket," and his soul
deceived him. It was not printed, and caused considerable harm to our service of the Qur'an.
Two months later nine hundred liras of his were stolen, and he received a compassionate but
severe blow. God willing, the lost nine hundred liras was like the giving of alms.
• THE SEVENTH
This is S amli Hafi z Tevfik. He himself says: "Yes, I confess that because of some things I
did unknowingly and in error which would have caused harm to our service to the Qur'an, I
received two compassionate slaps. I have no doubt that they were the result of that.
"The First: All praise be to God, I was endowed with handwriting of the Arabic script which
is to a degree appropriate for writing the Qur'an. My Master first of all assigned me three
thirtieth parts of the Qur'an to write out, and divided the rest among the others. Desire to write
out the Qur'an destroyed my wish to perform the service of writing out the rough and final
drafts of the parts of the Risale-i Nur. I even had the conceited idea of wanting to surpass the
others who did not know the proper writing of the Arabic script. I had even said arrogantly
when my Master told me as a precaution about the writing that it was for him: "I know this. I
don't need to learn it." And so in accordance with this mistake of mine, I received an
extraordinary and unimaginable slap: what I wrote was not even as good as that of a brother
(Husrev) who knew the least about writing the Arabic script. We were all astonished. And we
have understood now that it was a slap.
"The Second: I confess that two of my attitudes were damaging for the complete sincerity
necessary for service to the Qur'an, which has to be purely for God's sake, and I received a
severe blow. For I am like a stranger in this region, and foreign. Also—but I should not
complain—since I did not observe frugality and contentment, important rules of my Master, I
suffer from poverty. I am compelled to mix with selfish and arrogant people, and so, may God
forgive it, I was forced to be generous in hypocritical and sycophantic manner. My Master
frequently warned, reminded, and scolded me, but unfortunately I could not save myself. On
the one hand satans from among jinn and men were profiting from this situation of mine
which was opposed to the spirit of service of the All-Wise Qur'an, and on the other it caused a
coldness and slackness in our service.
"In the face of this fault of mine, I received a severe, but God willing compassionate, blow. I
have no doubt that it happened as a consequence of that fault. The blow was this: although for

5. eight years I have had both close relations with my Master and been his writer of rough drafts
and final drafts, for around eight months, I had been unable to benefit from the Risale-i Nur.
We were astonished at this situation. Both I and my Master sought the reason, wondering why
it was thus. We now feel certain that those truths of the Qur'an are light and luminous, and
cannot unite with the darkness of artificiality, flattery, and abasement. So the meaning of
those truths' lights were drawing away from me, appearing foreign to me and as strangers. I
beseech Almighty God that He will grant me sincerity worthy of such service, and save me
from hypocrisy and artificiality towards ‘the worldly.' I request of firstly my Master and all
my brothers that they pray for me.
"The most faulty,
"S a m l i H a f i z T e v f i k"
• THE EIGHTH
This is Seyrani. Like Husrev, he was one of my students who was enthusiastic about the
Risale-i Nur and had a good understanding of it. I consulted the ideas of my students in
Isparta about the ‘coincidences,' which are a key to the mysteries of the Qur'an and to the
science of jafr. The others responded and took part eagerly, but because he had other ideas
and points of interest, he did not respond, and in addition wanted me to give up the truth I
knew to be certain. He wrote me a letter that upset me considerably. I said: "Alas! I have lost
this student." Certainly I wanted to enlighten his ideas, but a further meaning confused
matters. He received a blow from Divine compassion: he remained for nearly a year in a place
of seclusion (that is, in prison).
• THE NINTH
This is the Hâfi z Zühtü the Elder. At a time he was as though supervising the Risale-i Nur
students in Ag rus, not considering the students' spiritual honour to be sufficient, who had
taken as their way the following of the Practices of the Prophet (PBUH) and avoiding
innovations, he undertook to teach a serious innovation in the hope of gaining stature in the
eyes of ‘the worldly.' He perpetrated an error which was directly and completely opposed to
our way, and received an awesome slap from Divine compassion. An incident occurred that
completely destroyed his family's honour. Unfortunately, Hâfi z Zühtü the Younger was also
affected by the grievous incident although he was not deserving of any slap. But God willing
it will be like a beneficial surgical operation delivering his heart from worldly attachment and
making it over totally to the Qur'an.
• THE TENTH

6. This is someone called Hâfi z Ahmed (May God have mercy on him). For two or three years
he wrote out the treatises in encouraging fashion and he benefited from them. Then ‘the
worldly' took advantage of a weak trait in his character. His enthusiam was dampened. He had
relations with ‘the worldly,' perhaps so that in that way he would not be harmed by them, and
have some say with them, and gain some sort of position, and make his scant livelihood more
plentiful. And so, in return for the slackness and harm that was thus caused to his service of
the Qur'an, he received two blows. One was that five more people had to be supported by his
scant means and his situation became truly wretched. The second slap: as someone who was
sensitive in regard to honour and self-respect and could not brook anyone's criticism or
objections, he was unknowingly used as a shield by certain cunning people in such a way that
his honour was sullied. Ninety per cent of his honour was destroyed and ninety per cent of
people were turned against him. Anyway.... May God forgive him, God willing he will come
to his senses and return in part to his duty.
• THE ELEVENTH
This was not written since perhaps he would not agree.
• THE TWELFTH
This is the teacher, Galip (May God have mercy on him). Yes, he performed great services
loyally and appreciatively in writing out final drafts of the treatises, displaying no weakness in
the face of any difficulties. Most days he would come, and listening with complete eagerness,
copy them down. Then in return for a fee of thirty liras he had the whole of The Words and
the Letters written out. His aim was to distribute them in his native region and to enlighten the
people there. But due to certain ideas, he did not distribute the treatises as he had envisaged
and left them in their box. Suddenly a grievous event occurred for which he suffered grief and
sorrow for a year. He gained numerous unjust and tyrannical enemies in place of a handful of
official enemies who would have been inimical because he had distributed the treatises, and
lost some of his friends.
• THE THIRTEENTH
This is Hâfi z Halid (May God grant him mercy). He said:
"Yes, I confess that I was feverishly engaged in writing out rough drafts of the works my
Master disseminated in serving the Qur'an, the post of imam in a mosque in our quarter
became available. With the intention of dressing once again in my former robe and wearing a
turban, I temporarily neglected my service and avoided doing it. I received a compassionate
slap contrary to my intentions. Although for eight or nine months I acted as imam, in
extraordinary manner I was unable to wear the turban, despite the repeated promises of the
Mufti. I have no doubt that this compassionate slap was the result of that error. I was both a
someone addressed by my Master and his scribe of rough drafts. He suffered difficulties due
to my neglect. In any event... Still, thanks be to God, we realized my error and understood just

7. how sacred this service is. We were confident that behind us was a Master like a protecting
angel, like Shah Geylani.
"The weakest of God's servants,
"H â f i z H a l i d"
• THE FOURTEENTH
This consists of the three small slaps the three Mustafa's received.
The First: For eight years Mustafa Çavus (May God grant him mercy) attended to our small
private mosque, and to its stove, paraffin, and even the matches. I learnt later that for the eight
years he provided for the paraffin and matches out of his own pocket. On the night before
Friday in particular, so long as there was not some other essential matter, he would join the
congregation. Then, taking advantage of his ingenuousness, ‘the worldly' said to him: "They
are going to interfere in Hâfi z's—one of the scribes of the Words—wearing a turban. He
should also temporarily give up secretly making the call to prayer. You tell the scribe to take
off his turban before they remove it by force." They did not know that for someone like
Mustafa ‚avuß with an elevated spirit to tell someone employed in service of the Qur'an to
remove his turban was extremely difficult. But he told him what they had said.
That night I dreamt that Mustafa Çavus came to my room behind the Kaymakam with dirty
hands. The following day, I said to him: "Mustafa Çavus , whom did you see today? I dreamt
of you with dirty hands behind the Kaymakam." He replied: "Alas! The Muhtar told me to
‘tell the scribe.' I did not know what was behind it."
Also, that same day he brought almost an okka of paraffin to the mmosque. In a way he had
never done before, he left the mosque door open and a kitten entered. Then a big man came,
and supposing the paraffin in the ewer to be water, sprinkled it all around the mosque, in order
to clean it and the mess left by the kitten on the prayer-mat. It is extraordinary that he did not
smell the paraffin. That is to say, the mosque did not allow the man to smell it, in order to
point out to Mustafa ‚avuß through the tongue of disposition: "We don't need your paraffin. I
have not accepted it because of the mistake you made." That week on the eve of Friday and
other important prayers, even, he was unable to join the congregation, although he tried to.
Then seriously repenting and seeking forgiveness, he regained his former purity of heart.
The Second Mustafa's: These are my valuable, hard-working, and important student Mustafa
from Kuleönü, and his most loyal and self-sacrificing friend, Hâfi z Mustafa (May God grant
him mercy). After the religious festival I sent word telling them not to come so that ‘the
worldly' should not bother us and cause any slackness in our service of the Qur'an. But if they
did come, they should come singly. Then one night, three of them came all together. They
intended to leave before dawn. In a way that had never previously occurred, neither Mustafa
Çavus , nor Süleyman Efendi, nor myself, nor themselves, had thought of taking any clear
precautions; we were made to forget to do so. Each of us left it to the others and took no
measures. They left before dawn. Then for two hours they were continuously pounded by
such a storm that I was alarmed thinking that they would not be saved from it. Until that time
this winter neither had there been such a storm, nor had I pitied anyone so much. As a
punishment for his lack of caution, I was going to send Süleyman after them to find out if
they were well and safe. Mustafa Çavus said: "If he goes, he will be stranded too, and I'll

8. have to go after him to find him. Then Abdullah Çavus will have to come after me." So
saying: "We place our trust in God," we waited.
Q u e s t i o n : You consider the calamities visited on your special friends to be slaps;
punishment for laxity in their service of the Qur'an. Whereas those that are truly inimical to
you and to the service of the Qur'an remain safe and sound. Why are friends dealt slaps while
enemies are left untroubled?
T h e A n s w e r : According to, "Wrongdoing does not continue, but unbelief does," the
errors of friends are like a sort of wrongdoing in this service of the Qur'an of ours, and
therefore are swiftly punished. A person receives a compassionate slap and if he is sensible,
realizes his error. But enemies' opposition to service of the Qur'an, and their efforts to prevent
it, are on account of misguidance. Knowingly or unknowingly, aggression against our service
assists atheism. Since unbelief persists, generally they do not immediately receive any blows.
Just as the penalties of those perpetrating small crimes are delivered locally, and serious
crimes are sent to the high courts, so too, according to the rules, the small errors of believers
and close friends are punished swiftly and in part in this world, in order to quickly purify
them. But the crimes of the people of misguidance are so great that since their punishments
cannot be contained in this brief worldly life, as required by justice they are referred to the
Supreme Tribunal in the eternal realm, and mostly do not receive any punishment here.
The Hadith "This world is the prison of the believers and the Paradise of the unbelievers"18
also alludes to this truth. That is to say, because the believer receives partial punishment for
his faults in this world, it is a place of punishment for him. In relation to his happiness in the
Hereafter, this world is a dungeon and Hell. And since the unbelievers will not be released
from Hell and they in part receive the rewards for their good works in this world and their
large sins are postponed, this world is their Paradise in relation to their life in the Hereafter.
For in reality and in meaning the believer is far happier in this world also than the unbeliever.
A believer's faith is quite simply like a Paradise in his spirit; while the unbelief of the
unbeliever sets afire a sort of Hell in his being.
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You
are All-Knowing, All-Wise.
***