One view is that His blessings mean mercy. Ismā‘īl said: Nasr ibn ‘Alī narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Sawwār narrated to us, from Juwaybir, from al-Dahhāk, who said: “Allah’s blessings are His mercy, and the angels’ blessings are supplication.”
Al-Mubarrid said: “The original meaning of salāh is mercy. From Allah it is mercy, and from the angels it is mercy and a request for mercy from Allah.”
This is the familiar view among many later scholars.
The second view is that His blessings mean His forgiveness. Ismā‘īl said: Muhammad ibn Abī Bakr narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Sawwār narrated to us, from Juwaybir, from al-Dahhāk, who said concerning “It is He who bestows blessings upon you”: “Allah’s blessings are His forgiveness, and the angels’ blessings are supplication.”
This view is of the same kind as the preceding one. Both are weak for several reasons.
First, Allah—glorified is He—distinguishes between His blessings upon His servants and His mercy. He says:
2:155:156:157: “And give glad tidings to the patient, who, when calamity strikes them, say, ‘Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed, to Him we shall return.’ Upon them are blessings from their Lord and mercy, and it is they who are rightly guided.”
He joins mercy to blessings with the conjunction “and,” indicating that they are distinct. This is the basic function of such coordination.
As for the poetic line cited in support of their view:
“He found her words to be lies and falsehood,”
this is an exceptional and rare usage upon which the most eloquent speech cannot be interpreted. Moreover, mayn (falsehood) is narrower in meaning than kadhib (lying).
Second, Allah’s blessings are particular to His prophets, His messengers, and His believing servants, whereas His mercy encompasses all things. Thus, blessings are not synonymous with mercy. Rather, mercy is among their necessary consequences, effects, and fruits. Whoever explains them as mercy has explained them by some of their fruits and intended purposes. This occurs frequently in explanations of Quranic expressions.