, Exalted is He; rather, His angels, prophets, messengers, and allies share His anger. Thus, the phrase “those who have incurred wrath”—given that His allies share His anger—indicates that He alone bestows blessings, and that blessing in its fullest sense comes from Him alone, in a way that the phrase “those who have been blessed” does not.

The third reason is that omitting the agent of wrath conveys humiliation, contempt, and diminished standing for those who incur it. By contrast, naming the Bestower of blessing honors its recipients, celebrates them, and elevates their standing in a way that omitting Him does not. If you see someone whom a king has honored, ennobled, and elevated, and say, “This is the man whom the sovereign honored, invested with robes of honor, and granted everything he wished for,” this conveys greater praise and esteem than saying, “This is the man who was honored, invested with robes of honor, ennobled, and given gifts.”

Consider the remarkable subtlety in how the cause and the recompense are expressed for all three groups in the briefest, most concise wording. His blessing them includes His granting them guidance, which consists of beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds: guidance and the religion of truth. It also includes the completion of His blessing through a gracious reward and recompense. This is blessing in its fullness. The words “You have blessed them” encompass both aspects. Mentioning His wrath against those who incur it likewise encompasses two things: the recompense of wrath, which entails the utmost punishment and humiliation, and the cause for which they deserved His wrath, Glorified is He. For He is too merciful and compassionate to become angry with them without any wrongdoing or misguidance on their part. Thus, His wrath against them necessarily implies their misguidance. Mentioning those who have gone astray necessarily implies His wrath against them and His punishment of them, for whoever goes astray deserves the punishment entailed by his misguidance and Allah’s anger with him.

The description of each of the three groups thus implies both the cause and the recompense in the clearest and fullest manner, with the utmost concision, clarity, and eloquence. At the same time, the agent is named in the case of those granted felicity, omitted in the case of those who incur wrath, and the action is attributed to its cause in the case of those who go astray.

Consider also the contrast between guidance and blessing, and wrath and misguidance. Thus, He mentions