attain what he attained. When the Day of Resurrection comes, the distress and anguish weighing upon creation will be immense, and their circumstances will become unbearable. They will ask one another to seek someone who will intercede for them before Allah, Mighty and Majestic. They will go to Adam, then Noah, then Abraham, then Moses, and then Jesus. These are five: the first is the father of humankind, while the latter four—Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, peace and blessings be upon them—are among the messengers of firm resolve. They will all excuse themselves from interceding for creation, until the request reaches the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who will rise and intercede. (1) There is no doubt that this is an immense gift that no other created being has received.

Allah, Glorified and Exalted, then explained the blessings He had previously bestowed upon him, so that these might serve as evidence of the blessings yet to come. He said: ﴿Did He not find you an orphan and give shelter?﴾ The question here affirms that He did: Allah Most High found you an orphan and gave you shelter. He was orphaned of both father and mother: his father died before he was born, and his mother died before she had finished nursing him. Yet Allah Most High took care of him and provided someone to raise and defend him, until he attained the station that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, had willed for him.

Regarding His words, ﴿an orphan and give shelter﴾, the wording used—Allah knows best—was ﴿give shelter﴾ for one verbal reason and one semantic reason. The verbal reason is to maintain the correspondence of the verse endings from the beginning of the surah. As for the semantic reason, had the wording been “and sheltered you,” the sheltering would have been restricted to him—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace—whereas the matter is broader than that. Allah Most High sheltered him and, through him, sheltered others. Through him, He sheltered the believers, granted them victory and support, repelled their enemies from them—indeed, defended them—Glorified and Exalted is He.

﴿And He found you without knowledge, then guided.﴾ ﴿He found you without knowledge﴾ means that you did not know, for the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—knew nothing of revelation before it was sent down to him. Allah Most High says: ﴿And He taught you what you did not know﴾ [al-Nisā: 113]. He also says: ﴿Before it, you did not recite any Scripture, nor did you write one with your right hand﴾ [al-Ankabūt: 48]. Thus, he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—