And, for example, others which the unfair atheists supposed to be exaggeration and even impossible overstatement are narrations about the rewards for actions and merits of some of the Qur'an's Suras. For example, there are narrations that, "The merit of Sura al-Fatiha is equal to that of the Qur'an."¹⁴And, "Sura al-Ikhlas equals a third of the Qur'an,"¹⁵"Sura al-Zilzal, a quarter,"¹⁶ "Sura al-Kafirun, a quarter,"¹⁷ "Sura Ya. Sin., ten times the Qur'an."¹⁸Unjust and unthinking people have said that these are impossible because Sura Ya. Sin. and the other meritorious Suras are within the Qur'an, which makes it meaningless.

The Answer: The reality is this: for each of the All-Wise Qur'an's letters is a merit. Each is a good deed. Out of Divine grace the merits of those letters sprout and yield sometimes ten, sometimes seventy, and sometimes seven hundred, merits, like the letters of Ay at al-Kursi. Sometimes they yield one thousand five hundred, like the letters of Sura al-Ikhlas, and sometimes ten thousand, like verses recited on Layla al-Bara'a and those that coincide with other acceptable times. And sometimes they yield thirty thousand, like verses recited on the Night of Power, which are like poppy seeds in their multiplicity. The indication that that night is the equivalent to a thousand months makes it understood that on that night one letter has thirty thousand merits. For example, let us suppose there is a field planted with maize, one thousand plants of it. If some seeds produce seven shoots, and from each shoot a hundred grains, then a single seed becomes the equivalent of two thirds of the whole field. For example, if one seed produces ten shoots, and each yields two hundred grains, then a single seed is the equivalent of twice the original field. You can make further analogies in the same way.

Now, let us imagine the All-Wise Qur'an to be a luminous, sacred, heavenly field. Each of its letters together with its original merit is like a seed. Their shoots will not be taken into consideration. They may be compared with the Suras and verses about which are narrations concerning their merits, like Ya. Sin., Ikhlas, Fatiha, Kafirun, Zilzal. For example, the Qur'an has three hundred thousand six hundred and twenty letters, and Sura al-Ikhlas together withBismillah, sixty-nine. Three times sixty nine is two hundred and seven letters. Thus, if Sura Ya. Sin's letters are reckoned and compared with all the letters of the All-Wise Qur'an, and then multiplied ten times, it produces the following result: each letter of Sura Ya. Sin. has close on five hundred merits. That is, that many good deeds may be reckoned. And so, if you apply the others to this, you will understand what a subtle, fine, true, and unexaggerated truth it is.

----------------------------------------
14. Bukhdrl, Tafslr Sura, i, 1; xv, 3; Fada'il al-Qur'an, 9; Tirmidhl, Thawab al-Qur'an, 1.
15. Tirmidhl, Thawab al-Qur'an, 10, 11; Ibn Maja, Adab, 52.
16. Tirmidhl, Thawab al-Qur'an, 9; Musnad, iii, 147, 221.
17. Tirmidhl, Thawab al-Qur'an, 9; Musnad, iii, 147, 221.
18. Tirmidhl, Thawab al-Qur'an, 7; Darimi, Fada'il al-Qur'an, 21.