The term 'opening' is borrowed for the meanings of release and sending forth. Do you not see His saying: 'There is no sender for him after that' instead of: 'There is no opener for him'? This means: whatever Allah releases of mercy, whether it is a blessing of provision, rain, health, security, or other types of His bounties that cannot be counted. The indefinite article used with 'mercy' serves to generalize and obscure, as if He said: from any mercy, whether it is heavenly or earthly. No one can hold it back or restrain it, and whatever Allah holds back, no one can release it. If you say: why is the pronoun feminine at first, then masculine later? It refers in both cases to the noun that implies a condition. I say: there are two languages: one based on meaning and the other based on wording, and the speaker has the choice between them. He used the feminine form based on the meaning of mercy and the masculine form because the word referred to has no feminine form. The first was explained by mercy, so it was appropriate to follow the pronoun with the explanation, while the second was not explained, so it remained in its original masculine form, and it was read as 'There is no sender for it.'

If you say: the second must have an explanation, what is its explanation? I say: it can be interpreted similarly to the first, but it was left due to its implication. It may also be general in everything that He holds back from His anger and mercy. The first was explained and not the second to indicate that His mercy precedes His anger. If you say: what do you say about those who interpreted mercy as repentance and attributed it to Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him? I say: if he meant by repentance guidance to it and success in it—which is what Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, meant if he said it—then it is accepted. But if he meant that if Allah wills, He will make the sinner repent, and if He does not will, he will not repent, then it is rejected because Allah, the Exalted, always wills repentance.

[The phrase 'always wills repentance' and what follows is based on the view of the Mu'tazila, who hold that it is obligatory for Allah to grant righteousness to the servant. The Ahl al-Sunnah hold that nothing is obligatory upon Him, so the statement is taken at face value, and the objection is rejected.] And it is not permissible for Him not to will it after holding it back, as His saying: 'Who will guide him after Allah?' and 'By which statement after Allah?' means after His guidance and after His signs. And He is the Almighty, the Prevailing, the Able to send forth and hold back, the Wise who sends forth and holds back what wisdom necessitates sending forth and holding back.