29:7

وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَٰتِ لَنُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنۡهُمۡ سَيِّـَٔاتِهِمۡ وَلَنَجۡزِيَنَّهُمۡ أَحۡسَنَ ٱلَّذِي كَانُواْ يَعۡمَلُونَ

Waallatheena amanoo waAAamiloo alssalihati lanukaffiranna AAanhum sayyiatihim walanajziyannahum ahsana allathee kanoo yaAAmaloona

And those who believe and do righteous deeds - We will surely remove from them their misdeeds and will surely reward them according to the best of what they used to do.

Word by word
  1. وَٱلَّذِينَAnd those who
  2. ءَامَنُواْbelieve
  3. وَعَمِلُواْand do
  4. ٱلصَّـٰلِحَٰتِrighteous (deeds)
  5. لَنُكَفِّرَنَّsurely,We will remove
  6. عَنۡهُمۡfrom them
  7. سَيِّـَٔاتِهِمۡtheir evil deeds
  8. وَلَنَجۡزِيَنَّهُمۡand We will surely reward them
  9. أَحۡسَنَ(the) best
  10. ٱلَّذِي(of) what
  11. كَانُواْthey used
  12. يَعۡمَلُونَ(to) do
Al-'Ankabut · 29:7Makkah

Your worst erased, your best rewarded.

How generously Allah weighs deeds


The scale
misdeedsremoved
best deedsset the reward
10 to 700for one good deed
How you are judged
by my averagethe bad drags it down
by my bestand the bad wiped away

Ibn Kathir notes that although Allah needs nothing, He is kind and generous. He accepts the smallest good, multiplies one good deed from ten to seven hundred, and counts a bad deed as only one, or overlooks it entirely.

You replay your worst moments at 2am, the shout at your kid, the lie at work. You assume that is who you are on the record. The verse promises a different accounting for the one who believes and keeps doing good.

My bad days define me in Allah's eyes.

Allah wipes the misdeeds of those who believe and do good, and rewards them by their best.

Try this

Do one good deed today you would be glad to be judged by.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 29:5)

Whoever hopes in meeting with Allah, then Allah's term is surely coming, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower (5)And whosoever strives, he strives only for himself. Verily, Allah stands not in need of any of the creatures (6)Those who believe, and do righteous good deeds, surely, We shall expiate from them their evil deeds and We shall indeed reward them according to the best of that which they used to do (7)

Allah will fulfill the Hopes of the Righteous

Allah's saying;

مَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ

(Whoever hopes in meeting with Allah,) means, in the Hereafter, and does righteous deeds, and hopes for a great reward with Allah, then Allah will fulfill his hopes and reward him for his deeds in full. This will undoubtedly come to pass, for He is the One Who hears all supplications, He knows and understands the needs of all created beings. Allah says:

مَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّ أَجَلَ اللَّهِ لَآتٍ ۚ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ 

(Whoever hopes in meeting with Allah, then Allah's term is surely coming, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.)

وَمَنْ جَاهَدَ فَإِنَّمَا يُجَاهِدُ لِنَفْسِهِ ۚ 

(And whosoever strives, he strives only for himself.) This is like the Ayah,

مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلِنَفْسِهِ ۖ 

(Whosoever does righteous good deed, it is for himself)(41:46). Whoever does a righteous deed, the benefit of that deed will come back to him, for Allah has no need of the deeds of His servants, and even if all of them were to be as pious as the most pious man among them, that would not add to His dominion in the slightest. Allah says:

وَمَنْ جَاهَدَ فَإِنَّمَا يُجَاهِدُ لِنَفْسِهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَ 

(And whosoever strives, he strives only for himself. Verily, Allah stands not in need of any of the creatures.) Then Allah tells us that even though He has no need of His creatures, He is kind and generous to them. He will still give to those who believe and do righteous deeds the best of rewards, which is that He will expiate for them their bad deeds, and will reward them according to the best deeds that they did. He will accept the fewest good deeds and in return for one good deed will give anything between ten rewards and seven hundred, but for every bad deed, He will give only one evil merit, or even that He may overlook and forgive. This is like the Ayah,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَظْلِمُ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ ۖ وَإِنْ تَكُ حَسَنَةً يُضَاعِفْهَا وَيُؤْتِ مِنْ لَدُنْهُ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا 

(Surely, Allah wrongs not even the weight of a speck of dust, but if there is any good, He doubles it, and gives from Him a great reward.)(4:40). And He says here:

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَنُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنْهُمْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَحْسَنَ الَّذِي كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

(Those who believe, and do righteous good deeds, surely, We shall expiate from them their evil deeds and We shall indeed reward them according to the best of that which they used to do.)