1. Prophet, be mindful of God and do not give in to the disbelievers and the hypocrites: God is all knowing, all wise.

2. Follow what your Lord reveals to you: God is well aware of all your actions.

3. Put your trust in God: God is enough to trust.

4. God does not put two hearts within a man’s breast. He does not turn the wives you reject and liken to your mothers’ backs into your real mothers; nor does He make your adopted sons into real sons. These are only words from your mouths, while God speaks the truth and guides people to the right path.

5. Name your adopted sons after their real fathers: this is more equitable in God’s eyes––if you do not know who their fathers are [they are your] ‘brothers-in-religion’ and proteges. You will not be blamed if you make a mistake, only for what your hearts deliberately intend; God is most forgiving and merciful.

6. The Prophet is more protective towards the believers than they are themselves, while his wives are their mothers. In God’s Scripture, blood-relatives have a stronger claim than other believers and emigrants, though you may still bestow gifts on your proteges. All this is written in the Scripture.

7. We took a solemn pledge from the prophets- from you [Muhammad], from Noah, from Abraham, from Moses, from Jesus, son of Mary- We took a solemn pledge from all of them:

8. God will question [even] the truthful about their sincerity, and for those who reject the truth He has prepared a painful torment.

9. You who believe, remember God’s goodness to you when mighty armies massed against you: We sent a violent wind and invisible forces against them. God sees all that you do.

10. They massed against you from above and below; your eyes rolled [with fear], your hearts rose into your throats, and you thought [ill] thoughts of God.

11. There the believers were sorely tested and deeply shaken:

12. the hypocrites and the sick at heart said, ‘God and His Messenger promised us nothing but delusions!’

13. Some of them said, ‘People of Yathrib, you will not be able to withstand [the attack], so go back!’ Some of them asked the Prophet’s permission to leave, saying, ‘Our houses are exposed,’ even though they were not- they just wanted to run away:

14. had the city been invaded from all sides, and the enemy invited them to rebel, they would have done so almost without hesitation.

15. Yet they had already promised God that they would not turn tail and flee, and a promise to God will be answered for.

16. [Prophet], say, ‘Running away will not benefit you. If you manage to escape death or slaughter, you will only be permitted to enjoy [life] for a short while.’

17. Say, ‘If God wishes to harm you, who can protect you? If God wishes to show you mercy, who can prevent Him?’ They will find no one but God to protect or help them.

18. God knows exactly who among you hinder others, who [secretly] say to their brothers, ‘Come and join us,’ who hardly ever come out to fight,

19. who begrudge you [believers] any help. When fear comes, you [Prophet] see them looking at you with eyes rolling like someone in their death throes; when fear has passed, they attack you with sharp tongues and begrudge you any good. Such men do not believe, and God brings their deeds to nothing- that is all too easy for God.

20. They think the joint forces have not gone, and if the joint forces did come again they would wish they were in the desert, wandering among the Bedouin and seeking news about you [from a safe distance]. Even if they were with you [believers], they would hardly fight at all.

21. The Messenger of God is an excellent model for those of you who put your hope in God and the Last Day and remember Him often.

22. When the believers saw the joint forces, they said, ‘This is what God and His Messenger promised us: the promise of God and His Messenger is true,’ and this only served to increase their faith and submission to God.

23. There are men among the believers who honoured their pledge to God: some of them have fulfilled it by death, and some are still waiting. They have not changed in the least.

24. [Such trials are ordained] so that God may reward the truthful for their honesty and punish the hypocrites, if He so wills, or He may relent towards them, for God is forgiving and merciful.

25. God sent back the disbelievers along with their rage- they gained no benefit–– and spared the believers from fighting. He is strong and mighty.

26. He brought those People of the Book who supported them down from their strongholds and put panic into their hearts. Some of them you [believers] killed and some you took captive.

27. He passed on to you their land, their houses, their possessions, and a land where you had not set foot: God has power over everything.

28. Prophet, say to your wives,‘If your desire is for the present life and its finery, then come, I will make provision for you and release you with kindness,

29. but if you desire God, His Messenger, and the Final Home, then remember that God has prepared great rewards for those of you who do good.’

30. Wives of the Prophet, if any of you does something clearly outrageous, she will be doubly punished- that is easy for God-

31. but if any of you is obedient to God and His Messenger and does good deeds, know that We shall give her a double reward and have prepared a generous provision for her.

32. Wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other woman. If you are truly mindful of God, do not speak too softly in case the sick at heart should lust after you, but speak in an appropriate manner;

33. stay at home, and do not flaunt your finery as they used to in the pagan past; keep up the prayer, give the prescribed alms, and obey God and His Messenger. God wishes to keep uncleanness away from you, people of the [Prophet’s] House, and to purify you thoroughly.

34. Remember what is recited in your houses of God’s revelations and wisdom, for God is all subtle, all aware.

35. For men and women who are devoted to God- believing men and women, obedient men and women, truthful men and women, steadfast men and women, humble men and women, charitable men and women, fasting men and women, chaste men and women, men and women who remember God often- God has prepared forgiveness and a rich reward.

36. When God and His Messenger have decided on a matter that concerns them, it is not fitting for any believing man or woman to claim freedom of choice in that matter: whoever disobeys God and His Messenger is far astray.

37. When you [Prophet] said to the man who had been favoured by God and by you, ‘Keep your wife and be mindful of God,’ you hid in your heart what God would later reveal: you were afraid of people, but it is more fitting that you fear God. When Zayd no longer wanted her, We gave her to you in marriage so that there might be no fault in believers marrying the wives of their adopted sons after they no longer wanted them. God’s command must be carried out:

38. the Prophet is not at fault for what God has ordained for him. This was God’s practice with those who went before- God’s command must be fulfilled-

39. [and with all] those who deliver God’s messages and fear only Him and no other: God’s reckoning is enough.

40. Muhammad is not the father of any one of you men; he is God’s Messenger and the seal of the prophets: God knows everything.

41. Believers, remember God often

42. and glorify Him morning and evening:

43. it is He who blesses you, as do His angels, in order to lead you out of the depths of darkness into the light. He is ever merciful towards the believers-

44. when they meet Him they will be greeted with ‘Peace’- and He has prepared a generous reward for them.

45. Prophet, We have sent you as a witness, as a bearer of good news and warning,

46. as one who calls people to God by His leave, as a light-giving lamp.

47. Give the believers the good news that great bounty awaits them from God.

48. Do not give in to the disbelievers and the hypocrites: ignore the harm they cause you and put your trust in God. God is enough to trust.

49. Believers, you have no right to expect a waiting period when you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them: make provision for them and release them in an honourable way.

50. Prophet, We have made lawful for you the wives whose bride gift you have paid, and any slaves God has assigned to you through war, and the daughters of your uncles and aunts on your father’s and mother’s sides, who migrated with you. Also any believing woman who has offered herself to the Prophet and whom the Prophet wishes to wed- this is only for you [Prophet] and not the rest of the believers: We know exactly what We have made obligatory for them concerning their wives and slave-girls- so you should not be blamed: God is most forgiving, most merciful.

51. You may make any of [your women] wait and receive any of them as you wish, but you will not be at fault if you invite one whose turn you have previously set aside: this way it is more likely that they will be satisfied and will not be distressed and will all be content with what you have given them. God knows what is in your hearts: God is all knowing, forbearing.

52. You [Prophet] are not permitted to take any further wives, nor to exchange the wives you have for others, even if these attract you with their beauty. But this does not apply to your slave-girls: God is watchful over all.

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 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 neighbours 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.

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 honoured 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 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 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.