Surah An-Najm (53) — Ayah 32

(Ayah 32) ➊ { اَلَّذِيْنَ يَجْتَنِبُوْنَ كَبٰٓىِٕرَ الْاِثْمِ وَ الْفَوَاحِشَ …:} For its details, see the commentary of Surah Ash-Shura (37).
➋ The original meaning of { اِلَّا اللَّمَمَ: ’’اَلْإِلْمَامُ‘‘} and {’’اَللَّمَمُ‘‘} is "to stay at a place for a short while." {’’أَلَمَّ فُلَانٌ بِالْمَكَانِ‘‘} is when a person stays at a place for a short time. That is, the people who do good, whom Allah will reward with goodness, are those who avoid major sins and indecencies, but if at any time they commit a sin, they do not persist in it; rather, they immediately repent and leave it. Their pollution from sin is only for a short while. (See Nisa: 17, 18) Tabari has narrated with an authentic chain from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) that: "It refers to the person who commits an indecency and then repents." The meaning of {’’ اللَّمَمَ ‘‘} is also "to come near," {’’ أَلَمَّ بِالشَّيْءِ إِذَا قَارَبَهُ وَلَمْ يُخَالِطْهُ ‘‘} is when a person comes near to doing something, but does not actually do it. Therefore, most of the Salaf have taken {’’ اللَّمَمَ ‘‘} to mean minor sins. Thus, Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) said: "I have not seen anything more similar to {’’ اللَّمَمَ ‘‘} than what Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him), that he said: [ إِنَّ اللّٰهَ كَتَبَ عَلَی ابْنِ آدَمَ حَظَّهُ مِنَ الزِّنَا، أَدْرَكَ ذٰلِكَ لاَ مَحَالَةَ، فَزِنَا الْعَيْنِ النَّظَرُ وَ زِنَا اللِّسَانِ الْمَنْطِقُ وَالنَّفْسُ تَمَنّٰی وَتَشْتَهِيْ وَالْفَرْجُ يُصَدِّقُ ذٰلِكَ كُلَّهُ وَ يُكَذِّبُهُ ] [ بخاري، الاستئذان، باب زنا الجوارح دون الفرج : ۶۲۴۳ ] 'Allah has written for the son of Adam his share of adultery, which he will inevitably get. So the adultery of the eye is looking, and the adultery of the tongue is speaking, and the soul desires and wishes, and the private part either confirms all that or denies it.'" For more, see the commentary of Surah An-Nisa (31).
➌ Among the attributes of Allah Almighty, after mentioning { اِنَّ رَبَّكَ وَاسِعُ الْمَغْفِرَةِ:} and {’’رَبٌّ‘‘}, it is said that your Lord is vast in forgiveness, meaning that as a result of His Lordship, He covers the sins of His servants and forgives them. Otherwise, if He were to seize for every small and big sin, He would not leave a single soul alive on earth. His forgiveness is so vast that He forgives every sin of those who repent, even disbelief and polytheism, and He forgives whatever He wills, except for disbelief and polytheism, even without repentance.
➍ { هُوَ اَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ اِذْ اَنْشَاَكُمْ مِّنَ الْاَرْضِ …:’’ اَجِنَّةٌ ‘‘ ’’جَنِيْنٌ‘‘} is the plural of 'janin', referring to a child as long as it remains in the mother's womb, because it is hidden there. That is, the vastness of His forgiveness is due to the vastness of His knowledge; He knows you even better than you know yourselves. He knows your state even when you were not capable of knowing anything. Thus, He knows your state when He created you from the earth and also when you were in the state of a fetus in your mothers' wombs. He knows well your weakness and your inclination towards sin, so He forgives minor sins just like that.
➎ {فَلَا تُزَكُّوْۤا اَنْفُسَكُمْ هُوَ اَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اتَّقٰى:} Therefore, if you are granted the ability to do any good deed, neither be proud of it nor declare yourselves pure. Always look at your beginning and also at your end, because only Allah Almighty knows whether your end will be good or bad. He alone knows who the true righteous are, whose end will be upon piety. So when you do not even know your own end, how can you claim to be pure? For more details, see the commentary of Surah An-Nisa, verse (49).
➏ The most blatant opposition to this command has been made by some Sufi individuals. The clear proof of this is their belief in "Wahdat al-Wujud" (Unity of Existence). How can a person who was made from dead earth, then nurtured in the three darknesses of the womb with impure blood, and who came into existence after passing twice through the urinary tracts, who does not even know his own end—whether it is Paradise or Hell—how does he not feel ashamed to claim divinity? These people have hidden the Pharaoh-like arrogance of their {’’ اَنَا رَبُّكُمُ الْاَعْلٰي ‘‘} under the veil of asceticism and sanctity. Among them, someone says: {’’سُبْحَانِيْ مَا أَعْظَمَ شَأْنِيْ‘‘} "I am pure, how great is my status." Another says: {’’مُلْكِيْ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ مُلْكِ اللّٰهِ‘‘} "My kingdom is greater than Allah's kingdom." Another says: "I wish to extinguish Hell and burn Paradise." In short, the boasting and absurd talk these people do along with their claims of purity, you will hardly find anywhere else.