| | Ali Ünal rendition of Surah The Private Apartments, The Inner Apartments, The Chambers(al-Hujurat)
--- |
|---|
| 49:1 | | O you who believe! Do not be forward in the Presence of God and His Messenger. Keep from disobedience to God in piety and reverence for Him, so that you may deserve His protection. Surely God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing |
| 49:2 | | O you who believe! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor speak loudly when addressing him, as you would speak loudly to one another, lest your good deeds go in vain without your perceiving it |
| 49:3 | | Those who lower their voices in the presence of God’s Messenger, those are they whose hearts God has tested and proven for piety and reverence for Him. For them there is forgiveness (to bring unforeseen rewards) and a tremendous reward |
| 49:4 | | Those who call out to you from behind the private apartments (which you share with your wives), most of them do not reason and understand (and are therefore lacking in good manners) |
| 49:5 | | If (instead of shouting to you to come out to them) they had been patient until you came out to them, it would certainly have been better for them (in respect of the manners due to you from them). However, God is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate (especially toward His believing servants, and may forgive ill-manners arising from ignorance) |
| 49:6 | | O you who believe! If some transgressor brings you news (that requires taking action), verify it carefully (before you believe and act upon it), lest you harm a people in ignorance and then become regretful for what you have done |
| 49:7 | | Always bear in mind that God’s Messenger is among you (so that you have a duty to refer decisions to him). If he were to follow you in many affairs of public concern, you would surely be in trouble (and suffer loss). But God has endeared the faith to you (O believers) and made it appealing to your hearts, and He has made unbelief, transgression, and rebellion hateful to you. Those are they who are rightly guided (in belief, thought, and action) |
| 49:8 | | As a grace from God and a favor. God is All-Knowing, All-Wise |
| 49:9 | | If two parties of believers fall to fighting, make peace between them (and act promptly). But if one of them aggressively encroaches the rights of the other, then fight you all against the aggressive side until they comply with God’s decree (concerning the matter). If they comply, then make peace between them with justice and be scrupulously equitable. Surely God loves the scrupulously equitable |
| 49:10 | | The believers are but brothers, so make peace between your brothers and keep from disobedience to God in reverence for Him and piety (particularly in your duties toward one another as brothers), so that you may be shown mercy (granted a good, virtuous life in the world as individuals and as a community, and eternal happiness in the Hereafter) |
| 49:11 | | O you who believe! Let not some people among you deride another people, it may be that the latter are better than the former; nor let some women deride other women, it may be that the latter are better than the former. Nor defame one another (and provoke the same for yourselves in retaliation), nor insult one another with nicknames (that your brothers and sisters dislike). Evil is using names with vile meaning after (those so addressed have accepted) the faith (– doing so is like replacing a mark of faith with a mark of transgression). Whoever (does that and then) does not turn to God in repentance, (giving up doing so), those are indeed wrongdoers |
| 49:12 | | O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, for some suspicion is a grave sin (liable to God’s punishment); and do not spy (on one another), nor backbite (against one another). Would any of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor it! Keep from disobedience to God in reverence for Him and piety. Surely God is One Who truly returns repentance with liberal forgiveness and additional reward, All-Compassionate (particularly towards His believing servants) |
| 49:13 | | O humankind! Surely We have created you from a single (pair of) male and female, and made you into tribes and families so that you may know one another (and so build mutuality and co-operative relationships, not so that you may take pride in your differences of race or social rank, and breed enmities). Surely the noblest, most honorable of you in God’s sight is the one best in piety, righteousness, and reverence for God. Surely God is All-Knowing, All-Aware |
| 49:14 | | (Some of) the dwellers of the desert say: "We believe." Say (to them): "You have not believed. Rather, (you should) say, ‘We have submitted (to the rule of Islam),’ for faith has not yet entered into your hearts." But, if you obey God and His Messenger, He will not hold back anything of the reward of your (good) deeds. Surely God is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate |
| 49:15 | | Only those are the believers who have truly believed in God (as the Unique Deity, Lord, and Sovereign), and (believed in) His Messenger (including all that he has brought from God), then have never since doubted (the truth of what they have testified to), and who strive hard with their wealth and persons in God’s cause. Those are they who are truthful and honest (in their profession of faith) |
| 49:16 | | (If those desert dwellers still insist on thinking themselves true believers,) say: "What? Would you teach God (how truly you are devoted to) your Religion, while God knows all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth?" God has full knowledge of everything |
| 49:17 | | They impress it on you as their favor to you that they have submitted (to the rule of Islam and thereby put you under an obligation to them). Say: "Do not count your being Muslims as a favor to me (nor seek to put me under an obligation. The Religion does not belong to me, but to God only.) It is indeed God Who has conferred a favor upon you inasmuch as He has shown you the way to faith – if you are truthful (in your profession of being Muslims, those who have submitted to God)." |
| 49:18 | | Surely God knows the unseen of the heavens and the earth (all that is beyond human perception and knowledge in them). And God sees well all that you do |
