An-Nisa 110: Those who commit evil or oppress their own nafs (ego), and after that repent and seek forgiveness from Allah, they will find Allah as Oft-Forgiving (Ghafoor) and Most Merciful (Raheem).

We left off at verse 110 of Surah An-Nisa; let us open up this verse for you as well. Whoever does an evil or wrongs his own soul — how will he wrong his own soul? By doing evil. Wrongs it, and then asks Allah for forgiveness, will find Allah Most Judging, Most Forgiving and Most Merciful. So Allah is Tawwab, the Accepter of repentance. Whoever has done evil to his soul, that is, if for sins committed knowingly or unknowingly he asks for pardon and forgiveness, then this person draws toward his Lord's mercy. Whoever follows his nafs or Satan and does an evil, and with this evil wrongs his own soul, and then, when he regrets it, becomes repentant, and asks Allah for pardon and forgiveness, will find Allah Most Forgiving and Pardoning.

Because Allah is Tawwab. Because Allah created man deficient in intellect. Because Allah created man honoured, exalted, the best of creatures, as the noblest of creation. So, so that man, knowing his helplessness through his mistakes, would ask his Lord for pardon and forgiveness, He created him deficient in intellect. So if man asks Allah Almighty for pardon and forgiveness for the mistakes he makes, it accords with our Lord's purpose in creation. Because Allah created people so that His Essence would be known. If people were faultless, Allah Almighty would have created a being equal to His Essence.

Why? Because He gave of His spirit. Man is the likeness of his Lord. When we say this, people are astonished. Do not be astonished. Do not be astonished. Look how beautifully Süleyman Çelebi puts it in the Mevlid-i Nebi. 'I made your essence a mirror to My Essence,' he says. Mirat means mirror. 'I created you to see My Essence in your essence,' He says to the Prophet. Yes. Because He gave him of His spirit, you see. So if the Prophet is His mirror, His looking-glass, and if we are of the human kind descended from the Prophet, yes, do not be astonished at all, our Lord in our attributes, in our attributes, but that universal attribute — if it is us, in the attributes you see — yes, the universal attribute belongs to Allah; it (?) changes form. Yes.

If people were faultless, Allah Almighty would have created a being equal to His Essence; all creatures are created in such a way as to be in need of Allah. And man, the noblest of these creatures, realizing through his mistakes that he is answerable to his Lord, and by asking Allah for pardon and forgiveness for the mistakes he has made, since man's turning back to his Lord accords with Allah's purpose in creation, he will find Allah Almighty Most Forgiving.

Allah's will in creating people deficient in intellect is that through people's mistakes they come to know Allah Almighty's Essence and ask His Essence for pardon and forgiveness. Listen carefully. We will make a distinction here. Listen carefully to this part. Allah Almighty's will in creating people deficient in intellect is that through people's mistakes — that is, mistakes made where their understanding falls short — they come to know Allah Almighty's Essence and (?) forgiveness from His Essence. It is not that, according to the understanding and attitude of other peoples, one says 'Allah created me this way, I will commit sins.

Because that was His will,' saying 'I bear witness to this,' and commits every kind of evil and sin, runs after his nafs and Satan, says 'Allah created me to commit sins', denies Allah's verses and, judging himself by his own reason, does away with Allah's judgement over you. With this understanding man goes into shirk and to that most evil place of return, Hell.

So Allah Almighty created us deficient in intellect, but, O man! Know your responsibility toward the Lord who created you. 'Yes, I created your intellect deficient. You may make mistakes unknowingly. Unknowingly. Or else your nafs prevails, and you make mistakes knowingly too. If you then do not ask Me for pardon and forgiveness, woe to you. I did not create you for this, to make mistakes,' He says. 'I created you so that you would know Me.' You will know your Lord by making mistakes? How will you know Him? Allah does not accept that. 'I have made a mistake here. Allah has forbidden alcohol. Look, I did not know this.

I will give up this drink. Ah, gambling is bad, interest is bad, adultery is bad, usurping another's right is bad, gossip, backbiting, lying are bad.' You will cut yourself off from these. You have said, 'O Allah, I repent, I will not do it again.' And so you have feared Allah and taken refuge in Allah. But no. 'I was created this way anyway. I am like this anyway' — if you say that, then, then you will have wronged your own soul. Yes.

Allah created man deficient, so did He create you to go on the earth along the path your nafs and Satan showed you and drown the world in corruption? Is that why He created you? Did He create you deficient so that you would drown the world in corruption? Did He create you so that you would follow Satan? Well, He created you deficient, but why, when you did not follow what Allah Almighty said, did you follow Satan and the taghut? Why did you follow them? Allah commanded you too; He created you deficient, and you did that, but did not do this — that is, why did you not do what Allah Almighty said? Satan's temptation you accepted very nicely. Yes, His Essence was a treasure, He willed that it be known; He gave man a partial spirit from His Essence, He left the will in your hands; so that with your own reason, knowing your Lord, observing Allah's commands, you would walk the path He showed, He created people.

In this regard, for the mistakes you make following your nafs and Satan, you fear the Lord who created you. If you ask Him for pardon and forgiveness, since it accords with Allah's purpose in creation, He forgives you. And Allah is abundantly forgiving of such sincere people's return to their Lord. He is Forgiving. Yes.