﴿ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ تَابُوا۟ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَقْدِرُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمْ ۖ فَٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ ﴾

“save for such [of them] as repent ere you [O believers] become more powerful than they: for you must know that God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.”

Allah then showed that He pardons those who repent, saying: (Save those who repent) from disbelief and idolatry (before ye overpower them) i.e. before you capture them. (For know that Allah is Forgiving) He pardons, (Merciful) towards him who repents.