Ghafir / al-Mu’min is the 40th sura of the Qur’an, which means ‘The Forgiver / The Believer’. The sura belongs to the Meccan period and comprises 85 verses, 1,199 words, 4,960 letters, and 9 segments. It is the 60th sura in chronological order, revealed after Sura al-Zumar. This sura derives its name from verse 3 which refers to God Almighty as the Forgiver of sin and Accepter of repentance. This sura is the first in a series of seven suras which begin with the Mysterious Letters of the Qur’an ‘ha’ and ‘mim’. These suras are collectively known as the Hawamim. The sura opens by affirming the revelation and God Almighty’s Mercy and Forgiveness, followed by mentioning severe punishment decreed for those who dispute the signs of God Almighty.

The sura refers to the people of Prophet Nuh (Noah [peace be upon him]) and other communities who rejected the truth. This sura speaks about the angels who carry the Throne and of those who glorify the praises of their Lord around it. The sura emphasises God Almighty’s Oneness and His Might in this world and the Hereafter, and condemns those who are too arrogant to worship God. The sura provides consid-erable details about the life of Prophet Musa (Moses [peace be upon him]) and his dealings with Pharaoh in verses 23–54. The verses narrate the story of a believing man from the people of Pharaoh who challenges Pharaoh’s opposition to Prophet Musa (Moses [peace be upon him]). The sura further elaborates the horrors that await the deniers of the truth in the Hereafter, mutual disputes of the people of Hell and their appeals to lighten the punishment, as well as God’s help for the believers. The sura moves on to detail the traces of the chemical elements of the human body extracted from dust, and its biological constitution from the zygote. In the end, the sura describes various forms of severe punishment that awaits the idol worshippers and deniers of the truth. The sura concludes with consoling the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) by relating the accounts of the earlier Messengers (peace be upon them) and the disastrous end of their denying communities, and assuring those who oppose Allah’s Messengers (peace be upon them) will ultimately be defeated.