Page 62 - The School of Yusuf (as)

THE SCHOOL OF YUSUF

the above fact to me while, during a few days of material and
spiritual affliction, illness and trial the like of which I had never
before experienced in my life, I was being crushed in particular
by the despair and distress of the heart and spirit which re-
sulted from my being unable to serve the Risale-i Nur. I was

then content with my distressing illness and imprisonment.
For, saying: “It is great profit for an unfortunate like myself
who waits at the door of the grave to make one hour which
might be passed in heedlessness ten hours’ worth of worship,”
I gave thanks. 13

The Value Of Worship Through Hardship

Bediuzzaman often stated that worship during time spent in
the School of Yusuf is valuable for the Hereafter. This is good news
for the believers confined there. Some of his comments on the sub-
ject are related below:

O you unfortunates who are experiencing the misfortune of
prison! Since your world is weeping and your life is bitter,
strive so that your Hereafter will not also weep, and your eter-
nal life will smile and be sweet! Benefit from prison! Just as
sometimes under severe conditions in the face of the enemy, an

hour’s watch may be equivalent to a year’s worship, so in the
severe conditions you are experiencing, the hardship of each
hour spent as worship becomes the equivalent of many hours,
it transforms that hardship into mercy. 14
Each day spent in prison may gain as much as ten days’ wor-

ship, and, with regards to their fruits, may transform those
transient hours into enduring hours, and through five or ten

60