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wa-li-llāhi mulku s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍi yaghfiru li-man yashāʾu wa-yuʿadhdhibu man yashāʾu wa-kāna llāhu ghafūran raḥīman
To Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth: He forgives whomever He wishes, and punishes whomever He wishes, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Fath - Verse 14
14. And to Allah belongs the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. He forgives whom He wills [and deems it appropriate] and punishes whom He wills [and deems it befitting]. And Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
There are some instances when God Almighty says:
“Allah forgives whom He wills and chastises whom He wills.”
Taking into account Divine Justice and Wisdom, it may be said that man makes himself worthy of receiving Divine Forgiving and Mercy and at times he makes himself unworthy of such Divine Forgiving and Mercy and accrues Divine Wrath and torment. Divine Forgiving precedes His Chastisement which indicates that the former precedes the latter. The Arabic word sa’ir (“blazing fire”) indicates that for those who fail to believe in God Almighty and His Messenger (S) is prepared a blazing fire, namely Hell.
The verbal form a’tadna (“we have prepared”) and the contextual meaning of other related Verses demonstrate that Hell and Paradise exist in their places and whose gates are closed to us so long as we live but they shall be opened upon our death rather than as some have imagined will be created in the Hereafter. It is worthy of note that Forgiving precedes torment. The close of the blessed Verse lays further emphasis on Divine Forgiving and Mercy, since these threats and warnings aim at educating people which necessitates that the path of return be open to sinners and even disbelievers; particularly owing to the point that most of such wrong deeds spring from ignorance.
Such ignorant people are supposed to be encouraged to ask for Divine Forgiving so that they may turn to the Straight Path and proceed toward belief in God Almighty and His Messenger (S).