Ali 'Imran 44: (Oh My Messenger!) These are the news from the unseen (ghayb) that We give to you with revelations. You were not there when they were throwing their pens to draw lots on who will take custody of Mary. You were also not there when they were arguing (about this).

Now, verse 44.

My Messenger, these are of the tidings of the unseen that We are revealing to you, it says. That is, what He (?) to Mary, what He revealed, Allah Almighty making it known to us by a verse in the (?) of the Quran, by making the unseen, the past known to the Prophet, by making known how the people of that time worshipped Allah Almighty, and how they prostrated and bowed before Allah — by making this known, what does it say? These are of the tidings of the unseen that We reveal to you, it says. Were you there at that time? it says. No — it is from the unseen, it says. That is, the tidings of the unseen: the situations of that time you did not know, I am making known to you in the world, He says.

We continue. When they cast their pens to draw lots over which of them would take Mary, you were not with them, it says. Yes, you were not with them. Nor were you with them when they disputed over it. So what does Allah Almighty mean here? He means that He is Hüve'l-evvelü ve'l-âhiru ve'z-zâhiru ve'l-bâtın. The verse has a secret. He is the First, the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden. He is the Living. He is the One who gives life to the whole universe.

He is free of all the worlds, and what He created is in need of Him. And again, He is Allah, who, if He withdrew His gaze from the universe for a moment, the universe would become (?).

So He continually proves His own being. So you were not there. Nor did you know of it when they cast their pens. Through events like these — that is, I existed at the beginning, look, and now too I am telling you these things. So, since My word will remain until the Day of Judgement, and I have addressed you ever since Adam (peace be upon him) until now, and since after you I will not send any prophet later, and My word will address you until the Day of Judgement, then I am living, I subsist by Myself, says Allah Almighty. There is no god but Me, it is said. Now, having opened this up this far, I read the verse once more.

Look what meaning it carries. My Messenger, these are of the tidings of the unseen that We reveal to you. That is, I know, from the beginning to the end, the tidings of the unseen. When they cast their pens to draw lots over which of them would take Mary, you were not with them. Nor were you with them when they disputed over it. Yes.

Allah Almighty, addressing the Beloved of the Glorious One, Muhammad (peace be upon him): that He says these, by revelation to you, are of the tidings of the unseen — that Allah, the Everlasting, creates events, and that ages pass over them, and that the news of the people who came and went on earth in these ages He tells His Beloved by revelation — this shows that Allah Almighty is everlasting, that there is no other god besides Him, that He maintains His order in unity and togetherness, and that His Beloved is a Messenger sent by Allah — declaring this to people, with the verses: when they cast their pens to draw lots over which of them would take Mary, you were not with them — to prove it.

That is, as I said a moment ago, that Allah Almighty is living, that from pre-eternity to post-eternity He is everlasting, and that the Prophet is a prophet, and that from the worlds of the unseen, by revelation, Allah Almighty makes these things known to the Prophet.

These events are tidings of the unseen. So we said in our commentary. Our purpose in saying it is of the tidings of the unseen: just as we see each other, and although we do not know you, when we look here and see that 30 or 20 people are listening, even though we do not see you, we know that you are listening to us — so too, although we do not see our Lord in this unseen realm, we know that Allah Almighty speaks with us too in this way, from that realm. This is the proof of His existence. Yes.

So what if it is the proof of His existence? If we say: well, we already know Allah exists. Ah. Well, good. Put a full stop right here.

The whole essence of the matter is here.

Since you know, since there is one Allah, since every soul shall taste death, since we will be called to account at the Supreme Court, how can you, the word of the One who created you, not heed it and turn your back on Him? How can you not see the One who grants you provision, the One who gives that provision, and in the world eat and drink with relish what He gives, yet not carry out His command? And then, then you will have wronged your own (?). Now, what does Allah Almighty say? O people! Be sensible, sensible. Look, I continually prove My existence to you like this. Do not ever step outside My words.

My words change your life, He says. Life. Because if you want My word, you will both find peace and build up your world and your hereafter. When you worship Me in your times of plenty, in your hard times We help you, says Allah Almighty. We take you under Our care, He says. We send Our mercy down upon you. We grant you Our intercession, He says. We include you among those who forgive, says Allah Almighty.

And you — abandon all these blessings. For a moment's worldly pleasure, be carried away by Satan, the nafs and the alluring look the world has for you. Then turn your back on Islam.

Lose this world in eating and drinking. And then, when you pass on to the hereafter — alas, there is no 'alas'. The 'alas' is over. Allah Almighty, who created time, gave you very fine opportunities within time, gave you a lifetime.

When someone in the world lets you taste a blessing, you do not know how to help him, you do not know how to thank him. Why do you turn your back on Allah Almighty, who lets you taste the blessing of blessings? Why, preferring the hereafter to the world, together with your animal nafs, do you wrong your own self?

This is how Allah Almighty represents His being here. I will grant you the hereafter, your eternal home. In the world you are in a guesthouse.

Do not take that guesthouse for your own. For you will benefit from it only a little. Then your return will again be to Me. And for the trusts on earth that I left you, that I gave you, I will call you to account, He says. Go on, then. Tomorrow, before the commands of Allah.

When He shows you your life in the world, when you did none of His commands, when you led the way in drinking, gambling and adultery, when to haram and halal you paid no attention, when you were a master at cheating this one and that, and so on, when you did not respect rights and law — and above all, when women go about stark naked, undressing as they say 'I'm going to the beach' — tomorrow in His presence, what account will you give? He will show you these things. Will you not be ashamed in His presence? You will wish the earth would split open and swallow you. But you are at the end of a life from which there is no return.

If you go with your faith — which is a bit doubtful in that state — if you go so, then for as long as your punishment lasts, like a worldly prison, in the prison of hell you will suffer that torment, and then, just as among the poor of the world people seek a provision just enough to make a living, you too will be provided for in the lowest level of paradise. In paradise you will still not need anyone, but wouldn't you want a yacht in the world, a palace, and, let me say, summer houses? How could you not want them, how you envy them! How admiringly you look at those with fine cars. How you envy those with houses, cars, money!

Well, why do you long to be among the rich of that realm? Allah Almighty does not ask you for money, or anything at all; He does not say: work and give Me a share too. Though I created you, though I gave you so much provision, just thank Me once, and bow and prostrate with those who prostrate, perform the prayer, He tells you. Does that offend you? In return for so much provision, so much health and wellbeing, do these things offend you? If they offend you, if you still do as you please, if you, with Satan being your enemy, take your place in his ranks, if you make friends with your enemy, yes, what a person does to himself, (?) cannot do.

From here on it is up to you. You need to think. You need to reflect. Yes. If

you tell the events of that time with truths, as if they were today's, it says. If you tell the events of that time as if they were today's with truths, Our telling it to you by revelation is to prove that you too are a true prophet. What is He doing? The Quran had not yet been written down. The Prophet was telling these to people. To whom? To (?), to the polytheists, to all people he was telling these. Yes.

Indeed, when they disputed over this — that is, to take Mary into their care — you were not with them. If you were not a prophet who was sent, the Holy Quran would not be given to you, and you would know nothing of these events. The Holy Quran would not be given. Nor would the verses be made known to you, and you would not be a prophet at all. That is, here, in the Prophet's being a prophet, by making tidings of the unseen known to people, the Prophet's prophethood is confirmed by Allah Almighty. Allah is He who began the creation of the universe, who began the creation of the universe and created it with His knowledge, who maintains its order and harmony, who creates beings according to His will; Allah, everlasting from pre-eternity to eternity, ever since our father Adam who came into the world, has been informing people of events.

As I explained above a moment ago, part by part, that Allah Almighty is everlasting, that He, both in this world and in the hereafter, by His own existence subsists — as in Hüve'l-evvelü ve'l-âhiru ve'z-zâhiru ve'l-bâtın, according to the (?) of the verse we cite, He tells these through the eras, through the ages, with the prophets He sent in every age, people with what was in the past, making the past known to them, He proves to us that His being is eternal and everlasting. And what do we say anyway? Now, Allah is He who began the creation of the universe, yes, and who created it with His knowledge, who maintains its order and harmony, who according to His will creates beings; Allah, everlasting from pre-eternity to eternity, ever since our father Adam who came into the world, has been informing people of events.

That He is the absolute owner of the universe, that people and created beings are mortal, that one day they will be gathered in the divine presence, that no miracle was held back to make Himself known, and that in the verses He left no gap that people could not understand, that in return for the good deeds and sins people commit by their own will they act by themselves according to their wishes, and therefore that people will be called to account for what they did; that the events of past times He makes known to them by revelation by sending prophets; to people, that they should use their reason, that nothing was created without reason, that surely today they will be called to account by that Creator — clearly and plainly with His verses He (?) to people.

Clearly and plainly. That's it. It cannot be said more clearly than this.

Everything is plain to see. So this is Allah. He leaves you free in your will. What you earn is the return of your two hands, He says. The reason He leaves you free in your will is that He gave you a part of it. That you have all abilities. Indeed, His giving the name 'insan' — 'insan' comes in Arabic from (?). Capable. That capability is due to his spirit. In this case, by Allah Almighty leaving you free in your own will, our Lord too is at the summit of the art of creation — that, without being programmed by anything, by anyone, a person's own wish and desire becomes his destiny, and that a person proves through his wishes and desires what kind of person he is, that he steers himself, and that every person on earth, being a vicegerent, is a commander and has the ability to make decisions — of Allah Almighty's art of creation, a (?).

And that a person, in return for what he does by his own will, bears the responsibility for it. That is the situation between Allah and man. Yes. Now act accordingly. Do as you wish.