He has only made unlawful to you carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that dedicated to other than God. But whoso is forced, neither desiring nor transgressing, no sin is upon him; God is forgiving and merciful.
Many verses end on a pair of God's names, and which pair arrives depends on what the verse was doing. Ghafūrun raḥīmun, forgiving and merciful, is the commonest of them: 41 verses close on it. Three other pairs follow at a distance, ʿalīmun ḥakīmun at 15, samīʿun ʿalīmun at 14, and ʿazīzun ḥakīmun at 13.
The placement is exact. All 41 verses carry the two words side by side, and in every one of them the pair is the last thing in the verse. Nothing follows it.
What comes before it is worth reading as a set. The pair tends to arrive after a hard ruling, a permission granted under pressure, or a door left open after a warning. Read in order, the 41 verses show what the Qur'an thinks needs that ending.
He has only made unlawful to you carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that dedicated to other than God. But whoso is forced, neither desiring nor transgressing, no sin is upon him; God is forgiving and merciful.
But whoso fears from a testator partiality or sin and makes right between them, no sin is upon him; God is forgiving and merciful.
But if they desist, then God is forgiving and merciful.
Then pour forth from where men have poured forth. And ask forgiveness of God; God is forgiving and merciful.
Those who heed warning, and those who emigrate and strive in the cause of God: those hope for the mercy of God; and God is forgiving and merciful.
For those who forswear their women is a wait of four months; but if they return, then God is forgiving and merciful.
Say thou: “If you love God, follow me; God will love you, and forgive you your transgressions”; and God is forgiving and merciful.
Save those who repent after that, and make right; and God is forgiving and merciful.
And to God belongs what is in the heavens and what is in the earth. He forgives whom He wills, and punishes whom He wills; and God is forgiving and merciful.
And whoso among you has not the means to marry free believing women, then from what your right hands possess of believing maids; and God best knows your faith. You are of one another, so marry them with the leave of their people; and give them their rewards according to what is fitting, they being chaste and not fornicators, nor taking secret friends. But when they are in wedlock, then if they commit sexual immorality: upon them is half what is due the free women of punishment; that is for him who fears hardship among you. And that you be patient is best for you; and God is forgiving and merciful.
Forbidden to you is carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that dedicated to other than God, and the strangled, and the beaten, and the fallen, and the gored, and that eaten by the beast of prey save what you slaughter, and that sacrificed upon the altar, and that you seek apportionment by divining arrows — that is perfidy — (this day have those who ignore warning despaired of your doctrine, so fear them not, but fear Me; this day have I perfected for you your doctrine and completed My favour upon you, and approved for you submission as doctrine) but whoso is compelled by hunger, without inclination to sin — God is forgiving and merciful.
Save those who repent before you have power over them; and know that God is forgiving and merciful.
Then whoso repents after his injustice and makes right, God will relent towards him; God is forgiving and merciful.
Will they then not turn to God and seek His forgiveness? And God is forgiving and merciful.
Know that God is severe in retribution, and that God is forgiving and merciful.
And when there come to thee those who believe in Our proofs, say thou: “Peace be upon you! Your Lord has prescribed for Himself mercy, that whoso of you does evil through ignorance, then turns in repentance after that and makes right: He is forgiving and merciful.”
Say thou: “I find not in what has been revealed to me what is unlawful to one who would eat it save it be carrion, or blood poured forth, or the flesh of swine — and it is an abomination — or perfidy dedicated to other than God”; but whoso is forced, neither desiring nor transgressing: thy Lord is forgiving and merciful.
So eat of what you took in spoils as lawful and good, and be in prudent fear of God; God is forgiving and merciful.
O Prophet: say thou to those in your hands of the captives: “If God knows any good in your hearts, He will give you better than what has been taken from you, and will forgive you”; and God is forgiving and merciful.
And when the inviolable months have passed, then kill the idolaters wheresoever you find them, and seize them, and restrain them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, and uphold the duty, and render the purity, then let them go their way; God is forgiving and merciful.
Then does God relent after that towards whom He wills; and God is forgiving and merciful.
Not upon the weak, nor upon the sick, nor upon those who find not what to spend is there blame, when they are true to God and His messenger — against the doers of good there is no path; and God is forgiving and merciful —
And among the desert Arabs is he who believes in God and the Last Day, and takes what he spends as a means of nearness to God and the duties of the Messenger. In truth, it is a means of nearness for them: God will make them enter into His mercy; God is forgiving and merciful.
And others acknowledged their transgressions: they mixed a righteous deed with another of evil. It may be that God will relent towards them; God is forgiving and merciful.
“And I absolve not myself; the soul commands to evil, save that my Lord has mercy; my Lord is forgiving and merciful.”
“My Lord: they have led astray many among mankind. But whoso follows me, he is of me; and whoso disobeys me: Thou art forgiving and merciful.
He has but made unlawful to you carrion, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that dedicated to other than God; but whoso is forced, neither desiring nor transgressing: God is forgiving and merciful.
Save those who repent after that and make right; then is God forgiving and merciful.
And let not swear those of bounty and abundance among you against giving to relatives, and the poor, and the émigrés in the cause of God; and let them pardon and overlook. Would you not love that God should forgive you? And God is forgiving and merciful.
And let abstain those who find not marriage until God enriches them out of His bounty. And those who seek the writ from among those your right hands possess: contract with them if you know good to be in them; and give to them out of the wealth God has given you. And compel not your slave-girls to whoredom, if they desire chastity — seeking the enjoyment of the life of this world. And whoso compels them, then God, after their compulsion, is forgiving and merciful.
The believers are but those who believe in God and His messenger, and when they are with him on a common matter, go not away until they ask leave of him. They who ask leave of thee: those are they who believe in God and His messenger. So when they ask leave of thee for some matter of theirs, give thou leave to whom thou wilt among them, and ask thou forgiveness of God for them; God is forgiving and merciful.
“Save whoso did wrong; then he changed to good after evil, so am I forgiving and merciful.
And had they been patient until thou camest forth to them, it would have been better for them; but God is forgiving and merciful.
The desert Arabs say: “We believe.” Say thou: “You have not believed; but say: ‘We have submitted,’ for faith has not entered into your hearts.” But if you obey God and His messenger, He will not defraud you of anything of your deeds; God is forgiving and merciful.
O you who heed warning: be in prudent fear of God, and believe in His messenger; He will give you a double share of His mercy, and appoint for you a light whereby you will walk, and will forgive you, — and God is forgiving and merciful —
O you who heed warning: when you converse confidentially with the Messenger, send ahead charity before your private conversation. That is better for you, and purer. But if you find not the means — God is forgiving and merciful.
It may be that God will put love between you and those of them with whom you have been enemies; and God is powerful; and God is forgiving and merciful.
O Prophet: when the believing women come to thee, swearing fealty to thee: — that they will not ascribe a partnership with God to anything; and they will not steal; and they will not commit unlawful sexual intercourse; and they will not kill their children; and they will not produce a calumny they have invented between their hands and their feet; and they will not disobey thee in what is fitting; — then accept thou their fealty, and ask thou God to forgive them; God is forgiving and merciful.
O you who heed warning: among your wives and your children is an enemy to you, so beware of them. But if you pardon, and overlook, and forgive, then is God forgiving and merciful.
O Prophet: why makest thou unlawful what God has made lawful for thee, seeking the approval of thy wives? And God is forgiving and merciful.
Thy Lord knows that thou standest nearly two-thirds of the night, or a half of it, or a third of it, as does a number of those with thee. And God determines the night and the day. He knew that you would not calculate it, and has turned towards you: — so recite what is made easy of the Qur’an. He knows that there will be some sick among you, and others travelling in the earth in search of the bounty of God, and others fighting in the cause of God: — so recite what is made easy thereof, and uphold the duty, and render the purity, and lend to God a goodly loan. And what good you send ahead for your souls — you will find it with God, better and greater in reward. And ask forgiveness of God; God is forgiving and merciful.