By. Dr. Amir Parviz Parsa

It is the intention of this brief article to articulate, with various verses of the Holy Quran, why a believer should be optimistic on his achievement success (Falah فلاح). When the following verses are placed
together , they leave nothing but hope for achieving success in one’s mind.
Verse 69 of Surah 29 tells us:

وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
“And those who strive in our cause,─We will certainly guide them to Our Paths: for verily God
is with those who do right.”

Verse 19 of Surah 57 tells us:

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ أُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الصِّدِّيقُونَ وَالشُّهَدَاء عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ لَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ وَنُورُهُمْ

وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَكَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا أُوْلَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِ
“And those who believe in God and His Apostles, they are the sincere lovers of truth and the Witnesses (who testify) in the eyes of their Lord: they shall have their reward and their Light…”

Verse 180 of Surah 7 tells us:

وَلِلّهِ الأَسْمَاء الْحُسْنَى فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا…..
“The most beautiful names belong to God: So call on Him by them….”

Same notion is brought in verse 8 of Surah 20, and verse 24 of Surah 59.

Verse 16 of Surah 50 informs us:

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ
“We are closer to human beings than their own jugular vein”

In verse 186 of Surah 2, Allah Taala addressing His Prophet tells him:

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُواْ لِي وَلْيُؤْمِنُواْ بِي لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ
When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am close to them: I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.

Verse 60 of Surah 40 tells us:

وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ
“And your Lord says: Call on Me; I will answer your prayer.”

In verse 53 of Surah 39, addressing those who have given up against their soul by committing too many sins, God says:

قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
“say, O my servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of God: for God forgives all sins: for He is Oft-forgiving, Most merciful”.

In verse 12 of Surah 6, it is written that:

قُل لِّمَن مَّا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ قُل لِلّهِ كَتَبَ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ الرَّحْمَةَ لَيَجْمَعَنَّكُمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ

الَّذِينَ خَسِرُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ فَهُمْ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ
Say: To whom belongs what is in the heavens and the earth? Say: To Allah; He has ordained mercy on Himself; most certainly He will gather you on the resurrection day– there is no doubt about it. (As for) those who have lost their souls, they will not believe.

The same concept on the Mercy of Allah Taala is repeated in verses 54 and 133 of the same;
In fact , He is The Most Merciful (Arhamu al-Rahimeen أرحم الراحمين).

A reliable Hadith also tells us that His Mercy supercedes His anger. A Qudsi Hadith, on the authority of the son of Abbas, from the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) is quoted to have said:

”Allah has written down the good deeds and the bad ones. Then he explained it [by saying that] he who has intended a good deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as from ten good deeds to seven hundred times, or many times over.
But if he has intended a bad deed, and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down as One bad deed.” { See Al-Bukhari and Muslim, Hadith No. 16 of Forty Hadith Qudsi}.

Verse 147 of Surah 4, tells us that If we are grateful to God, he will increase His Bounties to us:

مَّا يَفْعَلُ اللّهُ بِعَذَابِكُمْ إِن شَكَرْتُمْ وَآمَنتُمْ وَكَانَ اللّهُ شَاكِرًا عَلِيمًا
“What can God gain by your punishment if you are grateful, and you believe. Nay, it is God that recognizes (all good) and knows all things”.

It is written already that the Believers will surly succeed.
See Verse 1 of Surah 23 which reads:

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ
Successful indeed are the believers,

Now, reread the verses cited above, and please do it very carefully. When the writer of this article does that, he gets the fallowing impressions:

  1. When I walk in His path , and for His sake, He helps me.
  2. All I need is to have a belief in Him, in His messengers, and their messages, and acting
    accordingly , by obedience and submission, leaving all atrocity, disobedience, and hardheaded-
    ness aside plus trying to do good.
  3. That I should never despair of His Mercy, Blessings, and bounties.
  4. That He even increase His blessings when words of thanks are offered to His Court
    Sincerely/devotedly.
  5. That I can be close To God and try to even get closer to Him by further and more
    submission to His “Dos” and “Don’ts”.
  6. And that He has very graciously allowed us , sometimes the arrogant human beings,
    to leave our arrogance aside, rely on Him, and trust in Him.
  7. His Grace is such that not only His Angels write down all such deeds in my Book
    of Deeds, but also that He favors and blesses them even more.

Such is MY God, Our God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful, The Most Compassionate. I am proud of His Creation with all the beauties that we can easily observe. If only we try to open up our hearts to Him. He is the forever praised in my humble mind & heart, for all of His creation, which is indeed full of wonders, splendor, and amazing grace.

Thus, Praise be to Our Lord: Allah (Glory be to Him), and May He make us closer to Himself.