Sura IV.
Women
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
O MEN! fear your Lord, who hath created you of one man, and of him created his wife, and from these twain hath spread abroad so many men and WOMEN. And fear ye God, in whose name ye ask mutual favours, — and reverence the wombs that bare you. Verily is God watching over you!
And give to the orphans their property; substitute not worthless things of your own for their valuable ones, and devour not their property after adding it to your own; for this is a great crime. And if ye are apprehensive that ye shall not deal fairly with orphans, then, of other women who seem good in your eyes, marry but two, or three, or four; and if ye still fear that ye shall not act equitably, then one only; or the slaves whom ye have acquired: this will make justice on your part easier.
Give women their dowry freely; but if of themselves they give up aught thereof to you, then enjoy it as convenient, and profitable: And entrust not to the incapable the substance which God hath placed with you for their support; but maintain them therewith, and clothe them, and speak to them with kindly speech.
And make trial of orphans until they reach the age of marriage; and if ye perceive in them a sound judgment, then hand over their substance to them; but consume ye it not wastefully, or by hastily entrusting it to them; Because they are growing up. And let the rich guardian not even touch it; and let him who is poor use it for his support with discretion. And when ye make over their substance to them, then take witnesses in their presence: God also maketh a sufficient account.
Men ought to have a part of what their parents and kindred leave; and women a part of what their parents and kindred leave: whether it be little or much, let them have a stated portion. And when they who are of kin are present at the division, and the orphans and the poor, let them too have a share; and speak to them with kindly speech.
And let those be afraid to wrong the orphans, who, should they leave behind them weakly offspring, would be solicitous on their account. Let them, therefore, fear God, and let them propose what is right. Verily they who swallow the substance of the orphan wrongfully, shall swallow down only fire into their bellies, and shall burn in the flame!
With regard to your children, God commandeth you to give the male the portion of two females; and if they be females more than two, then they shall have two-thirds of that which their father hath left: but if she be an only daughter, she shall have the half; and the father and mother of the deceased shall each of them have a sixth part of what he hath left, if he have a child; but if he have no child, and his parents be his heirs, then his mother shall have the third: and if he have brethren, his mother shall have the sixth, after paying the bequests he shall have bequeathed, and his debts. As to your fathers, or your children, ye know not which of them is the most advantageous to you. This is the law of God. Verily, God is Knowing, Wise!
Half of what your wives leave shall be your’s, if they have no issue; but if they have issue, then a fourth of what they leave shall be your’s, after paying the bequests they shall bequeath, and debts. And your wives shall have a fourth part of what ye leave, if ye have no issue; but if ye have issue, then they shall have an eighth part of what ye leave, after paying the bequests ye shall bequeath, and debts. If a man or a woman make a distant relation their heir, and he or she have a brother or a sister, each of these two shall have a sixth; but if there are more than this, then shall they be sharers in a third, after payment of the bequests he shall have bequeathed, and debts,
Without loss to any one.
These are the precepts of God; and whoso obeyeth God and his prophet, him shall God bring into gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow, therein to abide for ever: and this, the great blessedness! And whoso shall rebel against God and his apostle, and shall break His bounds, him shall God place in the fire to abide therein for ever; and his shall be a shameful torment.
If any of your women be guilty of whoredom, then bring four witnesses against them from among yourselves; and if they bear witness to the fact, shut them up within their houses till death release them, or God make some way for them. And if two men among you commit the same crime, then punish them both; but if they turn and amend, then let them be: for God is He who turneth, Merciful!
With God himself will the repentance of those who have done evil ignorantly, and then turn speedily unto Him, be accepted. These! God will turn unto them: for God is Knowing, Wise! But no place of repentance shall there be for those who do evil, until, when death is close to one of them, he saith, “Now verily am I turned to God;” nor to those who die unbelievers. These! we have made ready for them a grievous torment!
O believers! it is not allowed you to be heirs of your wives against their will; nor to hinder them from marrying, in order to take from them part of the dowry you had given them, unless they have been guilty of undoubted lewdness; but associate kindly with them: for if ye are estranged from them, haply ye are estranged from that in which God hath placed abundant good.
And if ye be desirous to exchange one wife for another, and have given one of them a talent, make no deduction from it. Would ye take it by slandering her, and with manifest wrong? How, moreover, could ye take it, when one of you hath gone in unto the other, and they have received from you a strict bond of union?
And marry not women whom your fathers have married: for this is a shame, and hateful, and an evil way: though what is past may be allowed.
Forbidden to you are your mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters, and your aunts, both on the father and mother’s side, and your nieces on the brother and sister’s side, and your foster-mothers, and your foster-sisters, and the mothers of your wives, and your step-daughters who are your wards, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in: (but if ye have not gone in unto them, it shall be no sin in you to marry them;) and the wives of your sons who proceed out of your loins; and ye may not have two sisters; except where it is already done. Verily, God is Indulgent, Merciful!
Forbidden to you also are married women, except those who are in your hands as slaves: This is the law of God for you. And it is allowed you, beside this, to seek out wives by means of your wealth, with modest conduct, and without fornication. And give those with whom ye have cohabited their dowry. This is the law. But it shall be no crime in you to make agreements over and above the law. Verily, God is Knowing, Wise!
And whoever of you is not rich enough to marry free believing women, then let him marry such of your believing maidens as have fallen into your hands as slaves; God well knoweth your faith. Ye are sprung the one from the other. Marry them, then, with the leave of their masters, and give them a fair dower: but let them be chaste and free from fornication, and not entertainers of lovers. If after marriage they commit adultery, then inflict upon them half the penalty enacted for free married women. This law is for him among you who is afraid of doing wrong: but if ye abstain, it will be better for you. And God is Lenient, Merciful.
God desireth to make this known to you, and to guide you into the ways of those who have been before you, and to turn Him unto you in mercy. And God is Knowing, Wise! God desireth thus to turn him unto you: but they who follow their own lusts, desire that with great swerving should ye swerve! God desireth to make your burden light: for man hath been created weak.
O believers! devour not each other’s substance in mutual frivolities; unless there be a trafficking among you by your own consent: and commit not suicide: — of a truth God is merciful to you. And whoever shall do this maliciously and wrongfully, we will in the end cast him into the fire; for this is easy with God. If ye avoid the great sins which ye are forbidden, we will blot out your faults, and we will cause you to enter Paradise with honourable entry.
Covet not the gifts by which God hath raised some of you above others. The men shall have a portion according to their deserts, and the women a portion according to their deserts. Of God, therefore, ask his gifts. Verily, God hath knowledge of all things. To every one have we appointed kindred, as heirs of what parents and relatives, and those with whom ye have joined right hands in contract, leave. Give therefore, to each their portion. Verily, God witnesseth all things.
Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God hath gifted the one above the other, and on account of the outlay they make from their substance for them. Virtuous women are obedient, careful, during the husband’s absence, because God hath of them been careful. But chide those for whose refractoriness ye have cause to fear; remove them into beds apart, and scourage them: but if they are obedient to you, then seek not occasion against them: verily, God is High, Great!
And if ye fear a breach between man and wife, then send a judge chosen from his family, and a judge chosen from her family: if they are desirous of agreement, God will effect a reconciliation between them; verily, God is knowing, apprised of all!
Worship God, and join not aught with Him in worship. Be good to parents, and to kindred, and to orphans, and to the poor, and to a neighbour, whether kinsman or new-comer, and to a fellow traveller, and to the wayfarer, and to the slaves whom your right hands hold; verily, God loveth not the proud, the vain boaster, Who are niggardly themselves, and bid others be niggards, and hide away what God of his bounty hath given them. We have made ready a shameful chastisement for the unbelievers, And for those who bestow their substance in alms to be seen of men, and believe not in God and in the last day. Whoever hath Satan for his companion, an evil companion hath he! But what blessedness would be theirs, if they should believe in God and in the last day, and bestow alms out of what God hath vouchsafed them; for God taketh knowledge of them!
God truly will not wrong any one of the weight of a mote; and if there be any good deed, he will repay it doubly; and from his presence shall be given a great recompense. How! when we shall bring up against them witnesses from all peoples, and when we shall bring thee up as witness against these? On that day they who were Infidels and rebelled against the prophet, shall wish that the earth were levelled with them! But nothing shall they hide from God.
O ye true believers, come not to prayer when ye are drunken, but wait till ye can understand what ye utter; nor when ye are polluted, unless ye be travelling on the road, until ye have washed you. If ye be sick, or on a journey, or have come from the unclean place, or have touched a woman, and ye find not water, then rub pure sand, and bathe your face and your hands with it: verily, God is Lenient, Merciful.
Hast thou not remarked those to whom a part of the Scriptures hath been given? Vendors are they of error, and are desirous that ye go astray from the way. But God knoweth your enemies; and God is a sufficient patron, and God is a sufficient helper!
Among the Jews are those who displace the words of their Scriptures, and say, “We have heard, and we have not obeyed. Hear thou, but as one that heareth not; and LOOK AT US;” perplexing with their tongues, and wounding the Faith by their revilings. But if they would say, “We have heard, and we obey; hear thou, and REGARD US;” it were better for them, and more right. But God hath cursed them for their unbelief. Few only of them are believers!
O ye to whom the Scriptures have been given! believe in what we have sent down confirmatory of the Scripture which is in your hands, ere we efface your features, and twist your head round backward, or curse you as we cursed the sabbath-breakers: and the command of God was carried into effect.
Verily, God will not forgive the union of other gods with Himself! But other than this will forgive to whom He pleaseth. And He who uniteth gods with God hath devised a great wickedness.
Hast thou not marked those who hold themselves to be righteous? But God holdeth righteous whom He will; and they shall not be wronged the husk of a date stone. Behold how they devise a lie of God! Therein is wickedness manifest enough!
Hast thou not observed those to whom a part of the Scriptures hath been given? They believe in Djibt and Thagout, and say of the infidels, “These are guided in a better path than those who hold the faith.” These are they whom God hath cursed: and for him whom God hath cursed, thou shalt by no means find a helper.
Shall they have a share in the kingdom who would not bestow on their fellow men even the speck in a date stone? Envy they other men what God of his bounty hath given them? We gave of old the Scriptures and wisdom to the line of Abraham, and we gave them a grand kingdom: — Some of them believe on the prophet and some turn aside from him: — the flame of Hell is their sufficing punishment!
Those who disbelieve our signs we will in the end cast into the fire: so oft as their skins shall be well burnt, we will change them for fresh skins, that they may taste the torment. Verily God is Mighty, Wise! But as for those who have believed, and done the things that are right, we will bring them into gardens ‘neath which the rivers flow therein to abide eternally; — therein shall they have wives of stainless purity: and we will bring them into aye-shadowing shades.
Verily, God enjoineth you to give back your trusts to their owners, and when ye judge between men, to judge with fairness. Excellent is the practice to which God exhorteth you. God Heareth, Beholdeth! O ye who believe! obey God and obey the apostle, and those among you invested with authority; and if in aught ye differ, bring it before God and the apostle, if ye believe in God and in the latter day. This is the best and fairest way of settlement.
Hast thou not marked those who profess that they believe in what hath been sent down to thee, and what hath been sent down before thee? Fain would they be judged before Thagout, though commanded not to believe in him; and fain would Satan make them wander with wanderings wide of truth.
And when it is said to them, “Accede to that which God hath sent down, and to the apostle,” thou seest the hypocrites avert them from thee with utter aversion. But how, when some misfortune shall fortune them, for their previous handywork? Then will they come to thee, swearing by God, “We desire nothing but to promote good and concord!” These are they whose hearts God knoweth. Therefore break off from them, and warn them, speak words that may penetrate their souls.
We have not sent any apostle but to be obeyed, it God so will: but if they, after they have sinned to their own hurt by unbelief, come to thee and ask pardon of God, and the apostle ask pardon for them, they shall surely find that God is He who turneth unto man, Merciful.
And they will not — I swear by thy Lord — they will not believe, until they have set thee up as judge between them on points where they differ. Then shall they not find in their own minds any difficulty in thy decisions, and shall submit with entire submission.
Had we laid down such a law for them as “Kill yourselves, or abandon your dwellings,” but few of them would have done it. But had they done that to which they were exhorted, better had it been for them, and stronger for the confirmation of their faith. In that case we had surely given them from ourself a great recompense, and on the straight path should we surely have guided them.
And whoever shall obey God and the Apostle, these shall be with those of the Prophets, and of the Sincere, and of the Martyrs, and of the Just, to whom God hath been gracious. These are a goodly band! This is the bounty of God; and in knowledge doth God suffice.
O ye who believe! make use of precautions; and advance in detachments, or, advance in a body. There is of you who will be a laggard: and if a reverse befall you he saith, “Now hath God dealt graciously with me, since I was not with you in the fight:” But if a success from God betide you, he will say, as if there had never been any friendship between you and him, “Would I had been with them! a rich prize should I have won!”
Let those then fight on the path of God, who barter this present life for that which is to come; for whoever fighteth on God’s path, whether he be slain or conquer, we will in the end give him a great reward. But what hath come to you that ye fight not on the path of God, and for the weak among men, women and children, who say, “O our Lord! bring us forth from this city whose inhabitants are oppressors; give us a champion from thy presence; and give us from thy presence a defender.” They who believe, fight on the path of God; and they who believe not, fight on the path of Thagout: Fight therefore against the friends of Satan. Verily craft of Satan shall be powerless!
Hast thou not marked those to whom it was said, “Withhold your hands awhile from war; and observe prayer, and pay the stated alms.” But when war is commanded them, lo! a portion of them fear men as with the fear of God, or with a yet greater fear, and say: “O our Lord! why hast thou commanded us war? Couldst thou not have given us respite till our not distant end?” SAY: Small the fruition of this world; but the next life is the true good for him who feareth God! and ye shall not be wronged so much as the skin of a date stone.
Wherever ye be, death will overtake you — although ye be in lofty towers! If good fortune betide them, they say, “This is from God;” and if evil betide them, they say, “This is from thee.” SAY: All is from God: But what hath come to these people that they are not near to understanding what is told them?
Whatever good betideth thee is from God, and whatever betideth thee of evil is from thyself; and we have sent thee to mankind as an apostle: God is thy sufficing witness. Whoso obeyeth the Apostle, in so doing obeyeth God: and as to those who turn back from thee, we have not sent thee to be their keeper.
Moreover, they say: “Obedience!” but when they come forth from thy presence, a party of them brood by night over other than thy words; but God writeth down what they brood over: therefore separate thyself from them, and put thou thy trust in God. [He] is a sufficient protector! Can they not consider the Koran? Were it from any other than God, they would surely have found in it many contradictions.
And when tidings, either of security or alarm, reach them, they tell them abroad; but if they would report them to the apostle, and to those who are in authority among them, those who desire information would learn it from them. But for the goodness and mercy of God towards you, ye would have followed Satan except a few! Fight, therefore, on God’s path: lay not burdens on any but thyself; and stir up the faithful. The might of the infidels haply will God restrain, for God is the stronger in prowess, and the stronger to punish.
He who shall mediate between men for a good purpose shall be the gainer by it. But he who shall mediate with an evil mediation shall reap the fruit of it. And God keepeth watch over everything. If ye are greeted with a greeting, then greet ye with a better greeting, or at least return it: God taketh count of all things. God! there is no god but He! He will certainly assemble you on the day of resurrection. There is no doubt of it. And whose word is more true than God’s?
Why are ye two parties on the subject of the hypocrites, when God hath cast them off for their doings? Desire ye to guide those whom God hath led astray? But for him whom God leadeth astray, thou shalt by no means find a pathway. They desire that ye should be infidels as they are infidels, and that ye should be alike. Take therefore none of them for friends, till they have fled their homes for the cause of God. If they turn back, then seize them, and slay them wherever ye find them; but take none of them as friends or helpers, Except those who shall seek an asylum among your allies, and those who come over to you — their hearts forbidding them to make war on you, or to make war on their own people. Had God pleased, he would have given them power against you, and they would have made war upon you! But, if they depart from you, and make not war against you and offer you peace, then God alloweth you no occasion against them.
Ye will find others who seek to gain your confidence as well as that of their own people: So oft as they return to sedition, they shall be overthrown in it: But if they leave you not, nor propose terms or peace to you nor withhold their hands, then seize them, and slay them, wherever ye find them. Over these have we given you undoubted power.
A believer killeth not a believer but by mischance: and whoso killeth a believer by mischance shall be bound to free a believer from slavery; and the blood-money shall be paid to the family of the slain, unless they convert it into alms. But if the slain believer be of a hostile people, then let him confer freedom on a slave who is a believer; and if he be of a people between whom and yourselves there is an alliance, then let the blood-money be paid to his family, and let him set free a slave who is a believer: and let him who hath not the means, fast two consecutive months. This is the penance enjoined by God; and God is Knowing, Wise!
But whoever shall kill a believer of set purpose, his recompense shall be hell; for ever shall he abide in it; God shall be wrathful with him, and shall curse him, and shall get ready for him a great torment.
O believers! when ye go forth to the fight for the cause of God, be discerning, and say not to every one who meeteth you with a greeting, “Thou art not a believer” in your greed after the chance good things of this present life! With God are abundant spoils. Such hath been your wont in times past; but God hath been gracious to you. Be discerning, then, for God well knoweth what ye do.
Those believers who sit at home free from trouble, and those who do valiantly in the cause of God with their substance and their persons, shall not be treated alike. God hath assigned to those who contend earnestly with their persons and with their substance, a rank above those who sit at home. Goodly promises hath He made to all. But God hath assigned to the strenuous a rich recompense, above those who sit still at home, Rank of his own bestowal, and forgiveness, and mercy; for God is Indulgent, Merciful.
The angels, when they took the souls of those who had been unjust to their own weal, demanded, “What hath been your state?” They said, “We were the weak ones of the earth.” They replied, “Was not God’s earth broad enough for you to flee away in?” These! their home shall be Hell, and evil the passage to it — Except the men and women and children who were not able, through their weakness, to find the means of escape, and were not guided on their way. These haply God will forgive: for God is Forgiving, Gracious.
Whoever flieth his country for the cause of God, will find in the earth many under like compulsion, and abundant resources; and if any one shall quit his home and fly to God and his apostle, and then death overtake him, — his reward from God is sure: for God is Gracious, Merciful!
And when ye go forth to war in the land, it shall be no crime in you to cut short your prayers, if ye fear lest the infidels come upon you; Verily, the infidels are your undoubted enemies!
And when thou, O apostle! shalt be among them, and shalt pray with them, then let a party of them rise up with thee, but let them take their arms; and when they shall have made their prostrations, let them retire to your rear: then let another party that hath not prayed come forward, and let them pray with you; but let them take their precautions and their arms. Pleased would the infidels be for you to neglect your arms and your baggage, that they might turn upon you at once! And it shall be no crime in you to lay down your arms if rain annoy you, or if ye be sick. But take your precautions. Verily, God hath made ready a shameful torment for the infidels.
