al-Shūrā 42:37

Wa'lladhīna yajtanibūna kabāʾira'l-ithmi wa'l-fawāḥisha wa idhā mā ghaḍibū hum yaghfirūn

"And those who keep clear of grave sins and of indecencies, and who forgive when they are angry."

The concrete sense of the root: the side. Janb — the side of a thing, the flank. In Form VIII (ijtināb): to take something to one's side, that is, to stand off to the side of it — to keep clear of it.

And the choice of verb carries a point of arrangement and must be recorded: ijtināb is not "not doing" but "not passing near". It is wider than abandoning: a person may not do a thing and yet stand close to it. The word takes distance into account as well.

This pair was treated in al-Najm at 53/32 (alladhīna yajtanibūna kabāʾira'l-ithmi wa'l-fawāḥisha illa'l-lamam) and was tabulated there:

| | كَبَٰٓئِرَ ٱلْإِثْمِ | ٱلْفَوَاحِش | |---|---|---| | What | The grave among sins | Those whose ugliness is open |

And what was recorded there: fuḥsh — ugliness that oversteps, excess; fāḥisha, plural fawāḥish — an act whose ugliness is plain. I do not repeat it.

What belongs here is this: in al-Najm the expression was followed by an exception (illa'l-lamam — except small lapses); in al-Shūrā there is no exception. In its place comes another sentence: the moment of anger.

This is a verifiable difference and I record it as an observation.

The construction of the sentence must be read carefully, because a detail is lost in translation.

Idhā mā ghaḍibū — "when they are angry". Anger, that is, is not forbidden; that they grow angry is accepted.

The sentence does not say "they do not grow angry". This is a fact that must be recorded and follows directly from the wording.

غَضَب — root غ-ض-ب. As recorded in al-Fatḥ, the root holds swelling, intensifying.

And hum yaghfirūn — a point of arrangement: the pronoun (hum) has been repeated. Grammatically it is unnecessary; yaghfirūn already carries its plural agent. In Arabic this repetition conveys specification and emphasis: "they forgive" — not anyone else, and at exactly that moment.

The same structure is in the thirty-ninth verse as well: hum yantaṣirūn. In both verses the pronoun is repeated, and the two verses recount opposite acts: one forgiving, the other taking one's right.

The same pattern of emphasis, two different behaviours — and both are attributes in the same list. This is a verifiable fact and the first sign of the balance that will be set up in the fortieth verse.

I record this as my own reading: the difference between the two sentences lies in the trigger.

The list, that is, sets forgiveness against anger and the taking of one's right against a wrong. The two are not confused: anger is an inward state, baghy an outward act.