The Quran

135

Preface

وَالَّذينَ إِذا فَعَلوا فاحِشَةً أَو ظَلَموا أَنفُسَهُم ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاستَغفَروا لِذُنوبِهِم وَمَن يَغفِرُ الذُّنوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَلَم يُصِرّوا عَلىٰ ما فَعَلوا وَهُم يَعلَمونَ

Yusuf Ali

nd those who,¹ having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own souls,² earnestly bring God to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their sins,- and who can forgive sins except God.- and are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done.

The righteous man, when he finds he has fallen into sin or error, does not whine or despair, but asks for God’s forgiveness, and his faith gives him hope. If he is sincere, that means that he abandons his wrong conduct and makes amends.
Sin is a sort of oppression of ourselves by ourselves. This follows from the doctrine of personal responsibility, as opposed to that of blind fate or of an angry God or gods lying in wait for revenge or injury on mankind.