Al-‘Afuww (The Pardoner)
When sinners listen to this verse:
{For those it is expected that Allah will pardon them, and Allah is ever Pardoning, All- Forgiving}
[Surat an-Nisā’: 99],
they raise their hands in supplication to their Lord and stand humble and submissive at His door, seeking His protection and pardon. They call out: “O the Pardoner, the All -Forgiving, we have none but You to turn to.” Thereupon, the Generous and the Pardoner looks at their condition and knows their innermost thoughts, and He erases their sins and misdeeds and elevates their ranks.
Glory be to Allah, the Pardoner, the Forgiving!
If afflictions and hardships come your way and sins overburden you, call out His name and ask Him for pardon.
O Lord, no matter how great my sins are, I supplicate You as You have commanded me in humility; if only the doers of good seeks refuge in You!
then in who can the evildoer seek refuge? I know that Your pardon is far greater than my sins. If You turn down my supplication, then who would show mercy to me?
Allah Almighty says:
{...Indeed, Allah is Pardoning and Forgiving.}
[Surat al-Hajj: 60]
Our Lord, Exalted be He, frequently pardons His servants and forgives their sins to an infinite extent. In addition to forgiving sins, He also erases their traces altogether, thus, people will not be held accountable for them on the Day of Judgment, and He removes them from the records of the honorable scribes, i.e. the angels who write down good and bad deeds. More than that, He even causes those sinners to forget those sins so that they will not remember them and feel ashamed, replacing those evildeeds with good ones.
The Almighty Lord is ever Pardoning and Forgiving. Everyone is in need of His pardon, mercy, and bounty. He promises forgiveness and pardon to those who meet their requirements. Allah Almighty accepts pardon on the part of His servants and facilitates for them the duties they are obligated to perform, given the short coming and weakness they will necessarily show. For example, Allah ordained ablution for the performance of prayer. But if a person cannot find water for ablution, He pardons that and allows him to make dry ablution, considering his helplessness.
It was said that pardon is higher than forgiveness, for the former gives a feeling of elimination while the latter gives a sense of mere concealment. Elimination is more profound than concealment.
