the main those who soften to the truth and yield to it, whereas people of pride and overbearing power are, more often than not, unwilling to comply.

So Allah ruled between the two, saying: “You, Paradise, are My mercy; through you I show mercy to whom I will,” and to the Fire: “You, Fire, are My punishment; through you I punish whom I will.”

“You, Paradise, are My mercy” means that it is an abode that arose out of Allah’s mercy; it is not the mercy that is His eternal attribute, for that mercy is a quality subsisting with Him. The mercy referred to here is a created entity: “You are My mercy,” that is, I created you by My mercy and through you I show mercy to whom I will.

And to the Fire He said, “You are My punishment; through you I punish whom I will,” just as He, Exalted be He, says: “He punishes whom He wills and shows mercy to whom He wills” (Quran 29:21). Thus the people of Paradise are the people of Allah’s mercy—may Allah make me and you among them—while the people of Hell are the people of Allah’s punishment.

He, Mighty and Majestic, then said: “And upon Me is to fill each of you.” Allah guaranteed and obligated Himself to fill both Paradise and Hell. Yet His bounty and mercy are more expansive than His anger. On the Day of Resurrection, He will cast into Hell whoever is to be cast, and it will say, “Is there any more?”—meaning: Give me more, add to me. Then Allah will place His Leg upon it—in another narration, His Foot—and parts of it will collapse upon others, drawing in on account of the Lord placing His Foot upon it, and it will say, “Enough, enough.” That is when it is filled.

As for Paradise, it is vast—its breadth is that of the heavens and the earth. After its inhabitants have entered, surplus space will still remain, so Allah will create additional people for it and, by His grace and mercy, admit them into Paradise, for He has guaranteed that it will be filled.