Al-A'raf 194: (Oh you infidels!) The ones that you worship instead of Allah, they are servants just as yourselves. (If you are truthful about them being deities), they shall answer you when you call them.

Surah Al-A'raf, verse 194: O disbelievers! Those you worship besides Allah are servants like you. If you are truthful in your claim about their divinity, if you are truthful in your claim about their divinity, call them and let them answer you, it says. What beautiful examples He gives, Allah Almighty.

Why does Allah Almighty, Allah Almighty, addressing the disbelievers, say: Those you worship besides Allah are servants like you?

Beings made of wood, of soil, of any matter, are they like the human created as the noblest of creatures, like man, such that Allah Almighty here, to man, it seems so to the mind, of course, likening them to man, 'servants like you', He says?

In a simple sense:

Allah, all His creatures, all of Allah's creatures are His servants; in a simple sense, we understand it this way. But through knowledge, through knowledge, with this verse, of Allah Almighty's creatures, that because they truly fulfill their duties toward their Lord they are Allah's servants, this we see. Which verse is this? The heavens and the earth and what is between them have known the remembrance of their Lord, it says. Look how beautiful. We explained it in our earlier lessons too. The atoms of magnetic or antimagnetic materials, the nuclei within them, the cores, the plus and minus protons, as they spin around their own axes, produce a sound.

Even though we do not hear this sound, it remembers Allah. So Allah Almighty makes all the beings He created remember His Being, whichever of His names He wants mentioned, He makes that being mention that name, proving that He is their Creator and that all of them, by remembering Allah, are Allah's servants. It signifies that there is no god other than Allah. Because since all creatures remember Allah Almighty, since there is no god other than Allah, since they all remember the one God, Allah Almighty has stamped His sign on His creatures, and if those created outside His creatures had been created by a second god, they would remember him.

That one would take what it created, the other would take what it created. The world would be drowned in corruption, it says. Yes.

O disbelievers! Those you worship besides Allah are servants like you. If your claim about their divinity is true, call them and let them answer you. In this second part, it signifies Allah Almighty's having speech, His speaking with people. It makes it known. Those idolaters, in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), used to say, Muhammad's god speaks with him, apparently. Yes, He speaks. Aren't the verses speech?

Apart from the verses, doesn't Allah Almighty, by making His Being known to us at every moment, outwardly, and by the proof of His manifest existence, speak with us?

Did Allah Almighty not speak with Moses on Mount Tur?

Did Allah Almighty not speak with the Prophet (peace be upon him) on the Mi'raj? So here, sometimes I am obliged to repeat the words I've said. Short minds, as I put it. That one, that one, having some knowledge in himself, and those short minds: Allah Almighty does not speak, does not manifest, is not seen. Is not seen; that expresses a meaning. It expresses a meaning. Its meaning is different. For example, in the, um, now we're opening it there, Surah Al-An'am, it should be verse 35, I think, let's see, Surah Al-An'am, yes, it should be verse 35, I think, let's have a look.

No, verse 103. That's what I reckon, 103, the verse. Yes Now Their... how have they rendered the verse in the sense that Allah is not seen? We'll read it now.

Yes.

Lâ tüdrikühü'l-ebsâr ve hüve yüdrikü'l-ebsâr ve hüve el-Latîfü'l-Habîr. What does it say now? Their way of rendering it. Eyes cannot see Him. it says. Cannot see.

A short rendering.

Yes, as I say, short mind. A short rendering.

Whereas He sees the eyes. He sees the eyes. He is the One who knows everything very well, who is aware of everything. it says here.

Whereas the good rendering of this is: eyes cannot perceive Him, encompassing and grasping Him. See, the eyes, by grasping Him, that is, the eyes Him 'ihata', it says. Ihata, we open it up in brackets. cannot perceive Him by grasping. Whereas He sees all eyes and encompasses, grasps them. He sees them all and surrounds them. He is the One who knows things very well, who is aware of everything. So when it's rendered shortly, when it says these eyes cannot see Him, it is correct, but a very incomplete and faulty rendering. It describes Him, Allah. Now if I asked you, say: is Allah Almighty whole and perfect? Yes.

His Self has reached perfection. Is He free of deficient attributes? Yes. Will Allah Almighty have made manifest every question that comes concerning man?

Perhaps you doubt this. Let me tell you. He will have made it manifest. Allah Almighty has the attribute of Godhood. On the Day of Judgment no one will be able to question Him. The reason: He will have made manifest all they would ask, and man will run out of questions. This is Allah's attribute of Godhood. So matters of visibility come under this too, but pay attention to the beginning. Eyes cannot perceive Him by encompassing and grasping. Because He has sent to an unseen world. There is no deficiency in Allah Almighty's word. Even if you see Him, even if you see Him, you cannot grasp Him. You cannot know that He is your Lord.

Our ancestors also have a saying on this. Take everyone who comes to your door for Khidr. And take every day for Qadr, it says. What is 'every day Qadr'? Allah Almighty's descending to earth on that Night of Qadr with the angels. Now, when we say it like this, one sees Allah Almighty as a single being. A single being. That is, a single body; one imagines Him in that way. Whereas, since from a mere part of His spirit Allah Almighty created billions of people, from His spirit, wherever He wishes, however He wishes, to every particle of the universe He can send messengers. From His own being. He can send Himself.

So, in the form of messengers, to the spirit.

When the spirit will receive people, He says (?). Mary being told, 'I am a messenger of your Lord.' They call him Gabriel, you see. (?) Allah Almighty's name is the Holy Spirit, He says. What does that Holy Spirit mean? Possessor of majesty and power, and very precious. Very precious. Holy. Above everything. Humans have a spirit too, but it is not holy. If you call the spirit Gabriel, of course you go astray here. Learning these matters requires many sciences. That's why we opened up the surroundings a bit for you, so it's understood well. Now, so in His verse, what does Allah Almighty say? Call them and let them answer you, He says.

They can't, the lifeless beings Allah created. So in this case, if Allah Almighty can answer man, that secret passing through people's hearts, which they need but cannot know, if our Lord, nearer to man than the jugular vein, knows everything in the best way, if He knows, if He knows, then He speaks with people too. So Allah Almighty, just as He sent Mary a messenger from His Being, just as He sends messengers from His Being, as many as He wishes, wherever He wishes, um, and being aware in various forms, as He says, 'however you see Me, I am its opposite, and its opposite, and its opposite', He is free of one particular form.

Not that He is free of form. They make that up too. Just like this verse. Judgment belongs to Allah alone, it says. No. Judgment is the judgment of living people. They will earn reward and sin. On that day, judgment is Allah's alone. That is, the Supreme Court will be set up, and since Allah Almighty has no spouse or partner, judgment is His. On that day judgment is His alone. Like this, people too say Allah is free of form. Whereas He is free of a particular form. They close off this part too, of course. In this case people sink into superstitions according to their own minds. My Lord speaks with man.

My Lord speaks. But if the Lord of those short minds does not speak, I don't know about that.

Is there a verse, Hodja, for what you say, that He speaks with man? Of course there is. If there weren't, I wouldn't say it at all. Through the verses, to the prophets created as humans, by means of verses, to the heart He has spoken.

Well then, Hodja, you say my Lord speaks with me. Is there a verse for that too? There is. What does it say? Most people do not know inspiration, it says. That is, the meanings corresponding to the verses, to those He raised, those He loves, He gives into their hearts by inspiration. Yes. So our Lord speaks with us. Our Lord manifests in hearts. He fits neither in the heavens nor on earth. But He manifests in a human heart. Yes. The manifestation of His Being to His Being. For Him to manifest in that heart, you need to remove the worldly from that heart, and, toward that Lord of the worlds, possessor of majesty, glory and fame, cleanse that heart and have such a throne set up there that He manifests on that throne.

So that throne in your heart: your spirit, to His spirit, your spirit, that heart you will cleanse so well that you become aware of that manifestation. Yes. I have such a Lord, but I cannot know the Lord of those short minds.

Yes, after opening this up this much, our tafsir we now read. Addressing the idolaters: those you worship besides Allah are servants like you. That is, they are beings Allah created. Your worshipping them, though you know they are not gods, comes from your rebellion against Allah Almighty. Yes, it comes from feelings of hatred and resentment. But in the world of dominion, an unseen world, Allah will complete His light. However much you rebel against Allah, even if you have feelings of hatred and resentment, even if you slander Him, (?), with the blowing of their mouths, Allah will complete His light until the Day of Judgment. Yes, did they think they would extinguish Allah's light, it says, with the blowing of their mouths?

Did they think they would extinguish Allah's light? Allah will complete His light until the Day of Judgment. But in the world of dominion, an unseen world, Allah will complete His light. Although He knows that the rebels will not recognize the truth, to make them bear witness against themselves, He will bring every kind of comparison. Doesn't Allah Almighty know that however much I call these to the Truth, however much I recite My verses, they will still do as they please? Then why did He send them to the world? In the hereafter, since those people saw Allah Almighty's Being, and Allah Almighty, for the Prophet too, when he ascended on the Mi'raj, 'in his true form he stood upright', when He says that; in that address 'Elestü bi-Rabbiküm', Allah Almighty to people in the form He appeared, appearing in His original form, and people seeing Allah Almighty as He is, and if, because of people's pride and arrogance, their turning their backs on Allah, He had put them straight into Paradise or Hell, Allah Almighty, free of deficient attributes, 'had You sent us to a world where Your Being is not seen and made Your Being known to us, we would have worshipped You', so that they would not say this, Allah Almighty, free of deficient attributes, created these worlds.

He created these worlds. No one can find any deficiency in Allah Almighty. Whoever attributes deficiency to Him should look for that deficiency in himself. Yes, but in the world of dominion, an unseen world, Allah will complete His light. But although He knows the rebels will not recognize the truth, to make them bear witness against themselves, He will bring every kind of comparison. One of these comparisons, addressing the idolaters: if in your claim about their divinity you are truthful, call them and let them answer you.

No answer.

Well, your Lord speaks (?) you; look, He brings you comparisons through verses. If you turn your back on your Lord who brings comparisons through verses, tomorrow at the Supreme Court, before Allah Almighty, you will have not a single word left to say to Him. Yes. Would people with reason seek help from lifeless things unaware of themselves? But worldly gain, the nafs's rebellion against Allah, the hatred and resentment in one's heart have brought people to a mindless state. They have deprived them of the ability to use the blessing of reason. There are disbelievers, you know, who use their reason; no.

Even if they use their reason, in that verse I read a moment ago, that is, their eyes are, to the truth, blind, their ears to the truth blocked, and their hearts to the truth sealed. Of course Allah created man capable. He gave him from His spirit. People will make things, of course. He gave him the attribute of human, gave him the name. That is, capable. Because He gave him from His spirit, He calls him capable. In this case a person, even if non-Muslim, shows that capability. Not that he uses his reason. Had he used his reason, he would have found the truth. Capability is separate. A person's capability in a craft, in a craft, has given him a capability.

He acquires skill in it and truly becomes successful in it. Um, this does not mean intelligent. In many things he cannot (?). An intelligent person is one who knows the truth and turns to the truth, who fears Allah and loves Allah very much. Again, an intelligent person is one who (?) both his world and his hereafter. A person who builds one place and ruins another has failed to use his reason; he is one who has sunk to the state of the four-legged creatures roaming the earth. Yes, so call those you worship, to these idols plead, say: we are your servants, we believed in you, do not shame us against these words, say.

Will they hear you and be able to answer? Then will you still not think and come to your senses? The One who created you, offers you every kind of blessing, speaks with you, shows you the ways to salvation, and if you still, out of your stubbornness, continue rebelling against Allah, you will be wrongdoers to your own selves.

You long for the temporary few-hours' life of the world. You prefer this few-hours' life to the hereafter and will have bought the abode of eternal Hell. You become a seeker of the place of which He says: what an evil destination that is.