Tafsir for verse: 27:11
إِلَّا مَن ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسۡنَۢا بَعۡدَ سُوٓءٖ فَإِنِّي غَفُورٞ رَّحِيمٞ ١١ ﴿11
11except him who did wrong, then after (having done) evil, replaced (it) with good, then I am Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful.
AI-Assisted Translation: This translation was produced by AI agents carefully trained over several months and thoroughly reviewed. It does NOT replace the scholarship of traditional scholars and is intended as a step in the right direction to make classical tafsir more accessible. There may still be inaccuracies—please report them promptly so we can improve the translation quality.

Commentary

And when the beginning and the end of the speech indicate that the estimation is what I have mentioned, and it is known from it that whoever has wronged fears. The messengers, rather the prophets, are protected from committing injustice. However, due to their high status and great importance, any deviation from what is preferable is counted against them. Indeed, some of the permissible actions that are equal, and even more specifically than that, as they said: 'The good deeds of the righteous are the sins of the close ones.' Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has rectified this with the tool of exception that encourages those who fear the consequences of injustice at the end of that in repentance. And He informs Moses, peace be upon him, of the forgiveness of the blow he gave to the Egyptian and that there is no fear upon him because of it, even though killing him was permissible due to it being a mistake, despite him being a disbeliever. However, the high status necessitates refraining from taking action except with special permission. Therefore, he called it injustice and said: 'My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me' [Qasas: 16]. This is one of the implications that has a gentle take. He said: 'Except' or the meaning: but 'whoever has wronged,' whoever it may be, by committing an evil deed, 'then replaced' with his repentance 'a good deed after an evil one,' which is the injustice he had committed. That is, the good deed is made to replace the evil one, like the magicians who believed after that in Moses, blessings and peace be upon him. Indeed, I will forgive him in such a way that it is as if he had not committed it at all. And I will have mercy on him with what I bestow upon him from the garments of honor that accompany safety and dignity, even if he had experienced a type of fear before that. Then he explained that forgiveness and mercy are two attributes of His that are established. He said: 'Indeed, I' [meaning: I will have mercy on him because I] 'am Forgiving,' meaning: it is My nature to erase sins in a way that removes all traces of them. 'Merciful' I treat the repentant from them with the treatment of the all-compassionate, profound mercy, according to what his situation necessitates from honor. So I remove the trace of what he had fallen into that necessitated fear, which is the injustice.

Explore Other Scholars on This Verse

Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah An-Naml verse 11

Al-Biqa'iBurhān ad-Dīn Ibrāhīm al-Biqāʿī
Learn more about Al-Biqa'i
3121 / 6181