“Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to those who do good.” That is, mercy is attained only by one who calls upon Him in fear and hope: he is the one who does good, and mercy is near to him. For doing good rests upon these three foundations.

Since supplicating humbly and in secret is opposed by the transgression of abandoning humility and secrecy, He followed this with His words: “Indeed, He does not love those who transgress.”

Regarding the accusative forms of “tadarru‘an, khufyatan, khawfan, and tama‘an” (humility, secrecy, fear, and hope), one view holds that they express a state: that is, call upon Him while humbly entreating Him, keeping your supplication secret, fearing, and hoping. This is the view preferred by al-Suhaylī and others.

Another view holds that they are accusatives of purpose. This is the position of many grammarians.

A third view holds that they are accusatives functioning as cognate objects. On this interpretation, there are two possible constructions.

The first is that each is governed by an implied verb derived from the same root as the verbal noun. The meaning is: entreat Him with humble entreaty, and conceal your supplication in secrecy.

The second is that they are governed by the stated verb, because it conveys the meaning of the verbal noun. For someone who supplicates humbly entreats that he obtain what he seeks and fears losing it. Thus, it is as though He said: entreat Him with humble entreaty.

The correct view here is that these are accusatives of state, as the meaning indicates. For the meaning is: call upon your Lord while humbly entreating Him, fearing, and hoping. The use of a verbal noun in place of a noun here follows the same pattern as His words:

“But righteousness is one who believes in Allah.” [2:177]

Likewise, people say “rajul ‘adl” (a just man) and “rajul sawm” (a fasting man). The poet said:

“She is nothing but coming and going.”

This is more elegant and more eloquent than saying: call upon Him while humbly entreating and fearing. What makes it so fitting is that two things are enjoined here: supplication characterized and qualified in a particular way—namely, by humility, fear, and hope. The aim is to qualify both the commanded act with that quality and the person possessing it with the same quality. Thus, the expression of state takes the form of a verbal noun, since it can serve as a description