so whoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his breast to Islam; but whoever He wills to let go astray, He makes his breast narrow and constricted, as though he were climbing into the sky (Al-Anʿām 6:125). Likewise, the Exalted says: “Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer—We shall surely grant him a pleasant life” (An-Naḥl 16:97). This clearly implies that anyone who does not meet these conditions will not enjoy such a pleasant life.

As for His words: “And We shall gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind,” this will be true both physically and in meaning. He will therefore protest, “My Lord! Why have You raised me blind when I used to see?” He will be told, “Thus it is: Our signs came to you and you forgot them”––that is, you abandoned them and failed to act upon them––“and in the same way today you are forgotten,” meaning that you too will now be abandoned.

The upshot is that holding fast to this Qur’an is the cause of happiness in both this world and the Hereafter. Whoever clings to it will neither go astray nor be wretched, whereas turning away from it brings misery in this life and the next.

The Exalted also says: “There has certainly come to you Our Messenger clarifying much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture and overlooking much. … Allah guides with it those who seek His pleasure to the paths of peace, brings them out of darkness into light by His permission, and guides them to a straight path” (Al-Māʾidah 5:15-16).

Explanation

It is understood from this that the Qur’an is revealed, that—by Allah’s leave—it is the very means to guidance, and that the one guided through it is he who seeks Allah’s good pleasure, as the Exalted says: “a guidance for the God-fearing” (Al-Baqarah 2:2), and as He says: “O mankind, there has come to you