Al-Qur'an Surah Ghafir Verse 3

Mufti Taqi Usmani

the One who forgives sins and accepts repentance, the One who is severe in punishment, the One who is the source of all power. There is no god but He. To Him is the ultimate return (of all).

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

the Forgiver of sin and Accepter of repentance, the Severe in punishment, and Infinite in bounty. There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him. To Him ˹alone˺  is the final return.

Ruwwad Translation Center

the Forgiver of sin and Accepter of repentance, the Severe in punishment and Infinite in bounty. None has the right to be worshiped except Him. To Him is the final return.

A. J. Arberry

Forgiver of sins, Accepter of penitence, Terrible in retribution, the Bountiful; there is no god but He, and unto Him is the homecoming.

Abdul Haleem

Forgiver of sins and Accepter of repentance, severe in punishment, infinite in bounty. There is no god but Him; to Him is the ultimate return.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Forgiver of sin, and Acceptor of repentance severe in chastisement, Lord of Power. There is no god but He; unto Him is the journeying.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Who forgiveth sin, accepteth repentance, is strict in punishment, and hath a long reach (in all things). there is no god but He; to Him is the final goal.

Abul Ala Maududi

the Forgiver of sins, the Accepter of repentance, the Stern in retribution, the Bountiful. There is no god but He. To Him are all destined to return.

Ahmed Ali

Forgiver of trespasses, acceptor of repentance, severe of retribution, lord of power. There is no god but He. Towards Him is your destination.

Ahmed Raza Khan

The Forgiver of sin, and the Most Acceptor of Repentance, the Severe in Punishing, the Greatly Rewarding; there is no God except Him; towards Him only is the return.

Ali Quli Qarai

forgiver of sins and acceptor of repentance, severe in retribution, [yet] all-bountiful; there is no god except Him, [and] toward Him is the destination.

Ali Ünal

The Forgiver of sins and the Accepter of repentance, and yet severe in retribution, and limitless in His bounty. There is no deity but He. To Him is the homecoming.

Amatul Rahman Omar

Granter of protection against all sins and Acceptor of repentance, Severe in respect of punishment and the Lord of beneficence. There is no other, cannot be and will never be One worthy of worship but He. Towards Him is the eventual return.

English Literal

The crime`s forgiver, and the repentances` acceptor, strong (severe in) the punishment, (owner) of the wealth/might , (there is) no God except Him, to Him (is) the end/destination.

Faridul Haque

The Forgiver of sin, and the Most Acceptor of Repentance, the Severe in Punishing, the Greatly Rewarding; there is no God except Him; towards Him only is the return.

Hamid S. Aziz

The Forgiver of the faults and the Acceptor of repentance, Severe in punishment, Who has a Long Reach; there is no God but He; to Him is the journeying (the Final Goal).

Hilali & Khan

The Forgiver of sin, the Acceptor of repentance, the Severe in punishment, the Bestower (of favours), La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), to Him is the final return.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Mighty, the Knowing,

Mohammad Habib Shakir

The Forgiver of the faults and the Acceptor of repentance, Severe to punish, Lord of bounty; there is no god but He; to Him is the eventual coming.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

The Forgiver of sin, the Accepter of repentance, the Stern in punishment, the Bountiful. There is no Allah save Him. Unto Him is the journeying.

Muhammad Sarwar

who forgives sins, who accepts repentance, whose punishment is severe, and whose bounty is universal. He is the only Lord and to Him all things proceed.

Qaribullah & Darwish

The Forgiver of sins and the Acceptor of repentance. Stern in retribution, the Bountiful, there is no god except He and to Him is the arrival.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

The Forgiver of sin, the Acceptor of repentance, the Severe in punishment, the Bestower. La ilaha illa Huwa, to Him is the final return.

Wahiduddin Khan

The Forgiver of sin and the Accepter of repentance, who is severe in punishment and Infinite in His Bounty. There is no God but Him. All shall return to Him.

Talal Itani

Forgiver of sins, Accepter of repentance, Severe in punishment, Bountiful in bounty. There is no god but He. To Him is the ultimate return.

Tafsir jalalayn

Forgiver of sins, for believers, and Accepter of repentance, from them (al-tawb is the verbal noun), Severe in punishment, of disbelievers -- in other words, One Who makes it severe for them -- One of [abundant] bounty, bestower of abundant grace -- God is eternally possessed of all of these attributes, and so the annexation construction using the derivatives [of these attributes] is for the purposes of characterisation, as in the case of the last. There is no god except Him; to Him is the journeying, the [ultimate] return.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

غَافِرِ الذَّنبِ وَقَابِلِ التَّوْبِ

The Forgiver of sin, the Acceptor of repentance,

means, He forgives sins that have been committed in the past, and He accepts repentance for sins that may be committed in the future, from the one who repents and submits to Him.

شَدِيدِ الْعِقَابِ

the Severe in punishment,

means, to the one who persists in transgression and prefers the life of this world, who stubbornly turns away from the commands of Allah and commits sin.

This is like the Ayah;

نَبِّىءْ عِبَادِى أَنِّى أَنَا الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

وَأَنَّ عَذَابِى هُوَ الْعَذَابُ الاٌّلِيمُ

Declare unto My servants that truly I am the Oft-Forgiving, the Most-Merciful. And that My torment is indeed the most painful torment. (15;49-50)

These two attributes (mercy and punishment) are often mentioned together in the Qur'an, so that people will remain in a state of both hope and fear.

ذِي الطَّوْلِ

the Bestower.

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said,

"This means He is Generous and Rich (Independent of means)."

The meaning is that He is Most Generous to His servants, granting ongoing blessings for which they can never sufficiently thank Him.

وَإِن تَعُدُّواْ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا

And if you would count the favors of Allah, never could you be able to count them... (16;18)

لَاا إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ
La ilaha illa Huwa,

means, there is none that is equal to Him in all His attributes; there is no God or Lord besides Him.

إِلَيْهِ الْمَصِيرُ



to Him is the final return.

means, all things will come back to Him and He will reward or punish each person according to his deeds.

وَهُوَ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ

and He is Swift at reckoning. (13;41)