Al-Baqarah 7: (Since they disbelieved in the addressing of Alastu-bi-Rabbikum). They have asked for from Allah; to have their hearts sealed, put covers on their ears and veils over their eyes. There is a great punishment for them.

Their ears and their eyes, by Allah Almighty, they have had sealed. For them there is a great punishment. Yes, because they opposed Allah, their ears and their eyes they have had Allah Almighty seal. For them there is a great punishment. Yes, their hearts, their ears and their eyes they have had Allah Almighty seal. For them there is a great punishment. Who are these? Way back at the address Alastu bi-rabbikum, when our Lord said, I am your Lord, in response, these waited for the Lord in their own imagination and, although they knew they had been created, against Allah Almighty who created them they rebelled.

So in the verse Allah Almighty says: My beloved, their denying you — pay no heed; in their time they betrayed Me too. That is, they did not recognise Me either, He says.

Let us read its tafsir verse by verse, let us open it. What do we say? Knowing Allah Almighty as the Creator, yet

out of pride and arrogance not recognising Allah Almighty. Let us open this a bit. Knowing Allah Almighty as the Creator, yet. By their own reasoning they know there is a Creator. There is one Allah; they were created. How do they know? How do they know?

Suddenly our souls — that is, the creation there is just like our body, you see — our creation with our faces as at the age of thirty-three is there. There is no before. Now if I asked you, if I said, if we erased your past and suddenly, from that state, started you from zero, what would you say? How did I come to be? Right? No past. If it were like suddenly waking from sleep, with no past at all, none at all.

And suddenly you have seen nothing either. Only, with a mind Allah Almighty gave us, we know how to speak. With the mind called aql al-maad. What would you say? Allah, Allah. Where did I come from? Who created me? That is, I have an existence. There is the mind. In this way Allah Almighty, before us, says: I created you. And although the Prophet (peace be upon him) says, yes, this is our Lord, people, because they see Allah Almighty as like themselves — because a bit of His spirit Allah Almighty gave to man — in that case, although he knows he was created, he waits for the Lord of his imagination.

For this reason he turns his back on Allah Almighty. So, knowing Allah Almighty as the Creator — that is, Allah as Creator, as Allah the Creator, that there is such an Allah — knowing it, yet out of pride and arrogance, that is, because he sees Allah Almighty as like himself, those who do not recognise Allah Almighty, that is, who turn their backs on Him; as we explained in the verse above, those who, because of their arrogance and self-importance, drown the light of faith in the darkness of shirk. Those who, within their own mental capacity, wait for the Lord of their imagination. And in fact, out of their arrogance and pride, although they know our Lord who created them as Lord, who exists — how does he know? No Lord other than Him has appeared, there is no other creator.

These still, out of stubbornness, wait for the Lord of their imagination. Well, in that case they are in fact deifying their own nafs. Out of that pride and arrogance. The light of faith, that is, the light by which they would believe in Allah Almighty, in the darkness of shirk they bury.

These people associate partners with our Lord. That is, by drowning the light of faith in the darkness of shirk they associate partners with Allah Almighty. That is, they ascribe partners. That is: there is another god besides You. We do not accept You as God. That is, we do not accept You as a deity. Why should You be our Lord? You are like us, they say. Out of their pride and arrogance.

Yes.

Although, by the covenant given to our souls in the world of Lahut, they recognised our Lord as Lord — that is, when we say although they recognised our Lord here as Lord — Allah Almighty: yes, there is no other deity. The Lord says, I created you, but now these say: how do we know? How do we know. You created. Yes, I was created, there is a Lord. In that case, although he knows he was created, you see, those who do not obey Allah Almighty, who out of their enmity toward Allah Almighty are rebellious — and these enmities arise from their self-importance, their arrogance, their pride.

Now if I — no fault in the comparison, God forbid — said to you, I am your Lord, you would say, get lost, wouldn't you? You are a human like me. If you use your reason rightly, you are a human like me. For example, like Pharaoh declaring himself god — what does it say? Those with reason — the ignorant might perhaps believe — those with reason: you are a human too, you are a mortal being too. Allah is immortal. Yes. Would a person believe this? In that case what happens? Out of the enmity of their nafs toward Allah Almighty, toward Allah Almighty, out of arrogance and pride, because they see Him as like themselves, they turn their backs.

They truly know they were created. They say there is Allah. Because He created us. We were created, because there is no before. In that case, pride and arrogance — these, His essence, that is, that person, the Creator, they deny. Those rebellious out of enmity, who turn their backs on Allah, within their partial will, their own desires and wishes, according to the covenant they gave our Lord, have had their hearts sealed; they will never believe. Why does Allah Almighty here seal their hearts, why does He draw a veil over their eyes and ears? In our previous lesson we said that Allah Almighty, one by one, with all the people who would come into the world from our father Adam until the Day of Judgement, made a covenant one by one, one by one.

How do you know, Hodja? I know too. I saw that world, that is why I tell of it. If I had not seen it, I could not tell of it anyway. Nor could I open these up. It is not possible. Opening these up would not be possible either.

People who are from the spirit of each prophet, those peoples from the spirit of their prophets who were the elders of that people — for that time, we too, from the Prophet (peace be upon him) until the Day of Judgement, in the time when, with Allah Almighty, we were making the covenant, His showing us even the times. How does He show them? You go to a city. Before you go, they show you its film. In this city there are these spots, these streets, these shapes, these things. So Allah Almighty, from the Prophet up to this time, up to the time after this, shows the times to the people who will come.

In which time will you go? Allah Almighty never interferes with human will. Everyone chooses for himself the time he desires and wants. According to his own reason and will.

Let me tell you my own case.

Which time? Wouldn't you want to be a companion in the time of the Prophet? Gentlemen, you would be eager — who would not want to be? Tell it to the back of my ear.

Why tell it to the back of my ear?

Hunger, blood, war, misery and constant jihad. I fear that time. I do not want that time.

These are feelings.

That is why to those companions who wanted that time I would not want to bring even an atom's worth of harm. And I never speak about them either. I tremble even when I mention them. Why? In case I say a word that might break their hearts.

Such blessed people, such precious people. And Allah Almighty describes them in His verse like this: An ear of grain that has put out a shoot and stands on its feet — He likens them to a shoot. That is why, at a time each person likes, Allah Almighty — a time which suits their way of life, suits that person's way of life, and in which he will best prove himself — according to the person's own conduct, programs that time for him.

I like this time. I am showing it. Turkey is surrounded by a ring of fire. That is, war going on.

In Turkey too there are small wars. Because I am wary of that too, I say let these not happen either. It will be this much, He says. It will be this much. Look at the covenant. Nobody knows what this covenant is. This is Surah Al-A'raf, verse 172. What has happened already happened there. Look, this Hatemallâhu alâ kulûbihim ve alâ sem'ihim ve alâ ebsârihim gışâveh, ve lehüm azâbün azîm — the verse that says this happened there. Those people lived it. He comes with them, (?) one by one. They denied their Lord and, in a state of never returning to their Lord, waiting for the Lord of their imagination, with Allah Almighty, at the time they wanted, that they would come — at whatever time they would come, they had themselves programmed for that time.

So Allah Almighty in the last verse says: for these there is a great punishment, these will not believe.

For these there is a great punishment. Why? These will not believe. Because they said, program us that way. So their hearts were sealed. According to the verse, if We do not will, you cannot will, well, since our Lord will not will it, and since everyone, free in their own will, has had their desires and wishes, their aims, written as their destiny, these will never return now. Yes. So, according to the covenant they gave our Lord, these have had their hearts sealed. They will never believe. Their ears are sealed too. When the word of truth is spoken, they go into crisis. They never want to hear the truth.

Because it does not suit them. Indeed in a verse Allah Almighty says that when they hear the word of truth, the clouds in the sky would come to the point of cracking. Their hearts become that furious.

Yes. Allah Almighty says in a verse that when they hear the word of truth, out of their rage the clouds in the sky would come to the point of cracking. Yes. For this reason their ears too are sealed; they will never want to listen to the truth. Because their own desires and wishes have become their destiny, you see; their aims, their destinies will prove what kind of people they are. In that case they are people turned toward worldly desire, sensual feeling, every kind of pleasure and, let me say, matters of self-interest. The moment their slightest interest is touched, they jump out of their seats.

Yes. Now some people with some people made partnerships. With whom? With Armenians.

Not one person, not two, not three; I am a witness to these. Oh, he praises him so much: a very honest person. Oh, he does not keep a single penny, a penny — he gives me that penny. Oh, come off it with these. Come off it. These, these — do not be deceived. I say it inside, inside myself. In Istanbul, Nakip Çelen (?) made a shoe partnership with Armenians. Well, from the brink of bankruptcy, by handing over his goods as a gift, he got out. My neighbour, a young man called Erdoğan, in the coal trade, him too they finished. How was he finished? They love them so much: they are partners, a very honest person, they say. My dear man, these perhaps have a certain goal.

Up to that goal he acts so honestly with you. Up to that goal. The moment he finds that goal, gets it, that is, reaches that sum, you will not find even his dust. Allah grant safety. The bird has flown the nest. Where to? Either America, or Armenia, or some other country. May Allah's safety be upon him. Gone and done.

From these you can never expect honesty.

Once he reaches a certain level, he hits you and goes.

This is not one, not two, not three. We are witnesses to these. Yes.

These are people who do not want to hear the word of truth, whose hearts are sealed, who will never believe again. On their eyes too there is a veil; they look but are blind; before Allah Almighty's millions of miracles they do not see what happens. Here is a verse: every day thousands of miracles appear before your eyes, you are blind, you do not see, He says. Look, every sentence rests on verses. Not outside the verses. Sentence by sentence. Yes.

We continue.

Allah Almighty says in a verse: before your eyes every day thousands of miracles appear; you do not see, you are blind. Such people are those who, because of their stubbornness, the light of faith bury in the darkness of shirk, the darkness of shirk. They are those who are buried in shirk themselves. Because of their stubbornness. For them in the Hereafter, eternally and endlessly, there is Hell and also a great punishment. Yes, because in the Hereafter too they will not be able to know Allah as Allah, and he will again wait for the Allah of his imagination, because he is programmed that way, indeed he had himself programmed that way, and he will take revenge on Allah too.

For them in the Hereafter, eternally and endlessly, there is Hell and also a great punishment. In a verse Allah Almighty says: after they have burned in Hell for many thousands of years and suffered punishment, We will bring them to a state where they neither taste nor feel. Every verse we gave as an example, when its turn comes, we will (?) present to you — we will try.

Why? Well, We will bring them to a state where they neither taste nor feel, He says. After they have burned in Hell for many thousands of years and suffered punishment, We will bring them to a state where they neither taste nor feel. If a thousand years here are like one day of the Hereafter, since He says many thousands of years, it means eternity, then. After suffering a punishment they will come to a state where they neither feel nor taste. How will this happen?

We have an operation; before the operation they put us under. They give us morphine. From the effect of that morphine our body goes numb. Even if they cut our flesh, even if they slice it up, we (?) its pain. So Allah Almighty, after they have suffered punishment there for many thousands of years, for them will remove the nerve senses; they will neither feel nor taste, and so they will stay there as eternal logs of Hell.

Yes.

While opening the verse above we spoke of shirk, we say. The meaning of the word shirk: either those who deify their own nafs and follow their desires and wishes, who, without listening to the Creator's commands, run after their own nafs, that is, who deify themselves, who turn their backs on Allah's command and continue the sovereignty of their own being, or who, making some other created thing a deity against its Creator, worship it. Either man worships his own nafs, and by worshipping his own nafs he drowns his own nafs in the darkness of shirk, the light of faith in the darkness of shirk; and have you not seen the one who deifies his nafs, He says — or what they made with their hands, or recognising some persons as Lord, they associate partners with Allah, and so shirk is committed. Shirk means worshipping something other than Allah. Whereas Allah, Allah — la ilaha illallah, there is no deity but Allah.

Allah — kul hüvallâhü ehad, He is One, Allâhü's-samed, lem yelid ve lem yûled, ve lem yekün lehû küfüven ehad; He has neither family nor child, He subsists by His own essence. Yes. He neither begot nor was begotten. In that case, if a person calls something other than that Allah a deity and worships it, he enters shirk. It is one of the greatest sins. Yes.

Verse 7 — in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 7 ends here.