Al-Baqarah 40: Oh sons of Israel! Remember the provisions I have provided to you and be loyal to My covenant (listen to My orders) so that I may bestow upon you My promised word. Fear only Me!

We'll interrupt our lesson and continue with your issues.

O Children of Israel! Remember My blessings that I have bestowed upon you. And remember Me.

Give your covenant well, so that We show faithfulness to your covenant. And fear only Me. Yes. Allah Almighty protected the people of the Children of Israel from many oppressions, sent Moses as a prophet to the people of the Children of Israel, saved them from Pharaoh's oppression in Egypt, and, as we will discuss in the coming verses, sent the people of Israel food of paradise, fed them with the meat of quails; despite this, the people among them, by not listening to Allah Almighty's command, also suffered some calamities. So Allah Almighty, to the people of the Children of Israel, by making known to them these blessings He had given them, so that they fear Allah and obey, says: the blessings I gave, remember them.

What were the blessings He gave? The Children of Israel Pharaoh made work like slaves. He made them do the hardest jobs for little pay.

Cleaning sewers, the hardest jobs, like slaves, they worked under Pharaoh's command and lived in darkness. So Allah Almighty cuts off the oppression of the oppressor. Whether he knows himself or not. Allah Almighty's mercy in the universe is for everyone. With His attribute Rahman, in the universe, the idolater, the Magian, the believer and the unbeliever, without distinction, He gives to all of them. Because they will prove what kind of person they are, and finally, according to the verse in which He says "the return is to Me", He will place them where they deserve. So in this case His mercy in the universe is for everyone.

The attribute Rahim, in the hereafter, is only for the believer. Yes. In this case Allah Almighty both saves the people of the Children of Israel from Pharaoh's oppression, and also sends, as a messenger to make His Self known to Pharaoh, Moses. Moses, sir, also has many adventures. Although the astrologers said that a child coming from the line of Israel would overthrow your throne, sir, Pharaoh was killing the male children and leaving the girls free. In this case Allah Almighty tells Moses' mother, spiritually or in a dream, to put him, Moses, in a basket and leave him in the Nile river. Seeing the dream several times, the woman does just that.

His sister, probably it would be Seher, I can't quite recall his sister's name right now, follows the Nile River too, and the basket comes ashore at Pharaoh's palace. There, sir, one of Pharaoh's wives who saw this takes him on, and he grows up in the palace. Allah Almighty, our Lord who encompasses the universe with His knowledge, has Pharaoh's enemy raised by his own hands.

This knowledge of Allah, this divine manifestation: Allah Almighty is capable of all things. So this is it: with Moses, saving the people of the Children of Israel from this Pharaoh's oppression, and finally making them cross the Red Sea, the Children of Israel, and Pharaoh and his gang, in the Red Sea, drowning them. Aren't these great blessings? For the people of the Children of Israel. Aren't these miracles? For the people of the Children of Israel. The blessings He gave, of course. But look what Allah Almighty says about them. The mischief-makers of the earth.

And a cursed people. Cursed.

When he crossed over — we'll still come to those verses. When we come to them, we'll tell about them.

Allah Almighty to Jesus: go to that city; in that city Moses, peace be upon him, Moses, peace be upon him, and what did I say? Moses, peace be upon him. Go to that city, sir, benefit from the blessings there, enter there, He says. And Moses — the people of Israel was divided into 12, 12 tribes. 12 of them, sir, they send men from among their leaders. And although he said tell only me what you saw, they come and tell their own tribes. Only one of them tells Moses. And explains the situation well. Meanwhile the other tribes say exactly this to Moses. Despite so many miracles. You and Allah go and fight.

After that let us enter there. Take that place, then we'll come, they say. O Moses, you go with your Allah, with your Lord, they say, and fight. These are verses, verses. A verse. Fight. Then we'll come there. Because they see the people there like church pillars, (?). So they are afraid of them. Whereas if Allah Almighty says enter there, they will enter there with ease. So they are punished: they remain imprisoned for 40 years in the desert of Tih. They can't get out. It is their children who get out, together with David. Out of the desert of Tih. We'll come to it, God willing. All that I've told you is verses.

I am telling you verses. (?), not history. But of course Allah also tells us history. The past ones.

Despite so many blessings, the people of the Children of Israel associated partners with Allah. Although Allah Almighty said: you, (?), remember Me, for the blessings I gave give thanks, they said the opposite of what Allah Almighty said. That's why, warning them, He says: remember Me, give thanks to Me. He addresses them in the world. Remember Me. Give thanks to Me. Still they associate partners. With what? With the calf that the Samiri made, sir, by turning their backs on Allah again, despite seeing so many miracles.

The meaning in "give your covenant well": in a verse Allah Almighty says, who is as faithful to his covenant as Allah? Allah, who wills no injustice to the worlds, says: even though I created you close to My Self, when My command is defied — Eleysallahu bi ahkemi'l-hâkimîn — Allah, the judge of judges, I give you the punishment you deserve, because I keep faith with My covenant, He says. Yes. Keep faith with your covenant. With your covenant. My

computer stayed upstairs. This must be one of the verses that were interpreted wrongly, I suppose. This too has been interpreted wrongly.

When He says keep faith with your covenant: give your covenant well, so that — give your covenant well, so that. Sir, however he gave his covenant, that is what it is.

Only, Allah Almighty gives people guidance. That is, He shows the way. Partial free will is in a person's own hands. Sir, each person will be called to account in proportion to his own will. In this case, His address "fear only Me" means Allah Almighty says: if there is someone to be feared, it is Me. Again, if there is someone to be loved, it is also Me, He says. Why? Because He is the one who created us from nothing. Who? Allah. Whom do we love most in the world? However bad he may be, we love our father, don't we? We love our mother. That is, we love our relatives. The One who created our spirit, our origin from which it has a face, why should we not love Him? That is whom we will love most.

However much we love them, we will love Allah most. In this case, what does (?) say? It gives us such a beautiful example about the Prophet (peace be upon him). We will say something, but O Messenger of Allah, may my mother and father be sacrificed for you. Look, although he loves his mother and father so much, I love you more than them, he says. May they be sacrificed for your sake. Then he tells his question. Sir, if they are a sacrifice for his sake, why does he love him? He loves him for Allah. And so he has sacrificed everything to Allah. That's why: love Me most. And fear Me most, He says.

So whom do we fear? We don't fear this one or that one. So whom do we fear? If my father loves me very much, if my father loves me very much, never mind him shouting at me, never mind him using violence on me, if he just pulls a face, looks at me a bit harshly, it is humiliation for me. Humiliation. If you have tasted that love,

that is what is to be feared most. Not (?), that is.

Accordingly, even if people suffer calamity and hardship, in this material world all of it is temporary and all of it will end one day. All of it is temporary. Why? Because here every soul will taste death.

Again we keep coming round to support what we say. Why? We come back to support what we say. Because there are many who get stuck on what I say, that's why. We say spirits are immortal, don't we? There are many who get stuck on that, that's why. Again, what do we say? Every soul will taste death. It doesn't say it will die, look. It doesn't say death. Who dies? Bodies die. Bodies. So these are alive. Alive.

But is the hereafter like that? There are places where an eternal life with no more death goes on. The hereafter. What if a person cannot attain Allah Almighty's mercy there?

In immortal, eternal life, how will that person fare? Immortal, after all. Here a thorn from the vineyard pricks our foot. It pricked earlier, while walking on the road. The shoe bothers it too. I have to walk anyway. That walk, all the way to where you're going, becomes a torment for you.

You can't step on it. A tiny thorn. Still, like a dot. You come home. Your first job is to ease that pain, to take out that thorn right there. Then you feel relief. Well, if the pain of a small thorn in the world bothers you this much, how will you endure the torment of hell there?

Yes.

For this reason, one must fear Allah Almighty very much and also love Him very much. Allah Almighty.