Al-’Afuww: Who Forgives In the Last 10 Nights?

Aisha asked the Prophet (saw) "What should I say on Laylat-al-qadr?"�
He replied,
Say, "O Allah, You are Al-'Afuww and You love to 'afw , so fa'fu me" (Tirmidhi).
What do all these italicizedwords mean? The common translation of
thesupplication above is,
O Allah indeed you are a Pardoner, and you love pardon, so pardon me.
That's it? The supplication for the last 10 nights, THE supplication
we are supposed to focus on, is just to be 'pardoned' by "The
Pardoner"? Isn't theremore to it?
Seems a bit strange, let's look at it in more detail.
The linguistic meaning of 'afuww is to leave, neglect (pardon), to
wipe away, and to increase. ' Aafiyah is Allah's defense of His
servant from things like disease and tribulation. 'Afu is the one who
possesses great 'afw.
The Name of Allah, Al-'Afuww, occurs in the Quran only five times
(4:43, 4:99, 4:149, 22:20, 58:2). Four of these times, it is linked
with Al-Ghafoor,and once with Al-Qadeer (4:149).
This Name implies that He ignores the sins of the servant. He knows
the sins (you must know them before you can make 'afw of them) but He
does not call the servant to account for it. The servant is deserving
of punishment, and Allah has full ability topunish His servants, but
Allah does 'afw for them. Itis more than just pardoning or covering it
up, it is wiping it away completely.
When the Name is paired with Al-Ghafoor, we see anextra level of
forgiveness. Al-Ghafoor is the One who forgives no matter how large
the sin.
When we look back at the original supplication, we see a more profound
meaning. Allah is Al-Qadeer, with full power to do with us as He
wants,
And if Allah were to seize mankind for their wrong-doing, He would not
leave on it (the earth) a single moving (living) creature, but He
postpones them foran appointed term and when their term comes, neither
can they delay nor can they advance it an hour (or a moment). (16:61)
In spite of that warning, He wipes our sins away forus, no matter how
major they are. Not only does He wipe them away, but He loves to wipe
them away. SubhanAllah.
This is why we should make this supplication fervently, seeking for it
to be answered in the night, in the most special of nights, seeking
the forgiveness and mercy of Allah, humbling ourselves knowing the
sins we have committed, and asking for Him to pardon us for our
transgressions./