His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Indeed, repentance is only for Allah for those who do evil in ignorance, then repent soon. Those are the ones to whom Allah will turn in mercy, and Allah is Knowing and Wise." "And repentance is not for those who commit sins until when death comes to one of them, he says, 'Indeed, I have repented now,' nor for those who die while they are disbelievers. Those are the ones We have prepared for them a painful punishment."

Indeed, it is restrictive, and this is the intent of the speaker by it always. It may coincide with a meaning that necessitates the mind to restrict, like His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Indeed, Allah is One God" [An-Nisa: 171]. And it may coincide with a meaning that does not necessitate the mind to restrict, like His saying: "Indeed, the brave is 'Antarah.'" Thus, the restriction remains in the intent of the praiser, and from that, every listener obtains the affirmation of this attribute for the described one with exaggeration.

And this verse necessitates looking into it that it is restrictive for repentance. It is in the terminology of Shari'ah: returning from evil to good. The limit of repentance is regret for a past action, as it is a disobedience to Allah, exalted and majestic is He. If the regret is regarding how that action harmed a body or property, it is not considered repentance. If that action is something this penitent can do in the future, then among the conditions of repentance is the determination to leave that action in the future. Otherwise, there is persistence, and there is no repentance with it. If that action is something he cannot do, like repenting from adultery and being punished as a result of that, then this does not require the condition of determination to leave. Repentance is obligatory upon the believers by the consensus of the Ummah, and the consensus is the evidence by which His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And repent to Allah all of you" [An-Nur: 31] is understood as obligatory. Repentance is valid from a sin while remaining upon another of a different type, contrary to the Mu'tazilah in their saying: One is not considered a repenter who remains upon a sin. Repentance is valid even if the penitent nullifies it in the second instance by returning to the sin, for the first repentance is an act of obedience that has passed and is valid. He needs after committing the sin another new repentance. And the faith of the disbeliever is not the same as his repentance; rather, his repentance is his regret for his past disbelief.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Upon Allah" contains an omission of a genitive, which is understood as: upon the grace of Allah and His mercy for His servants. This is similar to the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to Mu'adh ibn Jabal: "O Mu'adh, do you know what is the right of Allah upon the servants?" He said: "Allah and His Messenger know best." He said: "That they worship Him and do not associate anything with Him." Then he paused for a little while, then said: "O Mu'adh, do you know what is the right of the servants upon Allah?" He said: "Allah and His Messenger know best." He said: "That He admits them into Paradise."" All of this means: what is their right upon the grace of Allah and His mercy. The belief is that nothing is obligatory upon Allah, exalted is He, by reason, but His informing about things that He has made obligatory upon Himself necessitates the obligation of those things by hearing. Among that is the eternal punishment of the disbelievers in the Fire, and among that is the acceptance of the faith of the disbeliever. The acceptance of repentance is not obligatory upon Allah, exalted is He, by reason. As for the hearing, its apparent meaning is the acceptance of the repentance of the repentant. Abu al-Ma'ali and others said: These apparent meanings only provide a predominance of assumption, not certainty about Allah's acceptance of repentance.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Abu al-Ma'ali and others have been opposed in this meaning. If we assume a man who has repented with a sincere repentance that fulfills all conditions, then the saying of Abu al-Ma'ali is that it is predominant in assumption that his repentance is accepted. Others said: It is certain about Allah, exalted is He, that his repentance is accepted, as He has informed about Himself, the Mighty and Majestic.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: My father, may Allah have mercy on him, inclined towards this saying and preferred it, and with it I say, and Allah, exalted is He, is more merciful to His servants than to overlook this repentant person. This is the meaning of His saying, exalted is He: "And He is the One who accepts repentance from His servants" [Ash-Shura: 25] and His saying: "And indeed, I am the Most Forgiving to whoever repents and believes" [Ta-Ha: 82]. The evil in this verse encompasses disbelief and sins.

And His saying, exalted is He: "In ignorance" means: with foolishness and a lack of understanding that led to the sin. It does not mean that ignorance is that the act is a sin, because the one who deliberately commits sins would exit from repentance, and this is unanimously invalid. Regarding what I mentioned about ignorance, the companions of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said this, as reported by Abu al-Aliya from them. And Qatadah said: The companions of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, agreed that every sin is done in ignorance, whether it was deliberate or out of ignorance. Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Al-Suddi also said this. It has been narrated from Mujahid and Al-Dahhak that they said: Ignorance here means deliberate. And Ikrimah said: All matters of this world are ignorance.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: He means specifically those who are outside the obedience of Allah. This meaning, in my view, aligns with His saying, exalted is He: "Indeed, the worldly life is but play and amusement" [Muhammad: 36]. Some have interpreted Ikrimah's statement as referring to those who commit evil in this world.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is as if ignorance is a name for worldly life. This, in my view, is weak. It was said: "In ignorance," meaning: he does not know the essence of the punishment. This is also weak, as mentioned by Ibn Furak, and it was refuted.

And the interpreters differed in His saying, the Most High: "From near." Ibn Abbas and Al-Suddi said: The meaning of that is: before illness and death. Abu Mijlaz, Muhammad ibn Qais, Al-Dahhak, Ikrimah, Ibn Zayd, and others said: The meaning of that is: before the sighting of the angels and the driving, and that a person is overwhelmed by himself. Abu Qilabah narrated: "When Allah, the Most High, created Adam, Iblis saw him hollow, then what happened to him happened and he was cursed and given respite. He said: 'By Your might, I will not cease from his heart as long as there is spirit in him.' Allah, the Most High, said: 'By My might, I will not block repentance from him as long as there is spirit in him.'

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, mentioned the best times for repentance, and the majority specified its last time. Ibrahim Al-Nakha'i said: It was said: Repentance is open for any of you as long as he is not seized by his throat. Bashir ibn Ka'b and Al-Hasan narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Indeed, Allah, the Most High, accepts the repentance of the servant as long as he has not gargled and is overwhelmed by his mind."

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Because hope remains in it, and regret and determination to abandon the action in the future are valid from him. If he is overwhelmed, repentance becomes impossible due to the lack of regret and determination to abandon.

And His saying, the Most High: "From near" means: from near to the time of the sin. The duration of life is all near, and the one who hastens in health is better and more deserving of his hope than of righteous deeds. The farthest distance is death, and from it is the saying of Malik ibn Al-Raib:

......... ∗∗∗....... And where is the place of distance except in my place?

And His saying, the Most High: "And Allah is Knowing and Wise" means: He knows who repents and makes it easy for him to repent, and He is Wise in what He executes from that, and in delaying whom He delays until he perishes.

Then He negated by His saying, the Most High: "And repentance is not..." the verse that anyone who is at the time of his death and has entered the realm of despair should be included in the ruling of the repentants. The presence of death is like that of Pharaoh when he was in the depths of the water and drowning; what he manifested of faith did not benefit him. Ibn Abbas, Ibn Zayd, and a group of the interpreters said this.

And Al-Rabi' said: The first verse, His saying: "Indeed, repentance is upon Allah" is for the believers, and the second verse, His saying: "And repentance is not..." was revealed concerning the Muslims, then it was abrogated by His saying, the Most High: "Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be associated with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills" [An-Nisa: 48]. So He decreed that He would not forgive the disbeliever and deferred the believers to His will; He did not despair them of forgiveness.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

Some people have criticized this saying by claiming that the verse is a report, and reports cannot be abrogated. This is not necessary, because the wording of the verse is a report, and its meaning is the establishment of a legal ruling. It is similar to His saying, 'And if you disclose what is in yourselves or conceal it, Allah will bring you to account for it' [Al-Baqarah: 284] and similar to His saying, 'If there are twenty of you who are patient, they will overcome two hundred' [Al-Anfal: 65]. The argument for abrogation is weak in terms of the basis of these two verses, and there is no need to establish abrogation. This is because this verse does not negate that the sinner who has not repented recently may be forgiven. Thus, we need to say that His saying, 'And He forgives what is less than that' [An-Nisa: 48] has abrogated it. However, this verse negates that one can be a repenter who has not repented except at the time of death. My belief regarding these verses is that whoever repents recently has the ruling of a repenter, and it is likely that he will be granted ease and not punished. This is the view of Abu al-Ma'ali and others. Others have said that he is certainly forgiven, due to Allah's informing of that. Abu al-Ma'ali considers those reports to be conditional manifestations based on His will. Whoever does not repent until death approaches him is not in the ruling of the repenters. If he is a disbeliever, he will abide forever, and if he is a believer, he is a sinner in the will. However, fear will prevail over him, and the likelihood of his punishment will be strong. It is firmly established that among this category, there are those whom Allah forgives out of His grace and does not punish. Allah has also informed that those who die as disbelievers will have no opportunity for repentance in the Hereafter. His saying, 'Those are the ones for whom We have prepared a painful punishment' indicates that if the reference is only to those who die as disbelievers, then the punishment is eternal punishment. If the reference is to them and to those upon whom the warning is executed, among the sinners who do not repent except at the time of death, then for these, there is punishment without eternity with it. And 'We have prepared' means: We have made it easy and brought it forth. The apparent meaning of this verse is that the Fire is created afterward.