At-Tawbah 82: Now, as punishment in return for what they have been earning, they shall laugh less and cry more.

Surah At-Tawbah, we have come to verse 82. Now, for what they have been earning, as its punishment, let them laugh little and weep much, it says. Yes, if man could comprehend Allah's majesty, His loftiness, His greatness,

man would forget to laugh in this world, to laugh. Man would forget to laugh.

Who comprehended this most? The Prophet. Although all his past and future sins were forgiven, he would worship until morning. When our mother Hazrat Aisha said, O Messenger of Allah, Allah Almighty has forgiven your past sins as well. What need is there to wear yourself out like this? — O Aisha, he says, shall I not be a servant who worships my Lord? he says. Shall I not be a servant who worships much? Yes.

To this blessing Allah Almighty has given, this health, this excellent quality of humanity, befitting. For man to be worthy of this sublimity, even if he sacrificed his life, he still could not attain the mercy Allah has given him. We always live under our Lord's mercy. Only through His mercy do we find life. Yes. He willed it and created us. We do our best only to be able to be worthy of His will. Otherwise we can never be a servant fully worthy of Him.

Then let's not strive at all, Hodja. That's not it either. If He forgave the Prophet (peace be upon him), who came as a mercy to the worlds, his future sins too — toward whom? Toward Allah Almighty, toward the worlds, fully toward Allah Almighty — if He forgave his future sins too, we are not prophets, that we could be a prophet's (?). With the state of our nafs, let us be servants of that Allah in the full sense. So, with our effort, our love, passion and affection for our Lord — as a servant who submits to Allah, who trusts in Him — performing our prayer and struggling with our nafs is a step on the way to earning our Lord's mercy.

Our Lord, out of His mercy, since this struggle of ours fits the purpose of creation — that is, since He created us incomplete and equipped us with flaws, since we became equipped; He did not equip us, we equip ourselves, since we were created incomplete — because of this equipping, for us to attain forgiveness, sending before us leaders, prophets and books, scholars, so that when a person understands his mistake — (?) — he apologises, our Lord holds a light before us, and by our submitting to it we attain Allah's mercy. Otherwise, with these deeds of ours, we can never say that in the full sense, flawlessly, we worshipped our Lord — never can we say that.

What do we do then? We struggle with our nafs, keep worshipping to earn our Lord's mercy, and within the helplessness of our nafs, take refuge in our Lord's mercy. Then we will have attained Allah's mercy. Otherwise, with the worship we've done, with the good deeds we've done, whoever says, I did this and I expect its reward — the sins he committed in the helplessness of his nafs may well outweigh it, and that person will not easily find life. If Allah Almighty puts the evils he did before him. Because in (?) he was created incomplete, flawed too — only if we submit to Allah, if we trust in Him, with the good deeds we do, when Allah Almighty sees that we struggle with our nafs and sees that we submit to our Lord, only then does He forgive our sins and welcome us as an excellent servant with His mercy.

That is Allah's greatness.

Now, as the punishment for what they have been earning, let them laugh little and weep much, it says. Bring me a hot (?).

In His command, those who do not believe in Allah and His Messenger buy with their own hands Hell in the Hereafter and the punishment there. With their own hands.

The verse: what you earn is the recompense of your own two hands. Yes. While in this world, because of their opposition to Allah and His Messenger, because of the sins they committed with their own hands, whereas they ought to laugh little and weep much, these people, as if they would never die, commit every kind of sin, oppress people too, and regard these loads of sin as lawful for themselves. In the end, they see it that way. At the same time, this load of sin remains on their backs as a mountain. Without realising that they are being crushed under that load of sin, these people whose hearts are full of grudge and hatred fall into a depression; they cannot grasp this torment that the load of sin gives.

He, to satisfy his own nafs, plunges into bars, nightclubs, drink, debauchery, and so, multiplying his load of sin, increases Allah's punishment upon himself. Yes.

Allah, addressing such people, declares: let them laugh little and weep much in this world.

Allah Almighty says: O man, the (?) I gave you, will you never use it? Will you never reflect on your Lord? Will you never think about the purpose of your creation?

Will you never look around you? Every day hundreds of miracles appear before you. Will you never take a lesson from them? In this case, instead of submitting to your Lord, walking in His way, though you realise you will (?) My punishment, plunging into this world's debauchery and destroying your Hereafter — does it befit the honourable state in which I created you as a human? He says. In this case, when you ought to laugh little and weep much, into what debauchery have you plunged? With the pleasures of what are you occupied, that you, as an excellent human of this world, having your nafs cleansed, walk among people with your own pride and grandeur, He says.

With pride and grandeur. Look at the pride, the grandeur in them — no one yields to anyone. I'm in Germany.

A man is coming out of a park. Someone else is about to go in there.

The one going in says, let him move forward so I can go in. The one coming out says, let him step back so I can come out. They just stand there, man. It's astonishing, man. Can there be this much pride? So unwilling to yield to each other, will people have (?) put around their necks? They wait for each other. I felt overwhelmed, man. Overwhelmed with astonishment. It's astonishing, man. Such pride, such grandeur, such arrogance in people. Yes.

When we saw them, Allah's verses lined up in me one by one like pearls. On seeing their behaviour.

Addressing such people, Allah declares: in this world let them laugh little and weep much. Their laughing in this world is only for a short time. But if they knew the punishment of the Hereafter, while in this world they would forget to laugh and weep much to earn Allah's pleasure. But since they are a people who do not understand, they are those who, amusing themselves with the transient pleasures of worldly life, forget the Hereafter. They are people who will erupt when they see that punishment in the Hereafter. Yes. How will they erupt? When they realise they will enter Hell, it says, they will throw themselves face down on the ground. And those on duty, it says, will seize them by their forelocks and through a narrow gate of Hell throw them in.

These are all the meanings of verses. There isn't one piece of writing here from my own mind; these are all verses.