17إِنَّمَا التَّوبَةُ عَلَى اللَّهِ لِلَّذينَ يَعمَلونَ السّوءَ بِجَهالَةٍ ثُمَّ يَتوبونَ مِن قَريبٍ فَأُولٰئِكَ يَتوبُ اللَّهُ عَلَيهِم ۗ وَكانَ اللَّهُ عَليمًا حَكيمًاMuhammad AsadVerily, God's acceptance of repentance relates only to those who do evil out of ignorance and then repent before their time runs out:1 and it is they unto whom God will turn again in His mercy - for God is all-knowing, wise;The expression min qarib, which here implies nearness in time, could also be rendered as "soon", i.e., soon after having committed the evil deed; most of the classical commentators, however, hold that in this context it denotes the time before the actual approach of death. This interpretation is borne out by the next verse.