Someone may say to a person who has given to others, praised them, honoured them, or appointed them to office: “You forgot me and did not do for me what you did for so-and-so.” Yet that person may not have been heedless of him at all; rather, he remembered him but deliberately passed him over because he did not deserve such treatment. Likewise, someone who has punished another by imprisoning him or the like may be told: “You have forgotten so-and-so.” Yet the prisoner comes to his mind and he is aware of him; he simply does not mention him favourably as others do. Forgetting is the opposite of remembering, as Allah Most High says:

“Remember your Lord when you forget.” [al-Kahf 24]

When someone forgets, he may be reminded by being asked: “Do you remember such-and-such, or have you forgotten it?” The remembrance sought from another person is not mere remembrance, but favourable remembrance, whether by praising someone or showing him kindness. The word “mention” may also refer to speaking ill of someone and censuring him, as Allah Most High says:

“When those who disbelieve see you, they do nothing but ridicule you, saying, ‘Is this the one who speaks of your gods?’ Yet they themselves disbelieve in the mention of the Most Merciful.” (36) [al-Anbiyā’ 36]

That is, he speaks of their gods with blame and criticism. Yet, in “the mention of the Most Merciful”—the mention He deserves, namely praise and commendation—“they disbelieve.”