Al-Hajj 42: And if they deny you, don’t be saddened. Verily, before them, the nations of Noah, A’ad and Thamud had also denied (their Prophets).

We have come to the 42nd verse of Surah Al-Hajj. "And if they deny you, do not grieve." That is, what does Allah Almighty say to the Prophet (peace be upon him)? If they deny you, that is, if they call you a liar, if they reject you, do not grieve. "Indeed, before them the people of Noah, 'Ad and Thamud too denied their prophets," it says. Allah Almighty, addressing the Prophet (peace be upon him) with what happened in the past, to remove his sorrow, consoles his heart. Even in one verse He says, "My Messenger, their denying you — don't mind it; in their time they betrayed Me too." Where? At the address Elestü bi-rabbiküm, from their being divided there into three groups, and kün- tüm ezvâcen selâseh, that is, all the kinds, (?), were divided into three classes.

Fe ashâbü'l-meymeneti mâ ashâbü'l-meymeneh. O people of the right, glad tidings to you. Ve ashâbü'l-meş'emeti mâ ashâbü'l-meş'emeh. O people of the left, woe to you. Ve's-sâbikûne's-sâbikûn, ulâike'l-mukarrebûn, fî cennâti'n-na'îm. In a third group, the group of the foremost. The group of the saints, the prophets, the martyrs, (?). So you, do not grieve. In their time they betrayed Me too. That is, at that address Elestü bi-rabbiküm, when He said "I am your Lord", out of their fame and renown, out of their pride and arrogance, they did not recognize Me as Lord. If they do not recognize you as a prophet either, do not grieve, He says.

Indeed, the end of all matters will come round and return to Allah, He says. "Every soul will taste death, and your return is to Me," says Allah Almighty. The world is a temporary guesthouse. Within our short life, because of Satan's deceiving us, his making the times ahead of us look very long — in truth, if a thousand years of this world are like one day of the hereafter, then we live the sixty, seventy years of our life like an hour or an hour and a half; in time we fill up our life, and if we, in this swamp they call the adornment of this world, (?) to the zaqqum that has bloomed in the swamp, we will have bankrupted our own life with our own hands.

We become like a merchant who went bankrupt in the world. Yes. We have come to the 42nd verse of Surah Al-Hajj. "And if they deny you, do not grieve. Indeed, before them the people of Noah, 'Ad and Thamud too denied their prophets." O My Beloved! If some of these people deny you, at their denying you, do not grieve. Why? Because the Prophet (peace be upon him) came as a mercy to the worlds. Ve mâ erselnâke illâ rahmeten li'l-âlemîn. So he wanted all people to embrace Islam.

Well, the Prophet, who came as a mercy to the worlds — doesn't he know people's covenant there, that here, to invite all people to Islam, he drives himself so much toward ruin? You might think it like that. The answer is this: if Allah Almighty has made a servant responsible for a duty, that servant, in the effort to fulfil it without any shortcoming, holding himself responsible to Allah Almighty, therefore grieves. Wondering whether he is falling short. Because he came as a mercy to the worlds. Inviting them to Islam with warning in the finest way is his duty. Yes. So he would grieve. Am I explaining it incompletely?

Am I failing to reach them? Well, they, in this way, set about denying the prophet. So what does Allah Almighty say? Do not grieve. The people of 'Ad, the people of Thamud, the (?) people also denied, He says. Yes.

But Allah — to these peoples and those like them who by their deeds denied their prophets or killed them, Allah Almighty gave a time on earth, not a long time, a fixed time He gave, or He destroyed them, killed them. How severe the destruction of these peoples by Allah Almighty has been. That is, how severe Allah Almighty's destroying these peoples has been. What does it say? The people of Thamud also perished. The people of Noah also perished. Salih's people also perished. Well, many — the people of 'Ad also perished. So, the destruction of many peoples — what does it show us? As long as Allah Almighty's command is overstepped, those who pushed against Allah's verses, the limits, and crossed them perished on earth.

Well, are there no transgressors now? Why do they not perish? Allah Almighty, as a mercy to the worlds, sent the Prophet (peace be upon him). To them too He sent prophets, but He destroyed those prophets' peoples; yet when He sent the Prophet, when He sent the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (peace be upon him), He does not destroy their peoples, the other peoples. Yes. Why does He not destroy them? Beside mercy there is no destruction. Because he is a mercy to the worlds. And the Prophet has tasted death and is alive. Over the living there is no destruction. What happens? Ah, calamity happens, calamity.

So Allah Almighty says in His verse, "We give them, in a year, three or two calamities." And we see it. Storms, hurricanes, tsunamis, gales, tornadoes, fires go on. Today — maybe in the past we didn't hear of them, but now through television we get everything as news, to the hour, to the very minute. Yes.

Allah is the absolute power and Lord of the whole universe.

All created things were created by Allah. Whatever is created, from the atom to the globe. Whether it is seen with the eye or not. There is no god but Allah. So whoever denies Allah, Allah's prophets and books — woe to their state. Hell has been created for them. Will Muslims not enter Hell? They will, but they will not suffer as much punishment as those suffer. Because their faith, that is, the light in them — the fire will not be able to burn the light. So that light will reach perfection in Hell and come out of there. But the one who remains subject to that fire, in whom there is no light of Islam — as long as that person burns in Hell, against Allah Almighty his grudge will grow. And as that grudge grows, he will remain there forever.

Yes.