Surah Nuh 71:10
ﳃ ﳄ ﳅ ﳆ ﳇ ﳈ
And said, 'Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Indeed, He is ever a Perpetual Forgiver.
Tafsir of Nuh 71:10
Tafsir
Ruh al-Ma'ani
Verse range: 71:10
{فَقُلْتُ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ} By repenting from disbelief and acts of disobedience, for He—Glory be to Him—"does not forgive that partners be associated with Him." He said, "your Lord," to stimulate the motive for seeking forgiveness.
{إِنَّهُ كَانَ غَفَّارًا} Ever-forgiving, abundant in forgiveness for those who repent. It is as if they had offered excuses, saying, "If we were upon the truth, how could we abandon it? And if we were upon falsehood, how could He accept us and show us kindness—Exalted and Majestic is He—after we have devoted ourselves to it for a long age?" Thus, He commanded them to do that which would eradicate the sins that had preceded from them and bring benefits to them. For this reason, He promised them, upon seeking forgiveness, things that were more beloved to them and more impactful upon their hearts than matters of the Hereafter—namely, what is implied by "He will send [rain from] the sky upon you," etc. These things were dear to them because of the natural inclination they were created with toward worldly affairs.
The soul is infatuated with the love of the immediate.
Qatadah said: They were people who loved the world, so He invited them toward the Hereafter through the path they loved. It is also said that when they denied him—peace be upon him—after he had repeatedly called them, Allah the Almighty withheld the rain from them and made the wombs of their women barren for forty years, or as some say, seventy years. So He promised them that if they believed, Allah the Almighty would grant them abundance and avert from them the state they were in, which is His saying: