The Ninety-Nine Names · the 82nd name
الْعَفُوّ
Al-'Afuww
The Pardoner, who erases the trace
- The rootع ف و
- From the root'afa: to efface, to wipe out a trace; the wind is said to 'afa the tracks in sand
The essay
The image is desert wind erasing footprints. Ghafara covers the fault; 'afa removes it. This is the further of the two: not concealment but effacement, so that nothing remains to be concealed. It is the word in the supplication reported to have been taught to 'A'ishah for the Night of Decree, asking the One who loves to efface, to efface. The Name is the reason the request is made at all.
In the Qur'an
۞ذَٰلِكَۖ وَمَنۡ عَاقَبَ بِمِثۡلِ مَا عُوقِبَ بِهِۦ ثُمَّ بُغِيَ عَلَيۡهِ لَيَنصُرَنَّهُ ٱللَّهُۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَعَفُوٌّ غَفُورٞ
And whoever answers an injury with its like, and is then wronged again, Allah will surely help him. Allah is Pardoning, Much-Forgiving.
this Name is in the Qur’an
What it asks of you
There is a category of erasure available that is more than being let off. Ask for that one by its own name.
Read beside it
The words