‘Forgiveness is Goodness’: Mercy as an Enduring Virtue in Zoroastrianism

This article traces the concept of forgiveness and related displays of mercy as enjoined by Zoroastrian scripture and exegesis and as displayed through the writings and actions of rulers and clerics. It connects those Zoroastrian themes to similar ones among ancient Greeks and medieval Manichaeans. Forgiveness emerges through this investigation as a central aspect of Zoroastrian piety and praxis, which the faith’s followers attributed back to Ahura Mazdā in his ascribed role as their creator deity. Therefore, as this analysis elucidates, Zoroastrians consistently held, exercised, and extolled forgiveness and mercy from ancient through medieval and even modern times, in their communities of Central Asia, Iran, and the Indian subcontinent.