Tafsir for verse: 7:199
خُذِ ٱلۡعَفۡوَ وَأۡمُرۡ بِٱلۡعُرۡفِ وَأَعۡرِضۡ عَنِ ٱلۡجَٰهِلِينَ ١٩٩ ﴿199
199(O Prophet,) take forgiveness (as your habit), enjoin virtue, and ignore the ignorant.
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Commentary

Al-'afw is the opposite of effort: that is, take what is easy for you from the actions and morals of people and what comes from them. Make it easy without hardship, do not confront them, and do not demand from them effort that is difficult for them, so that they do not turn away. As he said, blessings and peace be upon him, "Make things easy and do not make them difficult." It is reported that: "Take the easy from me, and you will maintain my love... and do not speak in my face when I am angry." It has been explained in detail in the first part, page 362, so refer to it if you wish, the corrector noted. It is said: take the good and easy from their charity, and that was before the verse of zakat was revealed. When it was revealed, it was commanded to take it from them willingly or unwillingly. Al-'urf is the known and beautiful actions. And turn away from the ignorant and do not respond to the foolish with their foolishness, and do not argue with them, and be patient with them, and overlook what bothers you from them. It is said: When the verse was revealed, Gabriel asked, saying: I do not know until I ask. This was narrated by al-Tabari through the chain of Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah from Abu al-Muradi, who said: When Allah revealed it, he mentioned it, and this is an interrupted narration. It was also narrated by Ibn Mardawayh connected from the hadith of Jabir and from the hadith of Qais ibn Sa'd, and it added at the beginning: "When the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, looked at Hamzah, he said: By Allah, I will take revenge on seventy of them. Then Gabriel came with this verse, and he mentioned the hadith." In Musnad Ahmad, from 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir, it is reported that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to him: "O 'Uqbah, shall I not inform you of the best morals of the people of this world: to connect with those who cut you off, to give to those who withhold from you, and to pardon those who wrong you?" Al-Tayyibi was heedless and said in the original hadith: Ahmad narrated it from the hadith of 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir. Then he returned and said: O Muhammad, indeed your Lord has commanded you to connect with those who cut you off, to give to those who withhold from you, and to pardon those who wrong you. And from Ja'far al-Sadiq: Allah commanded His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, with noble morals, and there is no verse in the Qur'an that encompasses noble morals more than this one.

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