عفو قرآن کریم میں

The Prophet ﷺ commanded his Companions with a command apparently simple, deep in signification: "Trim the mustaches and leave the beards (aʿfū al-liḥā)"^[1] — cut the mustaches, and leave the beards without trimming so that they grow and become abundant. The verb "aʿfū" here means literally: leave. Leave the hair alone, do not interfere with it, let it grow as it will. And this very verb, by its very linguistic root, will describe in the Qurʾan the greatest of the traits of mercy among people: pardon (ʿafw). So what is the relationship between leaving the beard to grow and leaving the slips of others to be effaced? This is the question with which this article opens the concept of pardon in the Qurʾan.

Delimiting the word and the count

The root "ʿ-f-w" occurs in the Qurʾan thirty-five times, in four forms. The verb "ʿafā" occurs twenty-seven times, and most of its places describe God's pardon of His servants; the noun "ʿafuww" (an intensive form) occurs five times, describing God as "Pardoning, Forgiving"; the active participle "al-ʿāfīn" occurs once [3:134]; and the noun "al-ʿafw" occurs twice, but with a meaning entirely different from forbearance: "They ask you what they should spend. Say: the surplus (al-ʿafw)" [2:219], where the word here means "the surplus beyond need," not "forbearance from a sin" — and this is an independent juristic meaning in the chapter of spending, not falling within the axis of this article. And another striking place is the words of God "Then We replaced the evil condition with good, until they increased (ʿafaw)" [7:95], where the verb means "they multiplied and grew," not "they forgave" — and it is the original meaning of the root upon which this article will be built.

The linguistic root: a leaving that leads to growth or effacement

Ibn Fāris mentions in *Maqāyīs al-Lughah* that the origin of the ʿayn, the fāʾ, and the weak letter returns to the meaning of "leaving a thing." And from this leaving arise two connected meanings that at first glance seem contrary: for if the hair is left without trimming, it multiplies, grows, and lengthens — hence "leave the beards" and the words of God "until they increased (ʿafaw)," that is, they multiplied; and if the trace is left without tending or preserving, it is effaced and wiped out by the action of time and the winds — hence "the dwellings were effaced (ʿafat al-diyār)," that is, their traces were obliterated. And the common factor between the two meanings is one: that leaving is the shared act; for what is left alive grows and multiplies, and what is left as a trace without renewal is effaced and vanishes. And when the Qurʾan describes God's pardon or the pardon of people toward one another, it summons the second aspect specifically: the leaving of the trace of the sin or the offense without pursuit, until it is effaced as the traces of abandoned dwellings are effaced.

The central structure: a leaving, not a forcible erasure

And this precise difference — between natural leaving and forcible erasure — is what distinguishes Qurʾanic pardon from a mere "forgetting" of the offense or a temporary suppression of anger. For pardon does not mean the attempt to uproot the trace of the offense from memory forcibly and with effort, but leaving it without pursuit or demand for revenge, until its trace withers of its own accord as the traces of abandoned dwellings wither when they are left to the winds. And this is why the Qurʾan often pairs pardon with another act that clarifies this meaning: "So pardon them and overlook (fa-ʿfu ʿanhum wa-ṣfaḥ)" [5:13], where "overlooking (ṣafḥ)" means turning the face away from the matter, that is, not attending to it after leaving it, not a mere tolerating of it while it is present in the mind.

Pardon, overlooking, and forgiveness: degrees, not synonyms

And it is fitting here to distinguish between pardon and two sisters of it often confused with it: overlooking (ṣafḥ) and forgiveness (maghfirah). For when the Qurʾan pairs the two words in a single verse, such as "So pardon and overlook until God brings His command" [2:109], it does not repeat a single meaning with two words for emphasis, but mentions two successive degrees. Al-Rāghib al-Aṣfahānī says that "ṣafḥ is the abandoning of reproach, and it is more eloquent than ʿafw"^[2]; for pardon, as was established from its linguistic origin, is the leaving of the trace of the sin without pursuit by punishment, but it may leave a hidden trace in the soul or a manifest trace in dealings; while overlooking exceeds that to the total erasure of blame, and the considering of the matter as though it had not been. And the Shaykh of Islam Ibn Taymiyyah makes the degrees more detailed when he distinguishes between pardon and forgiveness, saying: "Pardon comprises the dropping of His right against them and forbearing with them therein, and forgiveness comprises the protecting of them from the evil of their sins, His turning toward them, and His pleasure with them"^[3]; so forgiveness is farther in reach than pardon, because it does not content itself with dropping the right, but adds to it a turning-toward and a pleasure. And this means that the verses of this article, when they describe God as "Pardoning (ʿafuww)," describe the lowest of the degrees of overlooking and the easiest of them to realize for the servant himself when he is asked to take on the trait; for whoever is unable to reach the degree of forgiveness or complete overlooking, then let him at least reach the degree of pardon: leaving the trace without pursuit.

A model disclosing the essence of the trait: pardoning despite ability

Among the most precise things that disclose the nature of Qurʾanic pardon is its recurrent pairing with the attribute of ability rather than incapacity: "For indeed, God is ever Pardoning and Able (ʿafuwwan qadīran)" [4:149, and in the same meaning 4:43]. For God does not pardon because He is incapable of revenge, but pardons while being fully able to hold to account. And this pairing between "ʿafuww" and "qadīr" in the same verse sets a criterion for understanding true pardon among humans too: the pardon that deserves its name is the pardon of one who possesses the right to hold to account and is able to do so, not the pardon of one who has no recourse but silence. So whoever forgives because he is incapable of revenge has not pardoned in the Qurʾanic sense, but has merely submitted to his incapacity.

Another model from the biography: when the verse was revealed upon a wounded heart

Among the clearest applications of this meaning in the prophetic biography is what occurred after the incident of the slander (al-ifk), when Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may God be pleased with him) swore never again to spend on Misṭaḥ ibn Uthāthah, his relative who had plunged into that slander against his daughter ʿĀʾishah (may God be pleased with her). So the verse was revealed: "And let them pardon and overlook. Do you not love that God should forgive you?" [24:22], so Abū Bakr retracted his oath and resumed spending on Misṭaḥ. And this situation embodies the central structure precisely: Abū Bakr was not asked to forget the offense or pretend it had not happened, but to leave off pursuing it with punishment, in exchange for God's leaving off the pursuit of his own sins likewise. And the explicit linking in the verse between the servant's pardon of his brother and God's pardon of him discloses that pardon among people is not an isolated social virtue, but a dealing by which the servant's deserving of his Lord's pardon is measured.

A third model: pardon as a trait inseparable from restraining anger

And the Qurʾan describes the God-conscious in Āl ʿImrān with two inseparable traits: "and those who restrain anger and those who pardon people (al-kāẓimīna al-ghayẓa wa-l-ʿāfīna ʿani al-nās)" [3:134]. And this verbal ordering is deliberate: restraining anger precedes pardon, because it is the first stage — controlling the momentary emotion; then comes pardon, which is the deeper second stage — leaving the whole trace without a hidden desire for revenge later. For whoever restrained his anger in the moment but continued to watch for an opportunity for revenge later achieved half the virtue, not all of it; while whoever gathered between the immediate restraining of anger and the leaving of the trace later, that is one who has reached the station of those who pardon people.

And this also links with what was established in another article of this series on modesty (ḥayāʾ), where it became clear that restraining the momentary emotion is a necessary first step but not sufficient alone; for just as true modesty exceeds passing shyness to a fixed stance that does not veil the truth, so true pardon exceeds the momentary restraining of anger to the final leaving of the trace, not a mere postponement of the explosion to another time.

A fourth model: pardon even in the most precise details of the family

And pardon in the Qurʾan is not confined to great disputes, but extends to the most precise details of marital relationships. For in the context of speaking of divorce before consummation, when half the dowry is due to the woman, the Qurʾan says: "unless they [the women] pardon, or he in whose hand is the marriage contract pardons; and that you pardon is nearer to God-consciousness" [2:237]. For one of the two parties may pardon his purely material right, not an offense committed, and this widens the concept of pardon from a mere leaving off of the demand for punishment to a leaving off of the demand for the legitimate right itself out of graciousness, which the verse described as "nearer to God-consciousness" — that is, pardon, even of due financial rights, is a degree on the ladder of nearness to God, not a mere neutral social concession.

"Go, for you are the freed ones"

And if the story of Abū Bakr and Misṭaḥ embodied pardon in the scope of family and kinship, then the widest historical application of the meaning of "Pardoning and Able" came on the day of the conquest of Mecca, when the Prophet ﷺ entered the city that had expelled him, fought him, and tortured his Companions for twenty years, while he was at the summit of his ability over it militarily and politically. And it is famous in the books of biography that the Prophet ﷺ asked Quraysh: "What do you think I will do with you?" and they said: "Good; a noble brother, and the son of a noble brother," and he said: "Go, for you are the freed ones (al-ṭulaqāʾ)." This exact wording is not established with a sound connected chain, but the naming "al-ṭulaqāʾ" itself for those whom the Prophet ﷺ pardoned of the people of Mecca that day is firmly established in the books of biography and Sunnah, and by the effect of that pardon the people of Mecca entered the religion of God in throngs. And this situation, in its widest historical applications, embodies precisely the meaning of "Pardoning and Able": for whoever had in his hand the decision over the fate of his enemy who had harmed him most severely, then left off holding to account while being the most able to do so, that is the truest exemplification of this name among humans.

The Prophetic witness

Abū Hurayrah (may God be pleased with him) narrated, and Muslim recorded in his Ṣaḥīḥ, that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Charity does not decrease wealth, and God does not increase a servant in pardon except in honor, and no one humbles himself for God except that God raises him"^[4]. So the hadith overturns a common human equation, which sees pardon as a weakness that abases its possessor before the one who offended him; while the Prophet ﷺ establishes the exact opposite: that pardon is an honor that increases, not a decrease to be feared. And this accords entirely with the pairing of "Pardoning and Able" in the Qurʾan: for whoever pardons while able to do otherwise, increases by this pardon of his in standing in the hearts, not in weakness within them.

An objective-based (maqāṣidī) reading

The scholars observe that the Qurʾan, when it mentioned the recompense of an offense with its like in the verse "and the recompense of an evil is an evil like it" [42:40], did not stop at establishing the right of reciprocation with the like, but followed it directly with His words "but whoever pardons and reconciles — his reward is upon God." For justice permits reciprocation with the like and does not obligate it, and pardon is a higher-ranking choice that exceeds the limit of the permissible to what its possessor is rewarded for with a direct reward from God, not from people. And some link this with the naming of an entire sura "al-Shūrā" (Consultation), in which this verse occurred, for they see that the society whose affairs are managed by consultation needs, more than others, a culture of pardon that prevents disputes from turning into accumulated feuds that disable consultation itself.

The contemporary applied dimension

Many confuse pardon with the suppression of feelings or the pretense of forgetting, so they carry the trace of the offense in their breasts while displaying a verbal pardon that does not accord with their hearts. But the linguistic origin this article has disclosed proposes a different criterion: true pardon is leaving the trace to be effaced with the passage of time, not erasing it forcibly in a single moment nor pretending its absence. And this means that pardon may need time to be completed, exactly as the traces of abandoned dwellings need time to be effaced by the action of the winds; for whoever left off the demand for revenge and refrained from pursuing the offender, even if he continued to feel the pain of the offense for a period, is on the path of true pardon, so long as he has left the trace alone instead of feeding it with continual pursuit.

And the situation of Abū Bakr with Misṭaḥ serves as a practical model for this gradation: he was not asked to feel toward Misṭaḥ the same affection that was before the incident, but to return to treating him with kindness despite the wound the offense had left. For pardon does not require the return of feelings to what they were, but contents itself with the return of the dealing to what it ought to be, leaving to time the task of completing what remains of the effacement of the trace.

Conclusion

From a beard left to grow, to dwellings whose traces are left to be effaced, to Abū Bakr leaving off his oath in response to a verse revealed upon a wounded heart, to Mecca conquered and its people left as freed ones after twenty years of enmity, the Qurʾan and the biography draw for pardon a single unchanging meaning: leaving the trace without pursuit, until it withers of its own accord — not erasing it forcibly nor pretending its absence — and its highest degrees are when it issues from one who possesses complete ability over another.

And God knows best; He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.