24
24. An-Nur - The Light
| 1 | WE HAVE REVEALED this Surah and made it obligatory as We have sent down clear injunctions in it that you may be warned. |
| 2 | The adulteress and adulterer should be flogged a hundred lashes each, and no pity for them should deter you from the law of God, if you believe in God and the Last Day; and the punishment should be witnessed by a body of believers. |
| 3 | The adulterer can marry no one but an adulteress or his partner (in the act), and the adulteress cannot marry any but an adulterer or her partner (in the act). This is forbidden the believers, |
| 4 | Those who defame chaste women and do not bring four witnesses should be punished with eighty lashes, and their testimony should not be accepted afterwards, for they are profligates, |
| 5 | Except those who repent after this and reform; and God is surely forgiving and kind. |
| 6 | Those who accuse their wives and do not have any witnesses except themselves, should swear four times in the name of God, the testimony of each such person being that he is speaking the truth, |
| 7 | And (swear) a fifth time that if he tell a lie the curse of God be on him. |
| 8 | The woman's punishment can be averted if she swears four times by God as testimony that her husband is a liar, |
| 9 | Her fifth oath being that the curse of God be on her if her husband should be speaking the truth. |
| 10 | (This would not have been possible) if the grace and benevolence of God were not upon you; but God is compassionate and wise. |
| 11 | Those who spread lies were a clique among you. Do not think that it was bad for you: In fact it has been good for you. Each of them will pay for the sin he has committed, and he who had greater share (of guilt) will suffer grievous punishment. |
| 12 | Why did the faithful men and women not think well of their people when they heard this, and said: "This is a clear lie?" |
| 13 | Why did they not bring four witnesses (in support of their charge)? And since they did not bring the four witnesses they are themselves liars in the sight of God. |
| 14 | Were it not for the grace of God and His mercy upon you in this world and the next, you would have suffered a great affliction for the false accusation. |
| 15 | When you talked about it and said what you did not know, and took it lightly -- though in the sight of God it was serious -- |
| 16 | Why did you not say when you heard it: "It is not for us to speak of it? God preserve us, it is a great calumny!" |
| 17 | God counsels you not to do a thing like this, if you are believers. |
| 18 | God explains His commands to you clearly, for God is all-knowing and all-wise. |
| 19 | There is painful punishment in this world and the next for those who like that immorality should spread among the believers, for God knows and you do not know. |
| 20 | But for the grace of God and His mercy (much harm would have been done); yet God is compassionate and kind. |
| 21 | O you who believe, do not follow in the footsteps of Satan, for he who follows in the footsteps of Satan will be induced by him to what is shameful and forbidden. But for the grace of God and His mercy upon you none of you would have escaped undefiled; but God makes whosoever He will grow in goodness, for God is all-hearing and all-knowing. |
| 22 | Let not those who are men of plenty and means among you swear that they will not give to their relatives and the poor and those who leave their homes in the service of God. They should forgive and overlook (their failings). Would you not like God to forgive you? And God is forgiving and kind. |
| 23 | Verily those who blaspheme unsuspecting chaste believing women will be cursed in this world and the next; and for them there will be severe punishment. |
| 24 | The day their tongues and hands and feet bear witness to what they had done, |
| 25 | God will pay them on that day their just due in full, and they will come to know that God is the tangible Reality. |
| 26 | Bad women deserve bad men, and bad men are for bad women; but good women are for good men, and good men for good women, for they are innocent of what people say. There is forgiveness for them and a gracious provision. |
| 27 | O you who believe, do not enter other houses except yours without first asking permission and saluting the inmates. This is better for you: You may haply take heed. |
| 28 | If you find that no one is in, then do not enter unless you have received permission. If you are asked to go away, turn back. That is proper for you. God is aware of what you do. |
| 29 | There is no harm in going into uninhabited houses where there is some convenience for you, as God has knowledge of what you hide and what you disclose. |
| 30 | Tell the believing men to lower their eyes and guard their private parts. There is for them goodness in this. God is aware of what they do. |
| 31 | Tell the believing women to lower their eyes, guard their private parts, and not display their charms except what is apparent outwardly, and cover their bosoms with their veils and not to show their finery except to their husbands or their fathers or fathers-in-law, their sons or step-sons, brothers, or their brothers' and sisters' sons, or their women attendants or captives, or male attendants who do not have any need (for women), or boys not yet aware of sex. They should not walk stamping their feet lest they make known what they hide of their Ornaments. O believers, turn to God, every one of you, so that you may be successful. |
| 32 | Marry off those who are single among you, and those of your male and female servants who are righteous. If they are poor, God will enrich them of His grace, for God is bounteous and all-knowing. |
| 33 | Those who cannot afford to marry should abstain from what is unlawful until God enriches them by His grace. And free those slaves you possess who wish to buy their freedom after a written undertaking, if you know they have some goodness, and give them out of the riches God has given you. Do not force your maids to prostitution if they wish to lead married lives, in order to get the benefits of this world. But if someone forces them, surely God (will forgive them) after their forced helplessness, for He is forgiving and kind. |
| 34 | We have sent down clear instructions to you, and illustrations from (the accounts) of those who have gone before you, and a warning for those who take heed for themselves. |
| 35 | God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The semblance of His light is that of a niche in which is a lamp, the flame within a glass, the glass a glittering star as it were, lit with the oil of a blessed tree, the olive, neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil appears to light up even though fire touches it not, -- light upon light. God guides to His light whom He will. So does God advance precepts of wisdom for men, for God has knowledge of everything. |
| 36 | (The light is lit) in houses of worship which God has allowed to be raised, and His name remembered in them. His praises are sung there morning and evening, |
| 37 | By men not distracted from the remembrance of God either by trade and commerce or buying and selling, who stand by their devotional obligations and pay the zakat, who fear the day when hearts and eyes would flutter with trepidation |
| 38 | That God may reward them for the best of their deeds, and bestow more on them of His bounty, for God gives whom He please without measure. |
| 39 | As for those who disbelieve, their deeds are like a mirage in the desert which the thirsty takes for water till he reaches it to find that there was nothing, and finds God with him who settles his account, for God is swift at the reckoning. |
| 40 | Or like darkness in a wide, wide sea, waves surging upon waves, with clouds overhanging, darkness on darkness. If you stretch your hand, you could hardly see it. For him whom God does not give any light, there is no light. |
| 41 | Have you not seen that all those who are in the heavens and the earth, and the birds on the wing, sing the praises of God. Each one knows its obligations and its duties, and God knows whatever they do. |
| 42 | For God's is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and the returning is to God. |
| 43 | Have you not seen that God drives the clouds, then joins them together and puts them fold on fold. Then you see the rain fall through them; and He sends down hail from the sky where there are mountains of it, and strikes those with it whom He will, and wards it off from whomsoever He please. His lightning could snatch away their eyes. |
| 44 | It is God who alternates night and day. There is surely a lesson in this for men of sight. |
| 45 | God created every moving thing from water: One crawls on its belly, one walks on two legs, another moves on four. God creates whatsoever He will. Indeed God has power over everything. |
| 46 | We have surely sent down clear signs. It is God who guides whom He will to the path that is straight. |
| 47 | They say they believe in God and the Prophet, and have come to believe, yet a section of them turns back even after this; and these are not believers. |
| 48 | When they are called to God and His Prophet, that he may judge between them, a section of them turns away. |
| 49 | Had right been on their side they would have come to him submissively. |
| 50 | Is there a malady in their hearts, or they are deluded, or afraid that God and His Prophet would be unjust in dealing with them? Not so; they are themselves unjust. |
| 51 | The answer of the believers when they are called to God and His Apostle that he may judge between them, is: "We hear and obey." And they are the ones who will prosper. |
| 52 | Whoever obeys God and His Prophet, fears God and does his duty to Him, will surely find success. |
| 53 | They swear solemnly by God: "If you command us we shall go forth." Say: "Do not swear. What is wanted is obedience, as should be. God is certainly aware of what you do." |
| 54 | Say: "Obey God and obey the Apostle. If you turn away, then for him is his duty to fulfil, and for you the burden that you carry; yet if you obey him you will be rightly guided. The duty of the Messenger is to convey the message clearly. |
| 55 | God has promised to make those of you who believe and do the right, leaders in the land, as He had made those before them, and will establish their faith which He has chosen for them and change their fear into security. They will worship Me and not associate any one with Me. But those who disbelieve after this will be reprobates. |
| 56 | So observe your devotional obligations, pay the zakat, and obey the Apostle so that you may be shown mercy. |
| 57 | Do not think that unbelievers will subvert (the authority of God) on earth. Their abode is Hell; and what an evil destination! |
| 58 | O you who believe, let your dependants and those who have not yet reached the age of puberty, ask permission (to enter your presence) on three occasions: Before the early morning prayer; when you disrobe for the mid-day siesta; and after prayer at night. These are the three occasions of dishabille for you. There is no harm if you or they visit one another at other times (without permission). God thus explains things to you clearly, for God is all-knowing and all-wise. |
| 59 | When your children have reached the age of puberty, they should similarly ask your leave (for entering) as others did before them. God thus clearly explains His commands to you, for God is all-knowing and all-wise. |
| 60 | As for your women past the age of bearing children, who have no hope of marriage, there is no harm if they take off their outer garments, but in such a way that they do not display their charms; yet if they avoid this it would be better for them. God is all-hearing and all-knowing. |
| 61 | There is no harm if the blind, the lame, the sick, or you yourselves, eat in your own houses or the houses of your fathers, mothers, or your brothers' houses, or those of your sisters, or your fathers' brothers' or sisters', or your mothers' brothers' or sisters', or in the houses whose care is entrusted to you, or the houses of your friends. |
| 62 | There is no harm in your eating together or separately. But when you enter the houses, salute the inmates with a greeting in the name of God, invoking blessings and good health. That is how God explains things to you clearly so that you may understand. They alone are true believers who believe in God and His Apostle, and when they are with him on a matter of common concern, do not depart without obtaining his leave. Surely those who ask leave of you are the ones who believe in God and His Apostle. Therefore when they ask leave of you for personal business give leave to those you please, and seek God's forgiveness for them. Surely God is forgiving and kind. |
| 63 | Do not consider your being summoned by the Apostle to be like your summoning one another. God knows those of you who go away surreptitiously. So let those who act in contravention of his command take heed lest a trial should befall them or a grievous punishment come upon them. |
| 64 | Does not everything in the heavens and the earth belong to God? He surely knows what state you are in; and on the day they go back to Him. He will tell them what they used to do, for God has knowledge of everything. |