Hud 52: “Oh my nation! Ask for forgiveness from your Lord; and then, repent to Allah so that Allah will send upon you (rain from) the sky abundantly and reinforces you with might. Do not turn away (from Allah) by committing sins.”

Surah Hud, verse 52 — that is where we have come. Hud (peace be upon him) continues to address his people. O my people! Ask forgiveness of your Lord. How beautiful. We too call out to people. You who say I am a Muslim, yet follow your nafs and have become the plaything of Satan: ask Allah Almighty for pardon and forgiveness. The sooner you repent, the more of Allah's mercy you will attain. Then turn to Him in repentance, so that He sends you abundant rain from the sky and adds strength to your strength. Do not turn away from Allah by sinning, he says. And we say to people: O people, return to Allah's command.

Benefit from Allah's abundant, blessed provision.

As long as you are Satan's plaything, you cannot escape stress. Worldly desire puts a yoke on your neck; you keep wearing yourself out to gain the world, you cannot find peace, you fall into constant depression. Then your strength also declines; toward people your disobedience begins, your trust declines, Islamic unity and togetherness break down.

So return to Allah, obey, keep up your worship so that you find peace and Allah completes His blessing upon you. Allah Almighty says in His verse: As long as a people does not change what is in themselves, We never take back what We have given them, He says. Yes. When those people change, then Allah too, because He is just, begins to press them harder and harder. This pressing does not necessarily mean materially. You are pressed in spirit too. (?) gives you distress. Either through your child, or your own life, or worldly (?), (?). So you become more and more distressed. Your heart is constricted (?), so that perhaps the world feels narrow to you.

That is stress and depression. And then your whole body is left open to every kind of disease, left open to germs. About which they have wrongly interpreted the verse of Allah Almighty. First let me read it the way it was wrongly interpreted. Let me say it. Soldiers: germs are My soldiers. I send them upon whomever I will, He says. No. Allah does not send germs upon whomever He wishes in order to (?) anyone. He says: I send them upon whoever wants them. Whoever wants them. The one who wants. Do you want illness? Well, of course. If you drink alcohol, if you (?) gambling, if you go through depression, if you live under stress, if you are carried away by worldly desire and day and night work and turn your back on Allah's command over you and do not submit to Him, then this illness, who wanted it? Who wanted this germ?

Because you weakened this body, this trust given to you, was it you who wanted this illness, or did Allah send it to you? What does Allah Almighty say in His verse? I will call you to account for the way in which you used this body I gave you, He says. To account. So this body is a trust given to me. To care for this body in the best way, you need to (?) with Allah's verses. The moment I step outside that, Allah will ask me about this body's right over me. Yes.

Be sensible. Let us be sensible. Let us not fall short in obeying Allah. Yes, we are human. We are not free of error. But when we recognize our error and turn back to Allah Almighty, Allah Almighty surely forgives our sins. You will find no other being who forgives sins and pardons people as much as Allah does. Why does Allah forgive even the sins we have committed, so many of them? Because He created us fallible in proportion to His intent; He created our reason imperfect. So we follow our own nafs too, we make mistakes, we do things knowingly or (?). Knowing your helplessness, when you say: O my Lord, I was defeated by my nafs, or unknowingly I did this deed of mine, I did this thing like this, forgive me, I have truly committed a sin against You — when you say this, it fits the purpose for which Allah Almighty creates, and because it fits — why He created you and left your reason imperfect: so that out of your helplessness you know Me, turn to Me, pardon and forgiveness — so because it fits, He turns that sin of yours into a good deed too, and if you do not commit it again, Allah showers rewards upon you.

And when through such conduct you are always in repentance, your nafs is reformed and you enter among Allah's beloved servants.

Yes. O my people, ask forgiveness of your Lord, he says. Necdet is saying it. Then turn to Him in repentance so that He sends you abundant rain from the sky and adds strength to your strength. By sinning you (?) from Allah.

Yes. In truth, being with Allah is living such a love and affection that if a person had tasted this longing — right now the bridge of my nose stings. Tears are coming to my eyes. If only a person could know that love toward Allah, longing for Him, if only he could possess that love.

Hud (peace be upon him), warning his people and inviting them to Allah Almighty, continues on. Inviting, continuing on. O my people, ask forgiveness of your Lord. That is, for the ignorant deeds you have done until now, turn to Allah and ask for pardon and forgiveness. And do not be examples to one another in evil. When one undresses and walks around stark naked, someone says: oh, how nice that looks. And the other tries to (?) the same desire. Grapes darken by looking at one another, as our proverb says. Keep away from these things. Do not mix among such people. Warn them too. Then repent. O my people, say: O Lord of the worlds, my Allah, out of my ignorance and helplessness I sinned, I associated partners with You; surely You are the Lord of the worlds, Your pardon and forgiveness are abundant; forgive us, and we will never again associate partners with You through such ignorant deeds — say this, give your word to Allah. And may Allah give you abundant rain and water, increase your (?), give you abundant, blessed harvests, add strength to your strength, he said.

We too address you with the same things, by reading the verses. O people, return to Allah; your manners, your modesty, your honor, your chastity — guard them. Do not strip stark naked and become Satan's plaything. Submit to Allah and find that peace, so that Allah adds strength to your strength and increases your provision.

Allah Almighty says in His verse (?) — would We diminish his wealth, He says. So say: O our Lord, thanks be for the blessings You have given. Be worthy of that thanks, give that thanks, so that Allah increases your provision. And as long as you obey Allah, may peace come into your hearts. And make your world peaceful and build up your hereafter in the best way. What is there to it, really? Is it so hard for me to turn to Allah and say: my Allah, forgive me? To turn to Allah and dress in a way that guards chastity and honor? Have you deified your nafs this much? Did you, seeking fame and glory among people, when you joined (?), become Satan's plaything so much, and making Satan laugh at you in (?), give up that honor and dignity?

Yes. Now, if a sensible person thinks over what he has done, will he not feel (?) about these deeds?

According to the narrations, the people of Hud (peace be upon him) owned a single vast land. The people of this nation were very strong and large-built. Because of their rebellion against Allah Almighty, and their not believing in Allah and the hereafter, through the afflictions Allah Almighty gave, their wives came to the point of not bearing children. At the same time, because it had not rained in their land for 3 years, drought had set in.

It was at such a time that Hud (peace be upon him) came forth from among them and, addressing them, invited them to Allah. With the words add strength to your strength: that their wives would again come to bear children, that their people's offspring would increase and they would become strong, and that they would be saved from these afflictions — this Hud (peace be upon him) explained to them with warnings.

That Allah Almighty is the Possessor of mercy, that there is no other god besides Him, that by returning to Allah they would (?) blessings — explaining this, he wanted to protect his people from a punishment to come.

We live in a world of abundance and blessing.

If for this abundance and blessing we do not give thanks, Allah Almighty will rain afflictions upon us.

If afflictions are not raining upon us, it is because Allah Almighty, for the sake of His beloved servants among these people, through their prayers and blessings — for them, they are being a (?) against these afflictions. Therefore, rather than taking refuge in someone else and constantly asking from him, to stand on your own feet, by your own strength, your own strength, your own will, in life, to stand upright is more virtuous. That is, rather than sheltering under someone else's prayer and being protected by it, for you yourself to turn to your Lord and, by praying to your Lord, through your own (?), under Allah's mercy to remain directly is (?) than remaining under the other's prayer.

Yes.