Is forgiveness considered an opposite, and thus does "إعفاء اللحية" (pardoning/exempting the beard) mean trimming it?

The hadith "Trim the moustaches and let the beards grow" (أحفوا الشوارب، واعفوا اللحى) means to leave the beards and allow them to grow full, supported by other narrations such as "Let the beards grow full" (وفروا اللحى) and "Let the beards hang down" (أرخوا اللحى). Although the word "afa" (عفا) can sometimes mean "to reduce" or "to take," the context and other narrations confirm that the intended meaning is to let them grow full and abundant.

Linguists and Hadith scholars have interpreted "al-ifa" (الإعفاء) in this hadith as making something abundant and plentiful, not taking from it or shortening it. Ibn Daqiq al-Eid clarified that the true meaning of "al-ifa" is to leave something, which necessitates its increase. None of the scholars interpreted "al-ifa" as shortening the beard; rather, interpreting it as taking from what has grown excessively in length or width was considered unusual. The original meaning of the word's root is to leave something and to seek its abundance, not to take from it.