An-Nisa 162: But those among them who are firmly grounded in knowledge and who are the believers (mu’min), and who believe in what has been sent down (revelations) to you and before you, who establish the prayer, who pay the obligatory alm, who believe in Allah and the Hereafter; We will soon give them a great reward.

Surah An-Nisa, verse 162: 'But those among them firmly grounded in knowledge, and the believers among them, who believe in what was sent down to you and what was sent down before you' — 'what was sent down to you' means the Quran; when He says 'those who believe in what came before it', they have already believed in all of them anyway. The Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel, in the Quran. Those who believe, those who perform the prayer — they perform their prayers in secret. They have prepared a prayer place in a hidden part of their homes. Those who give zakat — they give their zakat saying 'I am doing charity'.

Those who (?) Allah and the Hereafter, you know, 'to them We will very soon give a great reward,' He says. 'Very soon,' He said. A person's sixty, seventy years in this world, by the days of the Hereafter, are like an hour, an hour and a half. Very near, of course. Very soon. Since a reward will be given afterwards, Hodja, isn't He referring to the world of the Hereafter then? Yes. He is referring to the world of the Hereafter. 'When you rise from under the ground,' He says, 'you will ask one another: How long did we lie? Some of you a day, some of you,' He says, 'less than a day we lay, you will say,' He says. 'Of how long you lay under the ground, the ones keeping count — ask the noble angels on duty,' He says.

So again a day, less than a day. Again soon — 'ask', He says. The reward will be given soon. So this, in a world of travellers, is an adventure we have lived. Within this adventure we must use our time well, we must fulfil our duty toward Allah, our duty of servanthood. Otherwise, that time He calls near is but the blink of an eye. I don't know, can you imagine?

You have seen cigarette smoke. Before a person's (?) it disperses and goes. A moment earlier it was there, you saw the smoke. But, within a second or two the smoke vanished. So at the moment of death, when the soul reaches the throat, your life since childhood will pass before your eyes like a few seconds. It will pass before your eyes. My life, that, a film. This, a few seconds. And then, when the soul reaches the throat, the door of repentance has already closed. No more repentance either. No turning back either. The treasure is lost. What treasure? The treasure of life is lost. The treasure of the world is nothing next to the treasure of life.

Why nothing? Why? If you say Allah once on earth, you have earned reward, and Allah Almighty has prepared paradise for you. But the heavens and the earth — the inheritance of what is between them belongs to Allah, in the verse where He says this, according to it, even if the world were yours, you could not take a speck of it to the Hereafter. So within your life earn as much as you want, buy as much property as you want, it is nothing next to your life. But if you said Allah once in your life, if within that life you served Allah, that is your treasure. So use this treasure well.

But among them those firmly grounded in knowledge and the believers, who believe in what was sent down to you and what was sent down before you, those who perform the prayer, give the zakat, believe in Allah and the Last Day, you know, 'to them We will very soon give a great reward,' He says.

I think we have explained the 'very soon'.

Those among them who draw near to Allah in knowledge. Those who draw near to Allah. In knowledge.

Allah Almighty says so in a verse.

Look what He says: 'It is He who sent down the Book to you. Some of the verses of that Quran are muhkam, they are the foundation of the Book; the others are mutashabih.' I am not explaining this part. We are reading. We will explain it later. 'Those whose hearts (?) the Quran: to stir up discord and to interpret it, the mutashabih verses in it they pursue. Yet only Allah knows its interpretation. And those who attain a high rank in knowledge,' He says. And those who attain a high rank in knowledge. 'We believe in it. All of it is from our Lord,' they say. Who is this? Those who attain a high rank in knowledge.

Who are they? Allah Almighty in the verse, here very fine — my eyes don't see this, I can't read it well, but in the seventh verse: âmennâ bihî küllün min indi rabbinâ ve mâ yezzekkeru illâ ulü'l-elbâb. Let us go back a little from this.

Illa'llâh, ve'r-râsihûne fi'l-ilmi, it says. Look, ve'r-râsihûne fi'l-ilmi — with Allah's knowledge, that is, (?) — kneaded with Allah's knowledge, and through the door of that knowledge these have entered; above nafs-i mutmainna, in nafs-i radiya it comes about; in nafs-i radiya Allah Almighty's knowledge is bestowed on him, and Allah Himself raises such people; these are like the suns of the earth. What were they? Like the suns of the earth. 'The passing of your scholars to the Hereafter is like the sun going and darkness coming.' I say it according to the verse. These are the suns of the earth.

Because Allah Almighty has given such people knowledge, and along with it has given wisdom. These, as I said just now, are the suns of the earth. So those who rise in knowledge, those who rise in knowledge, they find the truth within; so those among them who draw near to Allah in knowledge, those kneaded with Allah's knowledge, who have attained the attribute of believer, who have reached the state of ilm al-yaqin (?) yes, these and the believers, these believers who believe in the books Allah sent down, in the prophets, who read the Quran and perform the prayer and give zakat, who believe with certainty in Allah and the Last Day — Allah will soon give them a great reward, and this great reward is winning the victory of the world of the Hereafter, He has said; that victory is to deserve the paradises Allah Almighty has promised.

There is no greater victory than this. There is no greater reward than this. The victories and rewards of the world are all passing, while those of the Hereafter are eternal and lasting. Yes.

When Allah Almighty says 'We will give you a victory soon' — soon. Look what He says now. Let us read this part. 'We will give you victory soon,' He says.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

'Indeed, We have granted you a clear conquest,' He says. Conquest. It is both outward and inward. A clear conquest: His giving him the Maqam Mahmud. And giving conquests in the world too.

'So that Allah may forgive your past and future sins, complete His favour upon you and guide you to a straight path,' He says. 'And help you with a glorious victory.' A glorious victory. Now we continue. 'It is He who sent down tranquillity into the hearts of the believers so they would increase their faith yet more. To Allah belong the armies of the heavens and the earth. Allah is All-Knowing. He does everything with wisdom,' He says. 'All these favours: the believing men, the believing women — into paradises where they will abide forever, (?) which rivers flow, His putting them there, and covering their sins, is the purpose.

That is a great salvation in the sight of Allah.' Yes. A great salvation. That is, a great victory. Otherwise the victories of the world are passing, and its rewards passing too.

Yes.

To those who are close to Allah and to (?), Allah will soon give a great reward. Such people do their worship and obedience for Allah. They keep away from show and hypocrisy. Yes. They do nothing for show. They take refuge in Allah. Their whole business, such scholars' whole business, is to remember Allah; in all events that happen, in the words they speak, according to Allah's verses to evaluate. According to Allah's verses. And except for human nature, except for their absent-mindedness, they never forget Allah. In this case, everything they speak and see, and hear, they evaluate with Allah's verses.

Yes. The verse is for these. 'Neither buying nor trade, from My remembrance, keeps them away.' Perfecting their nafs, they serve Allah's servants on Allah's path. Not joining in the passing pleasures of the world, they are with Allah and at every moment they remember Allah. Because Allah loves such people very much, He places the created beings at the service of these people.

There is another meaning here.

Created beings. Isn't man the vicegerent on earth anyway? Vicegerent. Well, isn't man a created being? Yes. How does He place him at their service?

'Whoever,' He says, 'mentions Allah, remembers Him, I,' He says, 'make him beloved to My servants.' To My servants. 'I make that person beloved to My servants.'

If Allah calls someone 'My servant', he is surely one of the people of faith. Allah Almighty, in the world of the Hereafter, those non-Muslims, since He cuts off His mercy, (?) outside His servanthood anyway. And what does He say about them? Even in the world they are like four-legged creatures roaming the earth, He says. They are like four-legged creatures.

Since He cuts off His mercy from them — than those four-legged ones, look, than the four-legged ones even in a worse state. The animals, the four-legged ones, after taking their revenge on one another, suffer no punishment. They cease to exist upon the duties performed. They have completed their duties. And when they have taken revenge on one another, they vanish. But man, man will not vanish. So, the servants of Allah Almighty, the people who believe in Allah, who have faith. So, such people — to Allah, without remembering Allah even for a moment since they do not live, except for human nature, except for absent-mindedness.

In this case, Allah Almighty makes them beloved to His servants. To His servants. So here, such people, because Allah loves them very much, He places the created beings at the service of these people. Of course, when He makes them beloved to His servants, those servants compete to serve such people. Now, in exactly such a situation, to my mind — I told you one.

A narration told by Hazrat Ahmet İbican comes to my mind. Let me tell it. 'I am in Mecca the Honoured,' he says. Clinging to the iron ring, the iron ring of Mecca the Honoured, a man is both weeping and to the iron — '(?) on the Day of Judgment,' he says, 'bear witness for me. Look, I came here,' he says, 'for Allah, bear witness for me,' he says. He is both weeping and saying it. Behind him an old man, seeing this, starts laughing, chuckling quietly. He turns: 'Why are you laughing?' he says. 'My child,' he says, 'what is expecting benefit from iron? Expect benefit from Allah,' he says, 'from Allah.' Upon that: 'Who are you?' he says. 'Ah, don't you know me?' he says. 'Am I (?)?' he says, 'why should I know you?' he says.

'Then ask Allah about me,' he says. Allah.

The man is astonished. 'My Allah,' he says, 'what kind of servant is this? He tells me,' he says, 'to ask You about him.' At that moment he hears a voice from the unseen. 'He is My — hu, My friend, hu hu, hu, he is My friend,' it says. When it says so, 'Father,' he says, 'let me do you some service,' he says. 'Command me something,' he says, 'so I can do something.' 'My son,' he says. 'I drink very little water,' he says. '(?),' he says. 'Bring some Zamzam from over there,' he says. 'My soul,' he says, 'very much wants to drink water,' he says. 'Let me drink my fill of water from there,' he says.

The man runs at once. He is going to serve, you see. He brings the water and sees that the man has died. Passed away. He says to himself: 'I, Allah's (?) servant — I was going to serve,' he says, 'a servant Allah loves,' he says. 'That too was not granted to me,' he says. At that moment it comes to his mind: 'Wait,' he says, 'let me get his shroud, let me at least (?) serve him,' he says. He goes, gets the shroud, comes back and sees the man is not in his place. 'My Allah, what is this?' he says. 'I,' he says, 'wanted to serve one,' he says, 'whom You love,' he says. 'For this,' he says, 'what a lowly person I must be,' he says.

'It was not granted to me,' he says, 'to do one service for him.' Upon that he again hears a voice from the unseen. 'One who never forgot Me in his health,' it says, 'would I forget him in his hour of need?' it says. 'I took him long ago and put him in his place,' it says. This is how Allah loves such people. In their hour of need He comes to their aid. You, in times of plenty, Allah — in your hour of need, if you do not see Allah, then come back and tell me. But never say 'yallah'. Always say Allah. And some say: I cannot say Allah, but why does my work (?)? (?) Yes. You say Allah, and Allah will be behind you.

'If My servant says Allah to Me once,' He says, 'I at once say to him: Labbayk, My servant, tell Me, command,' He says. 'Tell Me, what do you want? Labbayk.' Yes. Just say Allah. Why? When you say Allah, my Lord says 'tell Me'. Because Allah Almighty created us so that His essence would be known. Because our knowing our Lord by our own will accords with Allah's purpose in creating.

Perfecting their nafs, they serve Allah's servants on Allah's path. Not being carried away by the passing pleasures of the world, they are with Allah and at every moment remember Allah; because Allah loves such people very much, He places the created beings at the service of these people. Such people, with their passing to the world of the Hereafter, attaining the rewards Allah has promised, are pleased with Allah. And because Allah loves them, they attain might and honour with Allah. 'Do people seek might and honour somewhere other than with Allah?' He says. 'All might and honour is with Allah,' He says.

So in the noble verse, everything spoken is the counterpart of verses anyway. May Allah join us all to those Allah loves, and among those who attain that might and honour, may He include us. All of us. Yes.