Al-Baqarah 66: We made this occurrence a lesson for those who have seen it and those who would come after, and for the muttaqi (those who abstain), We made this an admonition.

...of the Surah, to verse 66. We said we had brought you up to 66. In the next lesson, sir, Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 66 we will explain, we said. And let us say to you: may Allah be pleased with you. He has understood, alhamdulillah. Yes. Knowing our nafs is knowing our helplessness. Knowing our helplessness is taking a step on the path of being a servant of Allah. Allah Almighty to David (peace be upon him): How do you know Me? David: O Lord of the worlds, I know Your Being as the Creator and my nafs as helpless, he says. Now you have known Me, He says. Yes.

Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 66. The verse: We made this event, for those who saw it there and for those who came after, a lesson of warning. And for the God-fearing an admonition, He says. What is this? We made this event, for those who saw it there... The people of the Sabbath being turned into apes. Sir, who were those who saw it? Their rabbis, priests, scholars there, what do they say? These things you have done are a legal trick. This (?) Allah Almighty (?). Do not think you will deceive Allah. This is a test for you. Come, give this up. Do not build this breakwater, they said, yet they were carried away by the permissiveness the devil gave, and that breakwater they built. Supposedly they do not fish on Saturday.

When they trapped the animals there and fished on the other days, they lived three more days. Then all of them perished, they were gone. After their forms were turned into apes.

Allah Almighty makes His existence known by bringing miracles and examples He makes it known. By bringing miracles and examples, by making it known. Why? He makes it known. Look, what does He say? Let it be a lesson for those who come after. A lesson. That Allah Almighty's power suffices for everything. Well, how are we to know, my Allah, that they became apes in this way? Allah Almighty, according to the time, (?), sir, in technology, those people with their advanced minds or with their technology find such things that they prove this too. For example, Dr. Darwin, saying man comes from apes, insisting on accepting his own ancestor as an animal.

Indeed, they are like four-legged beasts roaming the earth. The appearance of what the verse says. Yes. For example, at Gibraltar: We let two waters, two seas flow into each other. A barrier in between; they (?) each other. Fresh water and salt water. These were found to be miracles. Allah Almighty says it in His verses. Through these sayings, over time, with technology and these scholars, or these people, finding them, the miracles of the Quran's verses one by one come to light.

In the unseen world, (?) His Being, and in a worldly life where He is not seen, so that no deficiency (?) to our Lord, He creates every kind of event and has His existence proven. Who? Allah Almighty. According to people's natures, everything that will come to their minds, because their destinies He has given. Whatever people will think according to those destinies, all of it He brings forth in the world. And within these created events, because people, within their own destinies, had their desires and wishes, their aims, written by Allah Almighty as destiny, they constantly have desires and wishes.

And since Allah Almighty knows what they will desire and wish, constantly for them, or for all of us, for living beings, at every moment, He creates events the way our mind, sir, or our heart wants. And by acting on these events, what kind of person we are we prove.

This is only to Allah, to His attribute of divinity, a quality unique. Creating events in the universe according to everyone's desire and wish and in the way of creating their sustenance. And within these events, all living beings, by their actual deeds, by what they do, proving themselves. This is something beyond the human mind. Our mind cannot grasp it. How does it happen? It is within our Lord's knowledge. Yes.

He wills that His Being be known. By what does He will His Being to be known? By His verses. Every verse proves the Being of Allah Almighty. Every verse speaks of His Being and also shows us a way. They say the Quran has 6666 verses, don't they; in its 6300-odd verses.

In every verse Allah Almighty both speaks of Himself and shows us the way. In the verse. Read, pay attention. For example, let us begin. Let us open a verse here. Come, this is a nice one. What does it say? The Day of Judgment will surely come. There is no doubt in it. But most people do not believe it. What does Allah Almighty say? The Owner. The Owner of the universe. I will bring about the Judgment. But most people do not believe. Who says it? Allah says this. It is clear anyway. Let us come to another verse. It is Allah who made the earth a dwelling, a dwelling place for you, and the sky a structure, who shaped you and made your shape beautiful, and provided you with pure (?), He says. Whichever verse you read, Allah Almighty speaks of His Being and shows you the way.

He shows people the way. These too are Allah's miracles through His word in the Quran. The miracles of the Quran. Yes. Plus, every verse is written in a melodic mode (maqam). It is written in a maqam. With rules. These too are His miracles through Allah Almighty's spoken word.

Making it a lesson, so that perhaps a person fears this event, holds back, and is kept from the evil he would do. And for the God-fearing, that is, the one who obeys Allah, saying an admonition. An admonition for the God-fearing. Now let us read this part again. Making it a lesson. For whom? For those in doubt. For those who say: Is there really an afterlife? For those who say: Will we really rise from the afterlife world, be resurrected, and at the great court, before Allah, be called to account? ...will we, they say. Shall I tell you something? Don't take offense. Whose nafs has not reached peace, even the most learned scholar thinks this way.

That he thinks this way, that is, that those whose nafs is not at peace think this way, shall I prove it with a verse? What does it say? The angels and the scholars bear witness to Allah's existence. So all the others besides these are in hesitation. In hesitation. So then, are they unbelievers? God forbid, Allah protect us. I am not saying anything like that. Pay attention. Whoever says the testimony of faith, even if in hesitation, as long as he does not leave the religion of Islam and as long as he keeps doing Allah's commands, is a Muslim. Allah sent us to a (?) world. Believe in the unseen, He says. And we believe in the unseen.

What did I want to tell you? You know, let me put it like this now: In America, sir, you have not seen New York. Neither have I. But I believe it exists. Its, let us say, city. I believe so. Well, is it the same as seeing it? Is that possible, I mean? It is not. That is why, we all know, but we are Muslims, the testimony of faith tells us so, our faith. But those who see are different. In this respect there is doubt in all of us. And let these doubts not send you, sir, to thinking: look, I am in doubt, my faith, sir, have I lost it? As long as you do not leave the testimony of faith, as long as you do not deny Allah, as long as you do not deny His Prophet, as long as you do not deliberately deny a verse of the Quran, you do not become an unbeliever.

Yes. Because we have gone deeper here, you know, it says perhaps, what does it say, We made it a lesson, for whom? For those who show such hesitation in faith, that is, whether there is an afterlife or not, sir, we believed, yes, Allah exists, the Lord of these worlds exists, you cannot get out of it. This is the testimony of faith, because you are a Muslim according to the covenant you gave there; those who change are the exception. You know, sometimes people who are Muslims become unbelievers, they leave Islam. They are the exception. They all return to their covenant. But if there is Islam in his covenant, if the covenant of Islam is good, if he gave a good covenant to Allah, that is, if he gave a covenant as Islam, these people's doubts in the world do not make them unbelievers.

Because they do not put it into actual deeds. In this case these past events become a lesson for such people. They try to strengthen their faith. Look, yes, look what Doctor Darwin found, Allah says so too in His verse; so Allah Almighty changed their forms into swine or apes. What did He do? It became a lesson for them. An admonition for the God-fearing. Who are they? His righteous servants. What does He say? O people! Look, did you see? What did Allah Almighty do? Or Allah Almighty: O My God-fearing, that is, righteous servant. (?) look, you see. We do everything. Allah Almighty to him. What does he say? Yes, my Allah, You are capable of everything.

You are able to do everything. Your power suffices for everything. We already submitted to You before; and my Lord will not separate me from His Being, and give me the strength to be kept under Your mercy with a beautiful strength of faith, he says. This was an admonition to him; he turned to his Lord. Yes, Allah gives people faith upon faith, or for those whose faith is in doubt, a lesson, for example by drowning Pharaoh in the sea: Today I will leave your lifeless body as a lesson to the worlds, He says. A lesson: people, taking a lesson from these, the absolute Owner of this universe... forget the universe, the universe does not concern me; my Owner, the Owner of people, my... my hardship, (?), my peace concern me. If I do not obey my Owner, then I am done for; alone and without anyone on that Day of Gathering, driven from my Lord's presence, I end up among those who wronged their own nafs, Allah protect us. So the universe did not concern me.

What concerned me? My nafs concerned me, my nafs. So Allah Almighty, these lessons: reform your nafs. There is no Lord other than Me. Do not associate partners with Me. This is what He says. And yes, I created you prone to error. That was My will. But knowing your helplessness, knowing your error, repent at once, He says. Know Me as great. Know Me as your Lord. Ask for pardon and forgiveness, He says.

And for the God-fearing, that is, the one who obeys Allah, saying an admonition: it is so that the God-fearing increase their faith in Allah Almighty all the more and, for Allah, enjoin what is good upon people. These are the God-fearing, you see.

Faith upon faith. We said it a moment ago, didn't we. In this way, these God-fearing ones, by their Lord's, sir, gift to them, they tell people too about these miracles of their Lord, the miracles of His verses.