Surah Ahzab
Contents
O Prophet, be conscious of God, and don’t obey the atheists and the hypocrites, for God is most knowing and wise. [33:1]
Follow what has been revealed to you by inspiration from your Lord, for God is fully aware of what you do. [33:2]
So trust in God, for God is enough of a patron. [33:3]
God has not put two hearts in a man; nor made the spouses you have rejected into your mothers, nor made your adoptees into your sons— those are your own expressions. But God speaks the truth, and that guides the way. [33:4]
Call them after their fathers; that is more just in the sight of God. But if you don’t know their fathers, then they are your brothers in religion, or your friends. Yet there is no blame on you if you make a mistake in this; it is a matter of what your hearts intend. For God is very forgiving, very merciful. [33:5]
The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers. Those who have blood relations are closer to each other, in the decree of God, than the believers and the refugees: but treat your friends fairly. That is written in the Book. [33:6]
And We accepted their covenant from the prophets, and from you, and from Noah and Abraham, and Moses and Jesus Son of Mary: We took an inviolable covenant from them, [33:7]
that God may question the truthful about their truth; and God has prepared a painful penalty for the scoffers. [33:8]
Believers, remember God’s grace on you when forces came upon you and We sent a wind against them, and forces you did not see. For God sees whatever you do. [33:9]
When they came on you from above you and below you, your eyes dimmed and your hearts were in your throats and you imagined conceptions of God. [33:10]
There the believers were tried, shaken by a violent shock. [33:11]
Yet the hypocrites and those with sickness in their hearts say, “God and the messenger of God have promised us naught but illusion.” [33:12]
And a party of them said, “O people of Yathrib! There is no place for you to take a stand—so go back!” And a group of them asked the Prophet for permission, saying, “Our houses are exposed,” though they were not exposed; for they only wanted to flee. [33:13]
But if they were invaded from the sides, then asked to dissent and join in civil war, they would do so with but little delay, [33:14]
though they had earlier promised God that they would not turn their backs; and a promise to God is accountable. [33:15]
Say, “Flight will not profit you if you flee from death or killing; for even so you are only allowed to live for a little while.” [33:16]
Say, “Who is it that will shelter you from God if God wishes ill for you, or God wishes mercy for you?” They will not find for themselves a protector or savior other than God. [33:17]
God already knows those of you who hinder, and those who say to their friends, “Come to us,” but hardly show up when there’s trouble, [33:18]
out of stinginess toward you. But then when terror comes, you see them looking to you with their eyes rolling, like one upon whom death is descending. Then when the terror is gone, they will set upon you with sharp tongues, greedy for advantage. They have never believed, so God has foiled their acts; and that is easy for God. [33:19]
They think the confederates have not gone, but if the confederates come they will wish they were living in the desert among the nomads, asking for news of you. Even if they were with you, they would hardly fight at all. [33:20]
You have an excellent example in the messenger of God, for anyone who looks forward to God and the last day, and remembers God a lot. [33:21]
When the believers saw the confederates, they said, “This is what God and God’s messenger promised us, and God and God’s messenger told the truth.” And it only increased their faith and their acquiescence. [33:22]
Among the believers are men who have been true to what they promised God; and some of them have given their lives, while some are waiting; and they have never changed, [33:23]
so that God may reward the truthful for their truthfulness, and punish the hypocrites, if God wills, or relent toward them: for God is very forgiving, most merciful. [33:24]
God repelled the atheists in their rage; they gained no advantage. And God suffices the believers in battle, as God is most powerful, almighty. [33:25]
God has brought down from their fortifications those of the people of scripture who backed them, casting terror into their hearts, as you killed some of them and captured some of them; [33:26]
and made you heirs of their land, their dwellings, and their property, as well as land you have never trod upon: for God has power over all things. [33:27]
O Prophet, say to your wives, “If you desire the life of the world and its finery, come then and I will provide for you, and divorce you on the best of terms. [33:28]
“But if you want God and God’s prophet, and the home of the hereafter, God has prepared a tremendous reward for those of you who do good.” [33:29]
O wives of the Prophet, if any of you are openly indecent, her penalty should be doubled; and that is easy for God. [33:30]
But any of you who is humble to God and God’s messenger, and acts with integrity, her We will give her reward doubly; and We have prepared a generous provision for her. [33:31]
O wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women. If you are conscientious, don’t be so submissive in speech that those with sickness in their hearts conceive desire; but do speak in civil terms. [33:32]
And settle down in your homes, and don’t show off in public as was done in the ignorance of yore. Pray regularly, and give alms, and obey God and the messenger of God. For God only wishes to remove defilement from you, people of the House, purifying you. [33:33]
And remember what is recited to you in your houses from the signs of God and wisdom; for God is subtle, aware. [33:34]
For the men who acquiesce to the will of God, and the women who acquiesce, the men who believe and the women who believe, the men who are devout and the women who are devout, the men who are truthful and the women who are truthful, the men who are constant and the women who are constant, the men who are humble and the women who are humble, the men who give charity and the women who give charity, the men who fast and the women who fast, the men who are chaste and the women who are chaste, and the men and women who remember God a lot, God has arranged forgiveness for them, and a magnificent reward. [33:35]
And when God and God’s messenger have decided a matter, it is not for a believing man or a believing woman to have any choice in their decree: for anyone who defies God and God’s messenger is already in obvious error. [33:36]
Remember how you said to the one God had blessed and you had favored, “Keep your wife and be conscious of God,” then you kept to yourself what God would reveal, as you feared the people, though God is more worthy of your fear. Then when Zaid had divorced her, We married her to you, so that there would be no taboo for believers on ex-wives of their adopted sons after they’ve divorced them. And the order of God is to be put into effect. [33:37]
There is no taboo for the Prophet in regard to what God has ordained for him, a norm from God among those who passed away before —and the order of God is an ordained decree— [33:38]
who delivered the messages of God, in awe of God and fearing no one but God: and God is sufficient to keep account. [33:39]
Muhammad is not father of any of your men, but the messenger of God, and the seal of the prophets. And God knows all about everything. [33:40]
Believers, remember God with much remembrance, [33:41]
and praise God morning and evening. [33:42]
God is the one who blesses you, as do God’s angels, to bring you out of the darknesses into the light; for God is merciful to the believers: [33:43]
their greeting on the day they meet God will be “Peace,” and God has arranged a generous reward for them. [33:44]
O Prophet, We have sent you as a witness, a herald, and a warner; [33:45]
and one who invites to God, by divine leave; and an illuminating lamp. [33:46]
So announce to the believers that there is a great favor for them from God. [33:47]
And don’t follow the atheists and the hypocrites, and ignore their insults; and trust in God, for God is enough of a patron. [33:48]
Believers, when you marry believing women but then divorce them before you touch them, then there is no waiting period for you to observe in respect to them: so compensate them, and let them go gracefully. [33:49]
O Prophet, We have made permissible to you your spouses to whom you have given their dowry, and your legitimately bonded maids whom God has awarded 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 emigrated with you: and any believing woman who has given herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wants to marry her. This is only for you, not the believers in general: We know what We have ordained for them in respect to their wives and their bonds maids, so that there be no difficulty for you; and God is very forgiving, most merciful. [33:50]
You may defer spending time with any of them you will, and you may have over any one you will. And there is no blame on you whomever you desire of those whom you had left alone. That is more appropriate, that you soothe and comfort them, so they will not be sad, but pleased and content with what you give them, all of them. And God knows what is in your hearts; and God is most knowing, most understanding. [33:51]
No further wives are permitted to you, nor is changing them for other wives, even if their fineness delight you, except for those in legitimate bondage to you. And God is watching all things. [33:52]
Believers, don’t enter the houses of the Prophet unless you are given permission to come for a meal, and then without waiting around for its time. But when you are invited, then go in; and when you have eaten, then disperse, without socializing for conversation; for that annoys the Prophet, so he shies away from you. But God does not shy away from truth. And when you ask the ladies for something needed, ask them from behind a screen: that is purer for your hearts and their hearts. You have no right to annoy the Messenger of God, or to marry his widows after his passing, ever; for that would be monstrous of you in the sight of God. [33:53]
Whether you reveal anything or conceal it, God knows all things. [33:54]
There is nothing wrong for the ladies in the company of their fathers, their sons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, their women, or their bondservants, but they should be conscious of God, for God is witness to all things. [33:55]
God and God’s angels bless the Prophet: O believers, invoke blessings on him, and greet him with a prayer for peace. [33:56]
As for those who offend God and the Messenger of God, God has cursed them in this world and the hereafter, and arranged a degrading punishment for them. [33:57]
And those who bother believing men and women with what they don’t deserve have taken on themselves the burden of making false accusations, an obvious sin. [33:58]
O Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters, and the believing women to put on their outer garments; that is most convenient so they will be recognized and not molested. God is very forgiving, most merciful. [33:59]
If the hypocrites, and those with sickness in their hearts, and those who spread false rumors in the city do not stop, We will incite you against them, and they will not be your neighbors there for long at all, [33:60]
being cursed, arrested wherever they are found and put to death, [33:61]
a custom among those who passed before, sanctioned by God: and you will find no change in the sanction of God. [33:62]
People ask you about the end of time. Say, “Only God has knowledge of that.” But what will make you realize the end of time may be near? [33:63]
God has cursed the ungrateful and prepared a fire for them, [33:64]
where they will remain forever, never to find a protector or a savior. [33:65]
The day their faces are flipped into the fire, they will say, “Oh, if only we had obeyed God and obeyed the messenger!” [33:66]
And they will say, “Our Lord, we obeyed our chieftains and grandees, and they misguided us in our way of life. [33:67]
“Our Lord, give them double punishment, and curse them with a mighty curse!” [33:68]
Believers, don’t be like those who abused Moses; God exonerated him of what they said, and he was worthy of God’s regard. [33:69]
Believers, be conscious of God, and speak in accurate terms, [33:70]
so God may make your actions sound and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys God and the messenger of God has already attained great success. [33:71]
We presented the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to bear it, and shunned it; but man took it up, for he is unjust and ignorant, [33:72]
resulting in God punishing the hypocritical men and women, and the idolatrous men and women, while God restores believing men and women to grace, as God is most forgiving, most merciful. [33:73]