Do not despair of the mercy of Allah
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا
"Say: 'O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.'"
Context
The verse the scholars call the most hopeful in the Qurʾan. Ibn ʿAbbās said no verse in the book of Allah is wider in mercy.
What the classical scholars said.
Passages from our audiobook library that reference this verse, its theme, or its vocabulary.
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"obedience or drawing nearer to Allah by following his commands and avoiding his prohibitions should consider his hope misguided as Allah says indeed those who have believed and those who have emigrated and striven in the cause of Allah Those expect the mercy of Allah from surah al-baqarah Consider how he made their hope accompany these acts of obedience The deluded say that those who neglect the rights of Allah hinder his commands Oppress his servants and violate his sacred limits expect the mercy of Allah The essence of the matter is that hope and good assumption are only valid with adherence to the means that Allah's wisdom has dictated in his sharia"
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"Almighty said, 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. No single sin is excluded from this generality. However, this applies specifically to those who repent. But as for the one who remains sinful into old age, not blessed with sincere repentance or good deeds, who does not reclaim what was lost, revive what was dead, or replace evil with good, this person is unlikely to be granted a good end that leads to paradise as a punishment for their deeds. For Allah, the Exalted,"
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"Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ali used to say, "You people of Iraq say the most hopeful verse in the Book of Allah Almighty is His saying: 'Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah,"' but we, the people of the House, say the most hopeful verse in the Book of Allah Almighty is His saying, 'And your Lord is going to give you, and you will be satisfied.'" As for the hadiths, Abu Musa narrated that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "My ummah is a community that has received mercy."
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"The fifth way is when they are mentioned described by their actions, as in His saying in سُورَة الزُّمَر: "Say, 'O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of اللّٰه.'" It is said that they are called His servants because they do not despair of His mercy, they turn to Him, and they follow the best of what has been revealed to them from their Lord."
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"Therefore, there are laudable aspirations in hope and good assumption, especially at the time of death. Allah says, “Do not despair from the mercy of Allah,” thus prohibiting despair. The Prophet said: "None of you should die except while having a good assumption about Allah. And he said: "Allah the Exalted says, ‘I am as My servant thinks of Me, so let him think of Me as he wills."
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"The Second Art: Surveying the Verses and Hadiths What has been mentioned in terms of hope is beyond enumeration. As for the verses, Allah Almighty says: "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."
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"and it will be said, 'This is your ransom from the Fire.'" The hadith "Recite: 'Say, [O My servants who have transgressed against themselves], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins, and He does not mind,'" was reported by al-Tirmidhi from the hadith of Asma bint Yazid, who said it is a good and rare narration."
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"In the great divine حَدِيث narrated by أَبُو ذَرّ: "O My servants, you sin by night and day, and I forgive all sins. Whoever knows that I have the power to forgive, I will forgive him, and I do not mind." اللّٰه says in سُورَة الزُّمَر: "Say, 'O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of اللّٰه."
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"and listen to what they reply. It will be your greeting and the greeting of your descendants. Adam said, Peace be upon you, and they replied, Peace be upon you in the mercy of Allah. They added, And the mercy of Allah. Everyone who enters paradise will be in the form of Adam. Creation did not cease to decrease in stature until now."
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"In this case, it is necessary to suppress despair with hope, remembering that Allah forgives all sins and is generous in accepting repentance. Allah says, "Say, 'O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful."
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"his chosen servants. He called upon those who harmed his allies and forced them away from their religion to repent as he says in Surah al-Zumar, Say, O my servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the forgiving, the merciful."
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"Whatever is born of obedience brings increase and closeness to its practitioner, and whatever is born of disobedience leads to loss and distance. Allah says in Surat Tawbah, This is because they suffer neither thirst nor fatigue nor hunger in the way of Allah, nor tread any path that enrages the disbelievers, nor gain any gain from an enemy, except that a good deed is recorded for them thereby. Indeed, Allah does not waste the reward of the doers of good, nor do they spend any small or large expenditure, nor do they cross a valley, except that it is recorded for them, that Allah may reward them the best of what they were doing. He, the Most Exalted, informed in the first"
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"tidings of a house in paradise made of hollow pearls far from noise and toil. Khadija responded Allah is peace and from him is peace and peace be upon you both and the mercy of Allah and his blessings upon the Messenger of Allah. She inquired about the house made of hollow pearls and the Prophet explained it is between the house of Maryam the daughter of Imran and the house of Asiya the daughter of Muzahim and they are among my wives on the day of resurrection. The essence of peace upon Khadija from Allah and her glad tidings of a house in paradise is found in authentic narrations though this context with these additions is considered strange. Each of these hadiths has"
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"O neglecter of the rights of Allah, O one marked by the wrath of Allah, and despair of the mercy of Allah as you neglected his rights in this world. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, narrated that on the day of resurrection, a man will be brought before Allah who will command him to hell for delaying prayer and swearing falsely by Allah. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, once said to his companions, O Allah, do not leave among us anyone who is wretched or deprived. When asked who this is, he replied, the one who abandons prayer. It is narrated that such a person will be the first to have their face blackened on the day of resurrection."
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"good word, for indeed a good deed is rewarded tenfold to seven hundred times, peace be upon the Messenger of Allah and the mercy of Allah and his blessings. Then the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, delivered another sermon and said, Indeed all praise is due to Allah. I praise him and seek his help. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and the misdeeds of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, there is no misleader for him, and whomever he leads astray, there is no guide for him. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, alone with no partner. Indeed the best speech is the Book of Allah. Successful is the one whom Allah adorns with"
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"there lies the vastness of security, and the beginning of rejoice is the end of sorrow. So do not despair, for Allah made Yusuf master of his treasures after his liberation from prison. And the brothers of Yusuf came and entered upon him, and he recognized them, but they were unaware of him. When he had provided them with their supplies, he said, Bring me a brother of yours from your father. Do you not see that I give full measure, and I am the best of hosts? But if you do not bring him to me, there is no measure for you with me, nor will you approach me. They said, We will try to persuade his father, and indeed we will do it. And he said to his servants,"
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"he gestured with his finger and raised his voice saying, I believe that there is no deity but him in whom the children of Israel believe. Gabriel feared that the mercy of Allah would reach him before his wrath, so he started taking the mud with his wings and hitting it upon his face, submerging him. This was also narrated by Ibn Jarir. Ibn Jarir narrated from Abu Huraira, who said the messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, reported Gabriel said, O Muhammad, if you had seen me as I was covering and stuffing mud into Pharaoh's mouth, fearing Allah's mercy would reach him and forgive him. This has been relayed by multiple"
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"Some of the knowledgeable described it by saying that every letter in the preserved Tablet is greater than the Mount Qaf. If the angels gathered to lift a single letter, they could not bear it until Israfil, peace be upon him, the Angel of the Tablet, comes and lifts it by the permission and mercy of Allah, Exalted and Glorious — not by his own might and power, but because Allah empowered him to do so and employed him in it. Indeed, some of the wise have excelled in expressing the aspect of gentleness in delivering the meanings of the speech with its high level to human understanding and reinforcing it, despite his limited rank."
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Word-synced with the Arabic, narrated with care, in the app.