An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 110 of 176

An-Nisa 4:110

وَمَن يَعْمَلْ سُوٓءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُۥ ثُمَّ يَسْتَغْفِرِ ٱللَّهَ يَجِدِ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا

“And whoever does a wrong or wrongs himself but then seeks forgiveness of Allāh will find Allāh Forgiving and Merciful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Whatever wrong you have done to others or to yourself, turn and ask, and you will find Allah already there, forgiving and merciful.

A reflection

He was never the one who was lost

Thumma yastaghfiri Allāha yajidi Allāha ghafūran raḥīmā: then he seeks Allah's forgiveness, and he will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful.

The verb is yajid, he will find. Its root has a desert picture. The Arabs said wajadtu al-ḍālla: I found the stray camel. Finding, in this language, is the end of a search for something that was lost.

But notice who is lost in this ayah. It is not Allah. He is simply there, forgiving and merciful, exactly where He always was. The one who wandered off is the one who sinned. Finding Him is coming back.

That is a blow to the ego. Pride likes to imagine that reconciliation with Allah is a negotiation between equals. It imagines bringing a case or proving a record. The ayah says something simpler and more humbling. You do not have to win Him over. You only have to come back to where He is.

A sceptic might ask whether Allah enjoys being sought, like a ruler who wants petitioners at his gate. But the asking is not for Him. He is the Free of need (35:15). The search is the sinner's way home.

Picture a young mechanic who walked out of his uncle's garage after a row. For a year he is too ashamed to go back. One Monday at eight he finally walks in, ready with a long apology. His overalls are still on the hook, with his name stitched on the pocket. His uncle hands him a spanner and says: the van in bay two.

One lexicon notes that when the Quran says Allah 'finds', it means He knows; nothing is ever lost to Him. When we find Him, it means we have arrived.

So stop waiting to feel worthy of coming back. Walk in. He is there.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.