and let them believe in Me with a belief that is genuine—free from doubt and devoid of disbelief. When that is in place, Allah will hasten even more to answer them. “So that they may be rightly guided”: here laʿalla carries the sense of purpose—namely, that they might attain sound guidance and conduct all their affairs upon the path of reason, for rushd (right guidance) is the opposite of folly. This verse, too, urges a person to pray with faith and sincerity.

The author then cites the fourth verse: “Who is it that answers the desperate one when he calls upon Him, removes adversity, and makes you successors on the earth?” The interrogative here serves to deny and negate: no one answers the distressed when he calls except Allah. Allah—exalted is He—responds to the plea of the one in dire need even if he is an unbeliever. When a disbeliever is driven by necessity and calls upon his Lord, Allah answers him. The Exalted says, “And when waves cover them like canopies, they call upon Allah, devoting the religion sincerely to Him alone. But when He brings them safely to land, some of them remain moderate; none rejects Our signs except every treacherous ingrate.”

Thus, the one whom necessity compels to invoke Allah—even if he is a disbeliever—finds his prayer answered; how much more certain is the response when the supplicant is a believer! No one answers the distressed except Allah. As for anyone else, he may respond or he may not: you might plead with a fellow human during hardship or fire, yet he neither answers nor rescues you. But when you are reduced to utter need and you call upon Allah, He answers.

“Who is it that answers the desperate one when he calls upon Him, removes adversity, and makes you successors on the earth?” “Removes adversity” means He eliminates it. “Is there a deity alongside Allah?”—that is, there is no god beside Allah who answers the desperate when he calls and removes evil. In this lies a direct refutation and invalidation of the claims made by