And, remember, when thou saidst to him unto whom God had shewn favour,17 and to whom thou also hadst shewn favour, “Keep thy wife to thyself, and fear God;” and thou didst hide in thy mind what God would bring to light.18 and thou didst fear man; but more right had it been to fear God.  And when Zaid had settled concerning her to divorce her, we married her to thee, that it might not be a crime in the faithful to marry the wives of their adopted sons, when they have settled the affair concerning them.  And the behest of God is to be performed.

No blame attacheth to the prophet where God hath given him a permission.  Such was the way of God with those prophets who flourished before thee; for God’s behest is a fixed decree-

Who fulfilled the mission with which God had charged them,19 and feared Him, and feared none but God.  And God taketh a sufficient account.

Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Apostle of God, and the seal of the prophets:  and God knoweth all things.

O Believers! remember God with frequent remembrance, and praise Him morning and evening.

He blesseth you, and His angels intercede for you, that He may bring you forth out of darkness into light:  and Merciful is He to the Believers.

Their greeting on the day when they shall meet Him shall be “Peace!” And He hath got ready for them a noble recompense.

O Prophet ! we have sent thee to be a witness, and a herald of glad tidings, and a warner;

And one who, through His own permission, summoneth to God, and a light-giving torch.

Announce, therefore, to believers, that great boons do await them from God;

And obey not the Infidels and Hypocrites-yet abstain from injuring them:  and put thou thy trust in God, for God is a sufficient guardian.

O Believers! when ye marry believing women, and then divorce them before ye have consummated the marriage, ye have no term prescribed you, which ye must fulfil towards them:  provide for them, and dismiss them with a reputable dismissal.

O Prophet! we allow thee thy wives whom thou hast dowered, and the slaves whom thy right hand possesseth out of the booty which God hath granted thee, and the daughters of thy uncle, and of thy paternal and maternal aunts who fled with thee to Medina, and any believing woman who hath given herself up to the Prophet, if the Prophet desired to wed her-a Privilege for thee above the rest of the Faithful.

We well know what we have settled for them, in regard to their wives and to the slaves whom their right hands hold, that there may be no fault on thy part:20 and God is Indulgent, Merciful!

Thou mayst decline for the present whom thou wilt of them, and thou mayest take to thy bed her whom thou wilt, and whomsoever thou shalt long for of those thou shalt have before neglected; and this shall not be a crime in thee.  Thus will it be easier to give them the desire of their eyes, and not to put them to grief, and to satisfy them with what thou shalt accord to each of them.  God knoweth what is in your hearts, and God is Knowing, Gracious.