Ibn Abbas was asked about the words of Allah, "And whoever kills a believer deliberately, his recompense is Hell, abiding therein" [Nisa 4:93], and His words, "and they do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden, except by right" [Furqan 25:68], up to "except for those who repent and believe" [Furqan 25:70]. So I asked him about this, and he said, "When these verses came down, the people of Makkah said, 'But we have already set up equals to Allah, we have already killed souls that Allah forbade us to kill except by right, and we have committed grave indecencies.' So Allah revealed, "except for those who repent, believe, and do righteous deeds" up to His words, "forgiving and merciful" [Furqan 25:70].
حدثنا سعد بن حفص حدثنا شيبان عن منصور عن سعيد بن جبير قال قال
ى سل ابن عباس عن قوله تعالى {ومن يقتل مؤمنا متعمدا فجزاؤه جهنم خالدا فيها} وقوله {ولا يقتلون النفس التي حرم الله إلا بالحق} حتى بلغ {إلا من تاب وآمن} فسألته فقال لما نزلت قال أهل مكة فقد عدلنا بالله وقد قتلنا النفس التي حرم الله إلا بالحق وأتينا الفواحش فأنزل الله {إلا من تاب وآمن وعمل عملا صالحا} إلى قوله {غفورا رحيما}