Jonah
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[10:99]
And [thus it is:] had thy Sustainer so willed, all those who live on earth would surely have attained to faith, all of them: dost thou, then, think that thou couldst compel people to believe,

---

* v.99 : The Qur’ān stresses repeatedly the fact that, “had He so willed, He would have guided you all aright” (6:149) – the obvious implication being that He has willed it otherwise: namely, that He has given man the freedom to choose between right and wrong, thus raising him to the status of a moral being (in distinction from other animals, which can only follow their instincts). See, in this context, sūrah 6, note 143, as well as – in connection with the allegory of the Fall – sūrah 7, note 16.