Clemency
idea · 2 works · 2 mentions · 3 anchored passages
clemency · clemency and pardon · forbearance · ḥilm
in the texts
Risālah fī ʻilm al-akhlāq
The virtue of not being carried by provocation into swift revenge.
Clemency is a virtue by which a man is not so moved by provocations as to be carried to swift revenge.
An Essay on Crimes and Punishments
The virtue of clemency or pardon, argued to properly belong only to the legislator (in framing mild laws) rather than to individual judges or victims.
Clemency, which has often been deemed a sufficient substitute for every other virtue in sovereigns, should be excluded in a perfect legislation, where punishments are mild, and the proceedings in criminal cases regular and expeditious.
A small crime is sometimes pardoned, if the person offended chuses to forgive the offender.