The Koran
CHAPTER XXXIII.
ENTITLED, THE CONFEDERATES; REVEALED AT MEDINA.
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
O PROPHET, fear God, and obey not the unbelievers and the hypocrites: verily
God is knowing and wise. But follow that which is revealed unto thee from
thy Lord; for God is well acquainted with that which ye do: and put thy
trust in God; for God is a sufficient protector. God hath not given a man
two hearts within him; neither hath he made your wives (some of whom ye
divorce, regarding them thereafter as your mothers) your true mothers;
nor hath he made your adopted sons your true sons. This is your saying
in your mouths; but God speaketh the truth; and he directeth the right
way. Call such as are adopted, the sons of their natural fathers: this
will be more just in the sight of God. And if ye know not their fathers,
let them be as your brethren in religion, and your companions: and it shall
be no crime in you, that ye err in this manner; but that shall be criminal
which your hearts purposely design; for God is gracious and merciful. The
prophet is nigher unto the true believers than their own souls; and his
wives are their mothers. Those who are related by consanguinity are nigher
of kin the one of them unto the others, according to the book of God, than
the other true believers, and the Mohajerun: unless that ye do what is
fitting and reasonable to your relations in general. This is written in
the book of God. Remember when we accepted their covenant from the prophets,
and from thee, O Mohammed, and from Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus
the son of Mary, and received from them a firm covenant; that God may examine
the speakers of truth concerning their veracity; and he hath prepared a
painful torment for the unbelievers. O true believers, remember the favor
of God towards you, when armies of infidels came against you, and we sent
against them a wind, and hosts of angels which ye saw not: and God beheld
that which ye did. When they came against you from above you, and from
below you, and when your sight became troubled, and your hearts came even
to your throats for fear, and ye imagined of God various imaginations.
There were the faithful tried, and made to tremble with a violent trembling.
And when the hypocrites, and those in whose heart was an infirmity, said,
God and his apostle have made you no other than a fallacious promise. And
when a party of them said, O inhabitants of Yathreb, there is no place
of security for you here; wherefore return home. And a part of them asked
leave of the Prophet to depart, saying, Verily our houses are defenseless
and exposed to the enemy: but they were not defenseless and their intention
was no other than to fly. If the city had been entered upon them by the
enemy from the parts adjacent, and they had been asked to desert the true
believers, and to fight against them; they had surely consented thereto:
but they had not, in such case, remained in the same but a little while.
They before made a covenant with God, that they would not turn their backs:
and the performance of their covenant with God shall be examined into hereafter.
Say, Flight shall not profit you, if ye fly from death or from slaughter:
and if it would, yet shall ye not enjoy this world but a little. Say, Who
is he who shall defend you against God, if he is pleased to bring evil
on you, or is pleased to show mercy towards you? They shall find none to
patronize or protect them, besides God. God already knoweth those among
you who hinder others from following his apostle, and who say unto their
brethren, Come hither unto us; and who come not to battle, except a little;
being covetous towards you: but when fear cometh on them, thou seest them
look unto thee for assistance, their eyes rolling about, like the eyes
of him who fainteth by reason of the agonies of death: yet when their fear
is past, they inveigh against you with sharp tongues, being covetous of
the best and most valuable part of the spoils. These believe not sincerely;
wherefore God hath rendered their works of no avail; and this is easy with
God. They imagined that the confederates would not depart and raise the
siege: and if the confederates should come another time, they would wish
to live in the deserts among the Arabs who dwell in tents; and there to
inquire of news concerning you; and although they were with you this time,
yet they fought not, except a little. Ye have in the apostle of God an
excellent example, unto him who hopeth in God and the last day, and remembereth
God frequently. When the true believers saw the confederates, they said,
This is what God and his apostle have foretold us; and God and his apostle
have spoken the truth: and it only increased their faith and resignation.
Of the true believers, some men justly performed what they had promised
unto God; and some of them have finished their course, and some of them
wait the same advantage; and they changed not their promise, by deviating
therefrom in the least: that God may reward the just performers of their
covenant for their fidelity; and may punish the hypocritical, if he pleaseth,
or may be turned unto them; for God is ready to forgive, and merciful.
God hath driven back the infidels in their wrath: they obtained no advantage;
and God was a sufficient protector unto the faithful in battle; for God
is strong and mighty. And he hath caused such of those who have received
the scriptures, as assisted the confederates, to come down out of their
fortresses, and he cast into their hearts terror and dismay: a part of
them ye slew, and a part ye made captives; and God hath caused you to inherit
their land, and their houses, and their wealth, and a land on which ye
have not trodden; for God is almighty. O prophet, say unto thy wives, If
ye seek this present life, and the pomp thereof, come, I will make a handsome
provision for you, and I will dismiss you with an honorable dismission:
but if ye seek God and his apostle, and the life to come, verily God hath
prepared for such of you as work righteousness a great reward. O wives
of the prophet, whosoever of you shall commit a manifest wickedness, the
punishment thereof shall be doubled unto her two-fold; and this is easy
with God: (XXII.) but whosoever of you shall be obedient unto God and his
apostle, and shall do that which is right, we will give her her reward
twice, and we have prepared for her an honorable provision in paradise.
O wives of the prophet, ye are not as other women: if ye fear God, be not
too complaisant in speech, lest he should covet, in whose heart is a disease
of incontinence: but speak the speech which is convenient. And sit still
in your houses; and set not out yourselves with the ostentation of the
former time of ignorance: and observe the appointed times of prayer, and
give alms; and obey God and his apostle; for God desireth only to remove
from you the abomination of vanity, since ye are the household of the prophet,
and to purify you by a perfect purification. And remember that which is
read in your houses, of the signs of God, and of the wisdom revealed in
the Koran; for God is clear-sighted, and well acquainted with your actions.
Verily the Moslems of either sex, and the true believers of either sex,
and the devout men, and the devout women, and the men of veracity, and
the women of veracity, and the patient men, and the patient women, and
the humble men, and the humble women, and the alms-givers of either sex,
and the men who fast, and the women who fast, and the chaste men, and the
chaste women, and those of either sex who remember God frequently; for
them hath God prepared forgiveness and a great reward. It is not fit for
a true believer of either sex, when God and his apostle have decreed a
thing, that they should have the liberty of choosing a different matter
of their own: and whoever is disobedient unto God and his apostle, surely
erreth with a manifest error. And remember when thou saidst to him unto
whom God had been gracious, and on whom thou also hadst conferred favors,
Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear God: and thou didst conceal that in
thy mind which God had determined to discover, and didst fear men; whereas
it was more just that thou shouldst fear God. But when Zeid had determined
the matter concerning her, and had resolved to divorce her, we joined her
in marriage unto thee; lest a crime should be charged on the true believers,
in marrying the wives of their adopted sons, when they have determined
the matter concerning them: and the command of God is to be performed.
No crime is to be charged on the prophet, as to what God hath allowed him,
conformable to the ordinance of God with regard to those who preceded him
(for the command of God is a determinate decree), who brought the messages
of God, and feared him, and feared none besides God: and God is a sufficient
accountant. Mohammed is not the father of any man among you; but the apostle
of God, and the seal of the prophets: and God knoweth all things. O true
believers, remember God with a frequent remembrance, and celebrate his
praise morning and evening. It is he who is gracious unto you, and his
angels intercede for you, that he may lead you forth from darkness into
light; and he is merciful towards the true believers. Their salutation,
on the day whereon they shalt meet him, shall be, Peace! and he hath prepared
for them an honorable recompense. O prophet, verily we have sent thee to
be a witness, and a bearer of good tidings, and a denouncer of threats,
and an inviter unto God, through his good pleasure, and a shining light.
Bear good tidings therefore unto the true believers, that they shall receive
great abundance from God. And obey not the unbelievers and hypocrites,
and mind not their evil treatment: but trust in God; and God is a sufficient
protector. O true believers, when ye marry women who are believers, and
afterwards put them away before ye have touched them, there is no term
prescribed you to fulfill towards them after their divorce; but make them
a present, and dismiss them freely, with an honorable dismission. O prophet,
we have allowed thee thy wives unto whom thou hast given their dower, and
also the slaves which thy right hand possesseth, of the booty which God
hath granted thee; and the daughters of thy uncle, and the daughter of
thy aunts, both on thy father’s side and on thy mother’s side, who have
fled with thee from Mecca, and any other believing woman, if she give herself
unto the prophet; in case the prophet desireth to take her to wife. This
is a peculiar privilege granted unto thee, above the rest of the true believers.
We know what we have ordained them concerning their wives, and the slaves
whom their right hands possess: lest it should be deemed a crime in thee
to make use of the privilege granted thee; for God is gracious and merciful.
Thou mayest postpone the turn of such of thy wives as thou shalt please,
in being called to thy bed; and thou mayest take unto thee her whom thou
shalt please, and her whom thou shalt desire of those whom thou shalt have
before rejected: and it shall be no crime in thee. This will be more easy,
that they may be entirely content, and may not be grieved, but may be well
pleased with what thou shalt give every of them: God knoweth whatever is
in your hearts; and God is knowing and gracious. It shall not be lawful
for thee to take other women to wife hereafter, nor to exchange any of
thy wives for them, although their beauty please thee; except the slaves
whom thy right hand shall possess: and God observeth all things. O true
believers, enter not the houses of the prophet, unless it be permitted
you to eat meat with him, without waiting his convenient time: but when
ye are invited, then enter. And when ye shall have eaten, disperse yourselves;
and stay not to enter into familiar discourse: for this incommodeth the
prophet. He is ashamed to bid you depart; but God is not ashamed of the
truth. And when ye ask of the prophet’s wives what ye may have occasion
for, ask it of them from behind a curtain. This will be more pure for your
hearts and their hearts. Neither is it fit for you to give any uneasiness
to the apostle of God, or to marry his wives after him for ever: for this
would be a grievous thing in the sight of God. Whether ye divulge a thing,
or conceal it, verily God knoweth all things. It shall be no crime in them
as to their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their brothers’
sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves which their
right hands possess, if they speak to them unveiled: and fear ye God; for
God is witness of all things. Verily God and his angels bless the prophet:
O true believers, do ye also bless him, and salute him with a respectful
salutation. As to those who offend God and his apostle, God shall curse
them in this world and in the next; and he hath prepared for them a shameful
punishment. And they who shall injure the true believers of either sex,
without their deserving it, shall surely bear the guilt of calumny and
a manifest injustice. O prophet, speak unto thy wives, and thy daughters,
and the wives of the true believers, that they cast their outer garments
over them when they walk abroad; this will be more proper, that they may
be known to be matrons of reputation, and may not be affronted by unseemly
words or actions. God is gracious and merciful. Verily if the hypocrites,
and those in whose hearts is an infirmity, and they who raise disturbances
in Medina, do not desist; we will surely stir thee up against them, to
chastise them: henceforth they shall not be suffered to dwell near thee
therein, except for a little time, and being accursed; wherever they are
found they shall be taken, and killed with a general slaughter, according
to the sentence of God concerning those who have been before; and thou
shalt not find any change in the sentence of God. Men will ask thee concerning
the approach of the last hour: answer, Verily the knowledge thereof is
with God alone; and he will not inform thee: peradventure the hour is nigh
at hand. Verily God hath cursed the infidels, and hath prepared for them
a fierce fire, wherein they shall remain for ever: they shall find no patron
or defender. On the day whereon their faces shall be rolled in hell fire,
they shall say, Oh that we had obeyed God, and had obeyed his apostle!
And they shall say, O Lord, verily we have obeyed our lords and our great
men; and they have seduced us from the right way. O Lord, give them the
double of our punishment; and curse them with a heavy curse! O true believers,
be not as those who injured Moses; but God cleared him from the scandal
which they had spoken concerning him; and he was of great consideration
in the sight of God. O true believers, fear God, and speak words well directed;
that God may correct your works for you, and may forgive you your sins:
and whoever shall obey God and his apostle, shall enjoy great felicity.
We proposed the faith unto the heavens, and the earth, and the mountains:
and they refused to undertake the same, and were afraid thereof; but man
undertook it: verily he was unjust to himself, and foolish: that God may
punish the hypocritical men, and the hypocritical women, and the idolaters,
and the idolatresses; and that God may be turned unto the true believers,
both men and women; for God is gracious and merciful.
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