Vast Mercy Approaching

الْوَاسِعُ

Al-Wāsi‘ — The All-Encompassing

وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ ۚ

And ordain for us in this world that which is good, and in the Hereafter (that which is good), Lo! We have turned unto Thee. He said: I smite with My punishment whom I will, and My mercy embraceth all things, therefore I shall ordain it for those who ward off (evil) and pay the poor-due, and those who believe Our revelations

Surah Al-A'rāf (7:156)

Intention

Today, I will open my heart to the vastness of what is coming — Ramadan is not far. Al-Wāsiʿ's mercy is approaching.

Reflection

Al-Wāsiʿ at cosmic scale: His mercy encompasses all things, and in Shaʿbān, that mercy is approaching in the form of Ramadan — the month where mercy descends in waves, where the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of Hellfire are closed. Al-Wāsiʿ's vastness means there is room in Ramadan for everyone: the perfect worshipper and the struggling sinner, the lifelong Muslim and the recent revert, the strong and the weak. No one is excluded from what is coming.

On this verse

All things — kulli shayʾ. Including you. Including whatever you are carrying. His mercy is wider than your worst day.

Du'a

Not for the blink of an eye — the ultimate dependency. I cannot prepare for Ramadan without Your help. I cannot even stand without Your support.

Hadith

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'Whoever fasts a day in the way of Allah, Allah will distance his face from the Hellfire by seventy autumns.'

— Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2840, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1153