Chapter Thirty Three: Surah Al-Ahzab

Sura Al-Ahzab (Surah #33, Juz # 21, Aya # 73) 

In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.  

O Prophet! Be wary of Allah and do not obey the faithless and the hypocrites. Indeed Allah is allknowing, all-wise. (1)

Follow that which is revealed to you from your Lord. Indeed Allah is well aware of what you do. (2)

And put your trust in Allah; Allah suffices as trustee. (3)

Allah has not put two hearts within any man, nor has He made your wives whom you repudiate by zihar your mothers, nor has he made your adopted sons your [actual] sons. These are mere utterances of your mouths. But Allah speaks the truth and He guides to the [right] way. (4)

Call them after their fathers. That is more just with Allah. If you do not know their fathers, then they are your brethren in the faith and your kinsmen. Excepting what your hearts may intend deliberately, there will be no sin upon you for any mistake that you may make therein. And Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful. (5)

The Prophet is closer to the faithful than their own souls, and his wives are their mothers. The blood relatives are more entitled to inherit from one another in the Book of Allah than the [other] faithful and Emigrants, barring any favour you may do your comrades. This has been written in the Book. (6)

[Recall] when We took a pledge from the prophets, and from you and from Noah and Abraham and Moses and Jesus son of Mary, and We took from them a solemn pledge, (7)

so that He may question the truthful concerning their truthfulness. And He has prepared for the faithless a painful punishment. (8)

O you who have faith! Remember Allah’s blessing upon you when the hosts came at you, and We sent against them a gale and hosts whom you did not see, and Allah sees best what you do. (9)

When they came at you from above and below you, and when the eyes rolled [with fear] and the hearts leapt to the throats, and you entertained misgivings about Allah, (10)

it was there that the faithful were tested and jolted with a severe agitation. (11)

When the hypocrites, as well as those in whose hearts is a sickness, were saying, ‘Allah and His Apostle did not promise us *anything+ except delusion.’ (12)

And when a group of them said, ‘O people of Yathrib! [This is+ not a place for you, so go back!’ A group of them sought the Prophet’s permission *to leave the scene of battle+, saying, ‘Our homes lie exposed *to the enemy+,’ although they were not exposed. They only sought to flee. (13)

Had they been invaded from its flanks and had they been asked to apostatize, they would have done so with only a mild hesitation, (14)

though they had already pledged to Allah before that they would not turn their backs [to flee], and pledges given to Allah are accountable. (15)

Say, ‘Flight will not avail you, if you flee from death, or from being killed, and then you will be let to enjoy only for a little while.’ (16)

Say, ‘Who is it that can protect you from Allah if He desires to cause you harm or desires to grant you His mercy?’ Besides Allah they will not find for themselves any protector or helper. (17)

Allah knows those of you who discourage others, and those who say to their brethren, ‘Come to us!’ and take little part in the battle, (18)

grudging you *their help]. So when there is panic, you see them looking at you, with their eyes rolling like someone fainting at death. Then, when the panic is over, they scald you with [their] sharp tongues in their greed for the spoils. They never have had faith. So Allah has made their works fail, and that is easy for Allah. (19)

They suppose the confederates have not left yet, and were the confederates to come [again], they would wish they were in the desert with the Bedouins asking about your news, and if they were with you they would fight but a little. (20)

There is certainly a good exemplar for you in the Apostle of Allah—for those who look forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remember Allah much. (21)

But when the faithful saw the confederates, they said, ‘This is what Allah and His Apostle had promised us, and Allah and His Apostle were true.’ And it only increased them in faith and submission. (22)

Among the faithful are men who fulfill what they have pledged to Allah: there are some among them who have fulfilled their pledge, and some of them who still wait, and they have not changed in the least, (23)

that Allah may reward the true for their truthfulness, and punish the hypocrites, if He wishes, or accept their repentance. Indeed Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful. (24)

Allah sent back the faithless in their rage, without their attaining any advantage, and Allah spared the faithful of fighting, and Allah is all-strong, all-mighty. (25)

And He dragged down from their strongholds those who had backed them from among the People of the Book, and He cast terror into their hearts, [so that] you killed a part of them, and took captive [another] part. (26)

He bequeathed you their land, their houses and their possessions, and a territory you had not trodden, and Allah has power over all things. (27)

O Prophet! Say to your wives, ‘If you desire the life of the world and its glitter, come, I will provide for you and release you in a graceful manner. (28)

But if you desire Allah and His Apostle and the abode of the Hereafter, then Allah has indeed prepared a great reward for the virtuous among you.’ (29)

O wives of the Prophet! Whoever of you commits a gross indecency, her punishment shall be doubled, and that is easy for Allah. (30)

But whoever of you is obedient to Allah and His Apostle and acts righteously, We shall give her a twofold reward, and We will have in store for her a noble provision. (31)

O wives of the Prophet! You are not like other women: if you are wary [of Allah], do not be complaisant in your speech, lest he in whose heart is a sickness should aspire; speak honourable words. (32)

Stay in your houses and do not flaunt your finery like the former [days of pagan] ignorance. Maintain the prayer and pay the zakat, and obey Allah and His Apostle. Indeed Allah desires to repel all impurity from you, O People of the Household, and purify you with a thorough purification. (33)

And remember what is recited in your homes of the signs of Allah and wisdom. Indeed Allah is all-attentive, all-aware. (34)

Indeed the muslim men and the muslim women, the faithful men and the faithful women, the obedient men and the obedient women, the truthful men and the truthful women, the patient men and the patient women, the humble men and the humble women, the charitable men and the charitable women, the men who fast and the women who fast, the men who guard their private parts and the women who guard, the men who remember Allah greatly and the women who remember [Allah greatly]—Allah holds in store for them forgiveness and a great reward. (35)

A faithful man or woman may not have any option in their matter, when Allah and His Apostle have decided on a matter, and whoever disobeys Allah and His Apostle has certainly strayed into manifest error. (36)

When you said to him whom Allah had blessed, and whom you *too+ had blessed, ‘Retain your wife for yourself, and be wary of Allah,’ and you had hidden in your heart what Allah was to divulge, and you feared the people though Allah is worthier that you should fear Him, so when Zayd had got through with her, We wedded her to you, so that there may be no blame on the faithful in respect of the wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have got through with them, and Allah’s command is bound to be fulfilled. (37)

There is no blame on the Prophet in respect of that which Allah has made lawful for him: Allah’s precedent with those who passed away earlier (and Allah’s commands are ordained by a precise ordaining), (38)

such as deliver the messages of Allah and fear Him, and fear no one except Allah, and Allah suffices as reckoner. (39)

Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Apostle of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets, and Allah has knowledge of all things. (40)

O you who have faith! Remember Allah with frequent remembrance, (41)

and glorify Him morning and evening. (42)

It is He who blesses you—and so do His angels—that He may bring you out from darkness into light, and He is most merciful to the faithful. (43)

The day they encounter Him, their greeting will be, ‘Peace,’ and He holds in store for them a noble reward. (44)

O Prophet! Indeed We have sent you as a witness, as a bearer of good news and as a warner (45)

and as a summoner to Allah by His permission, and as a radiant lamp. (46)

Announce to the faithful the good news that there will be for them a great grace from Allah. (47)

Do not obey the faithless and the hypocrites, and disregard their torments, and put your trust in Allah, and Allah suffices as trustee. (48)

O you who have faith! When you marry faithful women and then divorce them before you touch them, there shall be no period for you to reckon. But provide for them and release them in a graceful manner. (49)

O Prophet! Indeed We have made lawful to you your wives whom you have given their dowries, and those whom your right hand owns, of those whom Allah gave you as spoils of war, and the daughters of your paternal uncle, and the daughters of your paternal aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncle, and the daughters of your maternal aunts who migrated with you, and a faithful woman if she offers herself to the Prophet and the Prophet desires to take her in marriage (a privilege exclusively for you, not for [the rest of] the faithful; We know what We have made lawful for them with respect to their wives and those whom their right hands own, so that there may be no blame on you ), and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful. (50)

You may put off whichever of them you wish and consort with whichever of them you wish, and there is no sin upon you [in receiving again] any [of them] whom you may seek [to consort with] from among those you have set aside [earlier]. That makes it likelier that they will be comforted and not feel unhappy, and all of them will be pleased with what you give them. Allah knows what is in your hearts, and Allah is all-knowing, all-forbearing. (51)

Beyond that, women are not lawful for you, nor that you should change them for other wives even though their beauty should impress you, except those whom your right hand owns. Allah is watchful over all things. (52) 

O you who have faith! Do not enter the Prophet’s houses for a meal until you are granted permission, without hanging around for it to be readied. But enter when you are invited, and disperse when you have taken your meal, without cozying up for chats. Such conduct on your part offends the Prophet, and he is ashamed of [asking] you [to leave]; but Allah is not ashamed of [expressing] the truth. When you ask [his] womenfolk for something, do so from behind a curtain. That is more chaste for your hearts and theirs. You should not offend the Apostle of Allah, nor may you ever marry his wives after him. Indeed that would be a grave [sin] with Allah. (53)

Whether you disclose anything or hide it, Allah indeed knows all things. (54)

There is no sin on them [in socializing freely] with their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or the sons of their sisters, or their own womenfolk, or what their right hands own. Be wary of Allah. Indeed Allah is witness to all things. (55)

Indeed Allah and His angels bless the Prophet; O you who have faith! Invoke blessings on him and invoke Peace upon him in a worthy manner. (56)

Indeed those who offend Allah and His Apostle are cursed by Allah in the world and the Hereafter, and He has prepared a humiliating punishment for them. (57)

Those who offend faithful men and women undeservedly, certainly bear the guilt of slander and flagrant sin. (58)

O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the faithful to draw closely over themselves their chadors [when going out]. That makes it likely for them to be recognized and not be troubled, and Allah is allforgiving, all-merciful. (59)

If the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a sickness, and the rumourmongers in the city do not desist, We will prompt you [to take action] against them; then they will not be your neighbours in it except briefly. (60)

Accursed, they will be seized wherever they are confronted and slain violently: (61)

Allah’s precedent with those who passed away before, and you will never find any change in Allah’s precedent. (62)

The people question you concerning the Hour. Say, ‘Its knowledge is only with Allah.’ What do you know, maybe the Hour is near. (63)

Indeed Allah has cursed the faithless and prepared for them a blaze, (64)

in which they will remain forever, and will not find any guardian or helper. (65)

The day when their faces are turned about in the Fire, they will say, ‘We wish we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Apostle!’ (66)

They will say, ‘Our Lord! We obeyed our leaders and elders, and they led us astray from the way.’ (67)

Our Lord! Give them a double punishment and curse them with a mighty curse.’ (68)

O you who have faith! Do not be like those who offended Moses, whereat Allah cleared him of what they alleged, and he was distinguished in Allah’s sight. (69)

O you who have faith! Be wary of Allah, and speak upright words. (70)

He will rectify your conduct for you and forgive you your sins. Whoever obeys Allah and His Apostle will certainly achieve a great success. (71)

Indeed We presented the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to undertake it and were apprehensive of it; but man undertook it. Indeed he is most unjust and ignorant. (72)

Allah will surely punish the hypocrites, men and women, and the polytheists, men and women, and Allah will turn clemently to the faithful, men and women, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful. (73)