يَغفِر لَكُم مِن ذُنوبِكُم وَيُؤَخِّركُم إِلىٰ أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى ۚ إِنَّ أَجَلَ اللَّهِ إِذا جاءَ لا يُؤَخَّرُ ۖ لَو كُنتُم تَعلَمونَ

That He may forgive you some of your sins and respite you until a specified time. Indeed when Allah’s [appointed] time comes, it cannot be deferred, should you know.’

EXEGESIS

Yaghfir lakum (that He may forgive you) can also be read as: He will forgive you. It is derived from the root verb ghafara, which means to cover, conceal, or hide, such as when one hides one’s white hair with dye^{‎[1]Lane, gh-f-r.} or conceals goods in a bag.^{‎[2]Lane, gh-f-r.} Ghafr is a cover or veil, hence it is said that paradise has a mighfar (canopy) over it to shade its inhabitants.^{‎[3]Hairi, 11/255} Rāghib defines ghafara as the act of clothing and covering up what needs to be safeguarded from dirt and filth, like when it is said, ‘conceal (ighfir) your garment in a receptacle’,^{‎[4]Raghib, gh-f-r.} or ‘dye your clothes dark for that is more concealing (aghfaru) of dirt’.^{‎[5]Lane, gh-f-r; Raghib, gh-f-r.}

And, therefore, the seeking of ghufrān or maghfirah from God, usually called istighfār, is the act of a servant asking for the concealment of his sins and a safeguarding from being touched by punishment.^{‎[6]Raghib, gh-f-r.} This is what is intended in all verses such as: Your forgiveness (ghufrānaka) our Lord! (2:285), And hasten toward forgiveness (maghfirah) from your Lord (3:133), and who forgives (yaghfiru) sins except Allah? (3:135). Also, istighfār is distinguished from tawbah (repentance, literally ‘to turn back’) – another very common Quranic term – as being a preamble and prerequisite to the latter. For more on tawbah see 2:37.

The words yuakhkhirkum (He will respite you) and lā yuakhkhar (cannot be deferred), are from akhkhara, which is to put off or delay something. So the words and respite you (yuakhkhirkum) until a specified time means: He will not send the painful punishment^{‎[7]Ibn Abbas, p. 617.} that I warn you about and will allow you to live your lives until a specified time. God clarifies that He is not oblivious of what the wrongdoers commit but He is only granting them respite (yuakhkhiruhum) (14:42) until the Day of Judgement and, ironically, when the punishment will overtake them, whereat the wrongdoers will say: ‘Our Lord! Respite us (akhkhirnā) for a brief while so that we may respond to Your call and follow the apostles’ (14:44). Some exegetes see the pleading for respite by the wrongdoers as proof that the punishment in 14:44 (and other verses) refers to chastisement in this world,^{‎[8]Qarai, footnote to 14:44.} but other Quranic verses support the interpretation that the wrongdoers will also plead to be sent back to the world for a second chance when they sight the punishment in the hereafter (32:12). Regardless, Prophet Noah (a) appears to be appealing to his people to seek God’s forgiveness and take advantage of the resulting respite (taʾkhīr) before it is too late, when they will plead God for the same but to no avail.

Ajal (pl. ājāl) is a specified period or duration for something’s expiry, such as a contract (2:282). With the meaning of appointed time, it has also come to be a euphemism for death. Expressions such as danā ajaluhu (his ajal has neared) are understood to mean: he is on his deathbed.^{‎[9]Raghib, ʾ-j-l.} This meaning was quite likely derived from verses such as: and we completed our term (ajalanā) which You had appointed (ajjalta) for us (6:128), and even for the death of nations: There is a [preordained] time for every nation: when their time (ajal) comes, they shall not defer it by a single hour nor shall they advance it (7:34; see also 10:49, 15:4-5, 16:61, and 23:43).

Musamma literally means named, called, or by name of,^{‎[10] Hans Wehr, s-m-y.} and carries the meaning of designation, or that which is specified, definite, and certain: But He respites them until a specified time (ajalin musamma) (16:61). See also 6:2, 14:10, and 35:45.

Ajal musamma (a specified time) is understood by exegetes as the fixed, preordained time (ajal maḥtūm) decreed by God for a soul (or even nation – 18:58-59, 20:129, 35:45, 42:14) to die. It is unchanging and known only to God. Hence, in this verse, it is also called Allah’s [appointed] time (ajal allāh).

So there is a hierarchy of ontological matters and their manifestation in which there is a term of life (ajal) that can alter (and possibly be known by some) and then there is the specified term (ajal musamma) that is ordained in the ‘book’ of God and never alters. Put differently, many exegetes, including Tabatabai, believe that a person’s life may lengthen or shorten based on certain acts including maintaining family ties, charity, and supplications, or lack thereof. But theologically speaking, it would be impossible for God’s knowledge to change and for Him not to know when a life will end. The provision of lengthening or shortening one’s life allows for free will but the ultimate time of death confirms God’s unalterable knowledge of all matters.

And this is the meaning of: It is He who created you from clay, then ordained the term (ajal) [of your life] – and the specified term (ajal musamma) is with Him – and yet you are in doubt (6:2). The mention of ajal musamma occurs twenty-one times in the Quran. It is even used to refer to the final deadline for the repayment of debts (2:282) and, for the specified time (ajal musamma) that the heavens and the earth and all between them are created (30:8, 46:3).

It is in light of this understanding that other related verses are interpreted, including: Yet were it not for a specified time (ajal musamma), the punishment would have surely overtaken them (29:53), and, no soul may die except by Allah’s leave, at an appointed time (3:145).

EXPOSITION

In exchange for worship Allah and be wary of Him, and obey me in verse 3, Prophet Noah (a) promised his people two matters in this verse: first, that God would forgive them their idolatry and any other sins so that they would start their lives anew as people of faith and monotheism, and second, that He would grant them respite so that they would live their full lives until a specified time, enjoying God’s bounties that are promised in later verses (11-12).

Shawkānī relates from al-Farrāʾ that He may … respite you until a specified time means: ‘He will cause you to die a natural death, not by drowning, or fire, or in battle.’^{‎[11] Shawkani, 5/356.} Other prophets as well offered their communities a longer life if they repent (14:10), including the Apostle of God (11:3).

For more on the contingent versus unchangeable time (ajal), see the Exposition of 6:2.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. Imam al-Bāqir (a) said about the verse then ordained the term [of your life] – the specified term (ajal musamma) is with Him (6:2): ‘There are two terms, an unalterable term (ajal maḥtūm) and a suspended^{‎[12] Or ‘conditional’.} term (ajal mawqūf).’^{‎[13] Kafi, 1/147, h. 4.}
2. From Imam al-Ṣādiq (a): ‘Those who die of sins are more than those who die because of [their] specified time (ājāl); and those who live because of doing good (iḥsān) to others are more than those who live because of their [natural] age.’^{‎[14] Bihar, 5/140, h. 7.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

The verse ends with should you know. This could refer to exactly what is said just before this conclusion, meaning: when Allah’s [appointed] time comes, it cannot be deferred, if only you knew this or realised it. Tabatabai has suggested should you know means: ‘If you knew that God has two times of death, you would have listened to me.’ Or: ‘If you knew and were people of knowledge, you would have responded to my message.’^{‎[15] Mizan, 20/29.} And Mughniyyah believes it means: God is not heedless of what the wrongdoers do, should you know.^{‎[16] Kashif, 7/425.}

There is also much debate amongst exegetes as to what some of your sins means and why God would not promise them forgiveness for all sins. The Arabic particle min means ‘from’ and it is translated here as some only because ‘from your sins’ suggests ‘some’ and not all your sins. But one could also understand min as meaning ‘out of’ as a purging from or out of the burden of the sins, albeit with an elided word such as purge, purify, or take out. In other words, the verse could be read as: He will forgive you and purge you from your sins, all of it.

Exegetes such as Rāzī and Tabatabai have argued that the verse states some of your sins because God is only promising Prophet Noah’s (a) people redemption for their past but not guaranteeing that they are forgiven for what they may commit in the future.^{‎[17] Mizan, 20/27; Razi, 30/650.} They have taken such a meaning because of verses such as: Say to the faithless, if they relinquish [faithlessness], what is already past shall be forgiven them (8:38).

These exegetes may have held this opinion only to counter the false notion of some scholars that only the nation of Prophet Muhammad (s) is promised forgiveness of all sins. Tabatabai, for example, tells us: ‘Some have incorrectly said that while forgiveness for some sins is promised to the jinn (46:31) and all previous generations (14:10, 71:4), only the ummah of Muhammad (s) is promised forgiveness for all their sins (61:12), without any mention of some.’ He then refutes this idea of preferential treatment to one nation over others as false, arguing the only reason that 61:12 does not mention some sins is because it discusses those who have other qualities besides faith, such as waging jihad in the way of God with their possessions and persons (61:11).^{‎[18] Mizan, 20/27.}

But in reality, even this argument by Tabatabai is not very strong. This is because God has promised forgiveness for all sins, even more emphatically, in the verse: Indeed Allah will forgive all sins (39:53) and He has only required sincere repentance, without listing any virtues like those listed under 61:11.

The more correct interpretation of the verse therefore is, as stated earlier, that it denotes a promise for the forgiveness of all sins. Ibn Kathīr as well points out that the inclusion of the word min does not always mean ‘some’ or ‘a part of’ because it is common for Arabs to use phrases like qad kāna min maṭar (literally: ‘there was some rain’) though they mean to say ‘it rained’.^{‎[19] Ibn Kathir, 8/245.} So the min is used here either as a literary device to add eloquence to the statement or with the meaning of ‘(purging) from’. Suyūṭī as well reminds us that submission to God expunges everything of sin that was previously committed.^{‎[20] Jalalayn, p. 573.}

Such a use of the Arabic preposition min is also seen in verse 22:30: So avoid the filth (al-rijs) of idols (al-awthān), that is given in the Arabic original as al-rijs min al-awthān (literally: ‘the filth from the idols’)^{‎[21] Qushayrī, Laṭāʿif al-Ishārāt, 3/635.} with the preposition min acting as an enumerating particle to mean: avoid all filth, including (min) the filth of idols.

Makārim Shīrāzī has also said the argument that God is promising the forgiveness of past sins only but not future ones, and so on, is unnecessary and farfetched. Firstly because that would be obvious, and secondly, because there is no mention of future sins in the rest of the verses to support this interpretation.^{‎[22] Nemuneh, 25/58.}

[1] Lane, gh-f-r.
[2] Lane, gh-f-r.
[3] Hairi, 11/255
[4] Raghib, gh-f-r.
[5] Lane, gh-f-r; Raghib, gh-f-r.
[6] Raghib, gh-f-r.
[7] Ibn Abbas, p. 617.
[8] Qarai, footnote to 14:44.
[9] Raghib, ʾ-j-l.
[10] Hans Wehr, s-m-y.
[11] Shawkani, 5/356.
[12] Or ‘conditional’.
[13] Kafi, 1/147, h. 4.
[14] Bihar, 5/140, h. 7.
[15] Mizan, 20/29.
[16] Kashif, 7/425.
[17] Mizan, 20/27; Razi, 30/650.
[18] Mizan, 20/27.
[19] Ibn Kathir, 8/245.
[20] Jalalayn, p. 573.
[21] Qushayrī, Laṭāʿif al-Ishārāt, 3/635.
[22] Nemuneh, 25/58.