النساء
The Women
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
wakayfa takhudhūnahu waqad afḍā baʿḍukum ilā baʿḍin wa-akhadhna minkum mīthāqan ghalīẓan
And how could you take it while you have gone in unto each other and they have taken from you a solemn covenant?
walā tankiḥū mā nakaḥa ābāukum mina l-nisāi illā mā qad salafa innahu kāna fāḥishatan wamaqtan wasāa sabīlan
And do not marry those [women] whom your fathers married, except what has already occurred. Indeed, it was an immorality and hateful [to Allāh] and was evil as a way.
ḥurrimat ʿalaykum ummahātukum wabanātukum wa-akhawātukum waʿammātukum wakhālātukum wabanātu l-akhi wabanātu l-ukh'ti wa-ummahātukumu allātī arḍaʿnakum wa-akhawātukum mina l-raḍāʿati wa-ummahātu nisāikum warabāibukumu allātī fī ḥujūrikum min nisāikumu allātī dakhaltum bihinna fa-in lam takūnū dakhaltum bihinna falā junāḥa ʿalaykum waḥalāilu abnāikumu alladhīna min aṣlābikum wa-an tajmaʿū bayna l-ukh'tayni illā mā qad salafa inna l-laha kāna ghafūran raḥīman
Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives' mothers, and your step-daughters under your guardianship [born] of your wives unto whom you have gone in. But if you have not gone in unto them, there is no sin upon you. And [also prohibited are] the wives of your sons who are from your [own] loins, and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, Allāh is ever Forgiving and Merciful.
wal-muḥ'ṣanātu mina l-nisāi illā mā malakat aymānukum kitāba l-lahi ʿalaykum wa-uḥilla lakum mā warāa dhālikum an tabtaghū bi-amwālikum muḥ'ṣinīna ghayra musāfiḥīna famā is'tamtaʿtum bihi min'hunna faātūhunna ujūrahunna farīḍatan walā junāḥa ʿalaykum fīmā tarāḍaytum bihi min baʿdi l-farīḍati inna l-laha kāna ʿalīman ḥakīman
And [also prohibited to you are all] married women except those your right hands possess. [This is] the decree of Allāh upon you. And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these, [provided] that you seek them [in marriage] with [gifts from] your property, desiring chastity, not unlawful sexual intercourse. So for whatever you enjoy [of marriage] from them, give them their due compensation as an obligation. And there is no blame upon you for what you mutually agree to beyond the obligation. Indeed, Allāh is ever Knowing and Wise.
waman lam yastaṭiʿ minkum ṭawlan an yankiḥa l-muḥ'ṣanāti l-mu'mināti famin mā malakat aymānukum min fatayātikumu l-mu'mināti wal-lahu aʿlamu biīmānikum baʿḍukum min baʿḍin fa-inkiḥūhunna bi-idh'ni ahlihinna waātūhunna ujūrahunna bil-maʿrūfi muḥ'ṣanātin ghayra musāfiḥātin walā muttakhidhāti akhdānin fa-idhā uḥ'ṣinna fa-in atayna bifāḥishatin faʿalayhinna niṣ'fu mā ʿalā l-muḥ'ṣanāti mina l-ʿadhābi dhālika liman khashiya l-ʿanata minkum wa-an taṣbirū khayrun lakum wal-lahu ghafūrun raḥīmun
And whoever among you cannot [find] the means to marry free, believing women, then [he may marry] from those whom your right hands possess of believing slave girls. And Allāh is most knowing about your faith. You [believers] are of one another. So marry them with the permission of their people and give them their due compensation [i.e., mahr] according to what is acceptable. [They should be] chaste, neither [of] those who commit unlawful intercourse randomly nor those who take [secret] lovers. But once they are sheltered in marriage, if they should commit adultery, then for them is half the punishment for free [unmarried] women. This [allowance] is for him among you who fears affliction [i.e., sin], but to be patient is better for you. And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.
yurīdu l-lahu liyubayyina lakum wayahdiyakum sunana alladhīna min qablikum wayatūba ʿalaykum wal-lahu ʿalīmun ḥakīmun
Allāh wants to make clear to you [the lawful from the unlawful] and guide you to the [good] practices of those before you and to accept your repentance. And Allāh is Knowing and Wise.
wal-lahu yurīdu an yatūba ʿalaykum wayurīdu alladhīna yattabiʿūna l-shahawāti an tamīlū maylan ʿaẓīman
Allāh wants to accept your repentance, but those who follow [their] passions want you to digress [into] a great deviation.
yurīdu l-lahu an yukhaffifa ʿankum wakhuliqa l-insānu ḍaʿīfan
And Allāh wants to lighten for you [your difficulties]; and mankind was created weak.
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū lā takulū amwālakum baynakum bil-bāṭili illā an takūna tijāratan ʿan tarāḍin minkum walā taqtulū anfusakum inna l-laha kāna bikum raḥīman
O you who have believed, do not consume one another's wealth unjustly but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allāh is to you ever Merciful.
waman yafʿal dhālika ʿud'wānan waẓul'man fasawfa nuṣ'līhi nāran wakāna dhālika ʿalā l-lahi yasīran
And whoever does that in aggression and injustice - then We will drive him into a Fire. And that, for Allāh, is [always] easy.
in tajtanibū kabāira mā tun'hawna ʿanhu nukaffir ʿankum sayyiātikum wanud'khil'kum mud'khalan karīman
If you avoid the major sins which you are forbidden, We will remove from you your lesser sins and admit you to a noble entrance [into Paradise].
walā tatamannaw mā faḍḍala l-lahu bihi baʿḍakum ʿalā baʿḍin lilrrijāli naṣībun mimmā ik'tasabū walilnnisāi naṣībun mimmā ik'tasabna wasalū l-laha min faḍlihi inna l-laha kāna bikulli shayin ʿalīman
And do not wish for that by which Allāh has made some of you exceed others. For men is a share of what they have earned, and for women is a share of what they have earned. And ask Allāh of His bounty. Indeed Allāh is ever, of all things, Knowing.
walikullin jaʿalnā mawāliya mimmā taraka l-wālidāni wal-aqrabūna wa-alladhīna ʿaqadat aymānukum faātūhum naṣībahum inna l-laha kāna ʿalā kulli shayin shahīdan
And for all, We have made heirs to what is left by parents and relatives. And to those whom your oaths have bound [to you] - give them their share. Indeed Allāh is ever, over all things, a Witness.
al-rijālu qawwāmūna ʿalā l-nisāi bimā faḍḍala l-lahu baʿḍahum ʿalā baʿḍin wabimā anfaqū min amwālihim fal-ṣāliḥātu qānitātun ḥāfiẓātun lil'ghaybi bimā ḥafiẓa l-lahu wa-allātī takhāfūna nushūzahunna faʿiẓūhunna wa-uh'jurūhunna fī l-maḍājiʿi wa-iḍ'ribūhunna fa-in aṭaʿnakum falā tabghū ʿalayhinna sabīlan inna l-laha kāna ʿaliyyan kabīran
Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allāh has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband's] absence what Allāh would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them [lightly]. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allāh is ever Exalted and Grand.
wa-in khif'tum shiqāqa baynihimā fa-ib'ʿathū ḥakaman min ahlihi waḥakaman min ahlihā in yurīdā iṣ'lāḥan yuwaffiqi l-lahu baynahumā inna l-laha kāna ʿalīman khabīran
And if you fear dissension between the two, send an arbitrator from his people and an arbitrator from her people. If they both desire reconciliation, Allāh will cause it between them. Indeed, Allāh is ever Knowing and Aware.
wa-uʿ'budū l-laha walā tush'rikū bihi shayan wabil-wālidayni iḥ'sānan wabidhī l-qur'bā wal-yatāmā wal-masākīni wal-jāri dhī l-qur'bā wal-jāri l-junubi wal-ṣāḥibi bil-janbi wa-ib'ni l-sabīli wamā malakat aymānukum inna l-laha lā yuḥibbu man kāna mukh'tālan fakhūran
Worship Allāh and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbor, the neighbor farther away, the companion at your side, the traveler, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed, Allāh does not like those who are self-deluding and boastful,
alladhīna yabkhalūna wayamurūna l-nāsa bil-bukh'li wayaktumūna mā ātāhumu l-lahu min faḍlihi wa-aʿtadnā lil'kāfirīna ʿadhāban muhīnan
Who are stingy and enjoin upon [other] people stinginess and conceal what Allāh has given them of His bounty - and We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment -
wa-alladhīna yunfiqūna amwālahum riāa l-nāsi walā yu'minūna bil-lahi walā bil-yawmi l-ākhiri waman yakuni l-shayṭānu lahu qarīnan fasāa qarīnan
And [also] those who spend of their wealth to be seen by the people and believe not in Allāh nor in the Last Day. And he to whom Satan is a companion - then evil is he as a companion.
wamādhā ʿalayhim law āmanū bil-lahi wal-yawmi l-ākhiri wa-anfaqū mimmā razaqahumu l-lahu wakāna l-lahu bihim ʿalīman
And what [harm would come] upon them if they believed in Allāh and the Last Day and spent out of what Allāh provided for them? And Allāh is ever, about them, Knowing.
inna l-laha lā yaẓlimu mith'qāla dharratin wa-in taku ḥasanatan yuḍāʿif'hā wayu'ti min ladun'hu ajran ʿaẓīman
Indeed, Allāh does not do injustice, [even] as much as an atom's weight; while if there is a good deed, He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward.