Tafseer of The Prohibition · At-Tahrim · 66:8
O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow [on] the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him. Their light will proceed before them and on their right; they will say, "Our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us. Indeed, You are over all things competent."
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 Exalted, praised be His remembrance, says: O you who have believed in Allah ( تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ — "turn to Allah in repentance"). He says: return from your sins to obedience to Allah and to that which makes Him pleased with you ( تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا — "with a sincere repentance"). He says: with a return to which you will never again relapse.
In the spirit of what we have said about the explanation of His word ( نَصُوحًا — "sincere"), the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, who said: ʿUmar was asked about sincere repentance (al-tawba al-naṣūḥ). He said: sincere repentance is that a man repents of the evil deed and thereafter never again returns to it.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Simāk ibn Ḥarb, on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, on the authority of ʿUmar, who said: sincere repentance is that you repent of the sin and thereafter do not return to it, or do not intend to return to it.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Simāk ibn Ḥarb, who said: I heard al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr deliver a sermon, he said: I heard ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, say: ( يَا أيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا — "O you who believe, turn to Allah in repentance with a sincere repentance"). He said: he commits the sin and thereafter does not return to it again.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Simāk ibn Ḥarb, on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, who said: I asked ʿUmar about His word: ( تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا — "turn to Allah in repentance with a sincere repentance"). He said: that is the servant who repents of the sin and thereafter never again returns to it.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Simāk ibn Ḥarb, on the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, who said: I heard ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb say: sincere repentance is that he repents of the sin and does not return to it again.
Ibn Ḥumayd related it to us yet another time, saying: he informed me about ʿUmar with this isnād, and said: sincere repentance is the one who sins and thereafter does not intend to return to it.
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ( تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا — "a sincere repentance"), he said: he repents and thereafter does not return again.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, who said: sincere repentance is that the man commits the sin and thereafter never again returns to it.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا — "O you who believe, turn to Allah in repentance with a sincere repentance"): that the one whom it concerns does not return to that sin of which he repents. And it is said: his repentance is that he does not return to a sin he has abandoned.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to me, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: ( تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا — "a sincere repentance"), he said: they ask for forgiveness and thereafter do not return again.
Naṣr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Awdī related to me, saying: al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word: ( تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا — "a sincere repentance"), he said: the sincere is that you turn away from the sin and thereafter never again return to it.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا — "O you who believe, turn to Allah in repentance with a sincere repentance"), he said: it is the sincere, heartfelt repentance.
Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning the word of Allah ( تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا — "turn to Allah in repentance with a sincere repentance"), he said: sincere repentance is the heartfelt one; he knows that the sincere is remorse over his fault, and the love to return to His obedience — that is the sincere.
The Qurʾān-reciters differed over the reading of it. Most of the reciters of the regions, except for ʿĀṣim, read it ( نَصُوحًا — "naṣūḥan") with a fatḥa on the nūn, as being a characteristic and description of the repentance (tawba). It is related of ʿĀṣim that he read it ( نُصْوحًا — "nuṣūḥan") with a ḍamma on the nūn, in the meaning of the maṣdar (verbal noun), as one says: naṣaḥa fulān li-fulān nuṣūḥan ("so-and-so was well-disposed toward so-and-so").
The more correct of the two readings therein is the reading of the one who read it with a fatḥa on the nūn, as a description of the repentance, because of the consensus of the authoritative proof upon it.
And His word: ( عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَنْ يُكَفِّرَ عَنْكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ — "perhaps your Lord will efface your evil deeds from you"). He says: perhaps your Lord, O believers, will efface from you the evil deeds of your works that you previously committed ( وَيُدْخِلْكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأنْهَارُ — "and admit you into gardens beneath which the rivers flow"). He says: and that He will admit you into gardens beneath the trees of which the rivers flow ( يَوْمَ لا يُخْزِي اللَّهُ النَّبِيَّ — "on the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet") — Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace ( وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَى بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ — "and those who believed with him; their light hastens before them"). He says: their light hastens before them ( وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ — "and on their right sides"). He says: and in their right hands their book.
As Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: ( يَوْمَ لا يُخْزِي اللَّهُ النَّبِيَّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ — "on the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet, nor those who believed with him") ... up to His word: ( وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ — "and on their right sides"): they receive their book in which is the glad tiding ( يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَاغْفِرْ لِنَا — "they say: our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us"). The Exalted, praised be His praise, says, informing about what the believers will say on the Day of Resurrection: they say: our Lord, perfect for us our light. They ask their Lord to make their light endure for them and not to extinguish it until they have crossed the bridge (al-ṣirāṭ). And that is when the hypocrites — men and women — say to those who believed: انْظُرُونَا نَقْتَبِسْ مِنْ نُورِكُمْ ("Wait for us, that we may obtain something of your light").
In the spirit of what we have said about that, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: ( رَبَّنَا أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا — "our Lord, perfect for us our light"), he said: it is the saying of the believers when the light of the hypocrites is extinguished.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: there is no one but that he is given a light on the Day of Resurrection; it is given to the believer and to the hypocrite, after which the light of the hypocrite is extinguished, and the believer fears that his light will be extinguished. That is His word: ( رَبَّنَا أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا — "our Lord, perfect for us our light").
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Shajara, who said: he admonished us and wept, and his deeds confirmed his words. He said: O people, you stand before Allah, mighty and exalted is He, recorded with your names and your characteristics, your gatherings, your secret conversations, and your friendships. When the Day of Resurrection comes, it will be said: O so-and-so, son of so-and-so, here is your light; and O so-and-so, son of so-and-so, there is no light for you.
And His word: ( وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا — "and forgive us"). He says: and cover our sins for us, and do not disgrace us by them by punishing us for them ( إِنَّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ — "verily, You have power over all things"). He says: verily, You have the power to perfect our light for us, to forgive our sins, and all else.
