—that is, mercy; so said the Qur’anic commentators.

Allah the Exalted also says, “then [for him] is relief and sweet-scented bounty” (56:89). Those who read it with a ḍammah intend: “then mercy and provision,” while others have said: “life everlasting and provision.”

The word rūḥ (“spirit”) may likewise denote a puff of breath, for it is called rūḥ because it is a wind (rīḥ) issuing from the vital spirit.

Which of these possible meanings, then, have you assigned to ‘the Spirit’?

When the verse continues, “so when I have breathed into him” (nāfakhtu), it can bear only one sense. Dhū al-Rumma cited this in a line describing a fire he had kindled:

I said to him, “Raise it for me and give it life
with your breath, and feed it fuel in measured logs.”

—that is, “revive the fire with your blowing.”

We therefore affirm both the breathing and the Spirit, without asking how. Our duty is to halt, concerning the attributes of Allah, where He Himself has halted in describing them, or where His Messenger ﷺ has halted; we do not wrench the wording away from what the Arabs recognize and employ, and we refrain from delving beyond that.

(Refutation of Those Who Deny the Beatific Vision of Allah on the Day of Resurrection)

They say about His words, “Faces on that Day will be radiant, looking at their Lord” (75:22–23), that ‘looking’ means ‘awaiting,’ and that the Arabs use naẓartu (“I looked at you”) and intazartu (“I awaited you”) with the same meaning. They cite Allah’s statement, “Wait for us that we may borrow some of your light” (57:13), i.e., “Wait for us.”

Al-Ḥuṭayʾah said:

I have waited for you until the first herds turned back from water—
Five days in which my patience and my thirst grew long—

meaning: “I waited for you.”

We do not deny that naẓartu can mean “I awaited,” and that an-nāẓir can signify