Yunus (Jonas)

58. “Say: ‘In the grace of Allah, and in His mercy - in that let them rejoice; it is better than that which they hoard’.”

What is apparently revealed in this verse, if we consider the previous verse about the Qur’an as a source of healing and preaching, is the appeal to the Qur’an which is the purpose of Allah’s grace and mercy. As Imam Ali (as) says:

“On the Day of Resurrection, a voice will be heard that every farmer will be busy with some kind of pest except those who had sowed in the field of the Qur’an. Thus, sow your seeds in the field of the Qur’an.”1

The Prophet (S) said:

“He who has been honoured by Allah to be introduced to the blessings of Islam and the understanding of the Qur’an, but feels miserable is miserable indeed, and will be labeled so until the Day of Resurrection”, then he recited this verse.2

This is meant to say that once a person benefits from the blessings of Islam and the Qur’an, he is no longer poor and he enjoys the greatest wealth. Likewise, it has been narrated from the Prophet (S) who said:

“Refer to the Qur’an so that your life becomes enriched like the lives of happy people and your death becomes similar to those of the martyrs and you are saved from the terror on the Day of Resurrection. For the Qur’an, is surely the word of the Compassionate (Allah) which guards against Satan, and favourably balances one’s acts during the Day of Judgment”3

Incidentally, ‘grace’ and ‘mercy’ mentioned in the Qur’an have been interpreted as prophethood and Imamate.¹ Also the former has sometimes been interpreted as the general divine blessings and the latter has been interpreted as His specific blessings.

According to an Islamic tradition, divine grace has been pointed out as Islam and His mercy is the Qur’an. Imam Baqir (as) said:

“Divine grace consists of /salawat/ and His mercy is Ali-ibn-Abitalib (as).”5

The verse says:

“Say: ‘In the grace of Allah, and in His mercy...”

Finally, we must be happy for all the divine blessings, especially the fact that He has blessed us with prophethood of Muhammad (S) and Imamate of the Immaculate Imams (as) and we must know that spiritual blessings are superior to all the material ones.

The verse continues saying:

“…in that let them rejoice, it is better than that which they hoard’.”