Al-Baqarah 25: Give glad tidings to those who believe and commit good (salih) deeds. For them, there are paradises beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they taste a provision in the form of a fruit, they will say “this resembles the fruit we were eating before” and they will be given a similar provision. There are also wives for them who are pure, and they will stay in paradise eternally.

To verse 25: those who believe and do righteous deeds, give them glad tidings. Look how well we said it. As I said just now, the ends of the verses are always connected to each other like this. So, give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds. For them there are gardens beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are given a fruit as provision, this is like what we ate before, they will say. From where will they say that? The verses. We said they don't contradict each other but confirm, that is, support. He says this world is the likeness and shadow of the hereafter; from there they will enter. And that provision will be presented to them in resemblance.

Cherry as cherry, sour cherry as sour cherry, plum as plum, date as whatever date is, in resemblance Allah Almighty created them. With what? Luminous, its likeness; resembling, He says here. If He had said the same will be presented, it would have been matter. When He says its likeness: in the world matter, there luminous. We will eat; it won't leave our body as defecation; there is no defecation there. Well, we will be relieved through sweat; it will come out. In the highest Paradise there is no defecation; we won't make that place smell either. Well, there is no idle time there either, that is, no sleep either.

How beautiful. (?) And a deathless world of pleasure and delight.

For them there are also pure spouses there. And they will abide in that Paradise eternally. Now with this verse Allah Almighty, toward man's true original homeland, Paradise in the hereafter, here, by telling this, makes him long for it. To draw you there, to let you live that life, if you do what I say, I will promise you these, says Allah Almighty. I will give, He says. And in His verse: who keeps his word like Allah, He says. Yes. The universe, so that His essence would be known, Allah Almighty created; He made mankind His addressee, and in return for man knowing his Lord: the person who believes in his Lord, in His existence, in His prophets, His books, His angels, in resurrection after death, if in the worldly realm he does not step outside Allah Almighty's commands and prohibitions, if he does deeds that please Allah Almighty, avoids evil, does good deeds for Allah, prays, fasts, goes on Hajj, gives zakat, if he becomes aware of the bad way of life in his nafs, distances himself from it, if he does not approach things like alcohol, gambling and adultery, if he heeds halal and haram, does not hurt anyone, serves humanity for his Lord, these will have done righteous deeds.

Righteous deeds, that is, the states Allah Almighty Himself has commanded, the sharia rulings. It's nothing hard; alcohol is harmful to the human body, drinking it is haram, He says. Today some cities compete in drinking; the Thrace region, there is no one who doesn't drink. The cities I won't name; many cities are addicted to alcohol. A liquor shop, a small shop, tucked away in a corner, in one evening sells 600 lira, 700 lira, 800 lira of alcohol. This is a shop tucked away in a corner. How much the others sell is unknown. In one month, in one month, they did 3 billion worth of shopping on alcohol. This is how addicted to alcohol people have become.

Some shops sell 7 billion, 8 billion, 12 billion of alcohol a day. Alcohol, alcohol. And then they say there's unemployment. Then every matter, they bring it up and pin it on their state: it doesn't look after me, it doesn't give me a job, they say. Unaware of himself, a burden to his wife and children, he lives oblivious of his responsibility. Such people keep multiplying and multiplying. I am a witness to this. You are witnesses too. You are witnessing it too. Maybe in big cities you don't notice it, but in small towns I see this. Because I travel. I travel a lot. I see it.

These people have lost all control. Where are they heading? Both harm to their bodies, and harm to their nafs. To their nafs, harm in the hereafter. May Allah protect us. In the body, in the world, they are afflicted with all kinds of diseases. Hospital doors are overflowing with people. Yes.

These run after every kind of vice. In this case they have neither peace left nor any happiness in their homes.

Pay attention to such homes. Constantly in fights, in quarrels, in (?); the daughter unaware of her sibling, the sibling of the father, they live.

May Allah set them right.

Yes, Allah Almighty, through His verse, has His Beloved give glad tidings. Look what He says: give glad tidings to such people. For them there are gardens beneath which rivers flow, He says. To whom is He saying this? Those who recite the testimony of faith and are worthy of it, those who believe in Allah's prophets, His messengers, in resurrection after death. Well, those who believe in Allah's angels, His books. Those who have money and go on Hajj, who give zakat. Those who fast and, well, pray. Those who see the evils in their own nafs and cleanse them. Those who do good to people for Allah.

Give these glad tidings, He says, give glad tidings. Because they fear their Lord. Because he fears his Lord, he does not follow his nafs. Nor does he follow the footsteps of Satan. These are true men in My sight, He says. True men. Champions. Allah Almighty to these... These are champions. True men. They have mastered their nafs. Who do not do what their nafs says. Who have turned their backs on Satan. My servants who pay no heed to his temptation, He says. These compete in doing righteous deeds. Give these glad tidings. For them are gardens beneath which rivers flow. Yes.

Let's imagine it like this. A building whose surroundings are all enclosed in glass. From inside, the outside can be seen. But from outside, the inside cannot be seen.

Aren't there such buildings today? Look, there are buildings with film. And the buildings in Paradise are like this. Now I am describing to you that building I saw. I didn't say it here. Because it is something written for the public. Now we are telling you what we saw here. In Paradise. In Paradise. Yes. The entrance to the building: marble columns. On the pillars, a marble floor. And on this floor stands this building we imagine. The floors entirely marble. The stairs, marble columns. The pillars marble. The entrance doors. All around is lush green. Grass in a certain way, in a certain way along the roadsides, those (?) things we know, like this, plants, beautiful, lush green like that.

Everything in order and harmony; just as when the human body is cut, well, a wound forms somewhere, and that wound closes by itself and comes back level, so the things there too, in a certain way, in a certain order, if plucked, come back anew in their place; they neither grow nor shrink; all created with the same knowledge; in a certain way Allah Almighty has arranged these places in Paradise.

At the entrance of the building a large hall, right in the middle a large pool. At the four corners of the pool, marble stairs leading out of the pool. At the four corners of the pool, marble stairs leading out. On all four sides, bundles; wherever you come out, at the entrance a spotless place for you to wash first. At the top of the stairs, bathrobe towels; at the edge of the pool a long table, and on the table all kinds of foods and fruits. Houris and ghilman who have never seen daylight, serving you. Yes. Also, beside the marble floor on the marble columns of this building, again on marble columns, a glass floor, and beneath this glass floor flowing streams and rivers; all around lush green vineyards and gardens, (?) flowers, and all around nightingale songs.

The sky, like fireworks launched into the sky, multicolored. A constantly changing view, as if you were (?) with your hands. We are telling you here what we saw. But we tell you: imagine such a world. Imagine such a world. Now wouldn't you desire such a life? The highest Paradise.

Even the air, the air. This air you see, you can't see, you will see in the highest Paradise. Multicolored. Multicolored like this. Constantly lively, changing shape. As if it will strike you in the face like (?). But it's air. Yes. Everything orderly. Very beautiful. Man lives a whole different world there.

Allah Almighty does not give us these in return for money. Money. He has no need of it. Allah Almighty, who needs nothing, created these for His servants and promises them to us in return for what? Only for knowing His essence, doing righteous deeds and not spreading corruption on earth, in return for that. He promises these to us. With such a treasure waiting, this treasure, within a (?) lifetime, by following the nafs, by doing evil deeds, from the treasure of eternal life to deprive oneself, isn't that a person's (?)? Yes.

To the people who win this Paradise, whenever a fruit is given as provision, that person will say, this is like what we ate before. That is, in the worldly realm, materially, of the taste this tongue took, like its flavor. What is meant by 'before': while in the worldly realm, compared to what they ate, this is like what we ate before, he will say. That is, before. Where? In the worldly realm. What he ate. The matter the body ate reflecting on the body as matter, its flavor exactly. A likeness: cherry as cherry, spiritually more delicious there, of course. More delicious, its likeness, He says.

But more delicious. Because one is material, the other spiritual. Of the spirit. What the spirit takes. What it eats. In a verse our Lord says this world is like the likeness and shadow of the hereafter, we said. Even if the provisions we eat in the world are like the provisions we eat in the hereafter, worldly provisions are more delicious than the provisions we eat in the hereafter. In this respect, since the provision of the hereafter is more delicious, we will say it is like the likeness of the provision we ate in the world.

In the verse saying, for them there are pure spouses there, as He mentioned a little earlier, houris and ghilman: created for the person himself, and to that person as spouses beings to be presented. The meaning of pure: no human eye has touched her, no devil has touched her. That is, no jinn has touched her; pure. Because jinn pass through human bodies; they are within (?). That is what pure means: no human eye has seen, no jinn has touched; this is the verse. Yes.

Meanwhile, the wives of this world, in the hereafter, compared to the houris and ghilman, will be in the position of their queen. Their queen. Why? Because however beautiful those houris and ghilman may be, in the verse He says they are as if from a lathe. From a lathe. Though created so beautiful, they have no attraction. It is the spirit that gives a person attraction. So since women have a spirit, than the ghilman and houris they are more beautiful and attractive. Therefore, since they were created in the world as our Lord's (?), from their coming to the world and suffering hardship, since they have a spirit, they are in the position of their queen.

Their queen. Crowns on their heads. Yes. The reason for this is that the wives of this world, before coming to this world, were given by their Lord, from their Lord's spirit; that they suffered hardship in worldly life and obeyed their Lord; because of this they will be in the position of queen.

Since mankind is from the spirit of his Lord, people are immortal. Death is upon bodies. It is not upon spirits. In this respect, since spirits are immortal, the hereafter is eternal and everlasting. In this respect Allah Almighty: they abide in the gardens eternally. (?). Yes.