40وَجَزاءُ سَيِّئَةٍ سَيِّئَةٌ مِثلُها ۖ فَمَن عَفا وَأَصلَحَ فَأَجرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّهُ لا يُحِبُّ الظّالِمينَAli UnalThe recompense of an evil deed can only be an evil equal to it; but whoever pardons and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from God. Surely He does not love the wrongdoers.1The Qur’ān insists on justice and the equality of rights, and that inviolate values demand equal respect and retaliation. So the Qur’ān allows one to reciprocate any wrong done to one if retaliation is possible. (For an explanation, see sūrah 2: 178–179, 194, notes 131, 140; sūrah 5: 31, 45, notes 6, 10.) However, since a person wronged can easily be tempted to exceed the limits in retaliation, in the places where the Qur’ān mentions the permission of retaliation as a legal principle, it also warns against exceeding the limits and draws attention to the beauty and importance of forgiveness, exhorting individuals to forgive any wrongdoing inflicted on them (see sūrah 22: 60, note 16).