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Ma'arif al-Qur'an Tafsir: Ghafir Ayah 3

40:3
غافر الذنب وقابل التوب شديد العقاب ذي الطول لا الاه الا هو اليه المصير ٣
غَافِرِ ٱلذَّنۢبِ وَقَابِلِ ٱلتَّوْبِ شَدِيدِ ٱلْعِقَابِ ذِى ٱلطَّوْلِ ۖ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ إِلَيْهِ ٱلْمَصِيرُ ٣
غَافِرِﱞ
ٱلذَّنۢبِﱟ
وَقَابِلِﱠ
ٱلتَّوۡبِﱡ
شَدِيدِﱢ
ٱلۡعِقَابِﱣ
ذِيﱤ
ٱلطَّوۡلِۖﱥﱦ
لَآﱧ
إِلَٰهَﱨ
إِلَّاﱩ
هُوَۖﱪﱫ
إِلَيۡهِﱬ
ٱلۡمَصِيرُﱭ
٣ﱮ
the Forgiver of sin and Accepter of repentance, the Severe in punishment, and Infinite in bounty. There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him. To Him ˹alone˺  is the final return.
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The expression: غَافِرِ‌ الذَّنبِ وَقَابِلِ التَّوْبِ (ghafiridh-dhanb) in verse 3: all literally means the one who puts a cover on sins (in the sense that they are no more seen or known by anyone), and: قَابِلِ التَّوْبِ (gabilit-tawb) means: He who accepts taubah or repentance. These two expressions appear separately, though the sense of both appears to be almost the same. The reason is that by saying: غَافِرِ‌ الذَّنبِ (ghafiridh-dhanb), the purpose is to indicate that Allah Ta’ ala does already possess the standing authority and power to forgive the sin of a servant even without taubah - while forgiving those who repent is yet another attribute of Allah. (Mazhari)

The word: طَول (tawl) which follows immediately in: ذِي الطَّوْلِ (dhit-tawl) literally means vastness and being need-free. Then, it could also mean power or favor. (Mazhari)