مَّا يَفْتَحِ ٱللَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ مِن رَّحْمَةٍ فَلَا مُمْسِكَ لَهَا وَمَا يُمْسِكْ فَلَا مُرْسِلَ لَهُۥ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ
"There is none who can hold back a mercy that God opens for people; and what He holds back, none can let go after Him."
| Verb | Root | Its counterpart |
|---|---|---|
| Yaftaḥ | ف-ت-ح — to open | Mumsik — the one who holds |
| Yumsik | م-س-ك — to hold | Mursil — the one who lets go |
Four words, two pairs, one sentence. And in both directions the same thing is said: there is no hand that can come in between.
The root fatḥ was analysed in detail in al-Fatḥ in connection with the name of that sūra (to open what is closed; fattāḥ, miftāḥ). I do not repeat it here.
And the pair imsāk / irsāl had been treated in al-Zumar at 39/42 — there it was used of the souls taken in sleep: fa-yumsiku'llatī qaḍā ʿalayha'l-mawta wa yursilu'l-ukhrā.
And the root imsāk will return once more in this sūra: in the forty-first verse, for the hand that holds the heavens and the earth (inna'llāha yumsiku's-samāwāti wa'l-arḍa an tazūlā). The sūra closes the ring by carrying the act of holding from mercy to the universe.