In short: The Prophet ﷺ said Allah divided mercy into one hundred parts. He kept ninety-nine with Him and sent one part down to the earth. From that one part, all creation shows mercy to each other, so that a mare lifts her hoof away from her foal for fear of hurting it (Sahih al-Bukhari 6000).
The hadith
Abu Hurayrah heard the Prophet ﷺ say that Allah made mercy one hundred parts, kept ninety-nine of them with Himself, and sent down one part to the earth. Because of that one part, creatures are merciful to one another, even the mare that lifts her hoof so it won’t step on her young (Bukhari 6000).
What one part looks like
A mother sitting up all night with a sick child. A stranger stopping to help. An animal protecting its young. All of it, across all of history, is from one hundredth of Allah’s mercy.
What we can take from it
- Never despair. “Do not despair of the mercy of Allah” (Quran 39:53). If one part is this much, imagine the ninety-nine.
- Be merciful. The part of mercy He placed on earth flows through people. Be one of the ways it reaches others.
- Turn back to Him. See the story the Prophet ﷺ told of the man who killed 99 people, and the man who found his lost camel.