“Truly, to Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth. Truly, Allah’s promise is true, but most of them do not know. He gives life and causes death, and to Him you will be returned.”

“O mankind, there has come to you an exhortation from your Lord, a healing for what is in the hearts, and guidance and mercy for the believers. (57) Say, ‘In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy—in that let them rejoice. It is better than what they accumulate.’ (58) Say, ‘Have you considered the provision Allah has sent down for you, of which you have made some unlawful and some lawful?’ Say, ‘Has Allah permitted you, or do you fabricate lies about Allah?’ (59)”

Concerning His saying, “O mankind, there has come to you an exhortation”: that is, a reminder. “From your Lord, a healing for what is in the hearts”: that is, a cure for the ignorance within the hearts; in other words, a healing for the blindness of hearts. The breast is the place of the heart, and it is the most precious place in a person because of its proximity to the heart. “And guidance” from misguidance, “and mercy for the believers.” Mercy is a blessing bestowed upon one in need. If a king were to give something to another king, it would not be said that he had shown him mercy, even though it would be a favor, because he had not bestowed it upon someone in need.

Concerning His saying, “Say, ‘In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy’”: Mujahid and Qatadah said: Allah’s bounty is faith, and His mercy is the Quran. (1) Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said: Allah’s bounty is the Quran, and His mercy is that He has made us among its people. (2)

Ibn Umar said: Allah’s bounty is Islam, and His mercy is making it beautiful in the heart.

Khalid ibn Ma'dan said: Allah’s bounty is Islam, and His mercy is the sunnahs.

It was also said: Allah’s bounty is faith, and His mercy is Paradise.

“In that let them rejoice”: that is, let the believers rejoice that Allah has made them among its people. “It is better than what they accumulate”: that is, better than the wealth accumulated by the disbelievers. It was also said that both pronouns refer to the disbelievers.

Abu Ja'far and Ibn Amir recited “let them rejoice” with the third-person yāʾ, and “you accumulate” with the second-person tāʾ. Ya'qub recited both with the second-person tāʾ, addressing the believers, though this reading is disputed in its transmission from him.

Say, O Muhammad, to the disbelievers of Mecca: “Have you considered the provision Allah has sent down for you?” He describes creation as sending down, because all the good found on earth—crops and livestock—is from the provision Allah has sent down. “Of which you have made some unlawful and some lawful”: this refers to the crops and livestock that they declared unlawful, such as the bahirah, sa'ibah, wasilah, and hami. Al-Dahhak said: This is His saying: “And they allot to Allah a share of the crops and livestock He has created.” ⦗170/b⦘ (al-An'am 6:136). “Say, ‘Has Allah permitted you’” to make these things unlawful and lawful, “or rather, do you fabricate lies about Allah?” This refers to their saying: “Allah has commanded us to do this.”