سورة Al-Ahzab ( The Combined Forces )

O PROPHET FEAR God and do not follow the unbelievers and the hypocrites.

Follow what is revealed to you by your Lord. Verily God is all-knowing and all-wise.

Trust in God. God is sufficient as guardian.

God has not provided two hearts in the breast of a man, nor made your wives, whom you pronounce \"mothers\" (in order to divorce them), your real mothers, nor has He made your adopted sons your real sons. This is only what your lips pronounce. God says what is just, and shows the right way.

Call them by the names of their fathers. This is the right course in the sight of God. If you do not know their fathers, they are then your brothers in religion and your friends. It will not be a sin if you make a mistake, unless you do so intentionally; for God is forgiving and kind.

The Prophet is closer to the faithful than they are themselves; and his wives are as their mothers. Yet blood relations are closer to one another according to God's decree, more than (other) believers and the emigrants (who left their homes in the cause of God), but you should be kind to your friends. This is inscribed in the Book (of decrees).

When We made the covenant with the prophets, and with you, as with Noah and Abraham, Moses and Jesus son of Mary, a binding covenant,

(It was) so that God may ask the truthful of their sincerity. As for the infidels, He has prepared a painful punishment for them.

O you who believe, remember the favours of God to you when an army came against you and We sent a wind against them and forces that you did not see. But God sees all that you do.

When they came upon you from above and below you, when the eyes were stupefied with horror, and hearts jumped to the throats, and you made wild suppositions about God.

The faithful were sorely tried there and were shaken completely,

When the hypocrites and those who were filled with doubt, said: \"The promise of God and His Apostle was nothing but deceit.\"

When a section of them said: \"O people of Yathrib, there is no place for you here, turn back;\" and a section of them asked leave of the Prophet, saying: \"Our homes lie exposed,\" -- while they were not exposed. Their only intention was to run away.

If the (enemy) had entered the city from every side and asked them to rise in revolt, they would have done so, and not hesitated but a little;

Whereas earlier they had made a promise to God that they would never turn their backs; and a promise made to God is answerable.

Say: \"Of no gain will be your running away if you run from death or being killed, even then you will enjoy the good things of life but only for a while.\"

Say: \"Who will save you from God if He decide to afflict you or show you His mercy?\" They will never find a friend or helper apart from God.

Surely God knows who among you obstruct, and those who say to their brethren: \"Come to us,\" and go to battle but seldom,

Being chary of helping you. But when danger appears you will find them looking at you with eyes turning like a man's in the swoon of death. Yet when the danger is past they lash you with sharp tongues, covetous of the best (of booty). Such as these have not come to belief. So God nullifies whatever they have done. This is how (the innate law of) God works inevitably.

They think the allied tribes have not withdrawn; and if the allied tribes had advanced they would have wished that they were rather with the Arabs of the desert asking news of you; and had they been among you they would have fought but just a little.

You have indeed a noble paradigm in the Apostle of God for him who fears God and the Day of Resurrection, and remembers God frequently.

When the faithful saw (the armies of) the allied tribes, they said: \"This is what God and His Apostle had promised us; and God and His Apostle say the truth;\" and this enhanced their faith and obedience.

There are men among the faithful who have been true to the covenant they had made with God; and some of them fulfilled their vows (by dying in His cause), and some still wait (prepared for death), and stand firm,

That God may recompense the truthful for their truthfulness, and punish the hypocrites or relent towards them, as He will. God is surely forgiving and kind.

God drove the unbelievers back in their fury, and they gained no advantage. God was sufficient (to help) the believers in the battle. God is all-powerful and all-mighty.

He made those of the people of the Book who had helped (the tribes) descend from their forts, and filled their hearts with dread, so that you killed some and made many captive;

And He made you inherit their lands and mansions and wealth, and a country you had not traversed before, for God has power over everything.

O Prophet, say to your wives: \"In case you desire the life and pomp of this world, come, I will provide you handsomely, and let you go with a grace.

But if you desire God, His Apostle, and the joys of life to come, then God has verily set apart for those of you who are good, a great reward.\"

O wives of the Prophet, whosoever of you commits an act of clear shamelessness, her punishment will be doubled. This is how (the innate law of) God works inevitably.

But whoever of you is obedient to God and His Apostle, and does the right, will be given a two-fold reward by Us; and We have a rich provision in readiness for her.

O wives of the Prophet, you are not like other women. If you are mindful of God, do not be too obliging in your speech, lest some one sick of heart should covet your person; so say only customary things.

Stay at home, and do not deck yourselves with ostentation as in the days of paganism; fulfil your devotional obligations, pay the zakat, and obey God and His Apostle. God desires to remove impurities from you, O inmates of this house, and to cleanse and bring out the best in you.

Remember God's revelations and the wisdom that are recited in your homes. God is indeed all perceiving, well-informed.

Verily men and women who have come to submission, men and women who are believers, men and women who are devout, truthful men and truthful women, men and women with endurance, men and women who are modest, men and women who give alms, men and women who observe fasting, men and women who guard their private parts, and those men and women who remember God a great deal, for them God has forgiveness and a great reward.

No believing men and women have any choice in a matter after God and His Apostle have decided it. Whoever disobeys God and His Apostle has clearly lost the way and gone astray.

When you said to him who had been favoured by God and was favoured by you: \"Keep your wife to yourself and fear God,\" you were hiding something God was about to bring to light, for you had fear of men, though you should fear God more. And when Zaid was through with her, We gave her to you in marriage, so that it may not remain a sin for the faithful (to marry) the wives of their adopted sons when they are through with them. God's command is to be fulfilled.

There is no constraint on the Prophet in what God has decreed for him. This has been the way of God with (apostles) who have gone before you, and God's command is a determined act.

(For) those who convey the messages of God, and fear Him and no one else, God is sufficient to keep account.

Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but a messenger of God, and the seal of the prophets. God has knowledge of everything.

O you who believe, remember God a great deal,

And sing His praises morning and evening.

It is He who sends His blessings on you, as (do) His angels, that He may lead you out of darkness into light, for He is benevolent to the believers.

Their greeting on the day they meet Him will be: \"Peace;\" and He has a generous reward ready for them.

O Prophet, We have sent you as a witness and a bearer of happy tidings and an admonisher,

And to call (men) to God by His leave, and as a lamp resplendent.

Give glad tidings to the believers that there is great bounty for them from God.

Do not listen to the unbelievers and the hypocrites. Ignore what they do to hurt you, and put your trust in God. God is sufficient as protector.

O you who believe, when you marry believing women then divorce them before having (sexual) contact with them, you have no right to demand observance of the 'waiting period' of them. But provide suitably for them, and let them go with honour.

We have made lawful for you, O Prophet, wives to whom you have given their dower, and God-given maids and captives you have married, and the daughters of your father's brothers and daughters of your father's sisters, and daughters of your mother's brothers and sisters, who migrated with you; and a believing woman who offers herself to the Prophet if the Prophet desires to marry her. This is a privilege only for you and not the other believers. We know what We have ordained for them about their wives and maids they possess, so that you may be free of blame, for God is forgiving and kind.

You may defer the turn of any of your wives you like, and may take any other you desire. There is no harm if you take any of those (whose turn) you had deferred. This would be better as it would gladden their hearts and they will not grieve, and each will be happy with what you have given her. God knows what is in your heart, for He is all-wise and benign.

No other women are lawful for you after this except those you have married, nor to change your present wives for other women even though their beauty should appeal to you. God is watchful of everything.

O you who believe, do not enter the houses of the Prophet for a meal without awaiting the proper time, unless asked, and enter when you are invited, and depart when you have eaten, and do not stay on talking. This puts the Prophet to inconvenience, and he feels embarrassed before you; but God is not embarrassed in (saying) the truth. And when you ask his wife for some thing of utility, ask for it from behind the screen. This is for the purity of your hearts and theirs. It does not behove you to annoy the prophet of God, or to ever marry his wives after him. This would indeed be serious in the sight of God.

Whether you discuss a thing or conceal it, surely God has knowledge of everything.

There is no harm if they come before their fathers or their sons, or their brothers and their brothers' and sisters' sons, or their women folk or captive maids they possess. Follow the commands of God. Verily God is witness to everything.

God and His angels shower their blessings on the Prophet. O believers, you should also send your blessings on him, and salute him with a worthy greeting.

Those who offend God and His Prophet will be damned in this world and the next. There is a shameful punishment ready for them.

Those who slander believing men and women for what they have not done, will bear the burden of calumny and clear iniquity.

O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters, and the women of the faithful, to draw their wraps a little over them. They will thus be recognised and no harm will come to them. God is forgiving and kind.

If the hypocrites and perverts, and the rumour-mongers of Madinah, do not desist even now, We shall rouse you against them, so they would not be able to live but a short time in the city with you.

Accursed, they would be seized wherever found, and slain mercilessly.

Such was the law of God among those before you; and you will not find any change in the law of God.

People ask you about the Hour (of the great change). Say: \"Only God has knowledge of it. Who knows? The Hour may be close at hand.\"

Verily God has cursed the infidels, and prepared a blazing fire for them.

They will live in it for ever, and will find no saviour or helper.

The day their faces would be turned on the fire (as on a spit), they will say: \"Alas! If only we had obeyed God, and obeyed the Prophet.\"

They will say: \"O our Lord, we obeyed our leaders and the elders, but they only led us astray.

O Lord, give them a double punishment, and put a grievous curse upon them.\"

O you who believe, do not be like those who maligned Moses, whilst God cleared him of what they alleged; and he was held in high esteem with God.

O you who believe, obey the commands of God, and say straightforward things

That He may straighten your affairs for you and forgive your sins; and he who obeys God and His Prophet will be successful.

We had offered the Trust (of divine responsibilities) to the heavens, the earth, the mountains, but they refrained from bearing the burden and were frightened of it; but man took it on himself. He is a faithless ignoramus.

So that God punishes men and women hypocrites, the idolaters and idolatrous women, but He turns to faithful men and women in forgiveness, for God is forgiving and kind.