it is these people—“those whose bad deeds Allah will replace with good ones” (25:70). He guides them to what is good, so that (1) their very words and deeds, once inclined toward evil, are now transformed into acts of righteousness: their polytheism becomes faith, their disobedience becomes obedience. Even the sins they actually committed are, when followed by repentance, remorse, return, and renewed obedience, converted into good deeds, exactly as the verse declares. A corroborating report speaks of a man whom Allah held to account for certain sins, enumerated them for him, and then substituted every sin with a good deed… until the end of the ḥadith. (2)

Allah has always been All-Forgiving to those who repent, erasing all their sins, and All-Merciful to His servants: He summons them to repentance after they have brazenly committed grave offenses, then enables them to repent, and finally accepts that repentance from them.

“Whoever repents and does righteous deeds—he truly turns to Allah with an exemplary repentance” (25:71). In other words, let him realize that his repentance attains the highest perfection, for it is a return to the path that leads to Allah, the very essence of a servant’s happiness and success. He must therefore render it purely for Allah’s sake and purge it of every corrupt motive.

The whole point here is to urge one to perfect repentance, to make it as complete and exalted as possible, so that its splendid fruits may be attained.

“And those who do not bear witness to falsehood” (25:72)—meaning they do not attend gatherings of falsehood, whether it be unlawful speech or unlawful action. They avoid every assembly that includes any prohibited word or deed: disputing Allah’s verses with falsehood, futile argumentation, backbiting, talebearing, insults and accusations, mockery, drinking wine, unlawful singing, luxurious silk furnishings, images, and the like.