Yunus 67: Allah is the One who has created the night for you to rest in it, and who has made the day bright (so that you would work and earn in it). Verily, there are lessons for a nation that listens.

We left off at verse 67 of Surah Yunus; we start from there. "It is Allah who made the night for you, that you may rest in it, and made the day bright for you to work and earn. Surely in this there are lessons for a people who listen," He says. Yes.

For a people who listen to Allah's verses there are lessons, He says. In this case, Allah Almighty, with the reason He has given people, in their partial will, within their own capacities, wants, through all kinds of His words, to make His essence known to people. In this case again: He who made the night for you to rest in, and for you to work and earn makes the day bright. How the world brings about night and day — leading us to reflection, to thinking, I mean, He informs us that apart from Allah's essence none could do these things. Like what? I mean, like what? He is trying to make His essence known to us through reflection.

He sets up the lunar system in the sky. In the sky. By lunar system I meant the lunar calendar. Also the sun, earth and moon system — He makes them turn around each other's axes. He brings about both night and day and the seasons, the months, the years. The sun turning around its own axis, and the earth, while turning around its own axis, the sun turning around its own axis, brings about the seasons. The sun in 24 hours, the earth in 24 hours turning around its own axis, so that the side facing the sun is bright and the side not facing the sun is dark. Allah Almighty, who turns these around their own axes without any pillars, and on condition that they neither come closer to nor move away from each other, created them in this way with knowledge — that there is no creator other than His essence, and, by leading us to reflection, He commands us to worship Him.

Yes, in this verse Allah Almighty leads people to reflection. Giving night and day as an example, by turning the world around its own axis in 24 hours, He brings about night and day facing the sun.

Allah who created people, since He knows what our bodies need — what do our bodies need? If you work during the day, you constantly need rest. Allah Almighty, who created our bodies — consider this body an engine. An engine, a machine. If you run the machine constantly, because of the heat it makes it quickly swells, and then either the engine seizes or (?) it is doomed to become deformed. So Allah Almighty, since He knows how our bodies would be created, have been created — for He created them — since He knows what they will need, on the earth, by turning the world around its own axis facing the sun, lets us rest at night.

And by day, our working — and since He made us dependent on eating and drinking, for securing our sustenance, He commands us to work. Without working, and without this eating and drinking, Allah Almighty could have created us differently too. Why? He made us dependent on eating and drinking. We will work so that we can meet our needs. As long as we work, are we betraying the place where we work? Or are we working honestly? Or are we mixing unlawful goods into it? Or when we take, do we take what is lawful? In this buying and selling of ours, our trade, our work, we prove what kind of person we are.

In this case, Allah Almighty made us dependent on eating and drinking so that "through the buying and selling you do, through your trades, through your own actual deeds, through the dealings you have done, through earning reward and sin, you will prove yourselves," He says. In the verse: "Did you think you would come to know, without proving what kind of people you are?" He says. Yes.

Allah who created people, since He knows what our bodies need, has also created sleep upon our bodies. So for people who rush about all day securing their provision to rest, He created the night and sleep along with it, and so gives people rest.

When morning comes, so that people, by working again, may make themselves witnesses before Allah and those around, so that within their occupations or duties, by the sinful deeds they do, they may make themselves witnesses against themselves — He created the day.

Here we skipped a line. It is clear right away that we skipped a line. What are we saying? "The deeds they do within their duty or duties, both securing the sustenance of (?), and the reward and sin events they earn" — we will say. We didn't say "reward" here; we said "the sin events they earn", whereas "so that by reward and sin events they make themselves witnesses against themselves, He created the day." So for people who believe in Allah and obey, there is a lesson in this. What is this lesson? That, beyond human power, all these realms were created by one single God, and that Allah Almighty proves this with many verses too. Like what? Since He says "the ownership of the heavens and the earth and what is between them is Allah's," and according to His verse "every soul shall taste death; the inheritance of the heavens and the earth will remain to Allah" — what do we understand from these? Allah is the Creator; all wealth, property and existence is Allah's; people on it are temporary, and after mortal people, again to this Creator Allah this property will remain. Apart from this, apart from this, with the verse "the heavens and the earth and what is between them have known the remembrance of their Lord." Whatever Allah Almighty created from the atom to the globe, their Lord — a thousand and one names, they say; some say ninety-nine names — by making them remember His name, He proves that He is their creator.

Yes.

So for people who believe in Allah and obey, a lesson in this. At the same time, Allah has majesty and power. Allah Almighty created nothing in vain. It is so that people, taking lessons from all the things He created, obey Allah and His Messenger and, bringing their own nafs to life, attain salvation. They will bring their own nafs to life.

For a person's nafs to come to life — just as his nafs's desire and wish drag him in its own direction, and the person takes pleasure, delight, in the deed he does from his nafs, and as a result of that pleasure, through the deeds that nafs — in no way obedient to Allah's command — has had him do, just as by committing sin he takes from that sin pleasure — not by the path his nafs shows, but by going the path Allah shows him, sidestepping his nafs and doing his Lord's command, if, when doing his Lord's command, he can take pleasure in it, then he has mastered his nafs, that means. If he cannot do this, the nafs forces him.

Satan tempts him. The world looks attractive to him. If these three traits, over a person's faith and love toward Allah, prevail, they pull him into their own swampy world. Ufuk, listen well. This is the answer to your question too. Yes. "I can't master my nafs, Hodja," he says. "I'm struggling. What should I do?" he says. Yes. So a person will be obedient to Allah's command. He will know he was created. He will know he is responsible to his Creator. In this case he will know that he is in a temporary worldly realm and that finally, with death, before Allah Almighty he is called to account. The moment of death — between the moment of death and the day we will be called to account, its moment — it will amount to a day or less than a day.

Use your reason accordingly. Your reason. After death, do we rise again? "Oho! The Last Day will break. The world, I mean, will be set up again. What else is there until then…" — if you think so, if you think so, pay close attention to my words. After death, your arrival at the place of gathering: one day or less than a day. "On what basis do you say that, Hodja?" "On that day," He says, "when We raise you, you will ask one another: how long did we lie under the earth?" Some of you will say a day, and the wisest of you will say we lay less than a day. The ones who keep count of how long you lay under the earth, He says, are the noble angels on duty. In this case — Hodja, aren't you contradicting yourself with your own words?

So we will lie long. We will lie long, but like a day or less than a day it will seem to us. Look what he says. How long did we lie? Some say a day, some say less than a day. So, in seeing our lifespan as long, before Allah Almighty who creates time within time, in sidestepping Allah, in following our nafs and going outside Allah's verses, we fall into the state of having (?) our own nafs. In this case, since at any moment, when we will die we do not know, when death will strike a person, when the decree of the Truth will take place — since we don't know this, we will worship as if we were going to die at any moment.

And as if we were never going to die we will work for the world. What is this? Keeping the world and the hereafter neck and neck, we will neither leave Allah's command nor come to the point of being unable to stand on our own feet, needing people as parasites, falling into the helplessness of a servant whom Allah created honorable. Yes. In this case, if we work both for this world and for the hereafter, today we will both (?) the level of social life among ourselves, and against the people who are our enemies we will become strong.

What does Allah Almighty say? So for people who believe in Allah and obey, in this a lesson, a lesson; at the same time Allah has majesty and power. Allah Almighty created nothing in vain. So that people, taking lessons from all the things He created, obey Allah and His Messenger and, bringing their own nafs to life, attain salvation, Allah Almighty created these realms. Allah is the self-subsisting. Self-subsisting.

The one who created all the heavens and the earth and what is between them is Allah. Allah Almighty has no need of any being He created. Allah Almighty, by constantly making His existence known to people, leads people to reflection. He shows people that they should use their reason. And that when reason comes to know its Lord, the person who knows his Lord will attain guidance — He makes this known. Allah constantly invites people to reflection and to using their reason.