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la-qad jāʾakum rasūlun min ʾanfusikum ʿazīzun ʿalayhi mā ʿanittum ḥarīṣun ʿalaykum bi-l-muʾminīna raʾūfun raḥīmun
There has certainly come to you an apostle from among yourselves. Grievous to him is your distress; he has deep concern for you, and is most kind and merciful to the faithful.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah At-Tawbah – Verse 128
128 . “There has indeed come to you a messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is whatever afflicts you; he is full of concern for you (your guidance), and most kind and merciful to the believers.”
These holy verses are very important from the point of sympathy, because they express several significant specialties concerning the Holy Prophet of Islam (S). In the first verse, which addresses all Muslims, the Qur’ān refers to four attractive epithets of the Prophet of Islam.
1. It says that this Prophet is from among yourselves. He is not of the kind of angels, but he is of your kind and, like you, he eats, sleeps, and lives.
He is not a prince or a person born in a wealthy family who can not perceive your toils and pains. He is from among you and has grown up in the same lanes and quarters where you have familiar intercourse.
2. Whatever afflicts you is grievous to him, too. That is, the hardships and afflictions that reach you, he takes them upon him, and he knows your sadness as his own sadness. Therefore, he becomes offended when you are annoyed, because he thinks of you as ones from himself and vice versa.
3. He is found of you and he is compassionate to you. He desires that you obtain the felicity of both this world and the next, so that whatever goodness exists becomes yours. He is desirous for your success and happiness.
4. He is very kind and merciful to the believers, and loves those believers who have truly embraced his religion.
As it was said in the above, these epithets are all attractive and move the feelings. They inform of the deep relation and immense attachment of the Prophet of Islam (S) toward his community, (ummah). Thus, as the Qur’ān denotes, the Prophet (S) is the best example for you, then Muslims must have the same relations and attachments among themselves and think of themselves as the share of the sorrows and happinesses of each other. It should be noted that the Prophet (S) has been introduced in this verse as a ‘kind and merciful’ messenger. These two epithets are among the attributes of Allah, with a difference that the Prophet (S) is ‘kind and merciful’ to the believers, while Allah is kind and merciful to all human beings. The Qur’ān says:
Allah has based the foundation of creation on kindness and mery, and, originally, He is kind to all mankind. The evidence of this meaning is the vast possibilities which He has bestowed upon His servants in order that they, enjoying the present bounties, pave the path of Allah and follow the religion of prophets. But, if a person turns away from Allah and His prophets, in fact he has turned away himself from the vast mercy of Allah. But, from the very beginning, the kindness and mercy of the Prophet (S) have been attached to the believers, and he who is not in the straight way does not accept it from the very beginning.