14 Preface وَلَولا فَضلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيكُم وَرَحمَتُهُ فِي الدُّنيا وَالآخِرَةِ لَمَسَّكُم في ما أَفَضتُم فيهِ عَذابٌ عَظيمٌYusuf AliWere it not for the grace and mercy of God on you, in this world and the Hereafter, a grievous penalty would have seized you in that ye rushed glibly into this affair.1Cf. 24:10 above. It was God’s mercy that saved them from many evil consequences, both in this life and in the Hereafter?in this life, because the Prophet’s wise measures nipped in the bud any incipient estrangements between those nearest and dearest to him, and from a spiritual aspect in that the minor agents in spreading the scandal repented and were forgiven. No doubts and divisions, no mutual distrust, were allowed to remain in their hearts after the whole matter had been cleared up.