The 365 · Verses · Day 119 · Repentance
Allah forgives all sins. Do not despair. Ibn Masʿūd: 'the most-relief verse in the Quran.'
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 cites Ibn Masʿūd's famous evaluation: 'The verse in the Quran which brings the most relief is in Sūrat az-Zumar.' The verse's asbāb al-nuzūl: some idolators who had killed many people and committed grave sins came to the Prophet ﷺ: 'What you say is good, if only you could tell us that there is an expiation for what we have done.' Allah revealed Q 25:68-70 and this verse 39:53. Aspirational hadith from Ahmad 12184, classed ḥasan: 'By the One in whose hand is my soul, if you were to commit sin until your sins filled the space between heaven and earth, then you were to ask Allah for forgiveness, He would forgive you.' Ibn Kathir notes: 'Anyone who makes the servants of Allah despair of His mercy after this has rejected the Book of Allah.'
In the language
أَسْرَفُوا (asrafū) is from s-r-f, the root of excess. لَا تَقْنَطُوا (lā taqnaṭū) is the imperative form against qunūṭ. جَمِيعًا (jamīʿan, 'all together') is structurally important: the verse names the comprehensive scope. الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ (al-Ghafūr ar-Raḥīm) names the two divine attributes that justify the comprehensive forgiveness.
Why this verse
Q 39:53 is the believer's structural cure for the despair-cluster. The verse's grammar specifically counters despair: yā ʿibādī (My servants); alladhīna asrafū (those who transgressed); lā taqnaṭū (do not despair); innallāha yaghfir adh-dhunūba jamīʿan (the comprehensive scope, all sins). The verse names the comprehensive scope of forgiveness without exception (with the exception of unrepentant shirk).
Bring it into today
Identify any specific sin or sin-pattern that has been triggering despair in you or in someone you know. Recite this verse audibly. Make formal tawbah. The named outcome is comprehensive forgiveness. The verse does not say 'some sins'; it says 'all sins.' Trust the named scope.
A reflection to carry
The verse is the structural cure for the despair-cluster. Its operational use: when any sin or sin-pattern triggers despair-thoughts, recite this verse. The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith Imam Aḥmad recorded: 'By the One in whose hand is my soul, if you were to commit sin until your sins filled the space between heaven and earth, then you were to ask Allah for forgiveness, He would forgive you.' The hadith and the verse together: the divine mercy-architecture is structurally larger than any conceivable accumulation of sins.
Read the longer reflection
Ibn Kathir cites the comprehensive scope: Allah's mercy through this verse extends to those who claim that the Messiah is God, those who claim that the Messiah is the son of God, those who claim that ʿUzayr is the son of God, those who claim that Allah is poor, those who claim that the Hand of Allah is tied up, and those who say that Allah is the third of the Trinity. Allah says to all of these: 'Will they not turn in repentance to Allah and ask His forgiveness?' (Q 5:74.) The mercy-architecture is structurally inclusive: even those who said the worst possible things about Allah are invited to repentance and offered comprehensive forgiveness upon turning. Ibn ʿAbbās said: 'Anyone who makes the servants of Allah despair of His mercy after this has rejected the Book of Allah.'
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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