(31–32) “To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth, so that He may requite those who commit evil for what they have done and reward those who do good with the finest reward—those who avoid major sins and shameful deeds, apart from minor lapses. Surely your Lord is vast in forgiveness. He knew you best when He brought you forth from the earth and when you were fetuses in your mothers’ wombs. So do not claim purity for yourselves; He knows best who is mindful of Him.”
Allah, Exalted is He, informs us that He is the Sovereign of all dominion, alone possessing this world and the Hereafter, and that all who are in the heavens and on earth belong to Allah. He disposes of them as a mighty king disposes of his servants and subjects. His decree takes effect among them, His law applies to them, and He commands and forbids them. He recompenses them in relation to what He commanded them to do and forbade [them] from doing: He rewards the obedient and punishes the disobedient. Thus, He requites those who commit evil—sins ranging from disbelief to lesser offenses—for the evil deeds they have committed, with grievous punishment (1).
“And reward those who do good”—who excel in worshipping Allah, Exalted is He, and do good to Allah’s creation through all manner of benefits—“with the finest reward”; that is, with the finest state in this world and the Hereafter. The greatest and most glorious of this is their Lord’s pleasure and the attainment of the bliss of Paradise (2).
He then described them, saying: “Those who avoid major sins and shameful deeds.” That is, they fulfill the obligations Allah has commanded them to perform, the abandonment of which constitutes major sin, and they refrain from grave prohibitions such as adultery, drinking wine, consuming usury, murder, and other such grievous sins. “Apart from minor lapses”: these are minor sins in which a person does not persist, or which a servant commits occasionally, from time to time, but only rarely and infrequently. Merely committing such sins does not exclude the servant from being among those who do good. When accompanied by the fulfillment of obligations and avoidance of prohibitions, they fall within Allah’s forgiveness, which encompasses all things. He therefore says: “Surely your Lord is vast in forgiveness.” Were it not for His forgiveness, lands and people would perish; and were it not for His pardon and forbearance, the sky would fall upon the earth and not a single creature would be left upon its surface. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, therefore said: “The five daily prayers, one Friday prayer to the next, and one Ramadan to the next expiate the sins committed between them, provided that major sins are avoided.”
[And His words:] “He knew you best when He brought you forth from the earth and when you were fetuses in your mothers’ wombs” mean that He, Exalted is He, knows all your circumstances and the weakness and frailty with which He created your nature, making you fall short in much of what Allah commanded you to do. He also knows the many impulses toward some (3) forbidden acts, the many attractions drawing you to them, and the absence of strong deterrents. This weakness was visibly present in you when Allah brought you forth (4) from the earth and when you were in your mothers’ wombs, and it has never ceased to be present within you. Although Allah, Exalted is He, has granted you the strength to carry out His commands, weakness nevertheless remains.
Because He, Exalted is He, knows these circumstances of yours, divine wisdom and lordly generosity fittingly entail that He enfold you in His mercy, forgiveness, and pardon, immerse you in His kindness, and remove your offenses and sins from you. This is especially so when the servant seeks his Lord’s pleasure at all times, strives during most of his moments to do what draws him nearer to Him, and flees from the sins that would make him detestable to his Master, but then suffers an occasional lapse. Allah, Exalted is He, is the Most Generous of the generous and the Most Merciful of the merciful (5), more merciful to His servants than a mother is to her child. Such a person will surely be near his Lord’s forgiveness, and Allah will answer him in every circumstance. He therefore says: “So do not claim purity for yourselves”; that is, do not tell people of your purity by way of self-praise (6).