Surah At-Tahrim: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

O Prophet! Why do you forbid yourself a blessing Allah has made lawful, in order to please one of your wives? Allah is most merciful and forgiving toward those who repent of what is wrong and turn to what is right.

O believers! Allah has permitted you to break your oaths, provided you pay their atonement if need be.

Allah is your true Mawla (Protector) and helper. He knows everything fully and is the Possessor of wisdom.

Remember when the Prophet told one of his wives something private, a family matter that was meant to stay between them, and that wife disclosed part of this matter, which should have stayed between them, to another. Thereupon Allah made this known to the Prophet. And when his wife said to him, “Who told you this?” the Prophet said, “Allah, who is aware of everything and knows everything, told me.”

O Prophet! Say to them: “Both of you, repent, turn to Allah, and ask for forgiveness, for both your hearts inclined and slipped toward wrong against the Prophet. If you do not repent and give up this wrong attitude, but back each other up, do not forget that Allah is the helper and friend of His Prophet. Gabriel, the other angels, and all the virtuous and excellent believers too are the friends and helpers of the Prophet.”

Should the Prophet divorce you, know well that his Lord will grant him wives better than you: wholeheartedly devoted to Allah and submitting to His rulings, who repent and turn to Allah when they sin, who fast, who are deeply devoted to their worship, and who are ready for every sacrifice in Allah’s way, whether previously married or virgins.

O you who believe! Protect yourselves and your families from the fire of Hell, whose fuel is people and stones. Over that fire are strong angels of stern nature, appointed by Allah, who never disobey any command of Allah and do whatever is asked of them.

Those angels will call out to those who have deserved Hell: “O you who associated partners with Allah, who denied the truth, and you hypocrites! Today your remorse, your begging and pleading, will be of no use to you at all. Do not resort to such things in vain; you will pay the penalty for what you did.”

O you who believe! Turn to Allah, repenting wholeheartedly of your sins; it may be that, because of this turning of yours, your Lord will forgive you and settle you in His Gardens through which rivers flow. Allah will never put to shame those who do their utmost to live and keep alive a life whose limits He has set, which is the reason for their creation, and on that Day the light of the believers will illuminate what is before them and at their sides. On that Day they will pray thus: “Our Lord, make our light last forever and forgive our sins; You have power over everything.”

O Prophet! Fight those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth, who attack you, and the hypocrites who side with them, dealing with them firmly; in the end their destination is Hell. What a very evil, wretched final stop it is!

Allah makes known as an example to the ungrateful, to those who associate partners with Him, and to those who deny the truth the stories of the wives of Noah and of Lot. These two women were the wedded wives of two of Our servants, Our righteous and virtuous messengers, but by not believing they were ungrateful and rebellious toward their husbands and toward Allah. In the end their righteous husbands could not protect them from Allah’s punishment, and together with those like themselves they deserved Hell.

Allah reminds the believers of Pharaoh’s wife as an example. She prayed to her Lord thus: “My Lord! Grant me a mansion with You in Paradise, and save me from Pharaoh, from his order steeped in disbelief and founded on oppression, and from among his people who follow him.”

Another example for the believers is Mary, the daughter of Imran. She too was a believing servant of Ours who believed in Allah wholeheartedly, strove to fulfill her responsibilities toward Him consciously, and was utterly chaste. And We breathed spirit into Jesus, whom We created in her womb, and bestowed knowledge on him by giving him prophethood and the Book.

Mary too was a sincere servant, obedient to her Lord, who believed in her Lord’s verses, His Book, and His Prophet.