Ghafir (The Forgiver)

41. [The believing man of the family of Pharaoh said:] “And O my people! How is it that I call you to salvation while you call me to Hellfire!

42. “You invite me to disbelieve in Allah and to associate partners in worship with Him of which I have no knowledge [whereas] I invite you to the Omnipotent, the Oft-Forgiving!

Repentance and turning away from polytheism and disbelief will be accepted by God Almighty; however such acceptance is not owing to inability and desperateness, but it signifies that God Almighty, the Omnipotence, is Oft-Forgiving.

In the fifth and the last stage, the believing man of the family of Pharaoh tore all veils asunder. He could not conceal his faith any longer and expressed what was due frankly and as it will be mentioned below, they made a perilous decision about him.

The contextual meaning of the Verses demonstrates that those vain and obdurate people were not silent before that faithful and valiant man but talked of polytheism and called him to embrace idolatry.

In reply, he cried:

“And O my people! How is it that I call you to salvation while you call me to Hellfire?”

In Verse 42, he said:

“You invite me to disbelieve in Allah and to associate partners in worship with Him of which I have no knowledge [whereas] I invite you to the Omnipotent, the Oft-Forgiving!”

Different Qur’anic Verses and the history of Egypt reveal that besides worshipping Pharaohs, they also worshipped many an idol, as it is reflected elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an:

“The chiefs of Pharaoh’s people said: ‘Will you leave Moses and his people to spread mischief in the land and to abandon you and your gods?’ He said: ‘We will slay their sons and let live their women and we have indeed irresistible power over them”1 .

Joseph (as) imprisoned at Pharaoh’s prison said unto his inmates:

“Are many different lords better or Allah, the One, the Irresistible?”2

In a crystal clear juxtaposition, the believing man of the family of Pharaoh reminded them that they call him to polytheism which is groundless and a dark and perilous path whereas he calls them to tread a manifest path, that of God Almighty, the Omnipotent, the Oft-Forgiving.

The Divine Most Beautiful Names, the Omnipotent and Oft-Forgiving make a reference to the Great Origin of fear and hope on the one hand and allude to the negation of the divinity of idols and Pharaohs lacking potency and forgiveness on the other.