An-Nisa 64: With the permission of Allah, We have sent every Messenger to be obeyed. If they (people) had come to you after committing oppression against themselves, and asked Allah to be forgiven, and if the Messenger had asked Allah for them to be forgiven, they would have found Allah to be the Acceptor of Repentance (Tawwab) and the Most Merciful (Raheem).

Yes, Surah An-Nisa, verse 64, is where we begin. We sent every prophet only so that, by Allah's leave, he would be obeyed. That the prophet be obeyed by Allah's leave. There is a meaning here.

The subtlety here is this.

His saying 'by Allah's leave', His permitting him, His permitting the Prophet. What does He permit? His words. That is, His verses. By Allah's leave. Obedience to the Prophet. The reason: he will convey those verses. Obedience to the Prophet will be obedience to Allah. Disobedience to the Prophet is disobedience to Allah. Yes. We sent him only so that he be obeyed by Allah's leave. If, when they wronged themselves, they had come to you and asked Allah for forgiveness — when they wronged themselves, that is, when they spoke against you, when they accused you of lying, when, although you explained Allah's verses to them, they still denied them — if they had come to you asking your pardon, if they had come to you, (?) and the Messenger had also asked forgiveness for them, that is, had repented on their behalf — what would he say to Allah? 'My Allah, they did this in a period of ignorance.

Forgive them too,' had he said,

they would have found Allah most forgiving, most merciful.

Why did Allah Almighty send us to this realm, a realm of the unseen? So that every person would make himself a witness to what kind of person he is — that is why He sent us. So in this realm, man will fall into errors. Man will live amid mistakes. But the moment he understands, the moment he turns to Allah with repentance and seeking forgiveness, he will find our Lord most forgiving.

Those who, though asking pardon and forgiveness for the wrongs they do, make those wrongs their hallmark, who ask for forgiveness only with their tongue, wrong their own souls. But if he truly sees that his wrongs are wrong and asks his Lord for pardon and forgiveness, if he understands that this is a sin and that he has offended in his Lord's sight, and seeks forgiveness from Allah Almighty in his heart, they attain great ranks. Allah Almighty, because of that seeking of forgiveness, bestows great favour on them. Yes.

Allah Almighty commanded that every prophet be obeyed by His leave and permission.

He commanded that every prophet be obeyed by His leave and permission. Whom? His servants. Obedience to the prophets means obedience to Allah Almighty. The reason, as I said a moment ago: when He says 'by Allah's leave', that leave, that permission — on what basis does Allah Almighty, who gives it, give that permission? On what basis? So that he would explain My word to people. Yes. Obedience to that word is obedience to Allah.

In this respect, to the prophet who was sent to guide people and light their way — had they obeyed him, it would have been good for them. For them. Yes. That is, without stirring up strife among themselves, without denying the prophet, without opposing Allah's verses, had they come and submitted to the prophet, or had they repented and sought forgiveness for this strife among them and submitted to the prophet, it would have been better for them. When people wronged themselves, that is, because they were created fallible and incomplete and did not know what is a sin in Allah's sight and how they should act — in the face of the sins they committed, or when they found themselves in an impasse, had they turned to Allah's Messenger, repenting to Allah themselves, and asked the prophet too to seek forgiveness from Allah for their pardon, they would certainly have found Allah Almighty most pardoning and most forgiving.

Yes.

Allah Almighty says: I am Tawwab. I accept repentance abundantly. Why is that? The reason — let us go back a little. He gave man of His spirit. He created man very close to His Being.

In that case, man is the most honoured of creation in Allah's sight. What does He say? Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. And man in ahsen-i takvim — He says, I created man in the most beautiful form. The reason is that He gave him of His spirit. That He made him one addressed by His Being. In that case He made man addressed by His Being, but that man, with fame, renown, pride, arrogance, ego, grandeur and many such feelings, yes — if He had created them without flaw, the earth would fill with strife and that man would do whatever he would do. That is man. He created man deficient in reason and fallible, so that man would know his fault through his deficiency, return to his Creator and know his helplessness by asking his Creator for pardon and forgiveness.

Because He created man this way, Allah Almighty is Tawwab. That is, He forgives sins abundantly. The reason: because He created man incomplete, if man repents of the sins he has committed knowingly or unknowingly and takes refuge in Allah, then he has matched the purpose for which Allah Almighty created him. What was this purpose of creation? He would create a being which, without His programming it in any way, without applying any pressure or coercion on it — that person, within his own being, by his own will, would come to know the Lord who created him. This is a great thing. These qualities are in that part of His spirit that He gave.

With these qualities, had He not created him among the forgetful, had He not created him incomplete.

Yes, when people (?), that is, because they were created fallible and incomplete and could not know what is a sin in Allah's sight and how they should act — in the face of the sins they committed, or when they found themselves in an impasse, had they turned to Allah's Messenger, repenting to Allah themselves, and asked the prophet and Allah for repentance and forgiveness for their pardon, they would certainly have found Allah Almighty most pardoning and most forgiving. So the reason He is pardoning and forgiving — and because He created people fallible and incomplete, so that people, by their own will and the decisions they make, as long as they live, can prove what kind of people they are — since people's reason is also incomplete, they will surely make mistakes. Since He created man fallible in this way, and this fits the purpose of creation, if people, from the pit of error they fell into, to their Lord (?) ask pardon and forgiveness, Allah Almighty forgives them.

That is why Allah Almighty is abundantly Tawwab, the One who abundantly forgives sins.

Out of pride and arrogance, people shy away from breaking the whim of ego in them, from bowing their necks, from obeying those older or more learned than themselves, and follow every obstinate devil.

On their own, by their own reasoning, they are carried away by the whim that the dark and deviant paths shown by the Taghut are right, as their nafs sees it. Who lives this, with what feelings? Those who turn their backs on Allah. By their own reasoning, holding their tiny minds above Allah's verses, some call it desert law, some call it words of the past. And Allah, who created the worlds, who holds this secret of creation, who knows the secret of all these worlds, who is All-Knowing, in whose hand are the keys of the unseen — that Creator he sets out to deny with his tiny (?) mind and considers his mind superior to Him.

Allah protect us. What makes him do this? Pride and arrogance. His ego. The whim in his nafs. And Satan sets a trap before him. And Satan, this Satan, by puffing up his nafs with pride, takes that person completely away from Allah. O man! Never forget this. Satan, even as Satan, fears Allah. He fears Him. Because of his nafs he rebelled against Allah, but still he fears Allah. Look, how does he fear Him? The Meccans are preparing for the Battle of Badr. And, according to one narration, Satan is in fact inciting them. He will take the form of a frail old man. They prepare armies and set out towards Badr.

Satan sees five thousand angels lined up in ranks, standing ready at the Messenger's command. He says exactly this: 'Today,' he says, 'my eye is very sharp.' 'By Allah,' he says, 'I see what you do not see,' and he runs back. That is Satan. These are verses, all of them. Yes. That is how Satan sets a trap before those people. And with that pride and arrogance, with that tiny mind, he sets this against Allah's verses. Yes, so they follow every obstinate devil. On their own, by their own reasoning, they are carried away by the whim that the dark and deviant paths shown by the Taghut are right, as their nafs sees it.

They make it their way to roam aimlessly under a burden of sin. Aimlessly. That is, they see themselves as free of trouble in this realm. Do you know the reason for that view? Thinking there is another god besides Allah, that that god will side with them, and in the end, with their children and (?), and their wealth, paradise too will be theirs — from the temptation Satan gives them, from this whim of the nafs, being carried away by such feelings, it comes from nursing feelings of revenge against Allah. And Allah Almighty gives them such a fine answer. They will not see their Lord. There is no god but Allah, after all.

Let that lord they imagine come and save them.

They, thinking that the lord they imagine will flatter them, that with wealth and children and family he will give them priority — in their own whims of the nafs, in the swamp of this dark world, just like the flowers of the zaqqum that grows in hell, appearing adorned to themselves, they fill their lives this way, doing wrong to their own souls. Allah protect us.

They make it their way to roam aimlessly under a burden of sin. And with these lives, chasing the dreams they desire, without knowing Allah and His Messenger they use up their lives, wasting them. Yes.

'afterwards', we say. Afterwards. When they pass on to the hereafter, from which there is no return — there is no return.

There is no more return for that person. Even if We sent you back not once but several more times, you would do the same again. That soul has no return again. Well, Hodja, now you said Hazrat Mahdi is the Prophet, and you said he died, (?), God forbid, so they say. You brought him back — how did that happen?

Those tiny minds could not grasp this. Let us open this up again. The Prophet (peace be upon him), mercy to the worlds, is alive in both worlds. He tasted death, alive. He tasted death, alive. Among us. Whoever says he died falls into kufr. Into kufr — he denies the verse. He denies the verse that says alive.

The martyrs and the other prophets are alive too, but they passed on to the hereafter. They have no return. They have no return. Now, the difference between the two who are alive. The Prophet's being alive — because he came as mercy to the worlds, death (?).

In that case it is just like this. I gave an example last time too. A head of state going to visit the head of state of another country. Leaving his deputy in his place. That is, the imams of the time. His going to another head of state — from world to world, take the world as one state, and the other not as the realm of the hereafter, but he has us take it as another world. Both there and here. Now, in this way, when one returns (?), did that head of state come back in another capacity? Or did he come back as another man? It was he himself who came back. Then on what basis did he come? That is, his soul was not taken up to the barzakh like the others.

He is alive. In that case, as a second body, he will again take his outward appearance in the same garb. He will taste death in the world a second time. Because Allah Almighty says: We bring you to life twice and cause you to die twice. This living twice, dying twice is not universal. Otherwise Allah Almighty would be ascribed attributes. In the hereafter He will not raise the Prophet's body. Because He said there is no idle word in the hereafter, and no idle (?) either. The Prophet — in Surah Al-Fath, verse 2, His saying 'I have forgiven your future sins too' — after all bodies are raised in the hereafter and bear witness against the souls, they will die there a second time. Well, if He has forgiven the Prophet's (peace be upon him) future sins too, would raising his body there and making it bear witness against him again not contradict the generosity of Allah Almighty?

Or would He not have done something pointless? That is, He had forgiven him. Why would He still make him a witness? So, since there is living twice and He will cause death twice, if the Prophet tasted death once, he will taste death a second time too. In that case, those who would prove the opposite of these verses — if they can find something stronger, let them tell me, if they know otherwise. Then we too will (?) them. Let us say this was not so, it was so. But those who cannot grasp this, saying things like the — what do I know — the spiritualists in Pakistan, that he brought souls back and so on — it all comes from not being able to fit this into their small minds.

Being bound by these (?), because their minds cannot grasp this, from their speaking this way out of the whims of their nafs. If they knew the verses well, they would know that Hazrat Mahdi is the Prophet, and Hazrat Jesus comes as a member of the Prophet's ummah — and many words we explained there. Its being (?) this way, that is, Hazrat Jesus coming as a member of the Prophet's ummah shows that Hazrat Mahdi is superior to him. Who can be superior to a prophet? Again, only a prophet. Who is that prophet? The one who came as mercy to the worlds, alive in both worlds, Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him).

When the Companions asked, 'O Messenger of Allah, who is Hazrat Mahdi?', he says, 'His mother's name is Amina, and his father's name is Abdullah.' When they say, 'Then is it you?', he remains silent. Silence is assent. Yes.

afterwards when they pass on to the hereafter, from which there is no return, when they realize in the presence of their Creator that they have lost, they will taste the greatest of pains, the greatest of pains. 'Alas, please send us back once more.' I am quoting a verse: 'Even if We sent you back not once but several more times, you would do the same again,' He says. Yes, they will realize that the place they will reach is hell, what an evil place of return. Saying, 'Send us back once more,' they will plead with Allah Almighty, and Allah Almighty will say to them: 'Even if We sent you back not once but several more times, you would do the same again,' and their regret will be of no use to them.

Why will Allah Almighty not give them a chance and send them back to the world? Why? Is Allah unjust? Why should He not send them? Let him come once more like that, attain perfection and go. It is not like that. In their nature, at that address of Elestü bi Rabbiküm, a seed of rebellion lies, a seed of rebellion. In rebellion against Allah, in not acknowledging Allah — they know they were created, but they do not acknowledge Allah as the Creator. Such characters have settled in them. He gave them the feelings of those characters within their own will. If Allah Almighty gave everyone his own wishes, desires and aims as his destiny, it is because of the very great value He gives to man.

Since man uses his own partial will himself, and since Allah Almighty does not remove their will and use His own will over them — had He done so, He would have closed the road to hell.

So that person, with those characters, if he came not once but a thousand times, when that realm is again closed to him, would within those characters do the same thing.

Whatever a person's covenant is, that covenant — his own wishes and desires — has been given to him as destiny. The destinies of people who come into the world are closed to them. Therefore, when a person comes into the world, he will again play out his own wishes and desires, and prove that he is the person who came into the world before. Therefore, those who have passed on to the hereafter do not return again. That is, even if He sent him, he would play out an exact copy again. Again wishes and desires, the aims within his own characters, Allah Almighty creating (?) for him, and he doing the same thing again.

Yes.

These teachings — I say it again, these teachings you will not easily find in books. This is the essence of the Quran. This is how Allah shows His Being, His sublimity, to people. These words are not the words of those who, with stories, with ornate, gilded words, lure people into falsehood in the name of Sufism. That is why they rise in revolt over (?) of their khalifas. But they will learn, inshallah. They will learn. They will learn the truth, inshallah. They will learn the verses too. A bit of Arabic like that, this grammar (?). Within those grammars, this is not like ascribing attributes to Allah.