al-Ahzab (The Clans, The Coalition, The Combined Forces, The Allies) at IslamAwakened.com

33:4 God did not place two hearts inside any man's body. Nor has He made your wives whom you equate with your mothers your birth mothers, nor has He made your adopted sons your actual sons. These are [merely] words coming out of your mouths. But God speaks the Truth, and He guides us to the right path.

33:5 Call [your adopted sons] after their fathers; this is right in the sight of God, but if you do not know their fathers, then they are your brothers in faith and entrusted to you. You will not be blamed if you make mistakes [in such matters], but [only for] what your hearts intended. God is Most Forgiving, the Mercy giver.

33:6 The Prophet has a higher claim on the believers than [they do on] their own selves, and his wives are their mothers. Blood relations have a higher claim on one another, according to the Book of God, than do other believers and emigrants. Nevertheless, you may act kindly toward your friends. All this is inscribed in the Book.

33:7 We took a pledge from the prophets: from you and from Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus, the Son of Mary. We took a solemn pledge from them

33:8 so that God may question the sincere about their sincerity. And, for the unbelievers, He has prepared a painful punishment.

33:9 Believers, remember God’s blessings to you when armies came to [attack] you, and We sent a wind and forces that you could not see. God always sees what you do.

33:10 When they [the enemy] came at you from above you and from below you, when eyes rolled [in fear], and your hearts rose to your throats, and you had [ill] thoughts of God-

33:11 there, the believers were tested and severely shaken.

33:12 The hypocrites and the sick at heart said, "The promise from God and His Messenger is a fantasy"

33:13 and a group of them said, "People of Yathrib, there is nothing for you [here], so return [home]." Yet another group asked permission of the Prophet, saying, "Our houses are exposed," although, in fact, they were not. They intended only to flee.

33:14 Had their town been invaded from every side, and they had been exhorted to revert to idolatry, [the hypocrites] would have done so with very little hesitation

33:15 even though they had already pledged before God not to turn back and flee. One is always responsible for a promise made before God.

33:16 Say, "Fleeing will not benefit you. If you should flee from death or killing, you will be permitted to enjoy life for only a short while."

33:17 Say, "Who is it that can prevent God from harming you, if He wishes, or being merciful to you if He wishes?" They will find no protector or helper other than God.

33:18 God knows those among you who would hold you back, as well as those who would say to their brothers, "Come to us," and hardly go to battle.

33:19 They do not care about you, and when fear [of battle] comes, you see them looking at you with their eyes rolling like one overtaken by death. Yet, as soon as the danger has gone, they lash out at you with sharp tongues, resenting any good that comes to you. Such people have no faith, so God has rendered their deeds worthless, which is easy for God.

33:20 They think the war parties have not [yet] withdrawn, and, if the war parties came [again], they would wish they were in the desert among the Bedouins, seeking news about you [from a safe distance]. Even if they were among you, they would hardly fight at all.

33:21 The Messenger of God is an excellent model for anyone who puts his hope in God and the Last Day and remembers God often.

33:22 And when the Believers saw the war parties, they said, "This is what God and His Messenger had promised us; God and His Messenger spoke the truth." This only increased their faith and submission.

33:23 Among the believers are men true to what they promised God. Some died while fulfilling their pledge, and some are still waiting, having never changed in the least.

33:24 That God may reward the truthful for being true to their pledge and punish the hypocrites, if He wills, or accept their repentance, for God is the Most Forgiving, the Mercy Giver.

33:25 God drove back the unbelievers in their rage, and they gained no advantage; God spared the believers from fighting, for God is All-Strong and Revered.

33:26 He brought those People of the Book who supported [the unbelievers] down from their fortresses and threw terror into their hearts. Some of them you killed, and others you took captive.

33:27 He gave you their land, their homes, their property, and a land where you had not set foot before. God can do all things.

33:28 Prophet, say to your wives, "If your desire is for this worldly life and its finery, then come, I will provide for you and release you with kindness,

33:29 but if you desire God, His Messenger, and a home in the Hereafter, then God has prepared a great reward for those among you who do good."

33:30 Wives of the Prophet, whoever of you burden the Prophet with demands for material possessions , her punishment would be doubled, and this is easy for God,

33:31 but she among you who obeys God and His Messenger and does good deeds, We will give her a double reward. We have prepared for her a generous provision.

33:32 Wives of the Prophet, you are not like any of the other women, provided that you remain mindful of God. Do not, then, be soft-spoken, as you do not want the sick at heart to lust after you, but speak appropriately.

33:33 Stay at home , and do not display your beauty as you did before, during the time of ignorance. Establish prayer, pay alms, and obey God and His Messenger. God wishes to remove all impurity from you, members of the (Prophet’s) household, and to purify you to the utmost degree of purity.

33:34 And remember all God’s messages and Wisdom that are recited in your homes. God is Most-Subtle and All-Aware.

33:35 The men and women who have submitted to God, the believing men and women, the obedient men and women, the truthful men and women, the patient men and women, the humble men and women, the charitable men and women, the fasting men and women, the men and women who guard their chastity, and the men and women who remember God often, for them, God has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.

33:36 When God and His Messenger have decided a matter, it is not for a believing man or a believing woman to have a choice about it. Whoever disobeys God and His Messenger is clearly misguided.

33:37 When you [Muhammad] said to the one whom God has blessed, and you have favored, "Keep your wife and be mindful of God," while concealing within yourself that which God was about to disclose. [In doing so] You feared people, whereas it is God whom you should fear. So, when Zayd divorced her, We married her to you. We do not want believers to have restrictions concerning their adopted sons’ wives after they divorce them, for God’s command must be carried out.

33:38 The Prophet should not have any uneasiness about that which God has ordained for him since this is God’s way with those [prophets] who passed away before. God’s will is absolute destiny.

33:39 [Such is how it is with] those who convey the messages of God and fear only Him. God suffices as a reckoner.

33:40 Muhammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of God and last of the prophets. God knows all things.

33:41 Believers, remember God often

33:42 and praise His limitless glory morning and evening.

33:43 It is He who remembers you, as do His angels, so that He may bring you out of darkness into the enlightenment. He is the Mercy giver to the believers.

33:44 On the day they meet Him, their greeting will be "Peace," and He has prepared a generous reward for them.

33:45 It is He Who [in return for your remembrance of Him] bestows His special blessings upon you, with His angels [praying and asking His forgiveness for you], that He may lead you out of darkness into the light [and keep them firm therein]. He is All-Compassionate toward the believers. Prophet, We have sent you as a witness and a bearer of good news and warning

33:46 and as one who calls people to God, with His permission and an illuminated beacon.

33:47 Give good news to the believers that they will have great favor from God.

33:48 Do not follow the call of the unbelievers and the hypocrites; ignore their abuse, but rely on God, for none is as trustworthy as God.

33:49 Believers, you have no right to expect a waiting period when you marry believing women and then divorce them before you have touched them, so provide generously for them and give them an honorable release.

33:50 Prophet, We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have given their due wedding gifts, and those whom your right hand, held in trust, given to you by God, and the daughters of your paternal uncles, the daughters of your paternal aunts, the daughters of your maternal uncles and aunts who migrated with you, and any believing woman who has offered herself to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to marry her, a privilege [exclusively] for you and not the rest of the believers. We know what We have made obligatory to them concerning their wives and those whom their right hands hold in trust, hence you will not be at fault [if you act according to your privilege], for God is the Most Forgiving, the Mercy Giver.

33:51 You may make any of them wait and invite any of them as you wish, but you will not be at fault if you invite one whom you had previously set aside. That is more likely, in order to keep them contented and not grieve. That they should be satisfied with what you have given them. God knows what is in your hearts, for God is All-Knowing and Forbearing.

33:52 Beyond that, it is not permitted to you to take any additional women, nor to exchange them for other wives, even if their beauty were to please you, except those from among your slaves. God is Watchful over all things.

33:53 Believers, do not enter the Prophet’s houses for a meal except when you are invited and do not linger, waiting for the food to be ready; but when you are invited, then enter, and, when you have eaten, leave, and do not stay around to chat. That [behavior] troubles the Prophet, and he may be shy about [dismissing] you, but God is not shy about [telling you] the truth. And when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind a partition; that is purer for your hearts and theirs. You are not permitted to offend the Messenger of God or to marry his wives after him, ever; that would be a huge offense in God’s sight.

33:54 Whatever you reveal or conceal, God knows all things.

33:55 Women are not to blame if they are seen by their fathers or their sons, or their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons or their women [servants], or their slaves, if they are mindful of God, for God is the Witness over all things.

33:56 God and His angels bless the Prophet, so, believers, bless him and give yourselves up in total submission [to his message].

33:57 Those who insult God and His Messenger, God rejects them in this world and the Hereafter and has prepared for them a humiliating punishment.

33:58 And those who unjustifiably harm believing men and women will bear the guilt of slander and clear wrongdoing.

33:59 Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters, and the believers’ women to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. This will make it more likely that they will be recognized and not abused. God is the Most Forgiving, the Mercy-giver.

33:60 If the hypocrites and the sick at heart and those who spread bad rumors in Medina do not stop, We will stir you up against them; then, they will be living there with you for only a short while.

33:61 They are cursed, and they should be arrested and put to death wherever they are found.

33:62 This has been God’s way with those who went before, and you will not find any change in the way of God.

33:63 People ask you about the Hour [of Judgment]. Say," God alone has Knowledge of It. You never know; the Hour may be near."

33:64 The unbelievers have earned God’s anger, and He has prepared a Blazing Fire for them.

33:65 There they will stay forever, where they will find no protector or helper.

33:66 On the Day their faces will be turned about in the Fire, and they will say, "How we wish we had obeyed God and obeyed the Messenger."

33:67 And they will say, "Our Lord, we obeyed our masters and our dignitaries, and they led us down the wrong path.

33:68 Our Lord, give them double the punishment and banish them utterly from your grace."

33:69 Believers, do not be like those who slandered Moses, but God cleared him of what they said and that he was distinguished in God’s sight.

33:70 Believers, be mindful of God and speak straightforwardly

33:71 He will rectify your actions and forgive your transgressions. Whoever obeys God and His Messenger has indeed achieved great success

33:72 We offered the Trust to the heavens, the Earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it and feared it, yet the human being took it on. He has always been unjust and ignorant,

33:73 [This is so that] God punishes the hypocrites, men, and women, as well as the men and women who associate others with Him, and why God turns mercifully towards the believing men and women, for God is the Most Forgiving, the Mercy Giver.