The 365 · Verses · Day 44 · Repentance
The most relief-bringing verse in the Quran. He calls them 'My servants' before they have even repented.
Qur'an Q 39:53
۞ قُلْ يَـٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
“Say, '[God says], My servants who have harmed yourselves by your own excess, do not despair of God's mercy. God forgives all sins: He is truly the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.' (Abdel Haleem)”
Svenska: SÄG [Muhammad] till Mina tjänare: 'Om ni har gjort orätt mot er själva genom att överträda [Mina bud], misströsta då inte om Guds nåd. Gud förlåter alla synder; Han är Den som ständigt förlåter, Den som ständigt visar barmhärtighet!' (Knut Bernström)
The story
Ibn Kathir reports the sabab al-nuzūl directly: a group of mushrikūn in Makkah who had killed many and committed zinā came to the Prophet ﷺ saying, 'What you call us to is good, if only there were a way to expiate what we have already done.' Allah revealed two parallel passages: 25:68-70 (repentance and Allah replacing evil with good) and this verse, 39:53. Ibn Masʿūd called this 'the most relief-bringing ayah in the Quran.' Imam Aḥmad records Asmā' bint Yazīd hearing the Prophet ﷺ recite this verse with an additional clause: 'Allah forgives all sins, and He does not reckon (wa lā yubālī).' A second ḥadīth in Aḥmad: 'By the One in whose hand is my soul, if your sins filled what is between the heavens and the earth and you asked Allah for forgiveness, He would forgive you.'
In the language
The verse opens with the rare construct يَا عِبَادِيَ (yā ʿibādiya, 'O My servants') with the possessive yā'. The mushrikūn who came to ask were not yet fully Muslim. Allah still calls them 'My servants.' أَسْرَفُوا (asrafū, 'transgressed/exceeded') is from the root س-ر-ف, meaning to go past a limit. لَا تَقْنَطُوا (lā taqnaṭū) is 'do not despair,' a stronger word than ya'isa; it implies cutting off hope completely. The closing seal stacks two intensified divine names: الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.
Why this verse
Day 44 opens the Repentance theme with what Ibn Masʿūd called the most relief-bringing ayah in the Quran. The verse was revealed for mushrikūn who had killed and committed zinā and asked if there was a way back. Allah called them 'My servants' before they had even repented, and forbade despair before granting forgiveness.
Bring it into today
Memorize 39:53 in Arabic this week. Recite it when you encounter someone (a friend, a relative, a stranger online) who is ashamed of their past. Recite it to yourself when the past returns to you in the quiet of the night.
A reflection to carry
Ibn Kathir's reading of this verse is direct: it was sent down for the people who thought they had used up the door. Mushrikūn who had murdered, committed zinā, denied Allah for years, came asking if there was a way back, and the verse is Allah's answer. He calls them 'My servants' before they have even fully repented. He tells them not to despair before they have asked for hope. He guarantees forgiveness for all sins, then signs the guarantee with two of His names. There is no qualifying clause, no asterisk. Read this verse the next time the inner voice says 'you are too late.' It is wrong. The verse is right.
Read the longer reflection
There is an order in this ayah that is worth slowing down to see. First the address: 'My servants.' Before naming the sin, before issuing the command, before promising forgiveness, Allah claims them. They are still His. The relationship is not severed by the transgression; the transgression is severed by the relationship. Then the diagnosis: 'those who have transgressed against themselves.' Not transgressed against Me, but against themselves. Sin in this ayah is named as self-harm, not as offence to a divine ego. Then the command: لَا تَقْنَطُوا, do not despair. Despair is the additional sin that closes the door the previous sins did not actually close. To despair is to disbelieve in His mercy, and disbelief in His mercy is what makes a sin permanent. The verse forbids that despair. Then the promise: He forgives all sins. Not most. Not the small ones. All. Then the seal: He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. Two of His names, side by side, as if He is signing the document. Ibn Masʿūd called this the most relief-bringing ayah in the Quran. He was right.
Sources: Ibn Kathir. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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