| | Aisha Bewley rendition of Surah The Light(an-Nur)
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| 24:1 | | A sura We have sent down and imposed. We have sent down Clear Signs in it so that hopefully you will pay heed. |
| 24:2 | | A woman and a man who commit fornication: flog both of them with one hundred lashes and do not let compassion for either of them possess you where Allah´s deen is concerned, if you have iman in Allah and the Last Day. A number of muminun should witness their punishment. |
| 24:3 | | A man who has fornicated may only marry a woman who has fornicated or a woman of the idolaters. A woman who has fornicated may only marry a man who has fornicated or a man of the idolaters. Doing such a thing is haram for the muminun. |
| 24:4 | | But those who make accusations against chaste women and then do not produce four witnesses: flog them with eighty lashes and never again accept them as witnesses. Such people are deviators — |
| 24:5 | | except for those who after that make tawba and put things right. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. |
| 24:6 | | Those who make an accusation against their wives and have no witnesses except themselves, such people should testify four times by Allah that they are telling the truth |
| 24:7 | | and a fifth time that Allah´s curse will be upon them if they are lying. |
| 24:8 | | And the punishment is removed from her if she testifies four times by Allah that he is lying |
| 24:9 | | and a fifth time that Allah´s anger will be upon her if he is telling the truth. |
| 24:10 | | Were it not for Allah´s favour to you and His mercy ...and that Allah is Ever-Returning, All-Wise. |
| 24:11 | | There is a group of you who propagated the lie. Do not suppose it to be bad for you; rather it is good for you. Every one of them will incur the evil he has earned and the one who took it on himself to amplify it will receive a terrible punishment. |
| 24:12 | | Why, when you heard it, did you not, as men and women of the muminun, instinctively think good thoughts and say, ´This is obviously a lie´? |
| 24:13 | | Why did they not produce four witnesses to it? Since they did not bring four witnesses, in Allah´s sight, they are liars. |
| 24:14 | | Were it not for Allah´s favour to you and His mercy, both in this world and the Next World, a terrible punishment would have afflicted you for your plunging headlong into it. |
| 24:15 | | You were bandying it about on your tongues, your mouths uttering something about which you had no knowledge. You considered it to be a trivial matter, but, in Allah´s sight, it is immense. |
| 24:16 | | Why, when you heard it, did you not say, ´We have no business speaking about this. Glory be to You! This is a terrible slander!´? |
| 24:17 | | Allah warns you never to repeat the like of it again if you are muminun. |
| 24:18 | | Allah makes the Signs clear to you and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. |
| 24:19 | | People who love to see filth being spread about concerning those who have iman will have a painful punishment both in this world and the Next World. Allah knows and you do not know. |
| 24:20 | | Were it not for Allah´s favour to you and His mercy . . . and that Allah is All-Gentle, Most Merciful. |
| 24:21 | | You who have iman! do not follow in the footsteps of Shaytan. Anyone who follows in Shaytan´s footsteps should know that he commands indecency and wrongdoing. Were it not for Allah´s favour to you and His mercy, not one of you would ever have been purified. But Allah purifies whoever He wills. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. |
| 24:22 | | Those of you possessing affluence and ample wealth should not make oaths that they will not give to their relatives and the very poor and those who have made hijra in the way of Allah. They should rather pardon and overlook. Would you not love Allah to forgive you? Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. |
| 24:23 | | Those who accuse women who are chaste, but who are careless and yet have iman, are cursed both in this world and the Next World, and they will have a terrible punishment |
| 24:24 | | on the Day when their tongues and hands and feet will testify against them about what they were doing. |
| 24:25 | | On that Day Allah will pay them in full what is due to them, and they will know that Allah is the Clear Truth. |
| 24:26 | | Corrupt women are for corrupt men and corrupt men are for corrupt women, Good women are for good men and good men are for good women. The latter are innocent of what they say. They will have forgiveness and generous provision. |
| 24:27 | | You who have iman! do not enter houses other than your own until you have asked permission and greeted their inhabitants. That is better for you, so that hopefully you will pay heed. |
| 24:28 | | And if you find no one at home do not go in until permission has been granted you. And if you are told to go away then go away. That is purer for you. Allah knows what you do. |
| 24:29 | | There is nothing wrong in your entering houses where no one lives and where there is some service for you. Allah knows what you divulge and what you conceal. |
| 24:30 | | Say to the muminun that they should lower their eyes and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Allah is aware of what they do. |
| 24:31 | | Say to the mumin women that they should lower their eyes and guard their private parts and not display their adornments — except for what normally shows — and draw their head-coverings across their breasts. They should only display their adornments 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 other women or those they own as slaves or their male attendants who have no sexual desire or children who still have no awareness of women´s private parts. Nor should they stamp their feet so that their hidden ornaments are known. Turn to Allah every one of you, muminun, so that hopefully you will have success. |
| 24:32 | | Marry off those among you who are unmarried and those of your slaves and slavegirls who are righteous. If they are poor, Allah will enrich them from His bounty. Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing. |
| 24:33 | | Those who cannot find the means to marry should be abstinent until Allah enriches them from His bounty. If any slaves you own want to make a contract to free themselves, write it for them if you know of good in them and give them some of the wealth Allah has given you. Do not force your slavegirls to prostitute themselves if they desire to be virtuous women out of your desire for the goods of this world. If anyone forces them, then after they have been forced, Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. |
| 24:34 | | We have sent down Clear Signs to you and the example of those who passed away before you and an admonition for those who have taqwa. |
| 24:35 | | Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The metaphor of His Light is that of a niche in which is a lamp, the lamp inside a glass, the glass like a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east nor of the west, its oil all but giving off light even if no fire touches it. Light upon Light. Allah guides to His Light whoever He wills and Allah makes metaphors for mankind and Allah has knowledge of all things. |
| 24:36 | | In houses which Allah has permitted to be built and in which His name is remembered, there are men who proclaim His glory morning and evening, |
| 24:37 | | not distracted by trade or commerce from the remembrance of Allah and the establishment of salat and the payment of zakat; fearing a day when all hearts and eyes will be in turmoil — |
| 24:38 | | so that Allah can reward them for the best of what they did and give them more from His unbounded favour. Allah provides for anyone He wills without reckoning. |
| 24:39 | | But the actions of those who are kafir are like a mirage in the desert. A thirsty man thinks it is water but when he reaches it, he finds it to be nothing at all, but he finds Allah there. He will pay him his account in full. Allah is swift at reckoning. |
| 24:40 | | Or they are like the darkness of a fathomless sea which is covered by waves above which are waves above which are clouds, layers of darkness, one upon the other. If he puts out his hand, he can scarcely see it. Those Allah gives no light to, they have no light. |
| 24:41 | | Do you not see that everyone in the heavens and earth glorifies Allah, as do the birds with their outspread wings? Each one knows its prayer and glorification. Allah knows what they do. |
| 24:42 | | The kingdom of the heavens and earth belongs to Allah and Allah is the final destination. |
| 24:43 | | Do you not see that Allah propels the clouds then makes them coalesce then heaps them up, and then you see the rain come pouring out of the middle of them? And He sends down mountains from the sky with hail inside them, striking with it anyone He wills and averting it from anyone He wills. The brightness of His lightning almost blinds the sight. |
| 24:44 | | Allah revolves night and day. There is surely a lesson in that for people with inner sight. |
| 24:45 | | Allah created every animal from water. Some of them go on their bellies, some of them on two legs, and some on four. Allah creates whatever He wills. Allah has power over all things. |
| 24:46 | | We have sent down Signs making things clear. Allah guides whoever He wills to a straight path. |
| 24:47 | | They say, ´We have iman in Allah and in the Messenger and we obey.´ Then after that a group of them turn away. Such people are not muminun. |
| 24:48 | | When they are summoned to Allah and His Messenger, so that he can judge between them, a group of them immediately turn away. |
| 24:49 | | But if right is on their side, they come to him most submissively! |
| 24:50 | | Is there a sickness in their hearts or do they have misgivings or do they fear that Allah and His Messenger will be unjust to them? No, it is simply that they are wrongdoers. |
| 24:51 | | The reply of the muminun when they are summoned to Allah and His Messenger so that he can judge between them, is to say, ´We hear and we obey.´ They are ones who are successful. |
| 24:52 | | All who obey Allah and His Messenger and have awe of Allah and taqwa of Him, they are the ones who are victorious. |
| 24:53 | | They have sworn by Allah with their most earnest oaths that if you give them the command, they will go out. Say: ´Do not swear. Honourable obedience is enough. Allah is aware of what you do.´ |
| 24:54 | | Say: ´Obey Allah and obey the Messenger. Then if they turn away he is only responsible for what he is charged with and you are responsible for what you are charged with. If you obey him, you will be guided.´ The Messenger is only responsible for clear transmission. |
| 24:55 | | Allah has promised those of you who have iman and do right actions that He will make them successors in the land as He made those before them successors, and will firmly establish for them their deen with which He is pleased and give them, in place of their fear, security. ´They worship Me, not associating anything with Me.´ Any who are kafir after that, such people are deviators. |
| 24:56 | | Establish salat and pay zakat and obey the Messenger so that hopefully mercy will be shown to you. |
| 24:57 | | Do not imagine that those who are kafir are able to escape Allah on earth. Their shelter will be the Fire. What an evil destination! |
| 24:58 | | You who have iman! those you own as slaves and those of you who have not yet reached puberty should ask your permission to enter at three times: before the Dawn Prayer, when you have undressed at noon, and after the Salat al-´Isha´ — three times of nakedness for you. There is nothing wrong for you or them at other times in moving around among yourselves from one to another. In this way Allah makes the Signs clear to you. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. |
| 24:59 | | Once your children have reached puberty, they should ask your permission to enter as those before them also asked permission. In this way Allah makes His Signs clear to you. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. |
| 24:60 | | As for women who are past child-bearing age and no longer have any hope of getting married, there is nothing wrong in their removing their outer clothes, provided they do not flaunt their adornments; but to refrain from doing so is better for them. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. |
| 24:61 | | There is no objection to the blind, no objection to the lame, no objection to the sick nor to yourselves if you eat in your own houses or your fathers´ houses or your mothers´ houses or your brothers´ houses or your sisters´ houses or the houses of your paternal uncles or paternal aunts or the houses of your maternal uncles or maternal aunts or places to which you own the keys or those of your friends. There is nothing wrong in your eating together or eating separately. And when you enter houses greet one another with a greeting from Allah, blessed and good. In this way Allah makes the Signs clear to you so that hopefully you will use your intellect. |
| 24:62 | | The muminun are those who have iman in Allah and His Messenger and who, when they are with him on a matter of common concern, do not leave until they have asked him for permission. Those people who ask you for permission are the ones who truly have iman in Allah and His Messenger. If they ask your permission to attend to their own affairs, give permission to any of them you please; and ask Allah´s forgiveness for them. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. |
| 24:63 | | Do not make your summoning of the Messenger the same as your summoning of one another. Allah knows those of you who sneak away. Those who oppose his command should beware of a testing trial coming to them or a painful punishment striking them. |
| 24:64 | | Everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah. He knows what you are engaged upon. On the Day when they are returned to Him, He will inform them of what they did. Allah has knowledge of all things. |
