Regarding His saying, Most High: “I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me”: the reciters of Medina, other than Qalun, and Abu ‘Amr recited both words with the final yā’ retained when continuing; the rest omitted it both when continuing and when pausing. Likewise, the reciters differed over retaining or omitting in recitation the yā’ letters omitted from the written text. Ya‘qub retained all of them both when continuing and when pausing. They agreed, however, on retaining both when continuing and when pausing whatever is retained in the written text.

“And let them respond to Me”: it was said that responding has the same meaning as answering—that is, let them answer Me through obedience. In the language, answering means obedience and granting what has been requested. Thus, Allah’s answer is His granting, while the servant’s answer is obedience. It was also said: “Let them respond to Me,” meaning, let them seek from Me an answer; its literal sense is: let them obey Me. “And let them believe in Me, that they may be rightly guided”—that is, so that they may receive guidance.

If it is asked: What is the meaning of His saying, Most High, “I answer the supplication of the supplicant,” and “Call upon Me; I will answer you,” when people often supplicate and are not answered? We say: They differed concerning the meaning of these two verses. It was said that supplication here means obedience, and answering means reward. It was also said that the meaning of the two verses is particular, even though their wording is general. Their implied qualification is: “I answer the supplication of the supplicant, if I will,” as He says: “Then He removes that for which you call upon Him, if He wills” (al-An‘am 41); or, “I answer the supplication of the supplicant if it accords with the decree”; or, “I answer him if answering is better for him”; or, “I answer him if he does not ask for something impossible.”

‘Abd al-Wahid ibn Ahmad al-Malihi informed us; Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Sam‘an informed us; Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbar al-Rayani informed us; Humayd ibn Zanjawayh informed us; ‘Abd Allah ibn Salih informed us; Mu‘awiyah ibn Salih related to me that Rabi‘ah ibn Zayd related to him, from Abu Idris, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, who said: “Allah answers one of you so long as he does not supplicate for sin, for the severing of kinship ties, or impatiently.” They said, “What is impatience, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “He says, ‘I have called upon You, my Lord; I have called upon You, my Lord, yet I do not see You answering me.’ Then he grows weary and abandons…”