Al-Baqarah 257: Allah is the custodian of those who believe, Allah takes them away from darkness to light. And the disbelievers, their friend is taghoot. Taghoot takes them away from light to darkness. Those are (as long as they continue to deny) the dwellers of hell; they will remain there eternally.

We now come to verse 257. What does verse 257 say? Allah is the friend of those who believe. What do we say? What a fine master, what a fine support, what a fine companion — a friend. He brings them out of darkness into light. Whoever believes in Allah, He brings them out of darkness into light.

As for those who disbelieve, their friends are the taghut. They take them from light and lead them into darkness. Those are the people of Hell. They will abide there forever.

The verses I explained a moment ago come up here now. It supports the previous verse. That is, what I explained — the verses confirm one another, you see.

Let's open them one by one now. Allah is the friend of those who believe. Who? If he held on to that firm handhold and, knowing that there is no god other than Allah Almighty, to Allah turned and asked Him for help, then Allah surely stands behind the person who asks for help.

And however much in the world, within his nature, he suffers wrong, he attains both worldly mercy and in the end, if he is patient, he attains the mercy of the hereafter too. Because Allah Almighty does not treat the one who knows and the one who doesn't as equal. He does not treat the one who obeys Him and the one who doesn't as equal. So He does not leave His friend exposed to punishment. What does He do with him? He rewards him. What did we say a moment ago? The one who does what the factory owner says, the factory owner keeps in his place and rewards. And the other one — out. What did that person do?

He turned the home of bliss into Hell. He turned it into a place of such an evil return. He aspired to a place of which He said "what an evil bed". Yes.

He brings them out of darkness into light. The human mind (?). It cannot know everything. Therefore Allah Almighty holds a light before people with His verses. Whoever judges by Allah's verses, our Lord, because He shows that person the way where his mind cannot reach, takes him out of dead ends and brings him to safety. Meanwhile, meanwhile, because he obeys Allah Almighty, he receives great rewards. Also meanwhile, because he did what our Lord said, he is saved from wrongs.

As for those who disbelieve, it says, their friends are the taghut. That is, the two-legged human devil and the devil's temptation. They take them from the lights and push them into darkness. As He said a moment ago, they are far from human freedom, like four-legged animals roaming the earth. In response to the verse in which He says "even more astray in their course",

more vile than humans, behaving worse, transgressing Allah's limits, people, in this world too, in restlessness, stress and depression, in a lowly state, wandering in swamps and darkness, the blooming flowers in those swamps — those flowers — taking them for real flowers, the people who remain in that swamp aspire to eternal Hell. That flower, that flower blooming in the swamp,

is that person deifying his nafs, living in the world with pride and grandeur, and that flower in the end destroying itself.

So in those swamps, what those who live there call a flower — the stars, you know the stars on screens, in swamps, living flowers, swamp flowers.

The end is a loss. Because it will be lost in the swamp. It won't find its way out. The star of that place. Of course, if it is in their destiny, these are an exception, a separate matter. We are talking about those who follow them. Whom? Those who follow the taghut. And those who go that way. And they will be lost in that swamp. Better if they were lost. In that swamp they will suffer eternal wrong. They will not find life either. Life. Then do they die? No, it's not like that. Allah Almighty speaks like this: There they neither live nor die. What does "neither live nor die" mean? Here, here there is no death. What is living?

It is a beautiful life in pleasure and joy. A beautiful life. That's living. In oppression, in torment, sir, in (?) — is a life lived like that a life?

That is Hell. In torment. They neither live nor die.

So those are the ones who follow that taghut. They are buried in darkness.

They are the people of Hell. They have aspired to it. They will abide there forever, it says. There is no way out for them. May Allah protect us.

Let us also read our tafsir. What did we write?

With this verse Allah Almighty, between believing people and unbelieving people, shows people the differences. Between the believer and the unbeliever.

Allah is the friend of those who believe. Those who believe in Allah and carry out what Allah Almighty says, those who are His servants, Allah loves. Because Allah Almighty knows what the people He created need, He has shown them His religious rulings. If people judge by Allah's ruling, they both learn what they don't know and, from swamps and troubles set free, they reach the light.

The meaning of light here is people attaining salvation and being rewarded with Paradise in the hereafter. That is what salvation is.

Look, what does Allah Almighty say again in His verse? Sir, let's see what it says.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. İnna fetahna leke fethan mübina. We have indeed granted you a clear victory. Li yağfira lekellahu li yağfira lekellahu ma tekaddeme min zenbike ve ma teahhara ve yütimme ni'metehu aleyke ve yehdiyeke sıratan müstakima. So that Allah may forgive your past and future sins, complete His blessing upon you and guide you to a straight path. And He helps you with a glorious victory. Look what it says. Sir, what does it say? With a glorious victory He helps you.

He helps with a glorious victory, it says. Now the word of Allah Almighty is both outward and inward. Victories: when a state wins a war, it has won that victory. Many wars have taken place, many people in these wars were martyred and died, over many of those victories ashes have settled; they have been forgotten. But true victory — this is what we wanted to point to. True victory is, in Allah's sight, reaching salvation. It is the victory of attaining His mercy.

That is victory. Yes.

Of course, the meaning is deep; we only try to tell you this much. What have we said here? They reach the light; the meaning of light here is people attaining salvation and in the hereafter with Paradise being rewarded. That is the victory too. Since we came to the world for a test, whoever wins the test has reached success. This success is such a success — not a history that history cannot record and that gets covered in ashes and lost, but a person, in his own nafs, winning the history of his destiny; winning, in his nafs, of his destiny, of reaching His mercy, Allah's mercy, the victory. That is true victory; true history, the history that is recorded, is this too.

He came to the world, won his test, and of the dominion of that eternal world attained the mercy.

As for those who disbelieve, their friends too are taghuts.

These they take from light and lead into darkness. You know, with gilded words, sir, as I said a moment ago, (?) a fishing line cast (?), that is, with worldly blessings — if he is a person and in his destiny following the taghut is written, of course they too follow that taghut. Go after them. When Allah Almighty tells them: be silent, before Me do not speak — they in turn will say: these deceived us. Give them double our punishment, they will say to Allah Almighty. And those will say: we had no authority over them. We only said: obey us. And they obeyed. They should not have obeyed, they will say.

They are telling the truth. They should not have. Yes. So those who cling to that rotten handhold for the sake of the feelings of the nafs, for worldly interests, are those who trust in the shade of a tree. When the tree falls, the shade will vanish. So if every soul shall taste death, that rotten handhold will vanish too. According to the verse in which He says "the return is to Allah", there your return will be eternal Hell, because he did not carry out his Lord's word.

What do these do? Those darknesses — I mean, they take their light and lead them into darkness. People oppose Allah's commands and prohibitions. If they turn their backs on Allah, since the devil and the nafs are hostile to man, people do not heed Allah's commands; they follow their nafs and the devil. Yes.

This part let's read once more: they take them from light and lead them into darkness; people oppose Allah's commands and prohibitions; if they turn their backs on Allah, since the devil and the nafs are hostile to man, people do not heed Allah's commands. They follow their nafs and the devil. So the nafs and the devil are enemies to man. Allah Almighty says it openly in His verse. What does He say? The devil is a clear enemy to you. The nafs, He says. We described the nafs to you before. It does not want to do any deed within Allah's command. Its created nature is: it will eat, drink, have intercourse, reproduce, move, change place, wish and desire, constantly take, constantly, without saying halal or haram, want. If you can rule over this, you will find the truth.

So if you follow such a nafs — that nafs, the world, the devil, the three work together, and you, sir, become a partner of the three and their friend, if you push Allah's commands aside, then of course you will have brought misery upon yourself. Yes, in this case, of course these too into darkness will be buried. The meaning of darkness here is Hell. They will abide there forever, it says. They will abide there forever. Such people, as long as they remain in Hell, (?) against Allah Almighty. Since their nafs will not reach perfection, they in eternal Hell, in torment, will remain. Unless the nafs are at peace, people cannot enter Paradise.

They remain as people of eternal Hell.