Tafsir of Al-Furqan 25:70

{Except for those who repent, believe, and do righteous deeds...} The exception of the believer indicates that kufr (disbelief) is considered in the one from whom the exception is made. It has been objected that the repetition of the negative particle "la" implies the negation of each of these actions individually—meaning they do not commit any of them—and thus, {And whoever does that} refers to whoever does any one of them, so that the object of the affirmation and the negation coincide, thereby offering no indication of combining [sins]. The exception [of the one who repents] combines faith, repentance, and righteous deeds, implying that the one from whom the exception is made did not combine these. Perhaps the answer is that the doubling [of punishment] refers to the punishment for anything less than what was mentioned.

This has been countered by saying that the aforementioned answer is not far-fetched, even if "anything less than it" was not explicitly mentioned. Furthermore, the objection holds no weight because the speech is a warning against the disbelievers; whoever among them does any of those things has joined his disobedience to his disbelief. If one does not observe this, then according to his chosen view, it would necessitate that whoever commits a major sin remains in the Fire forever, and its falsity in our view is not hidden. The claim regarding the unification of the object of affirmation and negation is not necessarily true. Moreover, there is an indication in the speech that the one from whom the exception is made is he who combined the opposites of these [virtues], as you have known. Hence, faith and righteous deeds were combined, even though deeds are conditioned upon faith; mentioning them serves to indicate their absence in the one from whom the exception is made. For this reason, repentance was mentioned before them; it is also possible that it was mentioned first because it represents clearing away [the previous state].

Some said: The intended meaning of the doubling is not the joining of two equal amounts of punishment, each being the measure the sin requires, but rather its necessary consequence, which is severity. It is as if it were said: "Whoever does that will be punished with a severe punishment," and that severe punishment is the recompense for each of those acts, being equivalent to it. The evidence for this figurative usage is the Almighty’s saying: {And whoever brings an evil deed will not be recompensed except with the like thereof}, and similar verses. Eternity (khulud) is intended as a long stay, which is valid for both eternal abiding and otherwise. It applies to the one who associated partners with Allah regarding the first instance, and to the one who committed one of the latter two major sins regarding the other instance. It is as you see. Similar to this is the claim that the doubling is to preserve what the sin requires, for a severe matter becomes trivial if it lasts.

This is [the interpretation], and the apparent meaning is that the exception is connected (muttasil), as is the original rule regarding it. Abu Hayyan said: The better view in my opinion is that it is disconnected (munqati'), meaning: "But whoever repents..." because the one from whom the exception is made—under the assumption of a connected exception—is judged to have his punishment doubled. Thus, the meaning would be: "Except for those who repent, believe, and do righteous deeds, for they shall not have their punishment doubled." This does not necessarily imply the absence of non-doubled punishment. However, the subsequent verse {Those...} serves as a guard to dispel the illusion that the core punishment exists, by conveying that they will not encounter it at all, in the most complete manner.

It has also been said in preference of the disconnected exception: The connected [exception], regardless of the suspicion that it implies the existence of the core punishment or even the suspicion of eternity, does not imply that the doubling of righteous deeds is a condition for negating eternity, while it is not the case. Then, what necessity calls for committing what contains such an illusion, only to then cling to the hem of "guarding" (ihtiras)? Moreover, the apparent [structure] is that "man" (whoever) is a subject (mubtada) and the clause joined with the "fa" is its predicate. It was joined with it because it acts as a predicate for a relative pronoun (mawsul), as in your saying: "The one who comes to me, he has a dirham." I am inclined toward what Abu Hayyan inclined to, for the combination of what was mentioned. The mention of the described one in His saying, the Exalted, {and do righteous deeds}—with "righteous" (salih) and "righteous deeds" (salihat) functioning as nouns—is for the sake of care and to explicitly state its difference from the previous deeds.

{Those...} is an indication of the relative pronoun, and it is in the plural form in consideration of its meaning, just as the singularity in the three verbs [in the previous verse] is in consideration of its wording; that is, those described with repentance, faith, and righteous deeds.

{Allah will replace their evil deeds with good deeds} in the world, by erasing the precedence of their sins through repentance and establishing in their place the consequence of their acts of obedience, as is indicated by the words of many of the predecessors. It is said: The meaning of evil and good deeds is their states (malaka) within themselves; meaning, the Almighty replaces the state of evil deeds and their impulses in the soul with the state of good deeds, by removing the former and bringing the latter. It is also said: This replacement is in the Hereafter, and the intended meaning of "evil deeds" and "good deeds" is punishment and reward, using a metaphor from the category of mentioning the cause while intending the effect. The meaning is that He, the Almighty, pardons their punishment and favors them, by His grace, with reward in its stead. This is the view of al-Qaffal and al-Qadi. From Sa’id ibn al-Musayyib, ‘Amr ibn Maymun, and Makhul, it is narrated that this is by the evil deeds themselves being erased on the Day of Resurrection from their book of deeds and good deeds being written in their place. They cite as evidence the hadith reported by Muslim in his Sahih from Abu Dharr, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said: 'Present to him his minor sins,' and the major ones will be diverted away from him. It will be said: 'You did on such-and-such a day, such-and-such,' and he acknowledges and does not deny, while he is fearful of the major sins. Then it will be said: 'Give him in place of every evil deed he did, a good deed.' He will say: 'I have sins I do not see here.'" He said: "And I saw the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) laugh until his molars appeared." Similar to this is what Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Mardawayh recorded from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "People will come on the Day of Resurrection who wish they had increased their evil deeds." It was said: "Who are they?" He said (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "Those whom Allah replaces their evil deeds with good deeds." This replacement is called the nobility of pardon. It is as if for this reason Abu Nuwas said: "Your palms are biting [in] remorse for what you left behind, fearing the sin, the joy."

Perhaps the intention is that his sins are forgiven, and he is given, in place of every sin, what is fit to be the reward of a good deed, as a favor and nobility from Him, the Almighty and Majestic—not that good deeds he did not do are written for him and he is rewarded for them. In the words of Abu al-‘Aliyah, there is that which is apparent in denying the wish to increase evil deeds. ‘Abd ibn Humayd recorded from him that it was said to him: "Some people claim that they wish they had increased their sins." He said: "And why is that?" It was said: "They interpret this verse: {Those... Allah replaces their evil deeds with good deeds}." When Abu al-‘Aliyah was told of what he did not know, he would say: "I believe in what Allah, the Almighty, has sent down in His Book." Then he would recite this verse: {The Day every soul will find what it has done of good present [before it] and what it has done of evil, it will wish that between itself and that [evil] was a great distance}. It is as if he thought that what he recited contradicts what they claimed of wishing. It is possible to say that what that verse [of the replacement] indicates occurs before the realization of the replacement. And Allah, the Almighty, knows best.