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Let me take you back to my youth. In September 1963, while I was still a deist, I attended a Friday prayer at the insistence of my mother. In the mosque, a voice inside me said, "Leave these matters behind and return to us," and I listened to it. I turned back. A few months later, a friend introduced me to Haji Osman Efendi from Medina. We quickly became close. Three days a week, I would go to his house, and from there, we would visit the mosques in in various neighborhoods of Istanbul for sermons. After the sermons, I would take him home on a motorcycle, and then return to my home at the other extreme of Istanbul. I gained my first foundational knowledge of religion and my understanding of Sufism from him. People often saw him as just a preacher, but he was a much deeper person. This continued until I went to the army, and he passed away during my military service. During his funeral, when an American warship off the coast of Istanbul saw numerous sea vessels heading to Eyub Sultan where Haji Osman Fendi was to be buried, after passing through the Bosphorus, it lowered its flag to half-mast as a sign of respect. He had many special things to say about Sufism and the future. I had written down some of them. He also loved my mother very much. When I was on a 120-day spiritual abstinence, my late mother complained to him out of concern for me, and he sent me a letter asking me to abandon it. Shortly after, I joined the army. At that time, there were two highly spiritual figures in Istanbul: Gönenli Mehmed Efendi (may he rest in peace) and Osman Efendi. I used to meet with both of them, but Osman Efendi was closer to me as a mentor. He had spent 40 years in Medina and had read every book in the libraries there. He patiently answered my endless questions, always recommending knowledge, saying, "There is no Sufism without knowledge." He followed the Nakshibandi Sufi order, but he also gave special Kadiri teachings to some. As I mentioned, everyone thought of him as a knowledgeable sermon instructor. I remember this revered soul who intervened in my life during some very difficult moments with great respect. May Allah reward him from His grace. (I learned the prayers In the prayer book I that wrote in 1965 and the "The Power of Prayer" which I wrote later, from him. The foundation of what I wrote in "Revelations" which I wrote in 1967 was also based on what he had taught and practiced.) Note: At that time, he was 80 years old, and I was 18, like a grandfather and grandson.