Surah Al-Ahzab: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

O Prophet! Never give in to those who associate partners with Allah and to the hypocrites; do not follow their wishes and fall into their traps! Allah alone knows what is most right in everything, and His every ruling is absolutely right. Follow only what your Lord makes known to you! Surely Allah is aware of what you do.

Trust and rely on Allah alone; Allah is enough as a guardian (helper).

Just as Allah has not made two hearts in one body, neither are your wives at the same time your mothers. So when you quarrel with your wives, do not swear the oath of the Age of Ignorance by saying to them, “From now on you are forbidden to me as my mother is.” Just as no one’s wife is his mother, Allah has not made your adopted children your real children either. These are meaningless words that come from your custom, spoken without thought. What is right is only what Allah makes known, and He alone shows you the right path.

Call your adopted children by their fathers’ names; that is what is right in Allah’s sight. If you do not know who their fathers are, they are in any case your brothers in religion and your friends; but if you make a mistake in this and address them as your own children, Allah will forgive you, and there is no sin in it. Allah holds you responsible only for what you do deliberately and knowingly. He is most merciful, compassionate, and forgiving toward the believers.

The Prophet is closer and dearer to the believers than their own selves. And the Prophet’s wives are like spiritual mothers to the believers.

In matters of inheritance, believers related by blood have, by Allah’s law, a prior right over other believers and the emigrants. Even so, there is no harm in giving your believing brothers who are not related to you by blood a share of the inheritance by way of bequest. Such too is the law Allah has laid down for you in this matter.

O Prophet! We took a pledge from all the prophets that they would invite people to live a life whose limits Allah has set. We took most solemn pledges concerning this mission of conveying from you too, and from Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus son of Mary.

On the Day of Reckoning Allah will ask the prophets too whether they kept these pledges. For those who do not follow the call the prophets made in Allah’s name there is a painful punishment.

O you who believe! Remember Allah’s help to you on that day when the enemy army attacked you. Allah sent a scorching wind against your enemies, and armies you could not see. He was seeing everything.

As the enemy attacked from in front of you and behind you, in those moments your eyes, as it were, started from their sockets, your hearts were in your mouths, and you began to doubt Allah’s help. There, on that day, the believers’ faith was put through a hard and severe trial.

At that time some of the two-faced hypocrites and of those with sickness in their hearts were saying to one another: “The promise of victory Allah and His messenger made us was nothing but a deception.” Another group of hypocrites were saying, “O people of Yathrib! This battle cannot be won; you had best go back to your homes.” And others of the hypocrites, saying, “Our homes have been left unprotected against enemy attack; we must go back and protect them,” were in fact asking the Prophet for permission to flee the front, though their homes were not unprotected.

Had the enemy that day crossed the trench and managed to attack Medina from every side, all of them would at once have gone over to the enemy ranks and even been willing to fight the believers. For they had not submitted wholeheartedly to Allah, nor sincerely believed in the order and morality of Islam. Yet before this they had given Allah and His Messenger their word that they would take Allah alone as God and fight for this religion.

Allah will surely call them to account for the word they gave.

O Prophet! Say to those hypocrites: “Trying to flee from dying or being killed will do you no good at all; worldly life lasts only a few short days in any case, so where and how far can you flee?”

Say: “If, should you deserve it, Allah brings a calamity upon you, no one can protect and save you from it; or if He grants you a favor and wills good for you, no one can deprive you of it either.”

The truth is that you have no true friend and helper besides Allah.

Surely Allah knows full well the hypocrites who, though they did not join the battle with the Prophet, also said to their own kin, “Come, you too stay with us; do not join the battle.”

They are envious of the believers. If any of the hypocrites join the battle half-heartedly, they cannot fight as they should, and they also make up excuses and are stingy so as not to contribute to the costs of the war. When fear of the enemy grips their hearts, you see them looking at you, their eyes dulled as if in a deathly swoon from fear, as though pleading for rescue. But as soon as the danger has passed, in their greed and haste to get a share of the spoils, they do not hold back from saying hurtful things to you with their sharp tongues. Such people are not true believers, and so Allah will bring to nothing and count as void what they did thinking it good; what they have done has no value whatsoever with Allah.

The hypocrites did not believe that those who associated partners with Allah had stopped fighting and withdrawn; they thought they would regroup and attack again. Had it been as they thought, this time they would have left the battle area, mingled with the Bedouin, and tried to get news from afar, while those of them who stayed among you would have done nothing but pretend to fight.

The truth is that in Allah’s Messenger there are fine examples for those who, even in the hardest moments of battle, trust in Allah with unshakeable faith and hold out, and who long to attain Paradise.

When these believers saw their enemies coming at them to fight, they said, “This is what Allah and His Messenger promised us; Allah and His Messenger have always told us the truth,” and this only increased the faith and submission in their hearts all the more.

Among the believers there were brave men who, showing their wholehearted loyalty to Allah and His Messenger, gladly laid down their lives to fulfill the word they had given, and were martyred. Others do not hold back from fighting with all their might, to join them or to bring the battle to a victorious end; they never make concessions on their faith, and fear no one but Allah.

Allah will reward with Paradise those who believe in Him and His Messenger and keep their word, and He will forgive those of the hypocrites who repent and turn to His call with wholehearted faith. Allah is most merciful and forgiving toward His servants.

Allah left those who associated partners with Him alone with their rage and fury; they returned having gained nothing. Allah’s help sufficed the believers in the battle. Allah is most strong, the Possessor of supreme power, and He has power over everything.

Allah cast fear into the hearts of the Jews among the People of the Book who had helped the enemy and tried to stab the believers in the back, and brought them out of the fortresses in which they had taken refuge; you killed some of them and took others captive, and your Lord made you heirs to their homeland, their wealth and property, and lands on which you had never set foot until that day.

Allah has power to do everything He wills.

O Prophet! Say to your wives who have asked for a share of the spoils of war and grieved you: “If you want the finery, comfort, and luxury of the brief worldly life, let me give you what you want and divorce you graciously, and you may live as you wish. But if you want Allah’s Messenger and the blessings of Paradise in the everlasting home of the Hereafter, do not forget that Allah promises a great reward to those of you who act so.”

O wives of the Prophet! Whoever of you rebels against Allah and the Prophet, We will double her punishment. Punishing the one who deserves it is no hard thing for Allah. And if you live in obedience to Allah and His Messenger, then your reward too will be doubled.

O wives of the Prophet! Because you are the Prophet’s wives, you must be even more aware and careful of your responsibilities. When you need to speak with men, speak with the seriousness and gravity that become a believing woman, and avoid an alluring manner, so that those with sickness in their hearts may not form wrong ideas about you. Let your conduct in your homes, too, match the dignity of your faith. Do not go about the streets displaying your charms, immodestly dressed, as in the old Age of Ignorance; perform your prayers, pay your zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger wholeheartedly.

O people of the Prophet’s household! Allah wishes to keep you too far from every impurity and sin and to make you wholly pure.

Reflect on, understand, and strive to live by Allah’s verses recited in your homes.

Without doubt Allah knows the one absolute truth, the inner reality, and the essence of everything, and is aware of what everyone does and what they fail to do when they should.

For the men and women who believe in Allah’s call and strive in this cause; the men and women who keep the word they gave Allah and worship Him; the men and women who brave the hardships they meet in Allah’s way without making concessions on their faith, and strive (jihad); the men and women who thereby show their heartfelt reverence and devotion to Allah; the men and women who gladly spend their wealth in the cause of living and keeping alive the order and morality that is Allah’s call; the men and women who fast; the men and women who guard their chastity; the men and women who never let Allah slip from their minds and always seek His good pleasure in their conduct — for the men and women who scrupulously heed all of these and act accordingly, Allah has prepared a magnificent reward.

Once Allah and His Messenger have given a ruling on a matter, no believing man or woman has the right to lay down another ruling on it, to act on their own preferences, or to act by others’ rulings.

Whoever opposes the rulings of Allah and His Messenger has fallen into plain error.

O Prophet! Remember when your adopted son (Zayd), whom Allah had brought to the blessing of Islam and whom you too had looked after and cared for, told you that he wished to divorce his wife, and you said to him, “Do not divorce your wife; fear Allah and do not forget your responsibilities”; but you were keeping within yourself what Allah was going to make known, which you had been reflecting on and shrank from disclosing; yet it is Allah alone who should be feared. In the end, when (Zayd) divorced his wife and ended the relationship completely, We commanded you to marry the wife he had divorced (Zaynab), and so showed that the wives of adopted sons may be married once they have been divorced and the relationship has ended. Thus Allah made known His ruling on this matter.

The Prophet can never be blamed for carrying out a task Allah has commanded him. Such was Allah’s ruling for the peoples who came and went before you too, and so Allah’s ruling has been carried out for you as well.

The prophets, while conveying Allah’s rulings, shrink from no one and fear no one; they fear only losing Allah’s good pleasure.

In the end it is Allah who will call to account and reward or punish.

O believers! Muhammad is not the father of any one of you (nor of Zayd). He is only Allah’s Messenger and the last of the prophets.

Allah knows the one absolute truth of everything.

O you who believe! Never let Allah’s greatness slip from your minds, do not forget the purpose of your creation, and remember Him morning and evening with awareness of your responsibilities.

It is Allah who has sent the Quran as a mercy to bring you out of darkness into light, and who supports you with His angels. For Allah is most compassionate and merciful toward the believers, and the source of mercy.

The believers who complete their worldly lives striving to live and keep alive the order and morality of Islam, which is the reason for their creation, will be welcomed in the home of the Hereafter with the words, “Peace be upon you; today you have attained safety. Allah has prepared a fine reward for you.”

O Prophet! We have sent you as a messenger who calls people to what is right and true, a warner, and one who sheds light. Give the good news to those who choose to live as believers and fulfill what this requires that a great reward awaits them with Allah.

Never follow what those who associate partners with Allah, those who deny the truth, and the hypocrites call you to; do not give in to the wishes of anyone but Allah, and pay no heed to the difficulties and hardships they put and will put in your way. Trust and rely on Allah alone; Allah is enough as protector and helper.

O you who believe! If you marry believing women and then have to divorce them before you have touched them, you have no right to ask them to observe a waiting period. If you have fixed their dower, then divorce them giving half of it; if you have not fixed it, then giving what befits your circumstances; and let them go graciously.

O Prophet! We have made lawful for you your wives to whom you have given their dowers, and marriage to the slave women Allah has granted you as spoils in wars. We have also permitted you to marry the daughters of your paternal uncles and aunts and your maternal uncles and aunts who emigrated with you; and We have also made lawful, as a ruling for you alone, believing women who wish to be your wives without asking a dower and whom you agree to marry, so that you may not be put in difficulty over the matter of dowers.

We made known earlier the rulings concerning the wives of the other believers and slave women. Allah is most merciful and compassionate toward the believers.

O Prophet! You may stay away for a time from whichever of your wives you wish, and take to you whichever you wish. If you wish, you may also change the order of their turns with you, and there is no blame on you if, whenever you wish, you return to a wife from whom you have stayed apart for a time. Acting so will both make them happy when they are with you and keep them from grieving when you are away; this is more fitting for their being content with the time you set aside for them. Allah knows the hidden and the open, and what is most right in everything.

O Prophet! After this, it is not lawful for you to marry women other than these wives of yours. Even if their beauty pleases you, you may not divorce your present wives and marry other women; but this ruling does not apply to the slave women (war captives) you possess. You may marry them by a marriage contract. Allah watches over everything.

O believers! Do not enter the Prophet’s house without permission. When you are invited to a meal, do not go early and wait for mealtime; come at mealtime, and after the meal do not stay on, absorbed in talk, but rise and disperse to your homes. Your staying on may distress the Prophet, and he cannot tell you so lest you be hurt, but Allah does not shrink from teaching you these things.

When you ask the Prophet’s wives for something, ask from behind a screen; this is more right for keeping both your hearts and theirs pure. Moreover, your carelessness in these matters distresses the Prophet. Nor is it lawful for you to marry his wives after the Prophet’s death; not observing these things is a very great sin in Allah’s sight.

Whether you do a thing openly or in secret makes no difference to Allah, for He sees and knows everything.

There is no harm in the Prophet’s wives seeing and speaking freely with their fathers, their sons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, believing women, and the slave women they possess.

O wives of the Prophet! Fulfill your responsibilities regarding the limits Allah has set. Surely Allah sees, watches over, and witnesses everything.

Allah and His angels help and support the Prophet. O you who believe! You too support him in the effort he makes to have his call lived. Submit to Allah’s commands with all your strength and obey Him. Those who grieve Allah and His Messenger by rejecting the call the Prophet makes in Allah’s name, Allah curses in this world and the Hereafter and keeps far from His mercy, compassion, and kindness. For them there is a humiliating punishment.

Those who slander believing men and women by accusing them of something they have not done, and so hurt them, also commit a great sin.

O Prophet! Tell your wives, your daughters, and the believing women to put on their outer garments when they go out of their homes! This is more fitting so that they may be known as free and chaste women and not be harassed. Allah is most merciful and forgiving toward the believers.

If the defiantly disobedient and the hypocrites with sickness in their hearts, who try to stir up turmoil in the city, cause discord, and create unrest by fabricating lies and slandering the believers, do not put an end to this conduct, We will send you against them in such a way that they will no longer be able to remain in the same city with you, and wherever they are caught they will be killed, cursed.

This is Allah’s law, which He commanded to be applied among the corrupters who came and went before; and you will never find any change in His law.

O Prophet! People ask you when the Day of Resurrection will come. Say to them: “Allah alone knows its time; who knows, perhaps it is very near, perhaps far off.” But the truth that must be known is this: Allah has driven from His mercy and forgiveness those who turn their backs on the order and morality to which they are invited, and has prepared a terrible fire for them in Hell. They will remain there forever, and will find neither friend nor helper! On that Day, when their faces are scorched and disfigured in the Fire, they will say: “Ah, if only we too had grasped the purpose of our creation as we should, taken Allah alone as Lord and God, and followed the call He made through His Prophet.” Then they will lament, saying: “Our Lord! While we were in the world we followed our leaders and our great men, and in the end they kept us from Your call and cut us off from it. Our Lord, give them double punishment, so that they may pay the penalty for causing us to enter Hell.”

O you who believe! Do not be like the Children of Israel who hurt Moses, and do not forget that Allah cleared Moses of the slanders and accusations of the Children of Israel. For Moses was a servant most precious and honored in Allah’s sight.

O you who believe! Fulfill your responsibilities consciously and sincerely in living and keeping alive the way of life that is Allah’s call; always say what is right and do what is right.

What those who act so do has value with Allah, and He makes their affairs easy and forgives their sins. The truth is that whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger achieves a great gain and attains victory.

We entrusted to human beings the responsibility of making the divine order and morality a lived reality on earth, which the heavens, the earth, and the mountains could not bear because of the reason for their creation and their nature, and We equipped them with the reason, ability, and strength to carry out this task. Those who turn away from their task are ignorant, ungrateful, and wrongdoers.

Allah will punish with the punishment they deserve the men and women who do not fulfill their responsibilities toward Him and oppose them.

Allah will forgive the faults and sins of those who believe in His call and strive to fulfill their responsibilities, and reward them with His mercy and compassion.