and the bounty of Allah upon you is immense. ⦗al-Nisāʾ: 113⦘

He also said: “Had it not been for the bounty of Allah upon you and His mercy, none of you would ever have been purified at all.” ⦗an-Nūr: 21⦘ —­for His bounty is His guidance, while His mercy is His benefaction, kindness, and gracious care toward them.

He said as well: “Whenever guidance comes to you from Me, then whoever follows My guidance shall neither go astray nor suffer.” ⦗Ṭāhā: 123⦘. Guidance protects a person from error, and mercy protects him from misery. This is exactly what He stated at the beginning of the sūrah when He said: “Ṭā Hā. We have not sent down the Qur an to you to make you miserable.” ⦗Ṭāhā: 1–2⦘. Thus He linked the revelation of the Qur an to him with the negation of misery for him, just as He said at its close regarding those who follow him: “He shall neither go astray nor suffer.” ⦗Ṭāhā: 123⦘.

Guidance, favor, bounty, and mercy always come together; none of them is ever absent from the others, just as misguidance and misery are inseparable companions.

The Exalted said: “Indeed, the criminals are in error and infernos.” ⦗al-Qamar: 47⦘. The word suʿur (the plural of saʿīr) refers to a punishment that represents the very height of misery.

He also said: “We have created for Hell many of the jinn and humankind: they have hearts with which they do not understand, eyes with which they do not see, and ears with which they do not hear. They are like cattle; indeed, they are even more astray—those are the heedless.” ⦗al-Aʿrāf: 179⦘.

And He said about them: “They will say, ‘Had we but listened or used our reason, we would not have been among the companions of the blazing fire.’” ⦗al-Mulk: 10⦘.

In the same vein, the Almighty joins guidance with openness of the breast and a wholesome life, and He pairs misguidance with constriction of the breast and a life of hardship: