53 Believers, do not enter the Prophet’s apartments for a meal unless you are given permission to do so; do not linger until [a meal] is ready. When you are invited, go in; then, when you have taken your meal, leave. Do not stay on and talk, for that would offend the Prophet, though he would shrink from asking you to leave. God does not shrink from the truth. When you ask his wives for something, do so from behind a screen: this is purer both for your hearts and for theirs. It is not right for you to offend God’s Messenger, just as you should never marry his wives after him: that would be grievous in God’s eyes. 54 God has full knowledge of all things, whether you reveal them or not. 55 The Prophet’s wives are not to blame [if they are seen by] their fathers, their sons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, their women, or their slaves. [Wives of the Prophet], be mindful of God. God observes everything. 56 God and His angels bless the Prophet– so, you who believe, bless him too and give him greetings of peace. 57 Those who insult God and His Messenger will be rejected by God in this world and the next– He has prepared a humiliating torment for them– 58 and those who undeservedly insult believing men and women will bear the guilt of slander and flagrant sin.
59 Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters, and women believers to make their outer garments hang low over them [a] so as to be recognized and not insulted: God is most forgiving, most merciful. 60 If the hypocrites, the sick at heart, and those who spread lies in the city do not desist, We shall rouse you [Prophet] against them, and then they will only be your neighbors in this city for a short while. 61 They will be rejected. Wherever they are found, they will be arrested and put to death. 62 This has been God’s practice with those who went before. You will find no change in God’s practices.
Only God Knows the Hour of Judgement
63 People ask you about the Hour. Say, ‘God alone has knowledge of it.’ How could you [Prophet] know? The Hour may well be near. 64 God has rejected the disbelievers and prepared a blazing fire for them. 65 There they will stay permanently, with no one to befriend or support them. 66 On the Day when their faces are being turned about in the Fire, they will say, ‘If only we had obeyed God and the Messenger,’ 67 and ‘Lord! We obeyed our masters and our chiefs, and they led us astray. 68 Lord! Give them a double punishment and reject them completely.’
69 Believers, do not be like those who insulted Moses– God cleared him of their allegations and he was highly honored in God’s eyes. 70 Believers, be mindful of God, speak in a direct fashion and to good purpose, 71 and He will put your deeds right for you and forgive you your sins. Whoever obeys God and His Messenger will truly achieve a great triumph. 72 We offered the Trust [b] to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, yet they refused to undertake it and were afraid of it; mankind undertook it– they have always been inept [c] and foolish. 73 God will punish the hypocrites and the idolaters, both men and women, and turn with mercy to the believers, both men and women: God is most forgiving, most merciful.
Footnotes
a. The Arabic idiom adna al-jilbab means ‘make it hang low’, not ‘wrap around’ as other translators have assumed (al-Mujam al-Wasit).
b. [Of reason and moral responsibility]
c. The meaning of dhalama is ‘put something out of its place’.
The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)
The Qur'an / a new translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, copyright © 2004 Oxford World's Classics (Oxford University Press). Used by permission. All rights reserved.