An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 16 of 176

An-Nisa 4:16

وَٱلَّذَانِ يَأْتِيَـٰنِهَا مِنكُمْ فَـَٔاذُوهُمَا ۖ فَإِن تَابَا وَأَصْلَحَا فَأَعْرِضُوا۟ عَنْهُمَآ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا

“And the two[171] who commit it [i.e., unlawful sexual intercourse] among you - punish [i.e., dishonor] them both. But if they repent and correct themselves, leave them alone. Indeed, Allāh is ever Accepting of Repentance and Merciful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

A consequence is set, but built to stop: once two people turn back and repair their lives, leave them be, for Allah keeps returning.

A reflection

Too proud to be forgiven

A man has not prayed in three years. He tells a friend why. After what I did, standing on a prayer mat would make me a hypocrite. He says it as if it were humility.

The ayah ends with two names: tawwāb, raḥīm. One great early commentator explains the first in a sentence worth keeping. Allah has never ceased returning to His servants with what they love, whenever they return to what He loves. Another adds that the form is intensive. He does not accept repentance once, grudgingly. He keeps on accepting it.

And the verb before the names is kāna: 'Allah has ever been' returning. This is not a mood He might be in on a good day. It is what He has always been.

Now look again at the man who will not pray. He thinks he is being humble. But there is a quiet pride in his despair. He has decided that his sin is larger than Allah's returning. He has made himself the one exception to a Lord who has ever been tawwāb.

The ego works in two directions. It can puff a person up until they think they need no forgiveness. Or it can inflate a single failure until it seems bigger than the Forgiver. Both put the self at the centre. Both shrink in front of these two names.

Does Allah need to be called the Ever-Returning? He needs nothing from anyone (35:15). The name is not for His benefit. It is a door left open for the one standing outside it.

The man's first step is not to feel worthy. It is to walk to the mat unworthy, and let the One who returns do the returning.

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.