How many times is Forgiveness (Maghfirah) mentioned in the Quran?
136 times, counting every form of مَغْفِرَة. Here is every word from its root, where it appears most, and the verses that explain it.
times in the Quran
in 56 surahs
Maghfirah comes from a root meaning to cover. When Allah forgives, He covers the sin and protects the person from its harm. Asking for it, istighfar, is from the same root: “Astaghfirullah” means “I ask Allah’s forgiveness”.
The headline count is forgiving and asking forgiveness. The names of Allah from this root (Al-Ghafur 91 times, Al-Ghaffar 5, Ghafir 2) are counted in the root total and listed in the table.
Every form of the root غ ف ر
| Word | Meaning | Times |
|---|---|---|
| غَفُور | Al-Ghafur, the Most Forgiving (a name of Allah) | 91 |
| غَفَرَ | to forgive, to cover a sin | 65 |
| اسْتَغْفَرَ | to ask forgiveness (istighfar) | 40 |
| مَغْفِرَة | forgiveness (the noun, maghfirah) | 28 |
| غَفّار | Al-Ghaffar, the Ever-Forgiving (a name of Allah) | 5 |
| غافِر | the Forgiver | 2 |
| غُفْران | forgiveness (“Thy forgiveness, our Lord”) | 1 |
| مُسْتَغْفِر | those who ask forgiveness | 1 |
| اسْتِغْفار | asking forgiveness | 1 |
Counted in the Quranic Arabic Corpus morphology: each word is counted once, in every form built from the lemma (singular, dual, plural, with attached letters such as “and” or “the”). Other counting rules give slightly different numbers.
Where it appears most
| Surah | Words from this root |
|---|---|
| 4. An-Nisa | 21 |
| 2. Al-Baqarah | 17 |
| 3. Ali 'Imran | 16 |
| 5. Al-Ma'idah | 11 |
| 9. At-Tawbah | 11 |
Key verses about forgiveness (maghfirah)
۞ قُلْ يَـٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
Say: O My slaves who have been prodigal to their own hurt! Despair not of the mercy of Allah, Who forgiveth all sins. Lo! He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
وَٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا۟ فَـٰحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ فَٱسْتَغْفَرُوا۟ لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا۟ عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلُوا۟ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ
And those who, when they do an evil thing or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins - Who forgiveth sins save Allah only? - and will not knowingly repeat (the wrong) they did.
وَمَن يَعْمَلْ سُوٓءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُۥ ثُمَّ يَسْتَغْفِرِ ٱللَّهَ يَجِدِ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا
Yet whoso doeth evil or wrongeth his own soul, then seeketh pardon of Allah, will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful.
فَقُلْتُ ٱسْتَغْفِرُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ غَفَّارًا
And I have said: Seek pardon of your Lord. Lo! He was ever Forgiving.
English: Marmaduke Pickthall (public domain). Arabic: Uthmani script, via quran.com.
What these verses teach
The door is never closed: Allah “forgiveth all sins” (39:53), and whoever wrongs himself and then asks pardon “will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful” (4:110). The Quran praises those who, after a wrong, remember Allah and ask forgiveness (3:135), and Nuh tells his people to seek pardon of their Lord, for “He was ever Forgiving” (71:10).
Astaghfirullah meaning · Tasbih counter
More Quran word counts
Frequently asked questions
How many times is maghfirah mentioned in the Quran?
Maghfirah (مَغْفِرَة) appears 136 times in the Quran, counting every form of the word. Words from its root, غ ف ر, appear 234 times in all.
Which surah mentions maghfirah the most?
An-Nisa (Surah 4), with 21 words from the root غ ف ر.
Why do other websites give different numbers?
Counts depend on the rule used: whether plurals and verb forms are included, and whether the whole root is counted or one word. We count words as written in the Hafs text, using the Quranic Arabic Corpus, and print the rule on the page.