Al-Qur'an Surah Maryam Verse 47

Mufti Taqi Usmani

He said, “Peace on you. I shall seek forgiveness for you from my Lord. He has always been gracious to me.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Abraham responded, “Peace be upon you! I will pray to my Lord for your forgiveness. He has truly been Most Gracious to me.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Abraham said, “Peace be on you. I will seek my Lord’s forgiveness for you. Indeed, He is Most Gracious to me.

A. J. Arberry

He said, 'Peace be upon thee! I will ask my Lord to forgive thee; surely He is ever gracious to me.

Abdul Haleem

Abraham said, ‘Peace be with you: I will beg my Lord to forgive you- He is always gracious to me-

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Ibrahim said: peace be on thee! anon shall ask forgiveness of my Lord for thee; verily He is unto me ever so soicitous.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Abraham said; "Peace be on thee; I will pray to my Lord for thy forgiveness; for He is to me Most Gracious.

Abul Ala Maududi

Abraham answered: "Peace be upon you. I shall seek pardon for you from my Lord. My Lord has always been kind to Me.

Ahmed Ali

He answered: "Peace be on you. I will seek forgiveness of my Lord for you. He has been gracious to me.

Ahmed Raza Khan

He said, “Stop it – peace be upon you; I shall seek forgiveness for you from my Lord; indeed He is very kind to me.”

Ali Quli Qarai

He said, ‘Peace be to you! I shall plead with my Lord to forgive you. Indeed, He is gracious to me.

Ali Ünal

He said: "Peace be upon you! I will pray to my Lord to forgive you. Surely He has been ever gracious to me.

Amatul Rahman Omar

(Abraham) said (leaving him), `Peace be upon you. I will ask protection for you from my Lord. He is indeed gracious to me.

English Literal

He said: "Security/peace on you, I will ask for forgiveness for you (from) my Lord, that He truly (was) with me generous/blessing ."

Faridul Haque

He said, “Stop it - peace be upon you; I shall seek forgiveness for you from my Lord; indeed He is very kind to me.”

Hamid S. Aziz

Said he, "What! Do you reject (or hate) my gods, O Abraham? Verily, if you do not desist I will certainly stone you; but get you gone from me for a long time!"

Hilali & Khan

Ibrahim (Abraham) said: "Peace be on you! I will ask Forgiveness of my Lord for you. Verily! He is unto me, Ever Most Gracious.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

He said: Dislikest thou my gods, O Abraham? If thou desist not, I will certainly drive thee away. And leave me for a time.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

He said: Peace be on you, I will pray to my Lord to forgive you; surely He is ever Affectionate to me:

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

He said: Peace be unto thee! I shall ask forgiveness of my Lord for thee. Lo! He was ever gracious unto me.

Muhammad Sarwar

Abraham said, "Peace be with you. I shall ask my Lord to forgive you; He has been gracious to me.

Qaribullah & Darwish

'Peace be on you' he (Abraham) said, 'I shall call upon my Lord to forgive you, for to me He has been gracious.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Ibrahim said: "Peace be on you! I will ask forgiveness of my Lord for you. Verily, He is unto me Hafiyyan.

Wahiduddin Khan

Abraham replied, "Peace be on you: I will pray to my Lord for your forgiveness, He has indeed been gracious to me,

Talal Itani

He said, “Peace be upon you. I will ask my Lord to forgive you; He has been Kind to me.

Tafsir jalalayn

He said, `Peace be to you, from me -- in other words, I shall not cause you any harm. I shall ask forgiveness of my Lord for you. Truly He is ever gracious to me (hafiyyan, from hafiyyun, meaning brrun, `kind') answering my prayers. And indeed he [Abraham] fulfilled his above-mentioned promise [as described] in [srat] al-Shu`ar', And forgive my father [Q. 26;86]; but this was before it became clear to him that he [Abraham's father] was an enemy of God, as mentioned in [srat] Bar'a [Q. 9;114].

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

قَالَ

Ibrahim said;

With this, Ibrahim said to his father,

سَلَمٌ عَلَيْكَ

Peace be on you!

This is as Allah said concerning the description of the believers,

وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الجَـهِلُونَ قَالُواْ سَلَماً

and when the foolish address them (with bad words) they say, "Salaman (peace)." (25;63)

Allah also says,

وَإِذَا سَمِعُواْ اللَّغْوَ أَعْرَضُواْ عَنْهُ وَقَالُواْ لَنَأ أَعْمَـلُنَا وَلَكُمْ أَعْمَـلُكُمْ سَلَـمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ لَا نَبْتَغِى الْجَـهِلِينَ

And when they hear Al-Laghw (false speech), they withdraw from it and say;"To us our deeds, and to you your deeds. Peace be to you. We seek not (the way of) the ignorant." (28;55)

The meaning of Ibrahim's statement to his father,
سَلَمٌ عَلَيْكَ
(Peace be on you!),

"You will not receive any insult or harm from me."

This is due to the respect and honor of fatherhood.

سَأَسْتَغْفِرُ لَكَ رَبِّي

I will ask forgiveness of my Lord for you.

meaning "But, I will ask Allah to guide you and forgive you for your sin."

إِنَّهُ كَانَ بِي حَفِيًّا



Verily, He is unto me Hafiyya.

Ibn Abbas and others said that Hafiyyan means, "Kind."

Meaning, "since He guided me to worship Him and direct my religious devotion to Him alone."

As-Suddi said,

"Al-Hafi is One Who is concerned with his (Ibrahim's) affair."

Thus, Ibrahim sought forgiveness for his father for a very long time, even after he migrated to Ash-Sham. He continued to seek forgiveness for him even after building the Sacred Masjid (in Makkah) and after the birth of his two sons, Ismail and Ishaq.

This can be seen in his statement,

رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لِى وَلِوَالِدَىَّ وَلِلْمُوْمِنِينَ يَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْحِسَابُ

Our Lord! Forgive me and my parents, and (all) the believers on the Day when the reckoning will be established. (14;41)

From this tradition, during the beginning stages of Islam, the Muslims used to seek forgiveness for their relatives and their family members who were polytheists. They did this following the way of Ibrahim, the Khalil (Friend) of Allah, until Allah revealed,

قَدْ كَانَتْ لَكُمْ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ فِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ

إِذْ قَالُوا لِقَوْمِهِمْ إِنَّا بُرَاء مِنكُمْ وَمِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهٍِ

كَفَرْنَا بِكُمْ وَبَدَا بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمُ الْعَدَاوَةُ وَالْبَغْضَاء أَبَدًا حَتَّى تُوْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ

إِلاَّ قَوْلَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لاَِبِيهِ لَاَسْتَغْفِرَنَّ لَكَ وَمَا أَمْلِكُ لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِن شَيْء

Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibrahim and those with him, when they said to their people;

"Verily, we are free from you and whatever you worship besides Allah, we have rejected you, and there has started between us and you, hostility and hatred forever until you believe in Allah alone," --

except the saying of Ibrahim to his father;

"Verily, I will ask forgiveness for you, but I have no power to do anything for you before Allah." (60;4)

meaning, except for this statement, so do not follow it.

Then Allah explains that Ibrahim abandoned this statement and retracted it.

Allah, the Exalted, says,

مَا كَانَ لِلنَّبِيِّ وَالَّذِينَ امَنُواْ أَن يَسْتَغْفِرُواْ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَلَوْ كَانُواْ أُوْلِي قُرْبَى مِن بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُمْ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِ


وَمَا كَانَ اسْتِغْفَارُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لاَِبِيهِ إِلاَّ عَن مَّوْعِدَةٍ وَعَدَهَا إِيَّاهُ فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ أَنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ لِلّهِ تَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُ إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لاوَّاهٌ حَلِيمٌ


It is not (proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allah's forgiveness for the Mushrikin, even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to them that they are the dwellers of the Fire (because they died in a state of disbelief).

And Ibrahim's invoking (of Allah) for his father's forgiveness was only because of a promise he (Ibrahim) had made to him (his father). But when it became clear to him (Ibrahim) that he (his father) is an enemy of Allah, he dissociated himself from him. Verily, Ibrahim was Awwah and forbearing. (9;113-114)

Concerning Allah's statement