Phase 2 · Weeks 5–8
Knowing the self
The traveller turns inward and finds a whole country there, with the heart as its king.
The inner kingdom, with the heart as king
State of lightThe faculties light up one by one
In this phase the road turns inward. Nursi describes the self as a small kingdom, with faculties that serve and a heart that is meant to rule. As each week names one of them, another point of light comes on around the figure.
- 05Fitra and the NafsThe Words · The Thirteenth Word · The Twenty-third Word · The Flashes · The Eleventh FlashWe are made with a nature (fıtrat) that cannot be erased and powers with no built-in limit. The work is not to kill those powers but to steer them to the middle.Open the week
- 06The Heart as KingThe Words · The Twenty-Third and Twenty-Fourth Words · The Flashes · The Nineteenth FlashA person is a house with many residents, and the heart is meant to rule it. When the heart is sound, the rest fall into line.Open the week
- 07Nafs and EneThe Words · The Thirtieth Word · First AimThe “I” has two faces. Turned beyond itself it is a mirror and a measuring line; turned on itself it swells into a dragon.Open the week
- 08Self-Accounting Without Self-HarshnessThe Letters · The Twenty-Eighth Letter · The Twenty-Sixth LetterTake stock of yourself honestly every day (muhasebe), but accuse the nafs, not your worth, and then turn back to God.Open the week