Grace and Mercy two fruits from the same tree

I remember a time when I did not yet understand the meaning of grace. We said it often in church, in our worship songs to God, in our bible study, and it was often preached by the pastor/father. Yet, it took me a while to finally reflect and ask myself, what is this grace from God everyone is talking about and is so often mention in His scriptures? I thought, why are we always saying; Our Lord is so gracious. What do we mean by that?
In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Grace is defined (I did not include all of its meanings but the ones that pertain to this post) as follows:
Main Entry: 1grace
Pronunciation: 'grAs
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin gratia favor, charm, thanks, from gratus pleasing, grateful; akin to Sanskrit grnAti he praises
1 a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification b : a virtue coming from God c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace
2 a : APPROVAL, FAVOR b archaic : MERCY, PARDON c : a special favor : PRIVILEGE d : disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency e : a temporary exemption : REPRIEVE

I placed unmerited in red bold text because I wanted to emphasize something about grace that I think is what sets this trait belonging to Allah from all the rest. How many people do we know that provide us assistance when when it is unmerited, or in other words, undeserved? When we compete in a race, do we get the trophy if we lose? Or even if we place second? I don't think so. When we need help, do people just hand us favors, or is only the truly kind-hearted and loved ones who stretch out on a limb for us when we need it? Will anyone just give you something without expecting something in return? At least love, or a handshake or a dinner invitation, or maybe more, right? But what does Allah ask of us in return for all that He gives us? What do we owe him for giving us a good day? A job we love? The sun and the rain? A friend? Our health? A son or daughter? Our vision? Our talents? Our food on the table? Our life? Our freedom to choose? Nothing. All of us on earth get things from God even when we might not deserve them, simply because He loves us. That is the real love. There is nothing "Self" about Him.

That is his grace in action. And we speak often of this word in mention of Allah because it is such a special and unique trait. We as humans have the capacity to show grace towards others, and many do indeed at one point or another. But Allah is grace manifested. He is not only gracious, He is what it means to be gracecious. We could praise Allah in our every single one of our prayers for the rest of our lives and still not reach to cover all the worship He deserves just for that one trait He possesses.

Because of His grace we are forgiven, because of His grace we can do everything we do. Because of His grace we are alive right now. Not because of anything we did. Sub han Allah.

It is no wonder we praise Allah for his grace many times in every salat we do every day. It is the very first phrase we say before every single Surat of the Quran that we read or recite or before anything we do.
"Praise be to Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.."

What is interesting, is that if you think about it, mercy and grace kind of go hand in hand. You can't mention one without thinking of the other.

Here is webster-Merriam's definition of MERCY:

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French merci, from Medieval Latin merced-, merces, from Latin, price paid, wages, from merc-, merx merchandise
1 a : compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power; also : lenient or compassionate treatment mercy> b : imprisonment rather than death imposed as penalty for first-degree murder
2 a : a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion b : a fortunate circumstance mercy they found her before she froze>
3 : compassionate treatment of those in distress mercy among the poor>

So in a sense, because of Allah's mercy for us, he gives us second chances, he gives us forgiveness, he gives us life, he gives us blessings, he gives us love, through the channel of grace.

Mercy inspires Grace and Grace is a response to Mercy. And both grace and mercy can come from nowhere except from the heart, they can only be born of love.
Imagine trying to feel mercy, or be gracious to someone without feeling something pulling on the strings of your heart first. You just can't. They are products of love, and what is purer than that? There is no way to have impure mercy or grace without compassion. Love is pure and is kind, it can be the only source and origin of two such beautiful traits of our Lord and traits that he has also given us the ability to possess through the love in our hearts.

What is most interesting actually about both of these traits; Mercy and Grace, is that they come from the same Root in Arabic. Rahmaneer, Raheem (Gracious, Merciful). And that makes sense now doesn't it?
I discovered this when a very dear brother of mine in Islam, Nizar, had translated Rahman to Mercy in English. I was watching Sheikh Mishary Alafasy reciting from my mosque back home on Kuwaiti TV, and I contacted Nizar to inquire what surat Alafasy was reciting. He said surat Arrahman and translated "rahman" as Mercy. And I was like; wait a minute, doesn't that mean Gracious? Then he checked and confirmed with me that I was right. But then he went on further to explain that Grace and Mercy actually come from the same root "RAHEMA". Masha Allah.

We have much to be grateful for to Allah, even if just for his abounding grace and mercy towards each of us.

Think about the Quran, especially in this time during Ramadan in which the Quran is said to have been revealed, even the revelation of the Quran for us was an act of grace by Allah.
"Then We gave the Book (the Qur'an) for inheritance to such of Our slaves whom ... That is indeed a great grace." (Qur'an 35:32).
THE QURAN IS ONE OF THE BIGGESTS ACTS OF GRACE Allah HAS shown us, We have rebelled so much throughout history even after having been shown the way and the truth and the right path, yet still he sent to us yet a clearer and purer guide for us to get back on target...Allah truly is most gracious and most merciful and we should accept this guidance sent to us with much gratitude in our hearts:

Second chapter of the Quran - Confirmation of guidance

Quran 1-5

Alif. Lam. Mim. - THIS DIVINE WRIT, let there be no doubt about it is [meant to be] a guidance for all the God-conscious - Who believe in [the existence of] that which is beyond the reach of human perception, and are constant in prayer, and spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance; - And who believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon thee, [O Prophet,] as well as in that which was bestowed before thy time: for it is they who in their innermost are certain of the life to come! - It is they who follow the guidance [which comes from their Sustainer; and it is they, they who' shall attain to a happy state!

After that what else is there to say? Masha Allah the Quran is so complete that even in just small parts of it we can receive so much...

I