33:1  PROPHET, HAVE fear of God and do not yield to the unbelievers and the hypocrites. God is all-knowing and wise

33:2  Obey what is revealed to you from your Lord, for God is cognizant of all your actions

33:3  and put your trust in God. Sufficient is God as your guardian

33:4  God has never put two hearts within one man‘s body. He does not regard the wives whom you divorce as your mothers,² nor your adopted sons as your own sons. These are mere words which you utter with your mouths: but God speaks the Truth and gives guidance to the right path

33:5  Name your adopted sons after their fathers; that is more just in the sight of God. If you do not know their fathers, regard them as your brothers in the Faith and as your cousins. Your unintentional errors shall be overlooked, but not the errors your hearts intended. God is forgiving and compassionate

33:6  The Prophet has a greater claim on the faithful than they have on each other. His wives are their mothers. God ordains that blood relations are closer to one another than to other believers or muhājirīn,¹ although you are permitted to do your friends a kindness.² That is in the Book decreed

33:7  Tell of the covenant We made with the prophets; with you, with Noah and Abraham, with Moses and Jesus son of Mary. A solemn covenant We made with them

33:8  that He might question the truthful about their truthfulness. But for the unbelievers He has prepared a woeful punishment

33:9  Believers, remember God‘s goodness to you when you were attacked by your enemy‘s army. We unleashed against them a violent wind and invisible warriors: God observed all that you were doing

33:10  They attacked you from above and from below, so that your eyes were blurred, your hearts leapt up to your throats, and you thought ill of God‘s design

33:11  There the faithful were put to the proof; there they were grievously shaken

33:12  The hypocrites and the faint-hearted said: ‘God and His apostle made us promises only to deceive us.‘

33:13  Some among them said: ‘People of Yathrib,³ you cannot stand much longer. Go back to your city.‘ And yet others sought the Prophet‘s leave, saying: ‘Our homes are defenceless,‘ while defenceless they were not. They only wished to flee

33:14  Had the city been entered from every quarter, and had they been roused to rebellion, they would have surely rebelled. But they would have occupied it only for a little while

33:15  Surely before that, they swore to God never to turn their backs in flight. And an oath to God must needs be answered for

33:16  Say: ‘Nothing will your flight avail you. If you escaped from death or slaughter you would enjoy this world only for a little while.‘

33:17  Say: ‘Who can protect you from God if it is His will to scourge you? And who can prevent Him from showing you mercy?‘ They shall find none besides God to protect or help them

33:18  God well knows those of you who hold the others back; who say to their comrades: ‘Join our side,‘ and seldom take part in the fighting

33:19  being ever reluctant to assist you. When fear overtakes them they look to you¹ for help, their eyes rolling, like someone in the agony of death. But once they are out of danger they assail you with their sharp tongues, covetously demanding the richest part of the booty. Those never had faith, and God will bring their acts to nothing, that is easy enough for God

33:20  They thought the confederates would never withdraw. Indeed, if the confederates should come again, they would sooner be in the desert among the wandering Arabs. There they would ask news of you, but were they with you they would take but little part in the fighting

33:21  There is a good example in God‘s apostle for those of you who look to God and the Last Day and remember God always

33:22  When the true believers saw the confederates, they said: ‘This is what God and His apostle have promised us; God and His apostle have spoken the Truth.‘ And this only increased their faith and submission

33:23  Among the believers there are men who have been true to their covenants with God. Some have died, and some await their end, yielding to no change

33:24  God will surely requite the faithful for their faith and sternly punish the hypocrites ― or show them mercy if He will: God is ever forgiving and compassionate

33:25  God turned back the unbelievers in their rage, and they went away empty-handed. God helped the faithful in the stress of war: Almighty is God, and all-powerful

33:26  He brought down from their strongholds those who had supported them from among the People of the Book² and cast terror into their hearts, so that some you slew and some you took captive

33:27  He made you heirs of their land, their houses, and their goods, and of yet another land¹ on which you had never set foot before. Truly, God has power over all things

33:28  Prophet, say to your wives: ‘If you seek this nether life and its vanities, come, I will make provision for you and release you honourably

33:29  But if you seek God and His apostle and the Abode of the Hereafter, God has prepared a rich recompense for those of you who do good works.‘

33:30  Wives of the Prophet! Those of you who commit a veritable lewd act shall be doubly punished. That is easy enough for God

33:31  But those of you who obey God and His apostle and do good works shall be doubly recompensed; for them We have made a rich provision

33:32  Wives of the Prophet! You are not like other women. If you fear God, do not be too complaisant in your speech, lest the lecherous-hearted should lust after you. Show discretion in what you say

33:33  Stay in your homes and do not display your finery as women used to do in the days of ignorance.² Attend to your prayers, give alms and obey God and His apostle. Women of the Household, God seeks only to remove abomination from you and to purify you.

33:34  Commit to memory the revelations of God and the wise sayings that are recited in your dwellings. Gracious is God and all-knowing

33:35  Be they men or women, those who are Muslims and have Faith; who are devout, sincere, patient, humble, charitable, and chaste; who fast and are ever mindful of God ― on these God will bestow forgiveness and a rich recompense

33:36  It is not for true believers ― men or women ― to order their own affairs if God and His apostle decree otherwise. He that disobeys God and His apostle strays grievously into error

33:37  You³ said to the man⁴ whom God and yourself have favoured: ‘Keep your wife and have fear of God.‘ You sought to hide in your heart what God was to reveal.¹ You were afraid of man, although it would have been more proper for you to fear God. And when Zayd divorced her, We gave her to you in marriage, so that it should become legitimate for true believers to wed the wives of their adopted sons if they had divorced them. God‘s will must needs be done

33:38  No blame shall be attached to the Prophet for doing what is sanctioned for him by God. Such was the way of God with those who went before him: God‘s decrees are ever preordained

33:39  those who convey God‘s commandments, fearing Him and fearing none besides God. Sufficient is God‘s reckoning

33:40  Muhammad is the father of no man among you.² He is the Apostle of God and the Seal of the Prophets. Surely God has knowledge of all things

33:41  Believers, be ever mindful of God

33:42  praise Him morning and evening

33:43  It is He and His angels that bless you, so that He may lead you from darkness to the light. To believers He is ever compassionate

33:44  Their greeting on the day they meet Him shall be: ‘Peace!‘ A rich reward He has prepared for them

33:45  Prophet, We have sent you forth as a witness, a bearer of joyful tidings, and an emissary to warn them;

33:46  one who shall call men to God by His leave and by a shining light

33:47  Tell the faithful that God has prodigious blessings in store for them

33:48  Do not yield to the unbelievers and the hypocrites: disregard their insolence. Put your trust in God; sufficient is God as a guardian

33:49  Believers, if you marry believing women and divorce them before the marriage is consummated, you are not required to observe a waiting period. Provide well for them and release them honourably

33:50  Prophet, We have made lawful for you the wives to whom you have granted dowries and the slave-girls whom God has given you as booty; the daughters of your paternal and maternal uncles and of your paternal and maternal aunts who fled with you; and any believing woman who gives herself to the Prophet and whom the Prophet wishes to take in marriage. This privilege is yours alone, being granted to no other believer. We well know the duties We have imposed on them concerning their wives and their slave-girls: so that none may blame you. God is ever forgiving and compassionate

33:51  You may put off any of your wives you please and take to your bed any of them you please. Nor is it an offence for you to receive any of those whom you have temporarily set aside. That is more proper, so that they may be contented and not vexed, and may all be pleased with what you give them. God knows what is in your¹ hearts. Surely God is all-knowing and gracious

33:52  It shall be unlawful for you² to take more wives or to change your present wives for other women, though their beauty please you, unless they are slave-girls whom you own. God takes cognizance of all things

33:53  Believers, do not enter the houses of the Prophet for a meal without waiting for the proper time, unless you are given leave. But if you are invited, enter; and when you have eaten, disperse. Do not engage in familiar talk, for this would annoy the Prophet and he would be ashamed to bid you go; but of the truth God is not ashamed. If you ask his wives for anything, speak to them from behind a curtain. This is more chaste for your hearts and their hearts. You must not speak ill of God‘s apostle, nor shall you ever wed his wives after him; this would surely be a grave offence in the sight of God

33:54  Whether you reveal a thing or conceal it, God has knowledge of all things

33:55  It shall be no offence for the Prophet‘s wives to be seen unveiled by their fathers, their sons, their brothers, their brothers‘ sons, their sisters‘ sons, their women, or their slave-girls. Women, have fear of God; surely God observes all things

33:56  The Prophet is blessed by God and His angels. Bless him, then, you that are true believers, and greet him with a worthy salutation

33:57  Those who speak ill of God and His apostle shall be cursed by God in this life and in the life to come. He has prepared for them a shameful punishment

33:58  Those who traduce believing men and believing women undeservedly shall bear the guilt of slander and grievous sin

33:59  Prophet, enjoin your wives, your daughters, and the wives of true believers to draw their veils close round them. That is more proper, so that they may be recognized and not be molested. God is ever forgiving and compassionate

33:60  If the hypocrites and those who have tainted hearts and the scandal mongers of Madinah do not desist, We will rouse you against them; and their days therein will be numbered.

33:61  Cursed wherever they are found, they will be seized and put to death without mercy

33:62  Such has been God‘s way with those who have gone before them. And you shall find no change in the way of God

33:63  People ask you about the Hour. Say: ‘God alone has knowledge of it. And how are you to knows? The Hour may well be near at hand.‘

33:64  God has laid His curse upon the unbelievers and prepared for them a Conflagration

33:65  Abiding therein for ever, they shall find none to protect or help them

33:66  On the day when their heads roll about in the Fire, they shall say: ‘Would that we had obeyed God and obeyed the Apostle!‘

33:67  And they shall say: ‘Lord, we obeyed our masters and our great ones, but they led us away from the right path

33:68  Lord; mete out to them a double scourge; lay on them a mighty curse.‘

33:69  Believers, do not behave like those who slandered Moses. God cleared him of their calumny, and he was exalted by God

33:70  Believers, fear God and speak the Truth

33:71  He will bless your works and forgive you your sins. Those who obey God and His apostle shall win a signal victory

33:72  We offered Our trust to the heavens, to the earth, and to the mountains, but they refused the burden and were afraid to receive it. Man undertook to bear it, but he has proved a sinner and a fool

33:73  God will surely punish the hypocrites and the idolaters, both men and women; but to believing men and to believing women He will turn in mercy. God is ever forgiving and compassionate