The benefits of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “The heavens are almost about to split from above them, and the angels glorify the praise of their Lord and seek forgiveness for those on the earth. Know that it is Allah who is the Forgiver, the Merciful.”

Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said: to the end of it. In this noble verse is a clarification of the greatness of Allah Mighty and Majestic, and that these heavens, despite their strength and power, are almost about to split from the greatness of Allah. This is like His saying when Musa asked to see his Lord, He said: Rather, if the speech of Allah Mighty and Majestic—and it is His speech—were to descend upon a mountain, you would see it humbled and split apart from the fear of Allah. So in this verse is a clarification of the greatness of Allah Mighty and Majestic.
And among its benefits is also the clarification of the essential highness of Allah Mighty and Majestic, due to His saying: .
And among its benefits is the affirmation of the angels, due to His saying: . It is obligatory for us to believe in the angels as a hidden realm, that they have bodies, and that they have wings, as Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is the perfection of the angels’ worship of Allah Mighty and Majestic, due to His saying: . They combine for Him both transcending Him from imperfections and glorifying Him. The transcending is in His saying: , and the glorifying is in His saying: .
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that the angels are superior to the children of Adam, because the state of the children of Adam is not this, namely glorifying the praise of Allah; rather, among them are believers and among them are disbelievers. Thus, the angels are superior to the children of Adam. This is one of the opinions in this issue. Some of the scholars say: Rather, the righteous of the humans are superior, meaning that the believers among the humans are superior to the believers among the angels. For this reason, the angels were made subservient to them. This is the opinion on which Imam Ahmad stated explicitly: that the righteous of the humans are superior to the angels, because the angels were created for worship, so they do not have distractions that turn them away from the worship of Allah. The humans were created for worship, without a doubt, but there are distractions that turn them away, namely doubts and desires. It is well known that establishing faith with distractions is more difficult and requires more struggle than establishing faith without distractions. For this reason, the man who holds fast to the religion of Allah in the last times is superior to fifty of the Companions, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . And it was so because of the difficulty of worship for this one who is among a corrupt community. And the Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) chose to detail the matter, saying: “The angels are superior in terms of the beginning, and the humans are superior in terms of the perfection of the end”. Because the humans in the end enter Paradise, and the angels enter upon them from every gate: “Peace be upon you for what you patiently endured.” As if they were created for their joy and reassurance. So in this there is a detail: the angels are superior in terms of the beginning because they were created from light, and the children of Adam from clay. And because they are in the worship of Allah Mighty and Majestic. But in terms of the end, the humans are superior. And after this, delving into it is not among the important matters, because we may say: what we know of their virtues and the virtues of the humans, we believe in it. As for the preference with Allah, they are degrees with Allah, and Allah is All-Seeing of what they do. We do not know. Based on what appears to us, we give every person what he is distinguished by, and based on what is with Allah, Allah is All-Knowing of it, and we are not held accountable if we refrain from this matter.
And among the benefits of this verse is the virtue of combining tasbih (glorification) and tahmid (praise), due to His saying: . And it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) his saying: . So how fitting it is for these two phrases to be on our tongues constantly, because they are: light on the tongue, there is no hardship in them, beloved to the Most Merciful, and heavy in the scale. So what is upon us if a person persists in this: saying “Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi, Subhan Allah al-Azim” (Glory be to Allah and His praise, Glory be to Allah the Great), while he is occupied, while he is working, while he is walking, while he is lying down, and while he is sitting? We would attain much good, and we would reach, by the permission of Allah Mighty and Majestic, the love of Allah for us, because as long as we come and adhere to what He loves, He is more generous than us, Mighty and Majestic.
And among the benefits of these noble verses is that the angels are created beings and do not have any right of lordship, due to His saying: . And on this basis, whoever calls upon Jibril, or Mikail, or Israfil, or Malik, or anyone else, is a disbeliever who associates partners with Allah. For this reason, the people of the Fire did not say: “O Malik, take us out of the Fire,” but they said, as Allah said about them: . And He said, Exalted is He: [Ghafir: 49]. Look at the modesty and shame, and refuge with Allah, they did not say: “Call upon our Lord,” but they said: . Because they are too lowly in their own selves to call upon Allah Mighty and Majestic and say: “O our Lord, lighten for us a day of the punishment.”
And among the benefits of this noble verse is the virtue of the angels over the humans, in the sense that they have a favor and a blessing, due to His saying: . And without a doubt, whoever seeks forgiveness for you has a favor and virtue over you.
And among its benefits is the blessing of Allah upon us that He made the angels subservient to us, seeking forgiveness for us. Because the angels, if Allah had not made them subservient to us, would not have sought forgiveness for us. But Allah made them subservient. So in this is a favor and a blessing from Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, upon the believers, in that the angels seek forgiveness for them.
And among the benefits of the noble verse is the emphasis that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, is the Forgiver, the Merciful. With how many emphatic markers? With three emphatic markers: .
And among its benefits is the affirmation of three of the names of Allah, which are Allah, the Forgiver, the Merciful. Are the names of Allah the Exalted derived? The answer is yes, they are derived without a doubt. Allah is from al-Uluhiyyah (divinity), the Forgiver is from al-Maghfirah (forgiveness), and the Merciful is from al-Rahmah (mercy). So He was not named with these names except that He is described with the attributes they indicate. For this reason, we say: every name of the names of Allah contains an attribute, or two attributes, or more, according to what these names indicate of correspondence, inclusion, and implication.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that if we know that Allah is the Forgiver, the Merciful, it is fitting for us to ask Him for forgiveness and mercy, because He is worthy of that. So in this is the upbringing of the person and his conduct in reaching Allah Mighty and Majestic: that he knows that He is the Forgiver, so he seeks forgiveness, and that He is the Merciful, so he seeks mercy.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that it encourages the person to leave sins and to do acts of obedience. The explanation of this is that forgiveness requires a righteous deed, a repentance by which Allah forgives the sin. And mercy requires acts of obedience by which the person reaches the mercy of Allah Mighty and Majestic.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is the clarification of the wisdom in the cosmic and decreed ruling of Allah, because His saying: is like an explanation for His saying: . As if a person says: Why do they seek forgiveness for those on the earth? He says: Because Allah is the Forgiver, the Merciful.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that the Most Beautiful Names are complete in their separation and their combination. Because when the two names, the Forgiver and the Merciful, are combined, a third attribute is generated from them, other than forgiveness and mercy, which is the combination of these two names indicating the attribute in the right of Allah Mighty and Majestic. So by forgiveness, the sins are erased, and in mercy, the desired is attained.