قَدْ سَمِعَ اللَّهُ قَوْلَ الَّتِي تُجَادِلُكَ فِي زَوْجِهَا وَتَشْتَكِي إِلَى اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ يَسْمَعُ تَحَاوُرَكُمَا إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ بَصِيرٌ
God has indeed heard the words of her who pleads with thee concerning her husband, and complains unto God. And God does hear what you both have to say: verily, God is all-hearing, all-seeing. (1)
الَّذِينَ يُظَاهِرُونَ مِنْكُمْ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ مَا هُنَّ أُمَّهَاتِهِمْ إِنْ أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ إِلَّا اللَّائِي وَلَدْنَهُمْ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَيَقُولُونَ مُنْكَرًا مِنَ الْقَوْلِ وَزُورًا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَعَفُوٌّ غَفُورٌ
As for those of you who [henceforth] separate themselves from their wives by saying, "Thou art as unlawful to me as my mother," [let them bear in mind that] they can never be [as] their mothers: none are their mothers save those who gave them birth: and so, behold, they but utter a saying that runs counter to reason, and is [therefore] false. But, behold, God is indeed an absolver of sins, much-forgiving: (2)
وَالَّذِينَ يُظَاهِرُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ ثُمَّ يَعُودُونَ لِمَا قَالُوا فَتَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَتَمَاسَّا ذَٰلِكُمْ تُوعَظُونَ بِهِ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ
hence, as for those who would separate themselves from their wives by saying, "Thou art as unlawful to me as my mother," and thereafter would go back on what they have said, [their atonement] shall be the freeing of a human being from bondage before the couple may touch one another again: this you are [hereby] exhorted to do - for God is fully aware of all that you do. (3)
فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ شَهْرَيْنِ مُتَتَابِعَيْنِ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَتَمَاسَّا فَمَنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَإِطْعَامُ سِتِّينَ مِسْكِينًا ذَٰلِكَ لِتُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَتِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللَّهِ وَلِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
However, he who does not have the wherewithal shall fast [instead] for two consecutive months before the couple may touch one another again; and he who is unable to do it shall feed sixty needy ones: this, so that you might prove your faith in God and His Apostle. Now these are the bounds set by God; and grievous suffering [in the life to come] awaits all who deny the truth. (4)
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحَادُّونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ كُبِتُوا كَمَا كُبِتَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَقَدْ أَنْزَلْنَا آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ وَلِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ
Verily, those who contend against God and His Apostle shall be brought low even as those [evildoers] who lived before them were brought low after We had bestowed [on them] clear messages from on high. And [so,] for those who deny the truth there will be shameful suffering in store (5)
يَوْمَ يَبْعَثُهُمُ اللَّهُ جَمِيعًا فَيُنَبِّئُهُمْ بِمَا عَمِلُوا أَحْصَاهُ اللَّهُ وَنَسُوهُ وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ
on the Day when God will raise them all from the dead and will make them truly understand all that they did [in life]: God will have taken [all of] it into account, even though they [themselves] may have forgotten it – for God is witness unto everything. (6)
- As for those of you who [henceforth] separate themselves from their wives by saying, "Thou art as unlawful to me as my mother",3 [let them bear in mind that] they can never be [as] their mothers: none are their mothers save those who gave them birth: and so, behold, they but utter a saying that runs counter to reason,4 and is (therefore) false. But, behold, God is indeed an absolver of sins, much-forgiving:
- 3 For this explanatory rendering of the verb yuzahirun, see surah 33, note 3. My interpolation of the word "henceforth" is necessary in view of the fact that the custom of zihar - in its sense of a definitive act of divorce - had been abolished by verses 24 of the present surah.
- 4 For this particular rendering of the term munkar, see surah 16, note 109.
- If any men among you divorce their wives by Zihar5332 (calling them mothers), they cannot be their mothers: None can be their mothers except those who gave them birth. And in fact they use words (both) iniquitous5333 and false: but truly Allah is one that blots out5334 (sins), and forgives (again and again).
- 5332 See n. 5330 above.
- 5333 Such words are false in fact and iniquitous, inasmuch as they are unfair to the wife and unseemly in decent society.
- 5334 Cf. 4:99 and 22:60. Were it not that Allah in His Mercy makes allowances for our weaknesses and the various grades of motives that actuate us, such conduct would be inexpiable. But He prescribes expiation as in the next verse, because He wishes to blot out what is wrong and give us a chance to reform by His forgiveness.
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If any men among you divorce their wives by Zihar (calling them mothers), they cannot be their mothers: None can be their mothers except those who gave them birth. And in fact they use words (both) iniquitous and false: but truly Allah is one that blots out (sins), and forgives (again and again).
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Such of you as put away your wives (by saying they are as their mothers) - They are not their mothers; none are their mothers except those who gave them birth - they indeed utter an ill word and a lie. And lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
(As for) those of you who put away their wives by likening their backs to the backs of their mothers, they are not their mothers; their mothers are no others than those who gave them birth; and most surely they utter a hateful word and a falsehood and most surely Allah is Pardoning, Forgiving.
— M. Habib Shakir -
Those among you who make their wives unlawful (Az-Zihar ) to them by saying to them "You are like my mother's back." They cannot be their mothers. None can be their mothers except those who gave them birth. And verily, they utter an ill word and a lie. And verily, Allah is Oft- Pardoning, Oft-Forgiving.
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
As to those among you who put away their wives by pronouncing zihar their mothers they are not. Their mothers are but those who gave them birth; and verily they utter a saying disputable and false. And verily Allah is Pardoning, Forgiving.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
Those of you who say to their wives, 'Be as my mother's back, ' indeed, they are not their mothers. Their mothers are only those who gave birth to them.Indeed they speak dishonorably and falsely. But Allah is the Pardoning, the Forgiving.
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
Those of you who declare their wives as their mothers, they are not their mothers; their mothers are only those who gave them birth; they surely utter disgusting words and falsehood; yet surely God is Pardoning, Forgiving.
— Ayub Khan -
Those among you who put away their wives by calling them mothers -- they do not thereby become their mothers; their mothers are only those who gave them birth. They certainly utter words that are manifestly evil and untrue; but, surely, God is the Effacer of sins, Most Forgiving.
— Sher Ali -
As for those of you who [henceforth] separate themselves from their wives by saying, "Thou art as unlawful to me as my mother," [let them bear in mind that] they can never be [as] their mothers: none are their mothers save those who gave them birth: and so, behold, they but utter a saying that runs counter to reason, and is [therefore] false.
But, behold, God is indeed an absolver of sins, much-forgiving:
— Muhammad Asad -
Those of you who say, regarding their wives, Be as my mothers back, they are not truly their mothers; their mothers are only those who gave them birth, and they are surely saying a dishonourable saying, and a falsehood. Yet surely God is All-pardoning, All-forgiving.
— Arthur Arberry -
Those among you who divorce their wives by declaring them to be their mothers,{{3}} such are not their mothers; none are their mothers except those who gave birth to them.{{4}} Indeed what they say is highly contemptible and false.{{5}} Verily Allah is Most Pardoning, Most Forgiving.{{6}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi