Quran Universe
39:35

لِيُكَفِّرَ ٱللَّهُ عَنۡهُمۡ أَسۡوَأَ ٱلَّذِي عَمِلُواْ وَيَجۡزِيَهُمۡ أَجۡرَهُم بِأَحۡسَنِ ٱلَّذِي كَانُواْ يَعۡمَلُونَ

Liyukaffira Allahu AAanhum aswaa allathee AAamiloo wayajziyahum ajrahum biahsani allathee kanoo yaAAmaloona

That Allah may remove from them the worst of what they did and reward them their due for the best of what they used to do.

Word by word
  1. لِيُكَفِّرَThat Allah will remove
  2. ٱللَّهُThat Allah will remove
  3. عَنۡهُمۡfrom them
  4. أَسۡوَأَ(the) worst
  5. ٱلَّذِي(of) what
  6. عَمِلُواْthey did
  7. وَيَجۡزِيَهُمۡand reward them
  8. أَجۡرَهُمtheir due
  9. بِأَحۡسَنِfor (the) best
  10. ٱلَّذِي(of) what
  11. كَانُواْthey used to
  12. يَعۡمَلُونَdo
Az-Zumar · 39:35Makkah

Your worst erased, your best becomes the measure.

How Allah rewards the doers of good

Two things He does
worst deedswiped away
and
best deedsset the reward
How the record is read
judged by my worstone mistake defines me
rewarded by my bestfor those who do good

Ibn Kathir links it to the verse about people whose best deeds are accepted and whose evil deeds are overlooked. This is the reward for those who brought and confirmed the truth.

You keep replaying the worst thing you ever did, the night you would undo if you could. It feels like the headline of your life. For those who turn to Him and do good, the worst is erased and the best is the measure.

My worst mistake is who I really am.

Allah can wipe my worst and pay me by the measure of my best.

Try this

Do one good deed today with full effort, the kind you would want to be measured by.

Related46:16
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 39:32)

Then, who does more wrong than one who utters a lie against Allah, and denies the truth when it comes to him! Is there not in Hell an abode for the disbelievers (32)And he who has brought the truth and (those who) believed therein, they are those who have Taqwa (33)They shall have all that they will desire with their Lord. That is the reward of the doers of good (34)So that Allah may expiate from them the evil of what they did and give them the reward, according to the best of what they used to do (35)

The Punishment of the Disbelievers and Liars, and the Reward of the Sincere Believers

The idolators uttered lies against Allah and said that there were other gods besides Him and claimed that the angels were the daughters of Allah and that Allah had a son – glorified be He far above all that they say. Moreover, they rejected the truth when it came to them on the lips of the Messengers (peace and blessings be upon them all). Allah says:

فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ كَذَبَ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَكَذَّبَ بِالصِّدْقِ إِذْ جَاءَهُ ۚ 

(Then, who does more wrong than one who utters a lie against Allah, and denies the truth when it comes to him!) meaning, there is no one who does more wrong than such a person, because he combines the two aspects of falsehood, disbelief in Allah and disbelief in the Messenger of Allah. They made false claims and rejected the truth, Allah threatened them:

أَلَيْسَ فِي جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوًى لِلْكَافِرِينَ

(Is there not in Hell an abode for the disbelievers?) who are the deniers and rejecters. Then Allah says:

وَالَّذِي جَاءَ بِالصِّدْقِ وَصَدَّقَ بِهِ ۙ 

(And he who has brought the truth and (those who) believed therein,) Mujahid, Qatadah, Ar-Rabi' bin Anas and Ibn Zayd said, "The one who brought the truth was the Messenger ﷺ." 'Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said:

وَالَّذِي جَاءَ بِالصِّدْقِ 

("And he who has brought the truth) means the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

وَصَدَّقَ بِهِ

(and (those who) believed therein) means the Muslims."

أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُتَّقُونَ 

(they are those who have Taqwa). Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "They fear and shun Shirk."

لَهُمْ مَا يَشَاءُونَ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ ۚ 

(They shall have all that they will desire with their Lord.) means, in Paradise; whatever they ask for they will have.

ذَٰلِكَ جَزَاءُ الْمُحْسِنِينَ - لِيُكَفِّرَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ أَسْوَأَ الَّذِي عَمِلُوا وَيَجْزِيَهُمْ أَجْرَهُمْ بِأَحْسَنِ الَّذِي كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

(That is the reward of doers of good. So that Allah may expiate from them the evil of what they did and give them the reward, according to the best of what they used to do.) This is like the Ayah:

أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ نَتَقَبَّلُ عَنْهُمْ أَحْسَنَ مَا عَمِلُوا وَنَتَجَاوَزُ عَنْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ فِي أَصْحَابِ الْجَنَّةِ ۖ وَعْدَ الصِّدْقِ الَّذِي كَانُوا يُوعَدُونَ

(They are those from whom We shall accept the best of their deeds and overlook their evil deeds. (They shall be) among the dwellers of Paradise, a promise of truth, which they have been promised.)(46:16).