Hizb 43

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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),

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

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.

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

and glorify Him morning and evening.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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 all-forgiving, all-merciful.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

All praise belongs to Allah to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. To Him belongs all praise in the Hereafter, and He is the All-wise, the All-aware.

He knows whatever enters into the earth and whatever emerges from it, and whatever descends from the sky and whatever ascends into it, and He is the All-merciful, the All-forgiving.

The faithless say, ‘The Hour will not overtake us.’ Say, ‘Yes, indeed it will surely overtake you, by my Lord,’ the Knower of the Unseen; not [even] an atom’s weight escapes Him in the heavens or in the earth, nor [is there] anything smaller than that nor bigger, but it is in a manifest Book,

that He may reward those who have faith and do righteous deeds.’ For such there will be forgiveness and a noble provision.

But those who contend with Our signs seeking to frustrate [their purpose], for such is a painful punishment due to defilement.

Those who have been given knowledge see that what has been sent down to you from your Lord is the truth and [that] it guides to the path of the All-mighty, the All-laudable.

The faithless say, ‘Shall we show you a man who will inform you [that] when you have been totally rent to pieces you will indeed have a new creation?

Has he fabricated a lie against Allah, or is there a madness in him?’ Indeed, those who do not believe in the Hereafter languish in punishment and extreme error.

Have they not regarded that which is before them and that which is behind them of the sky and the earth? If We like, We can make the earth swallow them, or let a fragment from the sky fall on them. There is indeed a sign in that for every penitent servant.

Certainly We gave David our grace: ‘O mountains and birds, chime in with him!’ And We made iron soft for him,

saying, ‘Make easy coats of mail, and keep the measure in arranging [the links], and act righteously. Indeed I watch what you do.’

And for Solomon [We subjected] the wind: its morning course was a month’s journey and its evening course was a month’s journey. We made a fount of [molten] copper flow for him, and [We placed at his service] some of the jinn who would work for him by the permission of his Lord, and if any of them swerved from Our command, We would make him taste the punishment of the Blaze.

They built for him as many temples as he wished, and figures, basins like cisterns, and caldrons fixed [in the ground]. ‘O House of David, act thankfully, and few of My servants are grateful.’

When We decreed death for him, nothing apprised them of his death except a worm which gnawed away at his staff. And when he fell down, [the humans] realized that had the jinn known the Unseen, they would not have remained in a humiliating torment.

There was certainly a sign for Sheba in their habitation: two gardens, to the right and to the left. ‘Eat of the provision of your Lord and give Him thanks: a good land and an all-forgiving Lord!’

But they disregarded [the path of Allah], so We unleashed upon them a violent flood and replaced their two gardens with two gardens bearing bitter fruit, tamarisk, and sparse lote trees.

We requited them with that for their ingratitude. Do We not requite ingrates?

We had placed between them and the towns which We had blessed hamlets prominent [from the main route], and We had ordained the course through them: ‘Travel through them in safety, night and day.’

But they said, ‘Our Lord! Make the stages between our journeys far apart,’ and they wronged themselves. So We turned them into folktales and caused them to disintegrate totally. There are indeed signs in that for every patient and grateful [servant].

Certainly Iblis had his conjecture come true about them. So they followed him—all except a part of the faithful.

He had no authority over them, but that We may ascertain those who believe in the Hereafter from those who are in doubt about it, and your Lord is watchful over all things.

Say, ‘Invoke those whom you claim [to be gods] besides Allah! They do not control [even] an atom’s weight in the heavens or the earth, nor do they have any share in [either of] them, nor is any of them His helper.’

Intercession is of no avail with Him, except for those whom He permits. When fear is lifted from their hearts, they say, ‘What did your Lord say?’ They say, ‘The truth, and He is the All-exalted, the All-great.’