An-Nisa 74: So, those who sell the worldly life for the Hereafter should fight in the way of Allah. Whoever is killed or gains a victory in the way of Allah, We will soon give them a great reward.

Yes, Surah An-Nisa, verse 74. In the verse: So let those who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter — how beautifully Allah Almighty says it, what does He say? So let those who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter — in a verse, who buys Paradise with their lives and their wealth, it says. With their lives and their wealth. With their lives, the martyrs; with their wealth, the generous. Those who give what Allah has bestowed, giving it as charity to Allah's servants, to win Allah's pleasure. Yes, so those who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter, that is, those who, being generous for Allah's pleasure, help the poor, the needy, the orphan, the stranded traveller, the parentless.

Those who give the surplus of their wealth, in a way that does not endanger themselves, as charity to Allah's servants. Let them fight in the way of Allah. This time those martyrs are included in this too. Let them fight too. If they have no wealth, let them fight with their lives. Let them become martyrs. Whoever fights in the way of Allah and is killed, or prevails, is killed, becomes a martyr, or prevails — We will soon give him a great reward, it says.

His saying 'soon': a life here of an hour or an hour and a half, compared to the world of the Hereafter, is of course near. Yes, this world (?) is a temporary stopping place. Transient, (?). When we say transient, it does not mean non-existent; it means it will cease to exist. There is a non-existence that is something that never was, and there is ceasing to exist: the vanishing of something that exists. Yes. While staying in this guesthouse — the world is such a guesthouse. Why did we come here? We were created in that world of lahut. Our souls were created. At the address 'Am I not your Lord?' (Elestü bi-Rabbiküm) we made a covenant with our Lord.

Since Allah Almighty is free from deficient attributes, He sent people to this world we call the unseen, where His Being is not seen, that is, to this outward world where His Being is not seen. So that people would not deny Allah Almighty there: 'We saw You as one like us, so we could not believe in You; if You (?) us in a world where Your Being is not seen, we would worship You' — so that they would not say this, He sends this world; this point is very important anyway. Once we have grasped this point, very many things are resolved here. Yes, we come to this world to make ourselves witnesses. Whatever wish and desire we expressed to Allah Almighty at the address 'Am I not your Lord?', whatever aim we had, Allah Almighty placed that aim of ours — our will, (?) in proportion to our own wish and desire — in us as characters. So our own wish and desire became our destiny. So by living this destiny of ours in the world, proving what kind of person we are, and completing our lifespan, then, according to the verse 'every soul shall taste death, and finally your return is to Me', we will pass on to the Hereafter.

We will return again to that world of barzakh. How long until the Day of Judgement comes, how long we lie under the earth — that is within our Lord's knowledge. He says it like this; our Lord says it like this. After you are resurrected you will ask one another: How long did we lie under the earth? Some of you, (?), it says, will say we lay for a day, half a day, it says. You cannot keep count of how long you lay under the earth, (?) Yes. So we will be resurrected again as bodies. Our bodies, which will meet our souls, (?), will go to the Supreme Court to give account in the presence of our Lord.

So this place — Allah Almighty, free from deficient attributes, so that He would have us prove to ourselves what kind of person we are, sent us to it — is a guesthouse, a stopping place. Just as a person goes somewhere as a guest and stays three days, five days, ten days, whatever, but in the end he will now go back home, because he is a guest. The world is exactly like this. Exactly. A guesthouse. It is a place of brief enjoyment and of staying. Yes, if, while staying in this guesthouse, one listens to Allah's commands and is with Him, then in the places he will go after leaving the guesthouse he is warmly welcomed, and honour and generosity are shown to him.

And the places he will go after leaving the guesthouse are in the Hereafter. There he is warmly welcomed. Because, unseen, in this world, without seeing Allah Almighty, and even though all the events in the world of the Hereafter were hidden from him, with the fine covenant he gave his Lord he renewed his faith in this outward world too, in a world where he does not see his Lord, and in obedience to his Lord he did not fall short. He did things that would please Allah Almighty. So when they pass on to the Hereafter, they are warmly welcomed. Warmly. Yes.

When we go on Hajj to Mecca the Honoured, when we approach and enter the House of Allah, to that Black Stone, when we approach it, even before we come near, what do we say? To the Black Stone we raise our hands. We pass them over our faces. That is: O Allah, in keeping with the promise we gave You in the world of the Hereafter, we have come here. Be our witness. Sir, we have come here. We have come to renew our covenant. Our covenant. Yes. So if people in this world (?) a fine covenant to Allah, in this guesthouse, in the finest way, they both attain their Lord's mercy and both live this world in the finest way and build up the world of the Hereafter.

Wherever he goes he is warmly welcomed. He attains many rewards.

Although people, at their death, will not take a single thing from this world to the world of the Hereafter, they want to be attached to the world.

Yes. People cannot take even an atom from this world to the world of the Hereafter. An atom. They cannot take even a speck of dust. The reason, in (?) sense. The world, it says, will put on its finest clothes. (?) And Allah Almighty will say: that (?) you call small did not look at you while you were in the world, so (?) — like an old rag He will pick it up and throw it into Hell, into Hell, yes. (?) (?) into Hell. Just so, a person cannot take from this world to the Hereafter even an atom. What does he take? He takes his acts of worship, the good and fine deeds he has done, and also his sins, his load of sin.

So rather than shouldering that load of sin — to shoulder the load of good deeds, to be stripped of that load of sin and pass on to the Hereafter, for Allah Almighty to welcome that person warmly and give him the places He promised him.

What a fine recompense for that person. As long as a person knows that he is in a guesthouse in this world. Knows that he is in a test. Knows that all of this, from the atom to the globe, all beings belong to Allah. As for the world's goods, property, children and place — so that they have no effect on his good deeds and sins among the actual deeds a person does — if he knows that he will be asked about those children and places only by Allah's command, that he will be asked where he spent or did not spend the goods of this world, and that he is responsible — if he knows this, then without fixing his eyes on the world he seeks the ways to win Allah's pleasure.

Yes. And the world is the field of the Hereafter. We will also work hard at it. We will not let the love of this (?) we have earned descend into our hearts. By giving charity with it, spending it in the way of Allah, we will win our Lord's mercy. His mercy. If people had acted in this way, that is, if they had given thanks when they gained the world — for Allah Almighty says: would We ever diminish the wealth of one who gives thanks? — and if they had given thanks, and been content with their state, with what Allah has given, today there would not remain among us a single poor person. Not a single poor person would remain. Because they would gain worldly wealth and, to win Allah's pleasure, give charity to the poor and the needy.

They would open fields of work for them, protect their rights, lift them out of the hands of destitution. They would carry them on their backs; the strong would carry the weak. But unfortunately, the whims of the nafs, the temptation of Satan — making a person stingy, frightening him with poverty — stepping on the one who has fallen, trying to rise on his shoulders, is entirely outside the path our Lord has shown us. People who have a (?) morality would (?) that, with worldly wealth, this worldly wealth given to them would harm them in the world of the Hereafter. They would keep away from such whims and carry out Allah's command.

What are we saying? Although people, at their death, cannot take a single thing from this world to the world of the Hereafter, they want to be attached to the world. There is the clogmaker's adze; it always cuts toward oneself. It never throws outward; it always comes this way. So if a person's nafs does not reach maturity, he always tries, like the clogmaker's adze, to whittle the world toward himself. At the slightest interest that touches him he flares up.

Yet the real homeland is the world of the Hereafter. That is, this world is not our homeland. This world we are in is a temporary stopping place. Only a piece of ground given as a trust, in a state that can provide our livelihood, on which we will carry on our life and prove what kind of person we are — a piece of ground, a piece of earth, a piece of earth held in trust. Because we live on it, as a nation we call our own piece of earth our homeland. Yes, because we live there. As long as we live, it becomes our homeland. We live on it. But it is a temporary homeland held in trust. Everyone leaves his homeland and goes.

Where to? Every soul shall taste death, your return is to Me, it says. So it is a temporary homeland. The true homeland is the world of the Hereafter. Because we were created there. Where is this? The world of lahut. The world where the souls were created. We were created there; there we were granted the address 'Am I not your Lord?' (Elestü bi-Rabbiküm); there, and there we made the covenant. To prove what kind of person we are, in the service of our covenant, within the time we ourselves wished, we came to the world at this time. So we came as a guest, as a nomad, and we will go. So if people are immortal — that is, I do not mean the bodies, I mean our souls.

Because our souls are immortal. Souls are a part from our Lord. And our Lord already explains to us in His verses that souls are immortal. Paradise and Hell are everlasting, He says. That is, in Paradise and in Hell, these are everlasting. If it is everlasting, the place where the souls will stay in Paradise or Hell, the stopping place — they called it everlasting there. Yes, there is no death for souls. Death is for bodies. In this case, our true homeland is that world of lahut where we were first created, and the world of Paradise our Lord promised us is our homeland — that. Then according to our rank — if we can go there, of course — if we win our Lord's pleasure and get away there unscathed, we will stay there in our homeland of eternal bliss.

No more coming and going like this world. That is, the matter will be finished. We are travellers. Travellers. Where did the traveller start? He started from the world of lahut. We were created. Then we were granted (?). With 'I am your Lord'. Upon this, we made a covenant with Allah Almighty. Our aim was written for us as destiny. We were taken up to barzakh. The journey begins. The journey. In the world of barzakh, souls whose time has come come to the world. They carry on their lives. They prove what kind of person they are — a traveller, a wayfarer. Then they return to barzakh again. The traveller continued. Then, after all the souls that will come from that world of barzakh to the world are finished, the Day of Judgement will come.

After the Day of Judgement comes, He will raise us again in the world of the Hereafter. Into our bodies. (?) So those waiting in barzakh, together with their bodies, at the Supreme Court, into the presence of our Lord, to give account of what they did, will go. So we are always going on as travellers. After our account is settled there, once Paradise or Hell is entered, there is no more travelling. It is over. But the Muslims in Hell, after suffering punishment as much as their sins, will come out and come to Paradise again. They have that much more travelling. That is, coming out of (?) and entering Paradise again.

I am speaking of those who go as Muslims but whose sins are many. There the nafs will (?) maturity, and when they enter Paradise again in the world of the Hereafter, in Paradise or Hell they will then (?) these. No more journey. There we will end. So now, we are travellers in a guesthouse, that is, wayfarers. These wayfarers hurting one another, shoving one another, quarrelling with one another, fighting with one another.

Yet the real homeland is the world of the Hereafter. So those who want to buy the world of the Hereafter with their wealth and their lives — let them fight, it says; (?). With their lives and their wealth: with their lives the martyrs, and with their wealth the generous. If, as I said just now, people had given charity with their wealth, and accepted that this is a temporary world, and known that we are a traveller, in a world of travellers — a traveller, that is, in a guesthouse, in a temporary world — and if they had known that we are responsible for these goods given to us; if they had known that the owner of this wealth and property is Allah, and that we will be called to account for this wealth and property through our actual deeds, the good deeds and sins we do; if they had given charity to the servants Allah created, to those in need, to win Allah's pleasure, they would surely have gained the abode of the Hereafter.

The abode of the Hereafter.

Let them unite against those who commit injustice and oppression on earth, and spread Allah's justice on earth. Yes.

Today there are many oppressions on earth, those who kill people unjustly, who unite against Islam and set states against one another for their own interests, and within these states, these poor Muslims, the Muslims whose minds do not work, with their attitudes aimed at worldly interests — deceive them; and through being deceived, their rebellion against their own homeland. Today it is laid out before our eyes. Before our eyes. In this case, that is, in the times when the Ottomans were strong, when they asked the Ottomans for help, the Ottomans would bring right and justice. They would oppress no one.

They would bring right and justice there. That is, more or less, they kept watch over the world, as things were then, as things were then. So only Muslims can keep watch over the world. Because a watchman protects. Can other states today not do it? For example, America keeps watch over the world. However much it does, it cannot keep watch with justice, with the justice of Islam. It will surely take sides. But the Muslim — Muslims are the people worthy of keeping watch over the world. But unfortunately the Muslims were lulled to sleep. 'A Muslim does not make cars.' Why? 'The ground passes beneath it, it says, and the ground passes above it.

I won't ride in it.' Well, you ride a horse; the ground passes beneath it and the ground passes above it too. 'Don't you make anything, we'll give it to you.' Yes, 'we'll give it to you,' he says. 'Don't you make it; he gives you better.' 'Fine, you give it to me, I (?), I'll give you what I earn, (?).' We were always deceived like this. If we had held fast to Allah's verses and grasped the meanings in them well, today our place in the world would be very different.

A worm — (?) worm, woodworm. It gets into the tree, gnaws and gnaws and gnaws there, and in time rots the tree. The Muslims slept; the non-Muslims got in among the Muslims like a worm. Yes, they both separated the Muslims from one another and drove them away toward false directions, drove them away from the truth.

God willing, Allah will give us a fine awakening, show us fine mercy, and we too will (?) guidance, God willing. God willing, we will become aware of these games being played.

Yes, the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between these two, from the atom to the globe, belongs to Allah. The wealth and property given to people also belong to Allah.

The heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, from the atom to the globe, belongs to Allah. The wealth and property given to people also belong to Allah. Yes. This whole universe, whatever has been created from the atom to the globe, belongs to Allah Almighty. Or else, He says, do you own even an atom of your world? If that were so, He says, you would not be given even as much as the (?) of a seed, not even as much as an atom, He says. True. Because Allah created all of it; all of it is Allah's property. He gives these to us as a trust. In the world of the Hereafter, Paradise too belongs to Allah.

In the world of the Hereafter. Because He created it there; we are not capable of creating anything. The world is Allah's, and the Hereafter is Allah's. He gives us wealth in the world, gives property, provides our livelihood.

He bestows health and well-being; He turns us this way and that with illnesses, with our lives, with our wealth. As long as you prove what kind of person you are — in knowing Allah or not, through the actual deeds we do with our own partial will (irade-i cüziye), He makes us witnesses against ourselves. Tomorrow, on the Day of Judgement, when we go into the presence of Allah Almighty, there we will have no word at all to say against our Lord. Now here, in the world it is Allah's, in the Hereafter it is Allah's; He is the one who created us too. Look, He loves us so much that He holds us as addressees of His Being, of His Being.

And in the world of the Hereafter, if we know Him, He gives us many places. What are we supposed to do? Just say 'Allah'. Well, the unbeliever (?) Allah. They say Allah, but while associating partners with Allah they say Allah. We say Allah meaning that there is no deity other than Allah. That is, we say La ilahe illallah. They cannot say it. There is no La ilahe illallah. There is Allah, but no La ilahe illallah. So this La ilahe illallah: there is no deity other than Allah, it says. Know that I created you and these worlds, He says. Know that you are in a guesthouse in the world, He says. Know that I sent you to this world to prove here what kind of person you are, He says.

In this case, if (?), I promise that I have promised you great rewards, He says. And when you turn to the Hereafter — that is, when your lifespan ends by the decree of the Truth and you pass on to the Hereafter — Allah Almighty says to us: O My servant, when I created you in the world of lahut, when I created you in the world of lahut, with you, at the address 'Am I not your Lord?', when I said I am your Lord, when you said it — in return for that fine covenant you gave Me, I, your wish and desire, your aim, as destiny for yourself (?) — and this destiny of yours I closed to you. I closed these events to you.

Not your destiny, but these events I closed to you. I sent you to a world equally with those who deny Me and (?). Equally. Both the one who denies and the one who (?) — He closes those worlds. He sends us to this world equally. You, in this world, just like the fine covenant you gave here, brought out that covenant of yours, your wish and desire within those characters. You made yourself a witness against them, against (?), and proved that I am (?), that there is no deity other than Allah. In your prayer, your fasting, your Hajj, your zakat, the commands given to you you carried out. Though you did not see Me in that world, you did what I said; today, as I promised you, this Paradise, this place is yours, says Allah Almighty.

Who would not want that? What is He asking of me? He is not saying: work, do porter's labour, bring it to Me. Look how easy it is. Know that there is no deity other than Allah, He says. Carry out My commands. Keep away from what I have warned you against: from alcohol, from gambling, from adultery, from interest, from the forbidden. Respect people's rights. Do not cheat anyone, do not torment them. And because I said 'My creatures', be tolerant toward them, He says. Be tolerant.

I ask nothing of you. And Paradise is yours, says Allah Almighty. What does He say? He does not say there is hardship for us; there is no hardship, yes. In the world of the Hereafter, Paradise too belongs to Allah. Whoever, while living in this world, gives to Allah the wealth Allah gave him, and while giving says: O Allah, the wealth is Yours, this life is Yours, existence and the universe are Yours; this wealth You gave me as a trust, I give to You according to Your command, in Your way — to whom will he give it? He cannot give it to Allah, can he? Allah's need — if he gives it to Allah's servant, to that servant who shows his need, then he has given it to Allah.

It is just as Allah Almighty tells you: give zakat. Why does He say give? If we give to that servant who shows his need, (?) (?). Well, can Allah not give to them? He can, but we are always being tested through one another, aren't we? We will always be tested through one another. In this case, when we give to them, we have given to Allah. To Allah. If we know it this way, then when we give something to that person in need, we have given not to him but to Allah. And the one who takes did not take from you but from Allah. If you had not been giving to Allah, if you did not fear Allah, if you did not love Allah Almighty, you would not have given me this wealth, he says.

So I took this not from you but from Allah, who gave you this wealth, he says. So do you know what happens in this case? Neither does the giver show superiority over the taker, nor does the taker see himself as inferior to the giver. This is brotherhood. (?) (?) What a beautiful feeling.

What does he say: O Allah, the wealth is Yours, this life is Yours, existence and the universe are Yours; this wealth You gave me as a trust, I give to You according to Your command, in Your way — if he says this, such people buy Paradise in return for the wealth in their hands and their intentions. Yes.

Through Allah Almighty's grace and (?) — in return for people's obedience to Allah and their love, for the wealth Allah created, for the Paradise He created, only in return for people being able to give Allah's wealth to Allah — Allah Almighty, buying His own wealth from Himself, buying the wealth He Himself created, gives people great rewards. Allah created this. Let us give an example now. I — this, Allah created it and He gives it to me. This wealth He gave me, I give to Him. And this wealth He gave me, He Himself buys. Look at the greatness of Allah. He buys it and gives you His Paradise. (?) Now, think. Do I have any right over these created goods?

(?) (?) Yes. In this case, can one turn one's back on Allah, who is so exalted? On such a great Lord of ours, who bestows upon us, who protects us from every kind of calamity and evil, who at the end of this world promises us a fine place, who promises eternal peace and Paradise — can one turn one's back on that Allah? Can one step outside His command?

If you step outside, what will you do? You will deify your own nafs, act selfishly; in pride and arrogance, following Satan's footsteps, you will become abject like Satan. Yes, because Satan is an abject creature, an accursed creature; if you follow his footsteps, if one takes him as a friend, you become like-minded. Yes, this is Allah, we say; He needs nothing, and in return for people's knowing Allah, Allah bestows favours and generosity on His servants and calls them to salvation, because He loves people very much. Yes.

To grace. When people fight and are killed, or prevail, Allah will soon give them a great reward, it says.

Those who do not die are ghazis. The proud ones of war. Ghazi is said of those wounded in war. Even if you are not wounded, you are a person who has (?); you are proud. That is, you are an honourable person. You fought for your homeland, your nation, your honour, your religion. Allah Almighty's intent in calling it near is because a thousand years of this world are like one day of the world of the Hereafter, it says. People's stay in this world is like a few hours. In this respect Allah says: We will soon give them rewards. That is, within this world of a few hours, and after death, under the earth, (?) (?) (?)

These rewards, in the world of the Hereafter, are being honoured with the beauty of Allah Almighty and attaining, under His mercy, His generosity and His Paradise — these are the rewards. We will behold the beauty of Allah Almighty. We will see it. Yes. And there will be rewards for us that never crossed our minds. And just as a child asks for something, and one buys him a toy he could not imagine, and how that child rejoices — we too will be in exactly his state there, before those great rewards.

For the martyrs, it is that they remain alive. In a verse: do not call them dead. They are given provision in ways you do not know, says Allah Almighty. As for those who prevail, it is that again, under Allah's mercy, both in this world and in the world of the Hereafter, they (?) the blessings of Allah Almighty. This is our Lord. So if you fight for Him, if you, for Him, give your life to Him — sir, if you set out — Allah too gives you His rewards in its place. Now in this situation an event of Abdulqadir Gilani comes to my mind. A stye appears on one of Abdulqadir Gilani's eyes, a sore appears.

He goes to the doctor. The doctor says: be careful, do not let water touch your eye. You may lose your eye, he says. If you let water touch it, he says. If you let water touch it. Abdulqadir Gilani comes home.

He is going to make ablution. He says exactly this: My Lord gave me two eyes. I give one of my eyes as a gift to my Lord. One is enough for me, he says. He makes his ablution. That night in his dream Allah Almighty says: O Gilani, you gave Me your eye as a gift, and I have returned it to you. Yes. If you go to war for Allah, He will bestow favour on you both in this world and in the Hereafter — if you do not die, He will grant favour. For example, the noble Companions who fought with the Messenger of Allah — did they all die, that is, in war? No. Are these not recipients of Allah's grace? They fought at his side for their religion, their honour, their lives, their homeland.

Yes.