Iqra

Learn the Qur’an, one ayah at a time.

14 of 99

الْغَفَّارُ

Al Ghaffaar

The Forgiving

Scroll on for a reflection, and where you’ll meet it

Reflection

Ghafara is to cover — the same root gives mighfar, a helmet, and maghfira, the covering itself: something laid over a thing to keep it safe rather than to hide it from view. The intensive shape here means covering again and again, without the cover wearing thin.

The written form appears three times, and in every one of them al-ʿAzīz stands immediately before it, in three different surahs: the mighty, the endlessly covering. The one with the power to answer is the one who covers over. That order is the whole point, and it is the same order every time.

Where you’ll meet it

A few of the ayat where this name’s written form appears.