The faithful had limpid hearts and generous natures, and they did not keep tenderness and mercy back from the estranged. They wanted good for them and attached their hearts to their submission. They wanted their salvation and did not hold back God’s mercy from them—whether they were acquaintances or strangers.
3:119 Ha! There you are.
This is the same tenderness that Muḥammad showed to the estranged. He said, “O God, guide my people, for they do not know.”
As for the unbelievers, those who had no limpidness in their hearts or loyalty in their natures, they never wanted good for the people of faith, nor did they love them. They grieved at the good that reached them and became happy at the bad. God says, “If something beautiful touches you, and if something ugly strikes you, they rejoice at it” [3:120].
Indeed, everyone does what is fitting for him, for “The pot pours what is inside it.” The person of faith is generous and lovingly kind, for what is fitting for faith is generosity and chivalry. The unbeliever is base and bad-wanting, for what is fitting for unbelief is baseness and unseemliness. The person of faith calls God’s creatures to salvation and deliverance. The unbeliever calls them to the Fire and captivity. To this He alludes with His words, “O my people! What is it with me that I invite you to salvation and you invite me to the Fire?” [40:41].
