But God was not about to chastise them, because chastisement is the form and effect of wrath and can only result from the wrath of the Prophet or from the wrath of God, [itself] caused by the sins of the community. The Prophet, peace be upon him, was the form of mercy, because of where He, exalted be He, says: And We did not send you except as a mercy to all the worlds [Q. 21:107], which is why when they [the Meccan enemy] broke his two front teeth, he [only] responded by saying, 'O God, guide my people, for they do not know [what they do]', and did not become wrathful, as did Noah, peace be upon him, when he said My Lord, do not leave from among the disbelievers a single dweller upon the earth [Q. 71:26]. Therefore his [Muḥammad's] presence among them is protection [for them] against the sending down of chastisement [on them], as is the existence of forgiveness-seeking. Thus the principal cause for chastisement, given that the [simultaneous] existence of sin and forgiveness-seeking is a barrier to the accumulation of sin and to its become established - indeed, it necessarily brings about its disappearance - does not result in God's wrath. And so as long as there is forgiveness-seeking among them, they will not be chastised.