Al-Baqarah 153: Oh you who believe! Wish for help from Allah with patience and prayer. Verily, Allah is with those who are being patient.

To verse 153 of Surah Al-Baqarah: O you who believe! Seek help from Allah through patience and prayer. Surely Allah's help is with those who are patient. Patience! Patience! Above all, this patience! Patience solves every formula in time. Allah Almighty does not load on people's backs what they cannot bear. As for prayer, people feel lazy when getting up for it. Since Allah Almighty knows the traits in people's characters, He addresses people. When you get up for prayer, laziness comes over you, but, He says, continue with prayer patiently. Patiently. If only we continue patiently, in the end, in return for that patience, we attain peace.

Praying again and again, that prayer becomes a trait, a character in us. Then a person finds peace. Sir, what does He say now: O you who believe? The life of this world is a place of hardship. A place of hardship. We did not come here into a life perfect in every way. What does Allah Almighty say in a verse? Did you think you would just enter paradise without calamities like those of the people before you befalling you? He says. So, the verse I always quote and constantly mention: did you think you would die without proving what kind of person you are? According to that verse. Within our destinies Allah Almighty gives us afflictions.

And these afflictions, which come from our Lord, sir, what we cannot bear He does not load on our backs. According to the verse; if we show contentment with our Lord, sir, show contentment, if we take our precautions against those afflictions and leave the decree to Allah, if we do not rebel, rebel, we will have raised our rank in Allah's sight. And when He gives the same afflictions to someone else, that other's rebellion against Him, and the one patient with Him, Allah Almighty shows. Look, I gave My servant the same affliction. Look how he was content with what came from Me. And I gave you the same affliction.

And look how you rebelled. That is, Allah Almighty will show these side by side. And according to the verse, what everyone earns is the return of our own two hands. People will have nothing left to say to Allah Almighty. So, since the world is a guesthouse, in any case, from here to our true land, our homeland, we will return. Where is our true land? When the decree of the Truth comes, we will move to the world of the hereafter. Allah Almighty, the hardship of this world and the torment and suffering we endure here, if we are patient, as the reward of the hereafter world, writing for us the finest rewards and good deeds, will raise our rank there.

As we just said, when we enter that paradise, the places given to us will increase. Don't you want that here? I have a house. You say: let me have a house over there too. Where? I have a house in Istanbul. And let me have one in Samsun. There is. And let me have one in Ordu. There is. And let me have one somewhere else. There is. There is, that is. Well, when I go there, I don't have any trouble. Your own house: open the door, open the key, (?) inside. Now, one house is one thing, several houses another. Well, wouldn't you want to have a vineyard? You would go and walk in your vineyard. Well, in that lovely vineyard of yours, sir, besides the grapevines, wouldn't you want lovely fruit trees?

Besides that, wouldn't you want your mansions, your palaces? So Allah Almighty: within the torment and suffering of this world, to these hardships He has given you, if you show patience, our Lord, since He does not value this world, since He sent us here for a test, our rank in the world of the hereafter to raise, He says to us: O man, be wise, turn to your Lord; beware, with these afflictions, by this passing world's torment being deceived, beware, do not rebel against what I give. I give this in your favor. Be patient with it. And in the hereafter, in your true home, I will revive you, He says.

By what? Who keeps his word as faithfully as Allah? Isn't it so? He (?) is faithful. So, O you who believe. The life of this world is a place of hardship, a place of testing. In your living in this world you meet every kind of affliction and are tested. Turn your hearts to your Lord so that through worship and obedience you can attain patience. If you take that affliction that comes as rebellion against your Lord, it will, for you, truly become a torment within both your worldly and your otherworldly destiny. But if within that affliction you bow your head, seek no friend but Allah, and present all your longing to your Lord, then within that affliction, that patience, like Hazrat Abraham being thrown into the fire, becomes a rose garden.

If with such faith, with such patience, you draw near to Allah.

Whoever continues with prayer patiently, returns to Allah, and asks his Lord for help through supplication, Allah's help, with those patient ones, is. Within his destiny there is supplication to his Lord. Within his destiny there is taking refuge in his Lord. Within his destiny there is rising through the blessing of these supplications. So be patient; I sent you to a world of the unseen. You do not know what your destiny is, He says. So, beware: my Lord, You did not inform us of the situations through verses, do not say. I am informing you, He says. I closed off your future to you; what covenant you gave in the world of the hereafter, that too you don't know. So all people on earth, Muslim, non-Muslim, whatever ideology they may hold, the moment they come to the world, the life of the hereafter is closed to them; in the world they start from zero.

All are subject to the same (?). None is superior to another at arrival. At arrival, at zero. Then, suppose a cauldron. In it there is wheat. In it there is corn too. In it there is also seed of the zaqqum. In it there are thorns too. Seeds, how will these be sorted out? So take them, scatter them by hand onto the soil. Rain mercy upon them. All will return to their own kind. So these seeds that come to the world, in time, after reaching the age of reason, through the actual deeds they do, prove themselves.

That is why Allah Almighty says: O people, without any distinction among you you came into the world equal. Equal, subject to the same (?), you came. But which of you will act better than which, We, to make you witnesses over yourselves, this world of the unseen created. In the second verse of Surah Al-Mulk, that too was interpreted wrongly. Interpreted wrongly. With this word I said, we correct it there. What do we say? He who, to test which of you will act better, He says. Allah has no need to test. So that which of you will act better may be proven to yourselves by your own selves, sir, so that it may be proven, He created death and life, He says. He is the Almighty, the Most Forgiving.

So people evidently come into this world equal, into this world; at that Alastu bi-Rabbikum address, to Allah Almighty, whatever covenant they gave, like the seeds in that cauldron and their characters, those people here, by their wishes and desires, their own aims they desire. Since Allah Almighty is constantly in the act of creating, He creates causes according to their aims, their wishes and desires. And they, within those causes, putting their lives into practice, reward and sin earn. Yes.

What is it? Whoever continues with prayer patiently, returns to Allah, and asks his Lord for help through supplication, Allah's help is with those who are patient. People who continue with prayer patiently move away from their nafs's bad traits. They move away from the bad traits of their nafs. How? They move away. Now, a piece of paper in hand; here there is a piece of paper. And there is writing here. If I keep rubbing this writing, rubbing, rubbing, rubbing, one day comes, one day comes, when this writing starts to fade from here. So the evils in a person's nafs: praying and praying and praying, gradually, as that person's understanding opens, seeing the bad traits of the habits he had, and gradually turning back from them, leaving them, turns the person to Allah.

He doesn't even notice it himself. He doesn't even notice that his traits have been broken. One day he finds that if it means lying: no, friend, go about your business, I don't do this, he says. A friend tells the truth. If someone is deceiving someone: friend, look, if you are deceiving him, don't, this is a sin, he says. He is your brother too, he says. Before, you too were starting to deceive. You too were trying to deceive. So prayer, without one even knowing, a person's bad traits removes. And what does the Prophet (peace be upon him) say? If you prayed and continue your evils, if you don't try to become worthy of prayer, the worship you did is a burden on you, he says.

So if prayer does not keep you from evils, it is a burden on you. So when we pray, when we continue with prayer patiently: look, I pray, I go into Allah's presence. So-and-so says of me: look at that, he both prays and goes into Allah's presence. Ha, these are charlatans, charlatans, they say. I don't pray, but look, I am (?), he says. To keep people from saying such things, that person, in his own traits, the evils in his nafs, tries to kill. Yes. Continue with prayer patiently. People move away from their nafs's bad traits. They gain mastery over their nafs. They are saved from Satan's whispering.

Because Satan, to people, evils recommends. And to the person who prays, Allah Almighty, by way of inspiration, the paths of truth shows. Then, for the one who sees the truth, the temptation Satan gives that person remains ignorant.

What are we saying now? In a verse: to My servant who knows Me, Satan's temptation is ignorant, says Allah Almighty. Yes. The guardian of such a person who has mastered his nafs is Allah Almighty. His guardian. Now a couplet comes to my mind; what does one of the saints say: O my God, in the world everyone has someone, I have no one; O Someone of all someones, be my someone, he says; someone. In the world everyone has a mother, father, relatives. A place to take refuge. However much I have them, since You are their owner, I abstained from the world, from them, and took refuge in You. You be my guardian, he says.

You be my refuge, he says.

In this case, what a beautiful (?), what a beautiful support, what a beautiful friend, he says. Yes. If you turn to Allah from the heart. In this case Allah Almighty is his guardian. What does He say now in a verse?

I become such a servant's seeing eye, holding hand, walking foot, He says.

That is how close He brings him to His being. And that person, with the words from his mouth, always, no longer the worldly, speaks the truth. The truth. Everywhere he tells of Allah. So: I have such a servant, He says, that neither buying and selling nor trade keeps him from My remembrance. Not necessarily reciting Allah's name. In everything he does he remembers Allah. In everything he does he observes truth and justice. In every word he speaks he brings to mind the standing between himself and the other person in Allah's sight, and always speaks this way. That is a dhikr. Constant mention of Allah.

Remembering Allah.

Yes.

The guardian of such a person who has mastered his nafs is Allah Almighty. As our Lord says in His verse: surely Allah's help is with those who are patient. That Allah, if He is with such patient ones, that person, someone is asking a question. That too, let's answer it here. That person is alone neither in this world nor in the hereafter.

A man was sitting in front of a shop, thinking like this. He is the shop owner. The shop owner across the way sees the man thinking (?). (?) he said, let me have a chat with this lonely one. So that his loneliness goes away. The neighbor comes over. He raises his head. Welcome, neighbor, he says. I saw you, he says. You were thinking like this. You are alone. I thought, let's chat to dispel your loneliness. That's why I came, he says. No, he says, I wasn't alone. When you came, I became alone, he says. He, in a state of contemplating his Lord, was within a spiritual world. But when he returned to the world, with that person's talk, that is when he was left alone.

Because the owner of all the worlds is Allah. Whoever relies on Allah is not alone. Yes. In a verse Allah Almighty says: what a beautiful Guardian, what a beautiful friend, and what a beautiful Master He is. Patience builds people both outwardly and inwardly. Patience builds. The outward protection of patience, uh, protects; I said builds; protects. What is it? Patience protects people both outwardly and inwardly. The outward protection of patience: a fasiq brings a person some news. If the person believes this fasiq and tries to harm the person the news is about, unjustly he will have wronged people.

Would he? He would. And in a verse He says: when a fasiq brings you news, until you know its truth, do not believe him. Even if he brings true news, Allah Almighty calls the bearer of the news a fasiq. Yes.

If the person believes this fasiq and tries to harm the person, the person the news is about, unjustly he will have wronged people. So until you learn the truth of the word the fasiq brought, the person who spoke about you, be patient and don't attack him.

As for the inward protection: the inward is, until you learn the truth of the fasiq's word, since you did not attack that person unjustly or wrong him, the rewards you receive in Allah's sight. May Allah Almighty grant us all patience. May He join us among His servants who reach high stations in Allah's sight. Many years ago, to us, through spiritual inspiration: such a time has come, recommend patience to My servants, He was saying.

That time is these times. Recommend patience to My servants. Why recommend patience?

Morality is gone; souls, eyes, with lust, are out there. People, while writhing in poverty, liking the others' clothes and their lifestyles, acting against their will as far as they can, to reach their level, people who want this keep increasing. In this case you will recommend patience to people: O my brother, O my child, Allah's destiny over us, there is no being that can change it.

Unless We will it, you cannot will. What We do not will; whatever Allah Almighty does not will, we cannot will.

There is no god but Allah, He says, who could change your destinies. Only changing this destiny is in My hand, He says. So: unless We will, you cannot will. Changing these destinies is in My hand. And a word from Me has remained, He says. I wrote everyone's wish and desire for them as destiny, and now what happened happened, what's done is done. With Us there is a book, preserved in the Preserved Tablet. To it afterward nothing is added and nothing taken away. So, if everyone's own wish and desire, their aim, has become their destiny, to separate the good from the bad We sent you, by way of testing, to a world that is unseen, He says.

That is why: recommend patience to one another, and with this patience turn to the Truth.