Tafseer of The Groups · Az-Zumar · 39:53
Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the explanation of His word, the Exalted: قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ (53) (Say: O My servants who have transgressed against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.)
The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning who was meant by this verse. Some of them said: by this was meant a group of the polytheists (mushrikīn) who, when they were called to faith in Allah, said: "How can we believe, while we have ascribed partners to Allah (shirk), committed fornication (zinā), and killed the soul that Allah has forbidden, and Allah promises the one who does that the Fire (al-nār)? What then would faith profit us, given what has already occurred from us?" Then this verse was sent down.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: ( قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ) And that was because the people of Mecca said: "Muḥammad claims that whoever worshipped the idols, and called upon another god besides Allah, and killed the soul that Allah has forbidden, is not forgiven. How then can we emigrate and submit (islām), while we have worshipped the gods and killed the soul that Allah has forbidden, and we are among the people of shirk?" Then Allah sent down: ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ) He says: do not despair of My mercy, indeed Allah forgives all sins. And He said: وَأَنِيبُوا إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ وَأَسْلِمُوا لَهُ (And turn in repentance to your Lord and submit to Him). Allah only reproaches the people of understanding, and the permitted (ḥalāl) and the forbidden (ḥarām) apply to the people of faith (īmān). It is they, then, whom He reproached, and them whom He commanded, that when one of them has transgressed against his own soul, he should not despair of the mercy of Allah, and that he should turn in repentance to Him and not delay repentance for that transgression and the sin he has committed. And Allah, in Sūrah Āl ʿImrān, mentioned the believers when they asked Allah for forgiveness, and said: رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَإِسْرَافَنَا فِي أَمْرِنَا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا (Our Lord, forgive us our sins and our transgression in our affair, and make our feet firm). It ought, then, to be known that they committed transgression, and He commanded them to repent of their transgression.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — all of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: ( الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ ) he said: the killing of the soul in the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, he said: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of some of his companions, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār, he said: these three verses were sent down in Medina concerning Waḥshī and his companions: ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ ) up to His word: مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَكُمُ الْعَذَابُ بَغْتَةً وَأَنْتُمْ لا تَشْعُرُونَ (before the punishment comes upon you suddenly, while you do not perceive).
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Abū Ṣakhr informed me, he said: Zayd ibn Aslam said concerning His word: ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ) he said: it is only for the polytheists (mushrikīn).
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ ) up to where he reached ( الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ) he said: it was related to us that people committed great sins in the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya), and when Islam came, they feared that no repentance would be accepted for them. Then Allah called them with this verse: ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ ).
Muḥammad related to us, he said: Aḥmad related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His word: ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ ) he said: these are the polytheists of the people of Mecca, they said: "How can we answer you, while you claim that whoever committed fornication (zinā), or killed, or ascribed partners to the Most Merciful (al-Raḥmān), shall perish among the people of the Fire? And all these deeds we have done." Then concerning them this verse was sent down: ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ ).
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ) ... the verse — he said: there was a people who were despised among the people of the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya). When Allah sent His prophet, they said: "If only we went to Muḥammad ﷺ and believed in him and followed him." Then they said to one another: "How would Allah and His Messenger accept you into His religion?" They said: "Shall we not send a man to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?" When they sent him, the Qurʾān was sent down: ( قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ) and he read on until he reached: فَأَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ (so that I might be among the doers of good).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: Shutayr ibn Shakal and Masrūq were sitting together, and Shutayr said: "Either you relate what you heard from Ibn Masʿūd, and I will confirm you, or I will relate, and you confirm me." Masrūq said: "No, you relate, and I will confirm you." He said: I heard Ibn Masʿūd say: "Indeed, the verse in the Qurʾān that offers the greatest relief (faraj) is ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ )." Masrūq said: "You have spoken the truth."
And others said: no, by this were meant the people of Islam. They said: the interpretation of the word is: indeed, Allah forgives all sins to whomever He wills. They said: and so it stands in the muṣḥaf of ʿAbd Allāh (Ibn Masʿūd). And they said: this verse was sent down only concerning a people who were held back from emigration (hijra) by the polytheists and subjected to trial, whereupon they feared that there would be no repentance for them.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿīd al-Jawharī related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Umawī related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: he — that is, ʿUmar — said: we used to say: "For whoever was subjected to trial there is no repentance," and they used to say: "Allah will accept nothing from us; we abandoned Islam through a trial that afflicted us after we had known it." When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Medina, Allah sent down concerning them: ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ) ... the verse. ʿUmar said: then I wrote it with my own hand and sent it to Hishām ibn al-ʿĀṣ. Hishām said: when it reached me, I began to read it without understanding it, and it occurred to me that it had been sent down concerning us, on account of what we used to say. Then I sat upon my camel and joined Medina.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: these verses were sent down only concerning ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿa, al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd, and a group of Muslims who had converted to Islam and were then subjected to trial and torture, whereupon they fell into trial. We used to say: "Allah will never accept from these any ransom nor any substitute — a people who converted to Islam and then abandoned their religion through a punishment with which they were tortured." Then these verses were sent down. And ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was a scribe. He said: then he wrote them with his own hand and sent them to ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿa and al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd, to that group. Then they converted to Islam and emigrated.
Yaʿqūb related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, he said: Yūnus related to us, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, he said: ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Which verse in the Qurʾān is the most ample?" Then they began to mention verses from the Qurʾān: وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُ ثُمَّ يَسْتَغْفِرِ اللَّهَ يَجِدِ اللَّهَ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا (And whoever does evil or wrongs his own soul and then asks Allah for forgiveness will find Allah Forgiving and Merciful), and the like. Then ʿAlī said: "There is in the Qurʾān no verse more ample than: ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ ) ... to the end of the verse."
Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, he said: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Azdī, on the authority of Abū al-Kanūd, he said: ʿAbd Allāh (Ibn Masʿūd) entered the mosque, and there was a storyteller mentioning the Fire and the chains. He said: then he came until he stood over his head, and he said: "What is this that he is mentioning? Are you driving the people to despair? ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ ) ... the verse."
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Abū Ṣakhr informed me, on the authority of al-Quraẓī, that he said concerning this verse: ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ) he said: it is for the people all together.
Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to me, he said: Ḥajjāj related to us, he said: Ibn Lahīʿa related to us, on the authority of Abū Qunbul, he said: I heard Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Muzanī say: Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Jalāʾī related to me, that he heard Thawbān, the freedman of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, say: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "I would not wish that I possessed the world and all that is in it, in place of this verse: ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ )" ... the verse. Then a man said: "O Messenger of Allah, and whoever has ascribed partners (ashraka)?" The Prophet ﷺ was silent, and then said: "Why yes, and whoever has ascribed partners, why yes, and whoever has ascribed partners," three times.
And others said: that was sent down concerning a people who reckoned those guilty of the great sins (kabāʾir) among the people of the Fire. Then Allah informed them thereby that He forgives all sins to whomever He wills.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn al-Barqī related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn Abī Salama related to us, he said: Abū Muʿādh al-Khurāsānī related to us, on the authority of Muqātil ibn Ḥayyān, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: we, the company of the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, used to think or say: "There is nothing of our good deeds but it is accepted," until this verse was sent down: أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَلا تُبْطِلُوا أَعْمَالَكُمْ (Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and do not render your deeds void). When this verse was sent down, we said: "What is this that renders our deeds void?" We said: "The great sins and the abominations (al-fawāḥish)." He said: so when we saw anyone committing something of that, we said: "He has perished," until this verse was sent down: إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ (Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be ascribed to Him, but He forgives what is less than that to whomever He wills). When this verse was sent down, we restrained ourselves from speaking about it, and so when we saw anyone committing something of that, we feared for him; and if he committed nothing of that, we had hope for him.
And the most correct of those statements is the statement of him who said: He, exalted be His mention, meant thereby all who have transgressed against their own soul, both from the people of faith (īmān) and from the people of shirk, because Allah, by His word ( يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ ), encompassed all transgressors, and did not thereby single out one transgressor over another.
And if someone were to say: "Does Allah then forgive shirk?" Then it is said: yes, when the polytheist (mushrik) repents of it. For by His word ( إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ) He meant: to whomever He wills, as we have previously mentioned that Ibn Masʿūd read it, and that Allah excepted from that shirk when its perpetrator does not repent of it, for He said: إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ (Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be ascribed to Him, but He forgives what is less than that to whomever He wills). Thus He informed that He does not forgive shirk except after repentance, by His word: إِلا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا (except whoever repents and believes and does good deeds). And as for what falls outside that, its perpetrator is subject to the will of his Lord: if He wills He bestows mercy upon him and remits it for him, and if He wills He acts justly toward him and requites him for it.
And as for His word: ( لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ) He means: do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Thus Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās.
And we have already mentioned, in what has preceded, the narrations that exist concerning that, and clarified its meaning.
And His word: ( إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ) He says: indeed, Allah covers all sins by His remission for their perpetrators and His refraining from punishing them for them when they repent of them. ( إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ ) toward them, to punish them for it after their repentance of it.
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Footnotes:
(3) He is Waḥshī ibn Ḥarb al-Ḥabashī, the freedman of Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, and he is the killer of Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib at the battle of Uḥud. He was an assassin who drank wine, and then later converted to Islam. (See Khulāṣat al-Khazrajī.)
