Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, the faithful and the honest.

This is the worldly life:

 Dear brother, yesterday we talked about wisdom. I said that to whom wisdom is granted, is indeed granted abundant good. Also, I mentioned that Almighty Allah describes this life with all its pleasures as the short enjoyment:

﴾Say: “short is the enjoyment of this world” ﴿

(An-Nisa': 77 )

﴾ (Are you pleased with the life of this world rather than the Hereafter? But little is the enjoyment of the life of this world as compared to the Hereafter) ﴿

(At-Taubah: 38)

What are the facts that can be deduced from these ayat ?

1- The Mercy of Allah is Paradise

 Dear brother, yesterday I referred to one of Allah’s Blessings, which is as important as wisdom itself. It is the Mercy of Allah the Almighty. I would like to be acquainted with some ayat in the Noble Quran which indicate Allah’s Mercy. There are so many ayat that refer to the Mercy of Allah. A lot of facts can be deduced from those ayat.
 Allah the Almighty says:

﴾Verily, those who have believed, and those who have emigrated (for Allah’s Religion) and have striven hard in the Way of Allah, all these hope for Allah’s Mercy. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful. ﴿

(Al-Baqarah: 218)

 This means that whoever believes in Allah, keeps straight and strives his ownself and lust in the Way of Allah, is in fact hopes for Allah’s Mercy. The disbeliever, on the other hand, hopes only for this life: its money, reputation, women…etc
 Everyone should meditate and ask himself the following question: do I hope for Allah’s Mercy through my deeds? The disbeliever is always seeking his own desires, pleasures and material gains, while the believer is seeking Allah’s Mercy. This is the clear- cut difference between them. Actually, the first fact is that the Mercy of Allah is Paradise. Almighty Allah says:

﴾And for those whose faces will become white, they will be in Allah’s Mercy (Paradise), therein they shall dwell forever. ﴿

(Aal-'Imran: 107)

 The broad meaning of Allah’s Mercy is Paradise. Thus, what the believer hopes for through his faith, good deeds and morals…etc is the Mercy of Allah which grants him Paradise.

2- The Mercy of Allah is behind the best virtues:

 Dear Brother, all the best of virtues are included in the Mercy of Allah:

﴾And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently. And had you been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from about you; so pass over (their faults), and ask (Allah’s) Forgiveness for them; and consult them in the affairs. Then when you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah, certainly, Allah loves those who put their trust (in Him) ﴿

(Aal-'Imran: 159)

 Allah’s Mercy is the cause, the target and the resort.
 The cause of the best virtues is:

﴾And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently﴿

(Aal-'Imran: 159)

 Lenience, kindness, mercy, affection and compassion are fill the heart of our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) because of the Mercy he has being in touch with Allah. Therefore, Mercy is the cause and the target:

﴾All these hope for Allah’s Mercy﴿

(Al-Baqarah: 218)

 Also, it is the resort:

﴾And for those whose faces will become white, they will be in Allah’s Mercy (Paradise), therein they shall dwell forever. ﴿

(Aal-Imran:107)

 It is hope:

﴾So, as for those who believed in Allah and held fast to Him, He will admit them to His Mercy and Grace (i.e. Paradise), and guide them to Himself by the Straight Path. ﴿

(An-Nisa':175)

3- Allah’s Mercy is the real cause to every treatment:

 Dear brother, all the catastrophes, disasters, floods, earthquakes, civil wars and whatever is unbearable are simply the effect of Allah’s Mercy:

﴾If they (Jews) believe you (Muhammad) say: “Your Lord is the Owner of Vast Mercy, and never will His Wrath be turned back from the people who are Mujrimun (criminals, polytheists or sinners)”. ﴿

(Al-An'am: 147)

 The mercy of Allah entails that He leads a criminal or a sinner to Paradise, by giving him guidance, and making him recognize his true mission in the worldly life.
If human beings were born to disbelieve, or they were born non-believers, there would be no cause to be tortured by Allah:

﴾And were it not that mankind would have become of one community (all disbelievers desiring worldly life only), We would have provided for those who disbelieve in the Most Gracious (Allah), silver roofs for their houses, and elevators whereby they ascent, ﴿

(Az_Zukhruf: 33)

 If human beings were born to be in Hell, or if they were not commissioned by Allah to guide other people, there would be need to choose to be with the non-believers, because they would be tortured anyway.
 This is Allah’s Mercy; it is the cause, the target, the resort, hope and the real cause to every treatment.

4- Benefaction is the Price of Allah’s Mercy :

 Allah the Almighty says:

﴾And do not do mischief on the earth, after it has been set in order, and invoke Him with fear and hope. Surely, Allah’s Mercy is (ever) near unto the good-doers. ﴿

(Al-A'raf : 56)

﴾Surely, Allah’s Mercy is (ever) near unto the good-doers. ﴿

(Al-A'raf : 56)

 The price of this Mercy is benefaction:

﴾ “So, whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord” ﴿

(Al-Kahf: 110)

The Blessing of Allah is Mercy:

 Dear brother, if you truly seek the Mercy of Allah _this ultimate blessing_ and if you examine closely the details of your lives, you will find that Allah’s Mercy is everywhere; in money, health, safety, calmness, trust, rest and happiness. Allah’s Marcy means your tomb is a Garden of Paradise, and it means Paradise itself.
 The true broad Blessing of Allah is His Mercy.

Some of the Meanings of Mercy:

 One of the meanings of Allah’s Mercy is:

﴾And when We let mankind taste mercy after some adversity has afflicted them﴿

(Yunus: 21)

 This means that: the rain is mercy, while the draught is adversity; illness is adversity, while recovery is mercy; poverty is adversity, while sufficiency is mercy; marital problems are adversity, whereas marital bless is mercy; troublemaker children are adversity, whereas kind children are mercy.
 Here is another meaning:

﴾And when We let mankind taste mercy after some adversity has afflicted them, behold! They take to plotting against Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.)! Say: “Allah is more Swift in planning!” Certainly, Our Messengers (angels) record all of that which you plot. ﴿

(Yunus: 21)

 Now, listen to the following ayah:

﴾And if We give man a taste of Mercy from Us, and then withdraw it from, verily! He is despairing, ungreateful. ﴿

(Hud: 9)

 It means that whatever pleases you and makes you feel at ease, is Allah’s Mercy.
 In the first ayah, the Mercy of Allah follows adversity. The second one:

﴾ “if we give man taste of Mercy from Us, and then withdraw it from” ﴿

 means taking off a blessing after granting it, making someone ill after being given a good health and making someone poor after being very rich. It is possible to be the other way round; becoming rich after being very poor, but being rich and then becoming poor out of sudden is more difficult. Also, the situation of an ill person who recovers from his illness is better than the situation of a healthy person who suddenly suffers from a disease.
 Sometimes, people cannot see Allah’s Mercy:

﴾He said: “O my people! Tell me, if I have a clear proof from my Lord, and a Mercy (Prophethood) has come to me from Him, but that (Mercy) has obscured from your sight. Shall we compel you to accept it (Islamic Monotheism) when you have a strong hatred for it,? ﴿

(Hud:28)

 Sometimes, the Mercy of Allah is implicit, so you cannot recognize it. For example, you may know a man who looks like anybody else, who is less handsome than other men, whose income is low and whose house is very small. However, he is very happy and satisfied with what he has. This man has calmness that would be enough for all people because he is close to Almighty Allah:

﴾He said: “O my people! Tell me, if I have a clear proof from my Lord, and a Mercy (Prophethood) has come to me from Him, but that (Mercy) has obscured from your sight. Shall we compel you to accept it (Islamic Monotheism) when you have a strong hatred for it ? ﴿

(Hud:28)

 Sometimes, you meet a man who lives in an ordinary house, but this house is full of Allah’s Mercy:

﴾They said: “Do you wonder at the Decree of Allah? The Mercy of Allah and His Blessings be on you, O the family [of Ibrahim]. Surely, He (Allah) is All-Praiseworthy, All-Glorious.” ﴿

(Hud:73)

 If Allah Almighty bestows on a family His Mercy, this family will blessed and understanding no matter how low the income is. Allah blesses this family and makes its income sufficient. Also He blesses its time, its needs and its good deeds. Allah makes all its affairs easy to be done.
 Whoever neglects Allah’s Mercy, is really astray.

﴾ [Ibrahim] said: “And who despairs of the Mercy of his Lord except those who are astray?” ﴿

(Al-Hijr: 56)

 He does not hope for the Mercy of Allah, rather he despairs of it.
 Allah says:

﴾Verily, those who have believed, and those who have emigrated (for Allah’s Religion) and have striven hard in the Way of Allah, all these hope for Allah’s Mercy. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful. ﴿

(Al-Baqarah: 218)

 Those who do not hope for the Mercy of Allah are astray.

What are you supposed to do?

 Dear brother, when you are obliged to go against all people around you, even the closet people ones in order to please Allah and get his Mercy, you should do so without hurting those people. You should be soft to them:

﴾And if you (O Muhammad) turn away from them (kindred, poor, wayfarer whom We have ordered you to give their rights, but if you have no money at the time they ask you for it) and you are awaiting a mercy from your Lord for which you hope, then, speak unto them a soft, kind word (i.e. Allah will give me and I shall give you) ﴿

(Al-Isra':28)

 This means when you hope for the Mercy of Allah, you should be soft to people.

This is what Allah wants you to do:

 Dear brother, sometimes you meet a believer who is straight, yet he is being harsh with his parents as he tries to hope for Allah’s Mercy. You should always be soft to your parents even when you hope for Allah’s Mercy. This is what Allah asks us to do when we hope for His Mercy; to be moderate, kind and soft with people around us.

﴾ “Go, both of you, to Fir‘aun (Pharaoh), verily, he has transgressed (all bounds in disbelief and disobedience and behaved as an arrogant and as a tyrant)”. ﴿

(Ta-Ha: 43)

﴾“And speak to him mildly, perhaps he may accept admonition or fear (Allah).” ﴿

(Ta-Ha: 44)

The Mercy of Allah is embodied in many things:

 Listen to the following ayah:

﴾Say (to the disbelievers): “If you possessed the treasure of the Mercy of my Lord (wealth, money, provision.), then you would surely hold back (from spending) for fear of (being exhausted), and man is ever miserly!” ﴿

(Al-Isra':100)

 The air, the water, the plants, the fish, the birds, the food, the drinks …etc all these things are basic in our lives.

﴾ (Remember) when the young men fled for refuge (from their disbelieving folk) to the Cave. They said: “Our Lord! Bestow on us mercy from Yourself, and facilitate for us our affair in the right way” ﴿

(Al-Kahf: 10)

﴾Our Lord! Bestow on us mercy from Yourself, and facilitate for us our affair in the right way﴿

(Al-Kahf:10)

 Listen to the following supplication which is extremely important:

((O Allah , I hope for Your Mercy, do not leave me even for the duration of an eye blink))

[Narrated by Abu-Dawood ]

 Listen what Allah says when He mentions the story of Our Master al-Khidr in the Noble Quran:

﴾Then they found one of Our slaves, on whom We had bestowed mercy from Us, and whom We had taught knowledge from Us. ﴿

(Al-Kahf: 65)

 Man is but one word with all what he has; his existence, sustenance, consciousness…etc.

﴾ (This is) a mention of the mercy of your Lord to His slave Zakariyya. ﴿

(Maryam: 2)

 In brief, the mercy of Allah is represented in existence, sustenance and right guidance.

Conclusion

 Dear brother, there are so many ayat in the Noble Quran which refer to the Mercy of Allah. The main thing is to realize that the Mercy of Allah is everything. Therefore, you should hope for it, work hard to get it and make it the resort, the target and happiness. It is what makes the true believers privileged. The Mercy of Allah is given when you obey Allah and be kind to His creatures. The kinder you are to people, the closer you are to Allah's Mercy.