Al-Ghafur (الغفور): Meaning of Allah’s Name

The One Who was and is known with the Attribute of Forgiveness. The One Who is described as having Forgiveness and Compassion. Everyone is in dire need of His forgiveness just as they are in dire need of His Mercy and Kindness. Allaah has promised forgiveness to the one who fulfils its conditions, He said,

"…and indeed I am All-Forgiving to him who repents, believes, does righteous deeds and then remains constant in doing them." (20:82)

"Whether you disclose a good deed, or conceal it, or pardon an evil... verily Allaah is the Forgiving, Most Merciful." (4:152)

God, the Exalted, said: “Declare (O Mohammad unto My slaves, that truly, I am the Oft-Forgiving, the Most-Merciful”. (Al-Hijr: 49).

And, God, the Exalted, also said:

“I Said (to them): Ask forgiveness from your Lord, verily, He is Oft-Forgiving”. (Nuh: 10).

The Linguistic Meaning:

Al-Ghufr: Concealment.

Allah, The Exalted, is Al-Ghafoor, Al-Ghaffarr: The concealer of His slaves’ sins, covers their sins so that none sees the sins except Him, and overlooking their flaws. He, the Exalted, forgives the slave’s sins time after time, forever, and whenever the slave repeats his repentance of the sin, the Lord repeats His Forgiveness. The difference in meaning is (Al-Ghafoor) is the One Who forgives the sins no matter how large they might be, and (Al-Ghaffarr) forgives the sins no matter how frequent they might be; therefore, (Al-Ghafoor) for the type of sins, and (Al-Ghaffarr) for the quantity of sins..

The Grandeur of Al-Ghafoor and Al-Ghaffarr

They indicate the Concealment of God, covering the ugly thing so as no one sees it, forgiving and overlooking; they are so Grand that no matter how great is the slave’s sin, if he repents it and asserts the Oneness (Monotheism) of God, God will forgive every sin, as it is said in the holy Hadeeth (Hadeeth Al-Qudsi): “ O son of Adam! If your sins reached the height of the sky and then you asked for My Forgiveness, I would forgive you, carelessly, O Son of Adam! If you come to Me, carrying sins the size of the earth, and then met Me, being not associating anything with Me (purely monotheist), I would come to meet you with equivalent size of forgiveness.”