24:1  It is a surah [chapter] which We have revealed and We have imposed it and in it, We have revealed clear signs so that you may remember.

24:2  The fornicating woman and the fornicating man, flog each of them a hundred lashes and let not tenderness for both of them sway you in the matter of the religion of Allah if you truly believe in Allah and in the last day and let their punishment be witnessed by a party of the believers.

24:3  The fornicating man must not marry except a fornicating woman or a woman who ascribes partners to Allah and a fornicating woman is not married except to a fornicating man or to a man who ascribes partners to Allah. Such a thing is forbidden unto the believers.

24:4  And those men who accuse chaste women with fornication [or adultery] and do not produce four witnesses, flog them with eighty lashes and do not accept their witnessing ever after and those are the renegades.

24:5  Except those men who repent thereafter and amend their wrong deeds with righteous deeds and truly Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

24:6  And those men who accuse their wives and there are no witnesses for them except themselves, thus the witnessing of one of them counts as four witnessings taking an oath by Allah that He is of those who are truthful.

24:7  And in the fifth time [he should assert] that let Allah’s curse be on him if he is of those who are the liars.

24:8  And it pushes away the punishment from her [the wife] if she bears witness four times by Allah that truly he is of those who are liars.

24:9  And the fifth time [she should assert] that let Allah’s anger be on her if he is of those who are the truthful.

24:10  And was it not for the favor of Allah and His mercy upon you and that Allah is Acceptor of repentance, All-wise.

24:11  Truly those who came with slander, they are a party among you. Do not count it as evil for you. Nay it is good for you. Unto everyone will be assigned the reward of that which he earned from the sin but the one who was responsible for the greater part of it among them, for him is an awful punishment.

24:12  If only when you heard it, the believing men and women had thought well of themselves and had said, “This is an obvious slander.”

24:13  If only they brought forth against him four witnesses and since they did not bring forth the witnesses, then surely in the sight of Allah, they are the liars.

24:14  Had it not been for the favor of Allah and His mercy upon you in this world and in the hereafter, surely an awful punishment would have touched you for the rumor in which you indulged in.

24:15  As you eagerly seized it with your tongues and said from your mouths for which you had no knowledge and you deemed it as a light matter while it is of great consequence in the sight of Allah.

24:16  And if only when you heard it you had said, “It is not meet for us to speak about this. Glory be unto you [O Allah]. This is an egregious fabrication.”

24:17  Allah admonishes you that you must not repeat the like of it ever after if you are truly believers.

24:18  And Allah makes the signs clear for you and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.

24:19  Truly those who love that offensive rumors spread among those who believe, for them there is painful punishment in this life and in the hereafter and Allah knows while you know not.

24:20  And had it not been for the favor of Allah and His mercy upon you and that Allah is indeed All-tender, Most-merciful.

24:21  O you who believe, do not follow the footsteps of Satan and whosoever follows the footsteps of Satan, he [Satan] but commands unto things which are offensive and wicked. Had it not been for Allah’s favor and His mercy upon you, He would not sanctify anyone of you ever. But Allah sanctifies the one whom He pleases and Allah is All-hearing, All-knowing.

24:22  And let not those who have been blessed among you with favor [from Allah] and with abundance swear not to give to those who are near of kin and to the poor and to those who have migrated in the way of Allah but let them pardon and overlook. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? and Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most-merciful.

24:23  Truly those who accuse the chaste women, the women who are innocent minded about all kinds of evil, the believing women, they [the accusers] are cursed in this life and in the hereafter and for them is an awful punishment.

24:24  On a day their tongues and their hands and their feet will witness against them for that which they used to go.

24:25  On that day Allah will pay them their true rewards in full and they will know that Allah is the truth who makes everything clear.

24:26  The indecent women are for the indecent men and the indecent men are for the indecent women and the women who are decent are for the men who are decent and the men who are decent are for the women who are decent. They are innocent from any guilt that they say [of them]. For them is forgiveness and a gracious provision.

24:27  O you who believe do not enter houses other than your own houses until you announce yourself and send a word of peace to the people therein. It is better for you perhaps that you may remember.

24:28  And if you find no one therein, do not enter until the permission is given unto you and if you are told to go back, go back. This is purer for you and Allah is All-knowing with all that you do.

24:29  And there is no guilt unto you if you enter houses which are uninhabited wherein lies some benefit for you and Allah knows all that you reveal and all that you conceal.

24:30  Tell the believers to lower part of their gazes and to safeguard their chastities. That is purer for them. Truly Allah is All-acquainted with all that they manufacture.

24:31  And tell the believing women to lower part of their gazes and to safeguard their chastities and that they should not reveal their ornaments except that which is ordinarily exposed of it and let them lower down their clothings on their bosoms and they should not reveal their ornaments except to their husbands or to their fathers or to the fathers of their husbands or to their son or to the son of their husbands or to their brothers or to the sons of their brothers or to the sons of their sisters or to their women or to those that their right hands possess [male or female] or to dependent men who have no need of women or to the children who have not been awakened to the desire for women and that they should not stump their feet to make known what they hide from their ornaments. And O you the believers, turn in repentance altogether to Allah perhaps you may prosper.

24:32  And marry those who are single among you and those who are righteous among your slaves; male and female. If they be indigent, Allah will provide them with abundance from His favor and Allah is All-encompassing, All-knowing.

24:33  And let those who do not find means for marriage keep their chastity till Allah provides for them from His favor. And those who seek a deed of manumission from among those whom your right hands possess, accept their request if you find good in them and give them from the wealth of Allah which He has given unto you and do not coerce your maid slaves unto prostitution while they seek to guard their chastity in order that you seek a trifling gain of this life and whosoever coerce them, Lo! Allah after their coercion is Oft-Forgiving Most-merciful.

24:34  And truly We have sent down unto you signs which make things clear and a parable about those who have gone before you and an admonition for those who revere Allah.

24:35  Allah is the light of the heavens and of the earth. Likeness of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp. The lamp is within a glass. The glass looks like a brilliant star lit from a blessed olive tree that is neither in the east nor in the west. Its oil almost nearly illuminates even though fire has not touched it. It is a light upon a light. Allah guides unto His light whom He pleases and Allah sets forth the parables for the mankind and Allah is All-knowing about everything

24:36  in houses which Allah has permitted to be raised and for His name to be remembered therein and wherein is He glorified in the mornings and in the evenings

24:37  by men whom neither trade nor traffic distracts from the remembrance of Allah or from establishing prayer or from paying the sanctifying dues. They fear a day wherein the hearts and the sights will turn upside down.

24:38  So that Allah may reward them according to the best of the deeds that they have done and may increase them from His favor and Allah provides for whom He pleases without calculation.

24:39  And those who disbelieve, their deeds are like a mirage in a desert which the thirsty takes to be water until when he comes to it, he does not find it to be anything but he finds Allah with him, thereupon He gives him his reckoning in full and Allah is Swift in the reckoning.

24:40  Or like darknesses in a wavy sea covered by a wave, with a wave above it, and a cloud above it; darknesses one above another. If he were to put forth his hand he hardly sees it. For whom Allah does not provide a light, for him there is no light.

24:41  Have you not seen that it is Allah for whom glorifies whosoever is in the heavens and in the earth and also the birds with their wings spread out? Each has known his prayer and his glorification and Allah is All-knowing about all that they do.

24:42  And for Allah is the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth and unto Allah is the final ending.

24:43  Have you not seen that Allah draws a cloud, then He puts it together, then He reduces it into a pile and then you see the rain coming out from between it and He sends down from the heaven from mountains therein from hail with which He strikes whom He pleases and averts from whom He pleases. The brilliance of its lightning almost nearly snatches away the sights.

24:44  Allah causes the night and the day to alternate. Truly in that is a lesson for those who are endowed with sight.

24:45  And it is Allah who has created every animal from water. And among them are such as move on their bellies and among them are such as move on two legs and among them are such as move on four. Allah creates what He pleases and truly Allah has power over everything.

24:46  Truly We have revealed signs that make things clear and Allah guides whom He pleases to a path most upright.

24:47  And they say, “We believe in Allah and in the messenger and we obey” but then a party of them turns away after that. And those are not the believers.

24:48  And when they are summoned unto Allah and His messenger so that he may judge with wisdom between them, Lo! A party of them turns away.

24:49  But if the right is in their favor, they will come to him in willing submission.

24:50  Is there a disease in their hearts or they have doubt or they fear that Allah and His messenger would wrong them. Nay it is they who are those who wrong their own souls.

24:51  The only word from the believers when they are summoned unto Allah and His messenger so that he may judge between them with wisdom is that they say, “We heard and we obeyed.” And it is only they who are going to prosper.

24:52  And whoever obeys Allah and His messenger and defers to Allah and reveres Him, it is they who are going to attain success.

24:53  And they swear by Allah with their most solemn oath that if you command them [to set out] they will certainly set out. Say, “Do not swear.” It is a well-known obedience. Allah truly is well acquainted with all that you do.

24:54  Say, ”Obey Allah and obey the messenger but if you turn back then he is only answerable for that with which he is charged and you are answerable for that with which you are charged and if you obey him, you will be rightly guided. And there is no other responsibility upon the messenger except the clear deliverance of the message.”

24:55  Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds from among you that He will surely appoint them as vicegerents in the earth as He did appoint those before them as vicegerents and He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them out of His pleasure and He will most certainly give them security in replacement for their fear. They must then worship Me and ascribe nothing as partner to Me and whosoever turns to disbelief after that, truly it is they who are the renegades.

24:56  And establish the prayer and give the sanctifying dues and obey the messenger so that perhaps you may receive mercy.

24:57  And do not think that those who disbelieve are going to escape in the earth. Their final abode is the fire and what a woeful place of ending.

24:58  O You who believe, let those whom your right hands possess and those who have not attained to puberty among you ask your permission [before they come in upon you] at three times; before the morning prayer, and when you lay down your dresses in the afternoon, and after the night prayer. Three occasions of privacy for you, and after them there is no guilt upon you nor upon them due to the customary traffic between one another among you. Thus Allah makes clear the signs for you and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.

24:59  And when the children among you attain to puberty, let them also ask the permission to come in upon you as did those who were before them. Thus Allah makes clear for you His signs and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.

24:60  And the women who are advanced in age, who do not look forward to getting married, there is no guilt upon them if they lay aside their outer garments without the flagrant display of their ornaments. However it is better for them to stay modest and Allah is All-hearing, All-knowing.

24:61  There is no guilt on the blind nor a guilt on the lame nor a guilt on the sick nor on yourself if you eat from your houses or from the houses of your fathers or from the houses of your mothers or from the houses of your brothers or from the houses of your sisters or from the houses of your paternal uncles or from the houses of your paternal aunts or from the houses of your maternal uncles or from the houses of your maternal aunts or from the houses to which you possess the keys thereof or from your friends [houses]. There is no guilt on you if you eat together or separately. And when you enter houses send the greetings of peace upon yourselves; a greeting from Allah blessed and pure. Thus Allah makes clear for you the signs so that perhaps you may understand.

24:62  The only true believers are those who believe in Allah and in His messenger and those when they are with him on a decisive matter they do not go until they ask for his permission. Truly those who ask for your permission [to leave] are those who truly believe in Allah and in His messenger and when they ask your permission to leave in view of some of their affairs, give permission to such as you please from among them and ask forgiveness from Allah for them. Truly Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most-merciful.

24:63  Do not make the call of the messenger among you like the call of some of you unto others. Truly Allah knows those who slip away from among you stealthily. Let those who go against his commandment beware lest a tribulation befalls them or lest a painful punishment afflicts them.

24:64  Lo! indeed belongs to Allah all that is in the heavens and in the earth. Truly He knows that which you are on and the day they will be brought back unto Him, then He will certainly inform them about all that they did and Allah is All-knowing about everything.