Either he intends by his saying a group of righteous Muslims who have wronged themselves in some of their deeds, and their sins are overwhelmed by their good deeds, so He expiates them for them, meaning He removes the punishment of it by the reward of the good deeds and rewards them with the best of what they used to do. Or a group of polytheists who believed and did righteous deeds, so Allah, the Exalted, expiates their sins by removing the punishment for what they had previously done of disbelief and disobedience and rewards them with the best reward for their deeds in Islam. [Mahamud said: 'The intended meaning of these is one of two groups: either a group of Muslims whose sins are minor and overwhelmed by good deeds, or a group who believed and did righteous deeds after disbelief, for Islam wipes out what came before it.' Ahmad said: 'A wide stone from the mercy of Allah, the Exalted, based on his corrupt origin regarding the necessity of warning for the perpetrator of major sins without repentance, and he allowed the expiation of minor sins even if there was no repentance if they were overwhelmed by good deeds. Both origins are to be avoided, and Allah is the Grantor of success.']} }