24:1  A SŪRAH We have revealed and sanctioned, proclaiming therein clear revelations, so that you may take reflect

24:2  The adulteress and the adulterer you shall give each a hundred lashes. Let no pity for either cause you to disobey God‘s Religion, if you truly believe in God and the Last Day; and let their punishment be witnessed by a number of believers

24:3  The adulterer may marry only an adulteress or an idolatress; and the adulteress may marry only an adulterer or an idolater. This is forbidden to true believers

24:4  Those that defame honourable women and cannot produce four witnesses you shall give eighty lashes. Do not accept their testimony ever after, for it is they who are the transgressors ―

24:5  except those among them that afterwards repent and mend their ways: God is forgiving and compassionate

24:6  Those who accuse their wives but has no witnesses except themselves, shall each swear four times by God that his charge is tru

24:7  and in a fifth time call down upon himself the curse of God if he is lying

24:8  But if his wife swears four times by God that his charge is false

24:9  and in a fifth time call down His curse upon herself if it be true, she shall receive no punishment.¹

24:10  And but for God‘s grace and compassion for you, His forgiveness and His wisdom . .

24:11  Those who concocted that slander² were surely a clique from among your own people. Do not regard it as a misfortune, for it has proved an advantage. Each one of them shall be punished according to his sin. As for him who had the greater share in it among them, his punishment shall be terrible indeed

24:12  When you heard it, why did the faithful, men and women, not think well of their own people, and say: ‘This is an evident falsehood‘

24:13  Why did they not produce four witnesses? If they could not produce the witnesses, then they were surely lying in the sight of God

24:14  But for God‘s grace and mercy towards you in this life and in the life to come, you would have been grievously punished for your scandalmongering

24:15  You carried with your tongues and uttered with your mouths what you knew not. You may have thought it a trifle, but in the sight of God it was a grave offence

24:16  And when you heard it, why did you not say: ‘It is not proper for us to speak of this; glory be to God: this is a monstrous slander‘

24:17  God bids you never to repeat the like, if you are true believers

24:18  God makes plain to you the revelations. God is omniscient and wise

24:19  Those who delight in spreading salacious slander against the faithful shall be grievously punished in this life and in the life to come. God knows, but you know not

24:20  And but for God‘s grace and compassion for you, His kindliness and mercy . .

24:21  You that are true believers, do not follow Satan‘s footsteps. He that walks in Satan‘s footsteps is incited by him to lewdness and everything reprehensible. But for God‘s grace and mercy, none of you would ever have kept himself pure. But God purifies whom He will; God hears all and knows all

24:22  Let not the honourable and the rich among you swear to withhold their gifts from their kin, the destitute, and those who have fled their homes in the cause of God. Rather let them pardon and forgive. Do you not wish God to forgive you? God is forgiving and compassionate

24:23  Those who defame honourable but careless believing women shall be cursed in this world and in the world to come. Grievous punishment awaits the

24:24  on the day when their own tongues, hands, and feet will testify to what they did

24:25  On that day God will justly requite them in full; and they shall know that God is the veritable Truth

24:26  Unclean women are for unclean men, and unclean men for unclean women. But good women are for good men, and good men for good women. These shall be cleared of calumny. Forgiveness, and a generous provision, await them

24:27  Believers, do not enter the dwellings other than your own until you have asked their owners‘ permission and wished them peace. That will be best for you. Perchance you will remember

24:28  If you find no one in them, do not go in till you are given leave. If you are refused admission, it is but more proper that you should go away. God has knowledge of all your actions

24:29  It shall be no offence for you to seek shelter in empty dwellings. God knows what you reveal and what you hide

24:30  Enjoin believing men to turn their eyes away from temptation and to preserve their chastity. This will make their lives purer. God has knowledge of all their actions

24:31  Enjoin believing women to turn their eyes away from temptation and to preserve their chastity; not to display their adornments (except such as are normally revealed); to draw their veils over their bosoms and not to display their finery except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands‘ fathers, their sons, their stepsons, their brothers, their brothers‘ sons, their sisters‘ sons, their women-servants, and their slave-girls; male attendants lacking in natural vigour, and children who have no carnal knowledge of women. And let them not stamp their feet¹ when walking so as to reveal their hidden trinkets. Believers, turn to God in penitence, all, that you may succeed

24:32  And take in marriage those among you who are single and those of your male and female slaves who are honest. If they are poor, God will enrich them from His own bounty. God is munificent and all-knowing

24:33  And let those who cannot afford to marry live in continence until God shall enrich them from His own bounty. As for those of your slaves who wish to buy their liberty, free them if you find in them any promise and bestow on them a part of the riches which God has given you. And you shall not force your slave-girls into prostitution in order that you may enrich yourselves, if they wish to preserve their chastity. If anyone compels them, God will after their compulsion be forgiving and compassionate

24:34  We have sent down to you discerning revelations; an account of those who have gone before you, and an Admonition to righteous

24:35  God is the light of the heavens and the earth. His light may be compared to a niche that enshrines a lamp, the lamp within a crystal of star-like brilliance. It is lit from a blessed olive tree neither eastern nor western. Its very oil would almost shine forth, though no fire touched it. Light upon light; God guides to His light whom He will. God speaks in parables to mankind. God has knowledge of all things

24:36  His light is found in temples which God has sanctioned to be built for the remembrance of His name. In them, His praise is sung morning and evening

24:37  by men whom neither trade nor profit can divert from remembering God, from offering prayers, or from giving alms; who dread the day when hearts and eyes shall writhe with anguish

24:38  who hope that God will requite them for their noblest deeds and lavish His grace upon them. God gives without reckoning to whom He will

24:39  As for the unbelievers, their works are like a mirage in a desert. The thirsty traveller thinks it is water, but when he comes near he finds that it is nothing. He finds God there, who pays him back in full. Swift is God‘s reckoning

24:40  Or like darkness on a bottomless ocean spread with clashing billows and overcast with clouds: darkness upon darkness. If he stretches out his hand he can scarcely see it. Indeed the man from whom God withholds His light shall find no light at all

24:41  Do you not see how God is praised by those in the heavens and those on earth? The very birds praise Him as they wing their way. He notes the prayers and praises of all His creatures; God has knowledge of all their actions

24:42  It is God who has sovereignty over the heavens and the earth. To God shall all return

24:43  Do you not see how God drives the clouds, then gathers and piles them up in masses through which you see the rain pour down in torrents? And from heaven‘s mountains He sends down the hail, pelting with it whom He will and turning it away from whom He pleases. The flash of His lightning almost snatches out men‘s eyes

24:44  God makes the night succeed the day: surely in this there is a lesson for the clear-sighted

24:45  God created every beast from water. Some creep upon their bellies, others walk on two legs, and others yet on four. God creates what He pleases. God has power over all things

24:46  We have sent down revelations demonstrating the Truth. God guides whom He will to a straight path

24:47  They say: ‘We believe in God and the Apostle and obey.‘ But soon thereafter some among them turn their backs. Surely these are no believers

24:48  And when they are called to God and His apostle that he may judge between them, some among them turn away

24:49  Had Truth been on their side they would have come to him in all obedience

24:50  Is there a sickness in their hearts, or are they full of doubt? Do they fear that God and His apostle may deny them justice? Surely they are themselves the wrongdoers

24:51  But when true believers are called to God and His apostle that he may judge between them, their only reply is: ‘We hear and obey.‘ It is they that will surely succeed

24:52  Those that obey God and His apostle, revere God and fear Him, will surely triumph

24:53  They solemnly swear by God that if you order them, they will march forth. Say: ‘Do not swear: your obedience, not your oaths, will count. God is cognizant of what you do.‘

24:54  Say: ‘Obey God and obey the Apostle. If you do not, he is still bound to fulfil his obligations, and you are still bound to fulfil yours. If you obey him, you shall be rightly guided. The apostle‘s duty is but to give veritable warning.‘

24:55  God has promised those of you who believe and do good works to make them masters in the land as He made those who went before them, to strengthen the Religion He chose for them, and to change their fears to safety. Let them worship Me and serve none besides Me. Wicked indeed are they who after this deny Me

24:56  And attend to your prayers, render the alms levy, and obey the Apostle, so that you may be shown mercy

24:57  Never think that the unbelievers are immune on the earth. The Fire shall be their shelter: a wretched fate

24:58  Believers, let your slaves and those who are under the age of puberty among you ask your leave on three occasions: before the dawn prayer, when you have put off your garments in the heat of noon, and after the evening prayer. These are the three occasions when none may intrude upon your privacy. At other times, it shall be no offence for you, or them, to go around visiting one another. Thus God makes plain to you the revelations: God is omniscient and wise

24:59  And when they have reached the age of puberty, let your children still ask your leave as their elders do. Thus God makes plain to you His revelations: God is all-knowing and wise

24:60  It shall be no offence for old spinsters who have no hope of marriage to discard their cloaks without revealing their adornments: Better if they do not discard them. God hears all and knows all

24:61  It shall be no offence for the blind, the lame, the sick, and for yourselves to eat in your houses or the houses of your fathers, the houses of your mothers, the houses of your brothers, the houses of your sisters, the houses of your paternal uncles, the houses of your paternal aunts, the houses of your maternal uncles, the houses of your maternal aunts, or of your friends; or in houses with the keys of which you are entrusted. Nor shall it be an offence for you to eat together or apart. And when you enter a house, salute one another with a greeting from God, devout and kindly. Thus God makes clear to you the revelations, that you may understand

24:62  They only are true believers who have faith in God and His apostle, and who, when gathered with him upon a grave occasion, do not depart till they have begged his leave. Those who ask your leave are those who truly believe in God and His apostle. When they ask your leave to go away on any business of their own, grant it to whomever you please and implore God to forgive them; God is forgiving and compassionate

24:63  Do not address the Apostle in the manner you address one another. God knows those of you who steal away, concealing themselves behind others. Let those who disobey his orders beware, lest some affliction or some woeful scourge be visited upon them

24:64  Surely to God belongs what the heavens and the earth contain. He has knowledge of all you are up to. On the day when they return to Him, He will declare to them all that they have done. God has knowledge of all things