Allah The Exalted — Page 35
All a h the Exalted 3 out distinction of believer and disbeliever. The same Ra h m a n has made for all mankind day and night which follow each other so that a seeker of understanding should draw benefit from this wise arrangement and should find release from the coverings of ignorance and indifference and so that he who is eager to be grateful should render thanks. The true worshippers of Ra h m a n are those who walk humbly upon the earth and when the ignorant ones ad- dress them harshly they reply to them in words of peace and compassion. That is to say, they offer kindness in place of harshness, and in return for abuse, they pray for their revilers and thus they exhibit gracious qualities, for the Gracious One bestows the bounties of the sun, the moon, the earth and other countless favours upon all His creatures regardless of whether they are good or bad. In these verses, it has been expounded that the word Ra h m a n is used for God because His mercy encompasses all good and bad alike. At another place this mercy has been referred to in the verse: 39 I inflict My chastisement upon whom I so determine and My mercy encompasses everything. At another place it is said: 40 Tell these disbelievers and the disobedient ones that were it not for the attribute of Ra h m a niyyat , they could not have averted divine chastisement. In other words, it is by 40 al-A nb iy a ’, 21:43 [Publisher]