The Terms of Risala i Nur Collection Risala i Nur Lügatı — Bediüzzaman Said Nursi

1 This important academic work is the necessary fruit of our academic efforts which we have been carrying out for nearly 10 years to revise the four main books of the Risāla i Nūr Collection The Words The Rays The Flashes and The Letters of Bedīuzzaman and to explain important academic terms with glosses The first two of these works are now in print and have attracted considerable interest in scholarly circles Upon requests we have found it appropriate to publish these terms which are essential for the understanding of the Risāla i Nūr Collection as a separate book We know that to claim that this work is entirely ours would be a betrayal of our precious elders who have laboured for years on this subject Because many works have been produced by the elder brothers before our work Of course this work has not been an academic work important enough to leave them behind In this regard we say as Ibn Mālik one of the famous scholars of Arabic Grammar Muḥammad b n Mālik auther of Alfiyyah said This work is more comprehensive and academic than the others However the previous ones are worthy of tafḍīl i e superior since they were written before us Therefore they are doubly worthy of praise and appreciation May Allah Almighty bestow His abundant and inexhaustible favours upon me and them in the Hereafter Insha Allah 2 We would like these efforts as below The first effort in this regard was made by Abdullah Yeğin one of Bedīuzzaman s regular students Yeni Sözlük The New Lughat prepared by the late Abdullah Yeğin contains a total of 27665 words and terms Osmanlıca Türkçe Ansiklopedik Büyük Lughat The Ottoman Turkish Encyclopaedic Grand Lughah was prepared and made more comprehensive by the Ittihad Scientific Research Committee This work was prepared primarily by the late Rüşdü Tafralı Ağabey Glossary of Islamic Terms in the Light of the Risāla i Nūr prepared by Mustafa Tuna and Erol Tahtakıran has been our main source while doing this study However although the terms used in the Risāla i Nūr are explained in this work academic and Islamic terms are not explained If this work would not have been done our study would last at least more years We are thankful for them We have benefited from all sources in English Arabic and Turkish Especially from our work under the title OSMANLI TARİH VE HUKUK ISTILAHLARI KÂMÛSU has been very important source for this academic study In our opinion another important work is the work prepared by Rüşdü Tafralı Ağabey under the title Ta bīrāt ı Nūriye however it was not printed and some parts are missing Its digital copy is among our sources Dictionary Persian Arabic and English This work written by Francis Johnson in 1852 is an excellent source It also includes the terms of Ottoman jurisprudence We consulted this work for the English translations of most terms 3 While conducting this study we have utilised all printed and digital sources It will be useful to mention some of them Firstly the Encyclopaedia of Islam of the Religious Foundation Türkiye Diyānet İslam Ansiklopedisi should be among the main sources of those who do this kind of work and it has been so for us Secondly Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia wikipedia org ويكيبيديا الموسوعة الحرة wikipedia org Wikiislam the online resource on Islam wikishia Nurpedia org Nur Encyclopaedia of the Truths of Faith and Islam Reference Works Brill brillonline com Risaleinuronline https sorularlaislamiyet com https questionsonislam com 4 Since most of the terms in the alphabetical order in this study are in Arabic we have sorted them according to the transliteration of Arabic words For this reason it is necessary to remind a few points Firstly the terms beginning with the letter ع were mentioned first and this created an order within itself It is necessary to pay attention to this For example A lā Illiyyin اعلى عليين is the first word