Page 72 - The School of Yusuf (as)

THE SCHOOL OF YUSUF

Having given up politics and withdrawn from the world, I was
living in a mountain cave and thinking of the Hereafter when
“the worldly” wrongfully plucked me from it and sent me into
exile. The All-Compassionate and Wise Creator turned the exile
into mercy; He transformed the solitude on the mountain,

which was unsafe and exposed to factors that would harm sin-
cerity, into a retreat in the safe and sincere mountains of Barla.
While a prisoner-of-war in Russia I formed the intention to
withdraw into a cave towards the end of my life and offered
supplications for that purpose. The Most Merciful of the
Merciful made Barla the cave and bestowed the benefits of a
cave, but He did not burden the difficulties and troubles of a

cave on my weak being…
Moreover, although “the worldly” gave the document in ques-
tion to all the exiles, and released the criminals from prison and
offered them an amnesty, they wrongfully did not give it to me.
In order to further employ me in the service of the Qur'an and

make me write to a greater extent the lights of the Qur'an called
the Words, my Compassionate Sustainer left me in untroubled
manner in this exile and transformed it into a great instance of
compassion. 22
Bediuzzaman’s reflections are of utmost importance for a be-

liever. Because, when considering matters according to their out-
ward appearance, we would suppose that Bediuzzaman was
exiled to Barla as an innocent man, and where, except a few rela-
tives, he was not permitted to receive visitors or to write to them,
and was prevented from working in the service of Allah. And, at a
time when it was common to grant amnesty to murderers and
other violent criminals, he was not pardoned.

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