Ash-Shu'ara 173: We have made it rain upon them; how bad a rain it is for those who have been warned.

Surah Ash-Shu'ara, verse 173.

Allah Almighty is addressing the people of Lot here. They too went far in filth.

They left women and united with men in a homosexual way, homosexuals. God forbid. Although Lot warned them so much, they did not listen. They rebelled against Allah, and look what Allah Almighty, in the verse, to them says. We rained upon them such a rain, He says.

Do you know what kind of rain this is? A rain of stones, stones. A rain of stones.

How evil is the rain of those who were warned but did not come to the right path, He says. How evil the rain.

Rain is also mercy; it will fall. But this rain is not a normal rain of water. This rain is a rain of stones. In the past, when we went to Mecca, when we passed through Tabuk, as we passed that place where the people of Lot had been, we saw the rain that fell on the people of Lot. There are small watermelons about the size of a palm, like this, small watermelons. Little watermelons. A rain of pitch-black stones of that size. You couldn't make that on purpose anyway. The land, a huge land like this, is full of those stones. It is impossible not to remember when you see them. Indeed, in some verses Allah Almighty says: (?) of those who (?), do they not see their places? He says.

Yes. This evil people who did not heed the warnings of Lot (peace be upon him), Allah Almighty destroyed by raining a rain of stones upon them.

In fact, on an evening like this, upon these too such a rain would fall, but rain.

The Prophet (peace be upon him), who came as a mercy to the worlds — because he came as a mercy to the worlds, destructions have been lifted; calamities occur. Don't we see? Calamities never cease to befall them. Fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanoes. Yes.

So, those who did not obey Allah's command, who denied their prophets — how evil their end has been.

Allah Almighty, without sending a messenger to a people, without having the truth conveyed, does not destroy that people. But those messengers, those who follow Allah's laws — when a disaster is going to come there, our Lord takes them out of there and rains the calamity down on the heads of the others. Allah is very compassionate and merciful toward His creatures. Therefore, so that people who are in a lost world come out from darknesses into light, from gloom into peace, He sends them prophets and books. But the peoples who do not heed Allah's warnings are people who, in pre-eternity, at the address Elestü bi Rabbiküm, betrayed Allah.

These are like four-footed beasts roaming the earth. So that they do not drown the earth in strife and corruption, Allah destroys such peoples. Because the people who come after will follow them too. Such as? In the time of Noah (peace be upon him), among the people of Jonah, he lived 960 years. 960 years.

Generation after generation, father to son, about Jonah: this man does not die, never believe his words. This man is possessed. He is mad, they would say. It passed from father to son as advice. One example. So that the peoples coming after do not follow them and lose their way in this dark world, in a lost world, Allah Almighty destroys them. He sends a new people in their place. Yes.

So that they do not drown the earth in strife and corruption, Allah destroys such peoples. In our time, however, the presence of the Prophet (peace be upon him) among us, his being alive and his coming as a mercy to the worlds, has saved peoples from destruction. Instead, destructions have been turned into calamities. But since the year 1424 — so it has been 15 years since I wrote this. I wrote it in 1424. The year is 1439. It has been 15 years.

Although they know Allah Almighty's verses, and although Allah Almighty gives these people various calamities, people who swap the passing pleasure of this world with the eternal happiness of the hereafter still do not turn to the truth. These are the people who, in the hereafter, at that place of reckoning, are very unjust to their own selves. What does Allah Almighty say? Ya eyyühellezine amenü, O you who believe! In a lost world, upon a passing world, you are guests. Hodja, is there such a thing as being a guest in the Quran? Look what Allah Almighty says: Every soul will taste death. Your return is to Me, He says. If every soul will taste death, if it is not permanent in this world, what am I if not a guest?

I am a guest. Then the guest will return to his true, original homeland. And in his true homeland, this person will never again face death. So if a person covets a world that has death, like a zaqqum flower blooming in the swamp of that world, and forgets that he will return to his true home, and as though he would remain forever in this world longs for this place, tomorrow at the Great Court he will suffer loss and be subjected to the punishment of the eternal world.

Instead, destructions have been turned into calamities. For this reason Allah Almighty says: We give living beings two or three calamities every year. So He says. But since 1424, although they know Allah Almighty's verses, and although Allah Almighty gives these people various calamities — people who swap the passing pleasure of this world with the eternal happiness of the hereafter. Well, now I ask. I am asking you. Are these people wise or foolish? Who is a wise person for me?

The person who is governed by Allah's commands and, paying attention to halal and haram, builds up his hereafter, is both wise and the richest and most peaceful person in the world. But the man can't find (?) at night because of poverty. What kind of wealth is that?

In the hereafter, the wealth of the true home that Allah Almighty will give him — neither I nor you can imagine it. So if he is not rich, who is? Imagine a rich man. He has trillions. He goes bankrupt in some business he did.

And imagine an ordinary grocery store. What he earns stays in his own pocket. Now, is the one who went bankrupt rich? Profitable or rich. The grocery store with that money staying in its pocket, I mean, the grocery store that will live without needing anyone — is that one rich? So the person who goes bankrupt in the world, in the world remains subject to the punishment of the hereafter. A porter of the world. The Prophet says: the bankrupt of my ummah. Not the one who goes bankrupt in the world, he says. The one who goes bankrupt in the hereafter.

Thus the person who builds up his hereafter, with the light our Lord has put in his heart, is at peace, and at the same time among the righteous servants of the hereafter. What does our Lord say? For them there are rivers flowing beneath them. So they have gardens of Paradise, He says.

So, rather than being deceived by this passing world, wandering on the swampy paths our nafs shows us, and going to the hereafter (?) as poor — rather than going so, if we said 'my Lord' here a little and worshipped Him and were governed by His commands and prohibitions, wouldn't that be better? It's a passing world, after all. I remember the times I ran around my neighborhood as a child. I remember the times I played tip-cat. I was a child, like this. Now a person of 80 years. There's no telling how the time has passed. Time within time. Yes. Do nothing you will regret. Leave very beautiful works behind you.

Not necessarily building buildings, building bridges. As much as you can, within Allah's commands, helping people, taking them by the hand, doing good to them, and if you can do nothing, saying a kind word. Yes.