divorce, khulʿ, or any other means—“Allah will enrich each of them” of the two spouses “out of His abundance,” that is, from His all-encompassing bounty and grace:

• He enriches the husband with a wife better for him than the one he left.

• And He enriches her, out of His favor, with provision that comes to her by some avenue other than him. Even if she imagines that once the husband who provided for her departs, her livelihood will be cut off, Allah will indeed enrich her from His bounty; her provision is not owed by the husband or by anyone else, but by the One who has guaranteed the sustenance of all creation—especially the one whose heart is attached to Him and who entertains a constant, hopeful expectancy of His favor. Allah is as His servant thinks of Him, and it may be that He grants her a husband better and more beneficial for her than the former.

• “Allah is All-Embracing,” meaning vast in mercy and plentiful in beneficence, “All-Wise” in placing everything in its proper place.

• This verse also reminds the servant to pin his hope on Allah alone. When Allah grants him a means of livelihood or comfort, he should praise Him for it and ask Him to bless it; and if that means should cease or become impossible, his heart must not be agitated, for it is but one among countless means. A servant’s sustenance is not confined to any particular cause. Allah will open for him another cause—better and more profitable, and perhaps several causes at once. Therefore, in every state he should keep his Lord’s bounty and his expectation of His kindness before his eyes and at the center of his heart, and he should increase his supplications joined with hope; for Allah says, through the words of His Prophet, “I am as My servant thinks of Me; if he thinks well of Me, that is what he will find, and if he thinks ill of Me, that too is what he will find.” (1) And He says, “So long as you call upon Me and place your hope in Me, I shall forgive you for whatever you have done, and I do not mind.” (2)