Part 28 of 30

GOD CERTAINLY HEARD what the woman who argued with you about her husband, said, and complained to God; and God heard your interrogation. Verily God hears all, and sees everything.

Those of you who divorce your wives by calling them 'mothers,' cannot (make them) their mothers. Their mothers are only those who gave birth to them. They surely utter what is unseemly and a lie. But God is forbearing and forgiving.

Those who call their wives their mothers then revoke what they had said, should free a slave before having physical contact (with them). This is to warn you, as God is aware of what you do.

If one does not have the means (of doing so) then he should fast for two months continuously before he has physical contact; but any one who is unable to do so, should feed sixty needy persons. This (is enjoined) so that you may be faithful to God and His Apostle. These are the limits set by God. As for the unbelievers, there is painful punishment for them.

Those who oppose God will be disgraced, as those before them were. We have sent down very clear signs. For unbelievers there is a shameful punishment.

On the day when God will raise them up together, He will tell them what they did. God takes account of it although they forget, for all things are evident to God.

Have you not considered that God knows whatever is in the heavens and the earth? No three persons confer secretly but He is the fourth among them, and no five but He is the sixth; and neither fewer nor more but He is with them wheresoever they be. And on the Day of Judgement He will announce their deeds to them. Verily God has knowledge of everything.

Have you not considered those who were forbidden to conspire, but reverted after a time to what was forbidden them, and conspired evil, rebellion and disobedience to the Prophet? Yet when they come to you they greet you with a greeting even God does not greet you with; and say to themselves, "Why doesn't God punish us for what we say?" Hell is sufficient for them, in which they will be burnt: And what an evil consequence!

O you who believe, when you converse privately, do not talk of iniquity, rebellion, and disobedience to the Prophet, but talk of goodness and piety, and fear God before whom you will be gathered.

Surely scheming is the work of Satan that he may cause the faithful grief; but he cannot harm them unless God dispense. So in God should the believers place their trust.

O you who believe, when you are told to make room in the assemblies, then make room; God will give you more room to spread. When you are told to rise, then rise; God will raise those of you who believe, and those who have knowledge, in position. God is aware of what you do.

O you who believe, if you confer with the Prophet in private, give alms in the name of God before you go to confer. This is better for you and becoming. If you do not have the means, then surely God is forgiving and kind.

Are you afraid of giving alms before confering? Then, if you cannot do this, and God forgives you, be constant in your devotional obligations and pay the due share of your wealth for the welfare of others, and obey God and His Prophet. God is aware of all you do.

Have you not seen those who have taken a people who have roused the wrath of God, as friends? They are neither of you nor of them, and swear to a lie, and knowingly.

God has reserved a severe punishment for them. Evil indeed are the things they do!

They have made their oaths a shield, and obstruct people from the way of God. There is shameful punishment for them.

Neither their wealth nor children will avail them against God. They are the people of Hell, and there will abide for ever.

On the day that God will raise them together, they will swear before Him as they swear before you, and imagine they are on the right path. Is it not they who are liars?

Satan has got the better of them. and made them forget to remember God. Indeed they belong to Satan's faction. Will not Satan's faction perish?

Surely those who oppose God and His Prophet will be among the vilest.

God has decreed: "I will prevail, I and My apostles." Verily God is powerful and all-mighty.

You will not find those who believe in God and the Day of Resurrection, loving those who oppose God and His Prophet, even though they be their fathers, sons, or brothers or their kin. God has inscribed on their hearts belief, and has succoured them with His own grace, and will admit them to gardens with rivers flowing by, where they will abide for ever, God accepting them, and they, happy in the pleasure of God. They are verily the army of God. Will not the army of God be victorious?

WHATEVER IS IN the heavens and the earth sings the praises of God. He is all-mighty and all-wise.

It is He who drove those among the people of the Book who refused to believe, from their homes for the first confrontation. You did not think that they would go away, and they imagined that their forts would protect them against God. But God came upon them from where they did not suspect, and filled their hearts with terror, so that they destroyed their homes with their own hands (or were destroyed) by the hands of believers. So take heed, O men of sight!

Had God not decreed the expulsion for them He would have punished them in this world, and in the next the punishment of Hell would have been theirs.

For they had opposed God and His Apostle; and whosoever opposes God, then God is severe in retribution.

The palm trees that you cut down or left standing intact was by God's dispensation, so that He might disgrace the transgressors.

You did not charge with horse or camel for whatever (spoils) God gave His Apostle from them. In any case, God gives authority to His Apostle over whomsoever He please. God has power over everything.

Whatever booty God gives to His Apostle from the people of the cities, is for God and His Apostle, the near relations, the orphans, the needy and wayfarers, so that it does not concentrate in the hands of those who are rich among you. Accept what the Apostle gives you, and refrain from what he forbids, and take heed for yourself and fear God. Surely God is severe of retribution.

The spoils are also for the poor emigrants who were deprived of their homes and possessions and are seeking the bounty and protection of God, and are helping God and His Apostle. They are the ones who are true of word and deed.

Those who came to the city and to faith before them, love those who take refuge with them, and do not feel for themselves any need for what is given them, and give them preference over themselves even if they are indigent. Whoever preserves himself from his own greed will be prosperous.

(And the spoils are for) those who came after them, who say: "O Lord, forgive us and our brothers who came to faith before us, and do not put a grudge in our hearts against those who believe O Lord, You are compassionate and kind."

Have you never considered the hypocrites? They say to their brethren among the people of the Book who do not believe: "If you are driven out we shall go with you, and will not listen to any one in what concerns you; and if there is war against you, we shall aid you." But God is witness they are liars.

If they are driven out, they will not go with them; and if they are attacked, they will not aid them. And even if they aided them, they will turn their backs, then they will not be helped.

Surely they have greater fear of you in their hearts than of God, because they do not understand.

They will not fight you in a body except in fortified cities, or from behind the walls. Their enmity among themselves is great. You think they are united, but divided are their hearts. That is because these people are devoid of sense,

Like those who had tasted the gravity of their actions a little before them. There is a grievous punishment for them.

(They are) like Satan who says to man: "Do not believe;" and when he becomes a disbeliever, he says: "I have nothing to do with you. I fear God, the Lord of all the worlds."

Both of them will end up in Hell, where they will abide for ever. This is the punishment for the wicked.

O you who believe, be fearful of God. Let each soul consider what it has sent (of good deeds) in advance for the morrow, and fear God. Surely God is aware of what you do.

And be not like those who have forgotten God, so that God has made them forget themselves. Such are the reprobates.

Alike are not the inmates of Hell and the residents of Paradise. The men of Paradise will be felicitous.

If We had sent down this Qur'an to a mountain you would have seen it turn desolate and split into two for fear of God. We offer these examples to men that they may think and reflect.

He is God; there is no god but He, the knower of the unknown and the known. He is the benevolent, ever-merciful.

He is God; there is no god but He, the King, the Holy, the Preserver, Protector, Guardian, the Strong, the Powerful, Omnipotent. Far too exalted is God for what they associate with Him.

He is God, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are all the names beautiful. Whatever is in the heavens and the earth sings His praises. He is all-mighty and all-wise.

O YOU WHO BELIEVE, do not take My enemies and your enemies as friends. You show kindness to them, but they reject the true way that has come to you. They expelled the Prophet and you, for you believe in God your Lord. If you have come out to struggle in My cause having sought My acceptance, (do not be) friendly with them in secret. I know what you hide and what you disclose. Whoever of you does this will have gone astray from the right path.

If they gain ascendancy over you, they will become your enemies, and employ their hands and tongues with evil designs, and wish that you also became disbelievers.

Neither your blood relations nor your children will be of any avail to you on the Day of Resurrection. He will judge between you, for God sees what you do.

You have an excellent model in Abraham and those who were with him, when he said to his people: "We are through with you, and those you worship other than God. We reject you. Enmity and hate have come between you and us for ever, unless you believe in God the One," -- except for what he said to his father: "I shall ask forgiveness for you, but I have no power to prevail with God for you." "O Lord, we place our trust in You, and turn to You in penitence, and to You is our returning.

O Lord, make us not an example of punishment for infidels, and forgive us, O Lord. You are all-mighty and all-wise."

Those of you who have hope in God and the Last Day have certainly a good example in them. But whosoever turns away, then surely God is above concern, worthy of praise.

It maybe that God will create love between you and your enemies. God is all-powerful, and God is forgiving, ever-merciful.

God does not forbid you from being kind and acting justly towards those who did not fight over faith with you, nor expelled you from your homes. God indeed loves those who are just.

He only forbids you from making friends with those who fought over faith with you and banished you from your homes, and aided in your exile. Whoever makes friends with them is a transgressor.

O believers, when believing women come over to you as refugees, then examine them. God alone is cognisant of their faith. If you find that they are believers, do not send them back to unbelievers. They are not lawful for them, nor are infidels lawful for believing women. Give the unbelievers what they have spent on them. There is no sin if you marry them provided you give their dowers to them. Do not retain your (marriage) ties with unbelieving women. Ask for the return of what you have spent (on them); and the unbelievers should ask for the return of what they have spent. This is the judgement of God. He judges between you. God is all-knowing and all-wise.

If any of your women go away to the unbelievers, and you succeed in your turn (and have a chance of getting spoils), then give to those whose wives have so gone away as much as they had spent on them; but take heed and fear God in whom you believe.

O Prophet, when believing women come to you and swear on oath that they will not associate anything with God, nor steal, nor fornicate, nor kill their children, nor accuse others for what they have fabricated themselves, nor disobey you in any rightful thing, then you should accept their allegiance, and ask forgiveness of God for them. Certainly God is forgiving and kind.

O you who believe, do not make friends with those who have suffered the anger of God by having become despondent of the life to come like those unbelievers who are despondent of those who are in the graves.

ALL THAT IS in the heavens and the earth sings the praises of God. He is all-mighty and all-wise.

O you who believe, why do you profess what you do not practise?

Saying what you do not practice is odious to God.

Surely God loves those who fight in His cause in full formations as though they were a compact wall.

When Moses said to his people: "O my people, why do you afflict me though you know that I have been sent to you by God?" But when they turned aside God made their hearts turn farther away; for God does not show the transgressors the way.

And when Jesus, son of Mary, said: "O children of Israel, I am sent to you by God to confirm the Torah (sent) before me, and to give you good tidings of an apostle who will come after me, whose name is Ahmad (the praised one)." Yet when he has come to them with clear proofs, they say: "This is only magic."

Who is more unjust than he who invents a lie against God when he is called to submit? God does not show the evil-doers the way.

They want to extinguish the light of God by uttering blasphemies. But God wills to perfect His light, however the unbelievers may dislike it.

It is He who sent His Apostle with the guidance and the true way to raise it above all faiths, however the idolaters may dislike it.

O you who believe, may I offer you a bargain which will save you from a painful punishment?

Come to believe in God and His Apostle, and struggle in the cause of God, wealth and soul. This will be good for you, if you can understand.

He will forgive you your sins and admit you to gardens with rivers flowing by, and excellent mansions in the garden of Eden. This will be a great fulfilment.

And (He will give you) what is dearest to you -- help from God and early victory. So give good tidings to those who believe.

O you who believe, be helpers of God, as Jesus, son of Mary, had said to the disciples: "Who will help me in the way of God?" and they had answered: "We are the helpers of God." Then a section among the children of Israel believed, but a section among them did not. So We helped those who believed against their enemies, and they prevailed over them.

ALL THAT IS in the heavens and the earth sings the praises of God the King, the Holy, Omnipotent, the Wise.

It is He who raised among the gentiles an apostle from amongst them, who recites His revelations to them, reforms them and teaches them the Scripture and the Law, for before him they were clearly in error.

And for others among them who have not joined them yet. He is all-mighty and all-wise.

This is the bounty of God, He gives whosoever He please. God is master of great bounty.

The likeness of those who were charged with (the law of) the Torah which they did not observe, is that of a donkey who carries a load of books (oblivious of what they contain). How wretched the semblance of the people who deny the words of God! God does not show an unjust people the way.

Say: "O you Jews, if you claim that you are the favourites of God apart from all men, then wish for death, if you speak the truth.

But they will never wish for death because of what they had done in the past, and God knows the sinners well.

Tell them: "Death from which you run, will surely come to you. You will then be sent back to Him who knows the unknown and the known, who will tell you what you used to do.

O you who believe, when the call to prayer is made on the day of congregation, hasten to remember God, putting aside your business. This is better for you if you can understand.

And when the service of prayer is over spread out in the land, and look for the bounty of God. and remember God a great deal that you may prosper.

Yet when they see some buying and selling, or some sport, they go for it, leaving you standing. Tell them: "What is with God is better than your sport and commerce. And God is the best of providers."

WHEN THE HYPOCRITES come to you, they say: "We affirm that you are the Apostle of God." God indeed knows you are His Apostle. God bears witness that the hypocrites are indeed liars.

They have made their oaths a shield in order to obstruct others from the way of God. It is certainly evil what they do.

That is because they came to believe, and then renounced (their faith). So their hearts were sealed; and now they do not understand.

Pleasing seem their persons when you look at them; and when they talk, you listen to their speech. Yet they are like the wooden panelling of a wall. They imagine every rebuke to be directed against them. They are the enemies, beware of them. May God damn them, how pervert are they!

When you tell them: "Come, let the Apostle of God ask forgiveness for you," they turn their heads, and you see them turning away with arrogance.

Whether you ask forgiveness for them or do not ask, it is all the same; God will not forgive them. Surely God does not show a disobedient people the way.

They are the ones who say: "Do not spend on those who are with the Apostle of God till they break away (from him)." To God belong the treasures of the heavens and the earth; but the hypocrites do not understand.

They say: "If we now go back to Madina, the stronger will turn the weaker out." But power belongs to God, His Apostle and the faithful, though the hypocrites do not know.

O you who believe, let not your wealth and children make you negligent of the remembrance of God. Those who do so will be losers.

Spend of what We have given you before death comes to one of you, when he will say: "O Lord, why did you not defer my term for a while that I could give alms and be among the doers of good?"

But God does not grant a soul respite once its term has come to end. And God is aware of what you do.

ALL THAT THERE is in the heavens and the earth sings the praises of God. His the sovereignty and His is the praise, and He has power over everything.

It is He who created you, though one of you is an infidel and one of you a believer; yet God perceives what you do.

He created the heavens and the earth with deliberation, and gave you form, and shaped you well; and to Him is your returning.

He knows what is in the heavens and the earth, and knows what you hide and what you disclose; God knows what is in the hearts.

Has not the account of those who disbelieved before come to you, who tasted the torment of their action, and for whom is grievous punishment?

This was so because their apostles came to them with clear proofs, but they said: "What. Can a mortal show us the way?" And they denied and turned away; but God was unconcerned. God is all-sufficient, worthy of praise.

The unbelievers claim that they will not be raised again. Tell them: "Why not? By my Lord, you will certainly be raised again, and then informed of what you had done. That is how the law of God works inevitably."

So believe in God, His Apostle and the Light We have sent down. God is well aware of what you do.

The day He will gather you together on the Day of Gathering, will be the day of Judgement. He who believed and did the right, will have his evil deeds expunged by God and admitted to gardens with rivers flowing by, and abide there perpetually. This will be the great achievement of success.

Those who did not believe and denied Our revelations will be inmates of Hell, where they will abide for ever, and how evil a journey's end!

No calamity befalls unless God dispenses. He guides the heart of whosoever believes in God; and God has knowledge of everything.

Obey God and obey His Apostle. If you turn away, the duty of the Apostle is to convey the message clearly.

God: There is no god but He; and in God should believers place their trust.

O believers, some of your spouses and children are your enemies, so beware of them! Yet if you forbear, overlook, and forgive, God is indeed forgiving and kind.

Your wealth and children are surely meant as trial for you: But with God is the great reward.

So fear God as much as you can, and listen and obey, and spend in charity for your own good. He who is saved from his own avarice will be successful.

If you lend a goodly loan to God, He will double it for you, and forgive you. God knows the worth of good deeds and is clement,

The knower of the unknown and the known, all-mighty and all-wise.

O PROPHET WHEN you divorce women, divorce them at their appointed period, and calculate that period, and fear God, your Lord. Do not expel them from their houses, nor should they go away themselves, unless they are openly guilty of adultery. These are the limits set by God. Any one who exceeds the limits set by God sins against his own self. You never know that God may perchance lead to a new situation after this.

When they have reached their appointed time, then either keep them lawfully or let them go honourably; but have two witnesses from among you, and give truthful evidence for (being acceptable to) God. This is to warn him who believes in God and the Last Day. God will furnish a way out for him who fears Him,

And provide for him from where he does not reckon. God is sufficient for him who places his trust in Him. Certainly God fulfills His purpose. God has indeed fixed a measure of everything.

As for your women who have lost hope of menstruation, and in case you have a doubt, the prescribed period (of waiting) for them is three months, as also for those who have not menstruated yet. As for those who are pregnant, their prescribed period is until the delivery of the child. God will make things easy for him who is mindful of God.

This is the commandment of God that is sent down to you. God will forgive the ills of those who fear Him, and increase their reward.

House the (divorced) women where you live, according to your means; but do not harass them so as to reduce them to straitened circumstances. If they are pregnant, then spend on them until they give birth to the child. And if they suckle the child for you, then make the due payment to them, and consult each other appropriately. But if you find this difficult, let some other woman suckle (the child) for her.

Let the man of means spend according to his means, and he whose means are limited, should spend of what God has given him. God does not burden a soul beyond what He has given him. God will bring ease after hardship.

How many habitations rebelled against their Lord's command and His apostles; but We took them to severe task, and punished them with the harshest punishment.

So they tasted the pain of their actions; and the consequence of their deeds was ruin.

God has prepared for them severe punishment. So, you men of wisdom, and those who believe, take heed for yourselves and fear God. God has indeed sent down a Reminder for you,

An Apostle who recites before you the explicating revelations of God that He may bring those who believe and do the right out of darkness into light. Whosoever believes in God and does the right, He will admit into gardens with rivers flowing by, where they will abide for ever. How excellent a provision has God made for him

It is God who created several skies, and as many earths. The commandment is sent down among them so that you may know that God has power over everything, and everything is held within the knowledge of God.

O PROPHET, WHY should you forbid (yourself) what God has made lawful for you, in order to please your wives? Yet God is forgiving and kind.

Surely God has sanctioned the dissolution of your vows. God is your Lord: He is all-knowing, and all-wise.

When the Prophet told one of his wives something in confidence and she disclosed it, God revealed this to him. So he made some of it known to her, and held back some. When, however, he informed her about it, she asked: "Who told you this?" He said: "I was told this by the All-knowing, All-Informed."

If both of you two (women) turn to God in penitence (it would be better). Your hearts have been impaired; and if you assist one another against him, then surely his helper is God, and Gabriel and the righteous believers, and, besides them, the angels are his helpers.

In case he divorces you, his Lord will give him better wives in return, who will be modest, true believers, obedient to God, repentant, observant of prayer and fasting, both widows and virgins.

O you who believe, save yourselves and your families from the Fire whose fuel is men and rocks, over which are appointed angels stern and severe as wardens who never disobey what God commands them, and do what they are commanded;

(And say:) "O you who do not believe, make no excuses today. You will be requited only for what you had done."

O you who believe, turn to God truly in repentance. Perhaps your Lord may forgive your ills and admit you to gardens with rivers flowing by on the day when God will not humiliate the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their light will move in front of them and to their right, and they will say: "O Lord, perfect our light and forgive us. You have power over every thing."

O Prophet, fight the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be severe with them. Their abode is Hell, an evil destination?

God advances the example of Noah's wife and the wife of Lot for those who do not believe. They were married to Our two pious devotees, but they were unfaithful to them, and even (the apostles) could not avail them in the least against God; and it was said to them: "Enter Hell with those (who are condemned) to enter it."

And God presents the example of Pharaoh's wife for those who believe, when she said: "O Lord, build me a house in Paradise, and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds, and save me from a wicked people;"

And of Mary, daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity, so that We breathed into her a new life from Us, and she believed the words of her Lord and His Books, and was among the obedient.