Surah Noor
Contents
A chapter We have revealed, and which We have prescribed, wherein We have revealed clear signs so that you may remember. [24:1]
The adulterer and the adulteress are each to be whipped a hundred strokes; and don’t let compassion for them overcome you where it concerns obedience to God if you believe in God and the last day. And let a group of believers witness their punishment. [24:2]
An adulterer or fornicator is not to marry anyone but an adulteress or a fornicatrix, or a pagan woman; and an adulteress or fornicatrix is not to be married except to an adulterer or fornicator, or a pagan. But that is forbidden to the believers. [24:3]
As for those who accuse chaste women, but fail to produce four witnesses, whip them eighty strokes and never take testimony from them ever, for they are the ones who are immoral, [24:4]
except those who repent after that and make amends; for God is most forgiving, most merciful. [24:5]
As for those who accuse their own spouses without any witnesses but themselves, let the evidence of one of them be given four times, testifying in the name of God that he is telling the truth, [24:6]
with the fifth affirmation being that God shall curse him if he is lying. [24:7]
But it would ward off the penalty from her if she testifies four times in the name of God that he is in fact lying, [24:8]
with the fifth affirmation being that God should be angry at her if he is telling the truth. [24:9]
But were it not for the grace of God on you, and divine mercy, and the fact that God is most conciliatory and most judicious. [24:10]
Those who have put forth the lie are a clique among you. Don’t think it bad for you; no, it is better for you. Every one of them will get what he earned from the sin. And the one among them who took it upon himself to puff it up will have a tremendous punishment. [24:11]
When you heard it, why didn’t the faithful men and women think the best on their own and say, “This is an obvious lie!”? [24:12]
Why didn’t they bring four witnesses to testify to it? If they didn’t produce witnesses, then they are the liars in the sight of God. [24:13]
If not for the grace of God on you, and divine mercy, in this world and the hereafter, a tremendous punishment would have befallen you for getting involved in this. [24:14]
Note how you accept it with your tongues, and speak with your own mouths what you have no knowledge of; and yet you reckon it trivial, though it is serious to God. [24:15]
Why didn’t you say, when you heard it, “It is not for us to talk about this. By the glory of God, this is serious slander!”? [24:16]
God warns you not to revert to anything like this ever, if you are believers. [24:17]
And God makes the signs clear to you, for God is omniscient, supremely wise. [24:18]
As for those who love for scandal to spread among those who believe, there is a painful penalty for them in this world and the hereafter. God knows; you do not know. [24:19]
So were it not for God’s grace on you, and divine mercy, and the fact that God is compassionate and merciful.... [24:20]
Believers, don’t follow the footsteps of the devil, for anyone who follows the footsteps of the devil is enjoining the vile and the reprehensible. And if not for the grace of God on you, and divine mercy, not one of you would ever be innocent; but God purifies whom God will, and God is all-hearing, all-knowing. [24:21]
Those of you who have surplus and capacity should not swear not to give to relatives and paupers and refugees for the sake of God. And let them excuse and pardon. Don’t you want God to forgive you? God is most forgiving, most merciful. [24:22]
Those who accuse chaste women who are careless but faithful are cursed in this world and the hereafter; and there is a tremendous punishment for them [24:23]
on a day when their tongues and their hands and their feet will testify against them about what they had been doing. [24:24]
On that day God will pay them their just due in full, and they will know that God is the evident truth. [24:25]
Bad women are for bad men, and bad men for bad women. And good women are for good men, and good men for good women; they are the ones who are innocent of what others say. There is forgiveness for them, and a generous provision. [24:26]
Believers, do not enter houses other than your own homes until you have asked permission, and bid peace upon their occupants. That is better for you, that you may be aware. [24:27]
And if you find no one home, then don’t go in, until you are given permission. And if you are told to go away, then go away; that is more fitting for you. And God knows what you do. [24:28]
There is no blame on you if you go into houses that are deserted but have some use for you. And God knows what you reveal and what you conceal. [24:29]
Tell the believing men to lower their eyes and guard their privates. That is more innocent for them; for God is fully aware of whatever they do. [24:30]
And tell the believing women to lower their eyes and guard their privates, and not to show their ornaments except the obvious ones, and to draw their coverings over their breasts and not show their graces except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husbands’ fathers, or their sons, or their husbands’ sons, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or those in bondage to them, or male attendants who do not have the urge, or very young children who do not yet know the nakedness of women. And they should not drum their feet to make known the ornaments they conceal. And turn to God together, believers, so that you may be happy. [24:31]
Wed those among you who are unmarried, even the virtuous of your servants and maids. If they are poor, God will relieve them from the divine bounty. And God is all-encompassing, all-knowing. [24:32]
Let those who find no way to marry be chaste until God provides for them from the divine bounty. And if any of those legally bonded to you seek a contract, then have a contract drawn up for them if you discern good in them; and give them some of God’s wealth that God has given to you. And do not force your maids into prostitution in your quest for worldly goods when they want to be chaste. But if anyone coerces them, God is most forgiving after this coercion, most merciful. [24:33]
We have already revealed to you clarifying signs, and an example from those who passed away before you, and counsel for the conscientious. [24:34]
God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The likeness of divine light is as of a niche with a lamp inside; the lamp is in a glass; the glass is as if a shining star, lit from a blessed olive tree, neither of the East nor of the West, its oil nearly luminous even without fire touching it. Light upon light: God guides whomever God will to divine light; and God gives people examples. And God is cognizant of everything. [24:35]
In houses that God has allowed to be raised, wherein the name of God is remembered, the glory of God is celebrated in the mornings and the evenings. [24:36]
There are men whom neither business nor commerce can divert from remembrance of God, and persistence in prayer, and giving of alms, fearing a day when hearts and eyes will be transformed, [24:37]
that God may reward them for the best of what they did, and even grant them more, out of divine bounty. And God provides for whomever God will beyond accounting. [24:38]
As for those who scoff, their works are like a mirage on a plain, which the thirsty one thinks to be water, until he reaches it and finds nothing there —though he finds God with him, who pays him his due, and God is swift in accounting— [24:39]
or like the layers of darkness in a fathomless sea, covered with waves with waves over them and clouds over those: layers of darkness one over another, such that if one stretched out his hand he could hardly see it. And whoever God gives no light has no light at all. [24:40]
Don’t you see that all creatures in the skies and on earth glorify God, even the birds on the wing? Each one knows its prayer, and its manner of praise. And God is fully cognizant of what they are doing. [24:41]
For the dominion of the heavens and the earth belongs to God, and the destination is to God. [24:42]
Don’t you see that God propels the clouds, joining them and making them into masses, then you see rain emerging from within them? And God makes mountainous ones come down from the sky with hail in them, striking with it anyone at will, and diverting it from anyone at will, the brilliance of its lightning nearly taking away the sight. [24:43]
God alternates the night and the day; surely there is a lesson in that for those who can see. [24:44]
And God created all animals from water: some of them travel on their bellies, some travel on two legs, some travel on four. God creates what God will; God is capable of all things. [24:45]
We have already revealed clarifying signs; and God guides those whom God will to a straight path. [24:46]
While they say, “We believe in God and the messenger, and we obey,” yet a portion of them turn away after that; they are not believers. [24:47]
And when they are called to God and God’s messenger, in order to judge between them, lo— a portion of them are shirkers. [24:48]
But if the claim is theirs, they come to him willingly. [24:49]
Is there sickness in their hearts, or are they suspicious, or do they fear God may wrong them, or God’s messenger? No, they are the ones who are doing wrong. [24:50]
All the believers say when called to God and the messenger of God, in order to judge among them, is, “We hear and we obey.” And they are the ones who attain happiness. [24:51]
Those who obey God and the messenger of God, and are in awe of God and conscious of God— they are the winners. [24:52]
They swear by God their most earnest pledge that they’ll go forth if you command them. Say, “Don’t swear— obedience is what counts; for God is well aware of what you do.” [24:53]
Say, “Obey God, and obey the messenger of God. But if you turn away, then his only obligation is his duty, and yours is your duty. If you obey him you will be guided, but the messenger’s only obligation is clear communication.” [24:54]
God promises those of you who believe and do good works to make them heirs on earth, as God made those before you heirs. And God will establish their religion for them —which God has chosen for them— and after that will change their fear into security. They will worship Me, and not associate anything with Me. And those who scoff after that are the ones who are immoral. [24:55]
Pray regularly, and give alms, and obey the messenger, so that you may receive mercy. [24:56]
Never reckon those who scoff to be obstacles on earth, for their place is the fire, a wretched destination. [24:57]
Believers, your bondservants and those who have not yet reached puberty should ask your permission to enter on three occasions: before the dawn prayer; when you take off your clothing due to the midday heat; and after the evening prayer —three times of privacy for you. Outside of these, there is no blame on you or on them going around attending to one another. Thus does God clarify the signs to you; and God is all-knowing, supremely wise. [24:58]
When the children among you reach puberty, then let them ask permission to enter as their seniors ask. Thus does God clarify the divine signs to you: and God is all-knowing, supremely wise. [24:59]
As for the women beyond the age of childbearing who have no prospect of marriage, there is no blame on them if they take off their cloaks without displaying their finery, even though it would be better for them to refrain. For God is all-hearing, all-knowing. [24:60]
It is not forbidden to the blind, and not forbidden to the lame, and not forbidden to the sick, nor yet to yourselves, that you eat in your own houses, or the houses of your fathers, or the houses of your mothers, or the houses of your brothers, or the houses of your sisters, or the houses of your paternal uncles, or the houses of your paternal aunts, or the houses of your maternal uncles, or the houses of your maternal aunts, or those whose keys are in your possession, or your friend’s. You are not forbidden to eat all together or separately. But when you enter houses, invoke peace upon each other with a greeting from God, blessed and wholesome. Thus does God clarify the signs for you, that you may understand. [24:61]
The only ones who are believers are those who believe in God and God’s messenger, and when they are with him in a matter that brings them together, they do not leave until they ask his permission. Those who ask you permission are the ones who believe in God and God’s messenger. So when they ask you leave for some business of theirs, give permission to any of them you wish, and ask God’s forgiveness for them; for God is most forgiving, most merciful. [24:62]
Don’t consider the call of the messenger among you like the way you call on each other. God knows those of you who slip away seeking exemption: so let those who oppose his command beware lest a trial befall them, or a painful punishment strike them. [24:63]
For it is to God that all in the heavens and the earth belongs. God knows what you are about; and one day God will bring them back and tell them what they did; and God knows everything. [24:64]