He singles out for His mercy whom He will; God is of bounty abounding.” He singles out whom He will for different blessings. According to this [way of reading the verse] mercy is a means sabab for the singling out of bless- ing to those He wills to receive it. But the wording is such that it is also possible that it means that He singles out mercy for whom He will-in this case it would mean mercy [itself] not mercy functioning as a means [to something else]. According to this interpretation [His mercy] means prophecy nubuwwa and friendship walāya. Included in His saying “He singles out for His mercy whom He will” that is [included] for His blessing is preservation from error and sin ʿiṣma and all of the allotted good deeds that He singles out for any particular servant. He singles out some people for the blessing of moral qualities akhlāq some for the blessing of riches arzāq some for the blessing of devotional service ʿibāda others for the blessing of spiritual desire irāda others for success in external things others with the gift of an easier life bi-ʿaṬāÌi al-aysār and others for encountering secrets bi-liqāÌi al-asrār. He said “And if you were to count God's blessing you could never reckon it” [14:34 16:18]. It is said that when they heard He singles out for His mercy whom He will they knew that [His mercy] is not related to any means of attain- ment. Rather the command comes by divine origination ibtidāʿ and divine will mashīÌa. It is said that He singles out for His mercy whom He will in [that person's] comprehension of the secrets [God] reveals to him and the different types of information [God] gives to him.
