Al-Buruj · Makki · ayah 14 of 22

Al-Buruj 85:14

وَهُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلْوَدُودُ

“And He is the Forgiving, the Affectionate,”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Lord whose grip is severe names Himself next the Forgiving, the Loving: He covers the sin, then loves the one who returns.

A reflection

Severe, and then Loving

Read the last three ayat in one breath. Your Lord's grip is severe. It is He who begins and repeats. And He is the Forgiving, the Loving. The same 'He' holds all three. The Lord whose grip closes on tyrants is the Lord who covers and loves.

One classical commentator explains the order. The grip confirmed the threat; these names confirm the promise. He counts what follows, in this ayah and the next two, as five attributes of majesty and grandeur. The Forgiving, the Loving, the Lord of the Throne, the Glorious, the Doer of whatever He wills. Forgiveness and love are listed among the signs of greatness, not as exceptions to it.

That is not how the ego works. When we hold power and are wronged, we tend towards one of two things. We punish, or we 'forgive' and go cold.

A manager forgives an employee's costly mistake. There is no disciplinary, no raised voice. But from that day, nothing important crosses her desk. She has been pardoned and quietly exiled. Most of us have done some version of this, in an office, a family or a friendship. We call it forgiveness. It is really a file kept open.

The ayah pairs two names so that this can never be said of Allah. Al-Ghafūr is the One who covers the sin and shields the sinner, and does so abundantly; the pattern of the word is intensive. Al-Wadūd is the One who loves, and loves much. One classical scholar saw the point of the pair. A man may forgive someone who hurt him and still not love him. Allah forgives the one who turns back, and loves him as well.

Is it vanity for Allah to keep describing Himself? He needs nothing from our hearing it. 'If you disbelieve, you and everyone on earth together, Allah is Free of need, Praiseworthy' (14:8). The names are for the sinner lying awake, sure the door has shut. And they are a mirror for the rest of us. If the Lord of the Throne forgives and then loves, what is my pride protecting when I forgive and then withhold?

The full entry has 4 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.