Al-Baqarah 249: When Taloot departed with the soldiers for war, he said, “know that Allah will test you with a river. Whoever drinks from it is not of me. Whoever does not drink from it but only for a handful, he is of me. With the exception of only a few, they drank from the river. When Taloot and the believers crossed the river, (the ones staying behind said), “today, we do not have any power to stand against Jaloot (Goliath) and his soldiers”. The ones believing that they will return to the presence of Allah said “many small cohorts have defeated larger cohorts with the permission of Allah. Verily, Allah is with those who are patient”.

Now to verse 249, we have come. When Talut set out with the soldiers for jihad, "Know that Allah will test you with a river," says Talut. He sets out together with his soldiers. Where to? He is going to Jalut's army. He will attack. Well, and he will take the children back. Or he will remove the injustice and make Allah's justice prevail. Well, he warns his army: your Lord, our Lord, will test you with a river. How well he warns them. That is, when you arrive tired and worn out, in this heat, do not drink from that water. This is a test. Otherwise you will be ruined, he says. Yes. We continue with the verse.

"Whoever drinks from it is not of me," he says. If a commander says "he is not of me", then you think about that. Except drinking one handful with the hand, since a person cannot hold out. Our Lord still allows him that. Except drinking one handful with his hand and (?) his face.

Except drinking. "Whoever does not drink from it is of me," he said. Except very few of them, they all drank from the river. These people always drink. They never listen. When Talut and those who believed had crossed the river together, those left behind, the ones who drank: "Today we have no strength at all to stand against Jalut and his soldiers," they said. Those who believed they would meet Allah: "How many a small band has, by Allah's leave, defeated a large band. Allah is with the patient," they said. Yes. Most of them stayed on the other side of that river. Those few who believed and had faith in Allah and their commander crossed to the other side.

Allah Almighty helped the people who wanted to give their lives for Allah, and they routed Jalut's army. And Talut killed Jalut. Yes.

Talut sets out with his army for jihad against Jalut. We are explaining it here. On the way, to his army: "Allah will test us with a river. Whoever drinks from that river is not of us," he says. That is, those who do not obey Allah's command over us are not of us. That is, the troublemakers within this army, the demoralizers, and those who came along so no one would say "why didn't you go to war", those who would not fight, the cowards who would stay behind — to (?) them, Allah tests them with a (?). Except drinking just one handful, because the army has travelled a long way. People have sweated.

To strengthen the body's resistance and quench its heat, drinking one handful of water was allowed. Allah does not intend cruelty to people. When they came to the river, all but a few drank its water. Those bound to Talut crossed the river. That is, those who did not drink the water. Those who drank one handful and did not look for more. Those who drank the water and stayed on the other side of the river: "Today we are weak and powerless. We have no strength to stand against Jalut," they said. The believers and those of faith went into battle against a far more numerous band. They know that Allah is with us.

That very small bands, against far more numerous armies, by Allah's leave, fought and (?) the upper hand is (?) with records. With records. The Prophet (peace be upon him) too, at Badr, with a handful of Muslims against thousands of polytheists, how did he fight? With our Lord's help and with three thousand, rank upon rank (?), angels. And Satan, those polytheists — (?) having gone ahead of the polytheists, when he drove them toward Badr, he says exactly this: "Today what I see, you cannot see. I fear Allah," and he turns back and flees. Yes.

Allah Almighty being with those who say "Allah". Allah Almighty never leaves those who say "Allah" wronged. "Hodja, but they are martyred there." Allah loves them very much. He loves them very much. Won't they return to Him anyway? Man will return. Three days earlier, three days later — what He would take three days later, He takes three days earlier, within one's lifetime anyway. Because He loves them very much, to place them among the righteous servants in the hereafter, He takes them from there first. If only a person could be a martyr. If only one could reach the rank of martyrdom. What does Allah Almighty say?

Do not call them dead. They are provided for from directions you do not know. Oh, how beautiful. Yes. Here too, since Allah Almighty is with those who heed Allah's command, He brought Talut and (?) to victory.

Allah Almighty is with the patient. People who believe and have faith in Allah Almighty trust in Allah; for Allah, for Allah's religion, they carry out Allah's commands. To win Allah's pleasure, they fight at the cost of their lives. If they are patient, asking Allah for help, Allah is with them. Whoever takes his place in Allah's ranks, his back never touches the ground, and they are the victorious. Just trust in Allah. Yes. So Allah Almighty, showing people His miracles in this way, a small band — for Allah, by carrying out Allah's commands, those who fought for this cause — He led to victory.

Because they trusted Allah and asked Allah for help, Allah Almighty did not leave them alone. Through the victory of people who act this way, Allah Almighty shows us, as a lesson, that He is at their side. Now, like a history, history, the histories of the past we read. Those people lived, many wars took place, they won, they lost. Finally (?).

In this world turning like a mill wheel, people hand over to one another and go. Now they lived with those people. Those who waged war died. Those who did not wage war died too. Those who obeyed Allah died too. Those who did not obey died too. What does He say in the verse? Every soul shall taste death; your return is to Allah. So, using our minds, we cannot know where our life will come to its close. That is, we cannot know where it will end. In that case, rather than going without obeying Allah (?), if we bow our heads and go obeying within Allah's commands, we win our hereafter.

The people of old, the ancient peoples, those who fought or did not fight, those who obeyed Allah and those who did not — if we bring before our eyes that they too, living in this world, finally proving to themselves what kind of person they were, died — if we bring this before our eyes, and from those past ones take lessons and put our lives in order, we will be among the travellers of the hereafter, and on the way to being among the righteous servants we will have taken a step. One step. What comes after depends on effort. Yes.