فَقُلْتُ ٱسْتَغْفِرُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ غَفَّارًا 10
Translations
And said, 'Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Indeed, He is ever a Perpetual Forgiver.
Transliteration
Faqulta astaghfiroo rabbakum innahu kaana ghaffaara
Tafsir (Explanation)
Prophet Noah calls his people to seek forgiveness (istighfar) from their Lord, emphasizing that Allah is Al-Ghaffar (The Oft-Forgiving), possessing infinite capacity to pardon sins. Ibn Kathir notes this was Noah's primary message to his people—an invitation to repentance before divine punishment—and it reflects the universal divine attribute of forgiveness extended to all who genuinely turn back to Allah. This ayah illustrates that no sin is too great for Allah's mercy, provided sincere repentance is sought.
Revelation Context
This ayah occurs within Noah's account of his preaching to his people over 950 years. The surah contextualizes Noah's message as centered on tawhid (monotheism) and istighfar, the two fundamental pillars of prophetic call. This particular ayah exemplifies the core exhortation Noah repeatedly made before his people rejected him and were destroyed in the flood.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said, 'Whoever frequently seeks forgiveness, Allah will grant him relief from every distress and a way out from every hardship' (Sunan Abu Dawud 1521). Additionally, 'The best of supplications is seeking forgiveness' (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3571).
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that repentance is always accessible and that recognizing Allah's attribute of forgiveness should motivate believers to turn away from sin with hope rather than despair. Modern readers are reminded that no matter how distant one has strayed, sincere istighfar opens the door to reconciliation with the Divine.
Related Ayahs
إِنَّا نَطْمَعُ أَن يَغْفِرَ لَنَا رَبُّنَا خَطَـٰيَـٰنَآ أَن كُنَّآ أَوَّلَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
Indeed, we aspire that our Lord will forgive us our sins because we were the first of the believers."
فَأَكَلَا مِنْهَا فَبَدَتْ لَهُمَا سَوْءَٰتُهُمَا وَطَفِقَا يَخْصِفَانِ عَلَيْهِمَا مِن وَرَقِ ٱلْجَنَّةِ ۚ وَعَصَىٰٓ ءَادَمُ رَبَّهُۥ فَغَوَىٰ
And they [i.e., Adam and his wife] ate of it, and their private parts became apparent to them, and they began to fasten over themselves from the leaves of Paradise. And Adam disobeyed his Lord and erred.
إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فَرِيقٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِى يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ ءَامَنَّا فَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا وَٱرْحَمْنَا وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ ٱلرَّٰحِمِينَ
Indeed, there was a party of My servants who said, 'Our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us and have mercy upon us, and You are the best of the merciful.'
لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا۟ قَدْ كَفَرْتُم بَعْدَ إِيمَـٰنِكُمْ ۚ إِن نَّعْفُ عَن طَآئِفَةٍ مِّنكُمْ نُعَذِّبْ طَآئِفَةًۢ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ مُجْرِمِينَ
Make no excuse; you have disbelieved [i.e., rejected faith] after your belief. If We pardon one faction of you - We will punish another faction because they were criminals.