66. Sūrat al-Taḥrīm

٦٦۔ سُورَةُ التَّحْريم

The Prohibition (Medinan)

quran:66:1In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

O Prophet, why do you prohibit ˹yourself from˺ what Allah has made lawful for you, seeking the approval of your wives? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.  

O Prophet! Why do you prohibit what God has made lawful for you, in terms of your Coptic handmaiden Māriya — when he lay with her in the house of Hafsa, who had been away, but who upon returning ˹and finding out˺ became upset by the fact that this had taken place in her own house and on her own bed — by saying, ‘She is unlawful for me!’, seeking, by making her unlawful ˹for you˺, to please your wives? And God is Forgiving, Merciful, having forgiven you this prohibition.
القرآن:٦٦:١بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ لِمَ تُحَرِّمُ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكَ ۖ تَبْتَغِي مَرْضَاتَ أَزْوَاجِكَ ۚ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ  

{يا أيها النبي لم تحرم ما أحل الله لك} من أمَتِكَ مارية القبطية لما واقعها في بيت حفصة وكانت غائبة فجاءت وشق عليها كون ذلك في بيتها وعلى فراشها حيث قلت: هي حرام عليَّ {تبتغي} بتحريمها {مرضات أزواجك} أي رضاهن {والله غفور رحيم} غفر لك هذا التحريم.
quran:66:2

Allah has already ordained for you ˹Muslims˺ the dissolution of your oaths. And Allah is your protector, and He is the Knowing, the Wise.  

Verily God has prescribed, He has made lawful, for you ˹when necessary˺ the absolution of your oaths, to absolve them by expiation, as mentioned in the sūrat al-Mā’ida ˹Q. 5:89˺ and the forbidding of ˹sexual relations with˺ a handmaiden counts as an oath, so did the Prophet (s) expiate? Muqātil ˹b. Sulaymān˺ said, ‘He set free a slave ˹in expiation˺ for his prohibition of Māriya’; whereas al-Hasan ˹al-Basrī˺ said, ‘He never expiated, because the Prophet (s) has been forgiven ˹all errors˺’. And God is your Protector, your Helper, and He is the Knower, the Wise.
القرآن:٦٦:٢

قَدْ فَرَضَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ تَحِلَّةَ أَيْمَانِكُمْ ۚ وَاللَّهُ مَوْلَاكُمْ ۖ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ  

(قد فرض الله) شرع (لكم تحلة أيمانكم) تحليلها بالكفارة المذكورة في سورة "" المائدة "" ومن الإيمان تحريم الأمة وهل كفّر ﷺ ؟ قال مقاتل: أعتق رقبة في تحريم مارية، وقال الحسن: لم يكفّر لأنه ﷺ مغفور له (والله مولاكم) ناصركم (وهو العليم الحكيم).
quran:66:3

And ˹remember˺ when the Prophet confided to one of his wives a statement; and when she informed ˹another˺ of it and Allah showed it to him, he made known part of it and ignored a part. And when he informed her about it, she said, "Who told you this?" He said, "I was informed by the Knowing, the Acquainted."  

And, mention, when the Prophet confided to one of his wives, namely, Hafsa, a certain matter, which was his prohibition of Māriya, telling her: ‘Do not reveal it!’; but when she divulged it, to ‘Ā’isha, reckoning there to be no blame in ˹doing˺ such a thing, and God apprised him, He informed him, of it, of what had been divulged, he announced part of it, to Hafsa, and passed over part, out of graciousness on his part. So when he told her about it, she said, ‘Who told you this?’ He said, ‘I was told by the Knower, the Aware’, namely, God.
القرآن:٦٦:٣

وَإِذْ أَسَرَّ النَّبِيُّ إِلَىٰ بَعْضِ أَزْوَاجِهِ حَدِيثًا فَلَمَّا نَبَّأَتْ بِهِ وَأَظْهَرَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ عَرَّفَ بَعْضَهُ وَأَعْرَضَ عَنْ بَعْضٍ ۖ فَلَمَّا نَبَّأَهَا بِهِ قَالَتْ مَنْ أَنْبَأَكَ هَٰذَا ۖ قَالَ نَبَّأَنِيَ الْعَلِيمُ الْخَبِيرُ  

{و} اذكر {إذ أسرَّ النبي إلى بعض أزواجه} هي حفصة {حديثا} هو تحريم مارية وقال لها لا تفشيه {فلما نبأت به} عائشة ظنا منها أن لا حرج في ذلك {وأظهره الله} أطلعه {عليه} على المنبأ به {عرَّف بعضه} لحفصة {وأعرض عن بعض} تكرما منه {فلما نبأها به قالت من أنبأك هذا قال نبأني العليم الخبير} أي الله.
quran:66:4

If you two ˹wives˺ repent to Allah, ˹it is best˺, for your hearts have deviated. But if you cooperate against him - then indeed Allah is his protector, and Gabriel and the righteous of the believers and the angels, moreover, are ˹his˺ assistants.  

If the two of you, namely, Hafsa and ‘Ā’isha, repent to God … for your hearts were certainly inclined, towards the prohibition of Māriya, that is to say, your keeping this secret despite ˹knowing˺ the Prophet’s (s) dislike of it, which is itself a sin (the response to the conditional ˹‘if the two of you repent to God’˺ has been omitted, to be understood as, ‘it will be accepted of both of you’; the use of ˹the plural˺ qulūb, ‘hearts’, instead of ˹the dual˺ qalbayn, ‘both ˹your˺ hearts’, is on account of the cumbersomeness of putting two duals together in what is effectively the same word); and if you support one another (tazzāharā: the original second tā’ ˹of tatazāharā˺ has been assimilated with the zā’; a variant reading has it without ˹this assimilation, tazāharā˺) against him, that is, the Prophet, in what he is averse to, then ˹know that˺ God, He (huwa, ˹a pronoun˺ for separation) is indeed his Protector, His supporter, and Gabriel, and the righteous among the believers, Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, may God be pleased with both of them (wa-Jibrīlu wa-sālihu’lmu’minīna is a supplement to the ˹syntactical˺ locus of the subject of inna ˹sc. ‘God’˺), who will ˹also˺ be his supporters, and the angels furthermore, further to the support of God and those mentioned, are his supporters, assistants of his, in supporting him ˹to prevail˺ over both of you.
القرآن:٦٦:٤

إِنْ تَتُوبَا إِلَى اللَّهِ فَقَدْ صَغَتْ قُلُوبُكُمَا ۖ وَإِنْ تَظَاهَرَا عَلَيْهِ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ مَوْلَاهُ وَجِبْرِيلُ وَصَالِحُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۖ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ ظَهِيرٌ  

{إن تتوبا} أي حفصة وعائشة {إلى الله فقد صغت قلوبكما} مالت إلى تحريم مارية، أي سركما ذلك مع كراهة النبي ﷺ له وذلك ذنب، وجواب الشرط محذوف أي تقبلا، وأطلق قلوب على قلبين ولم يعبر به لاستثقال الجمع بين تثنيتين فيما هو كالكلمة الواحدة {وإن تظَّاهرا} بإدغام التاء الثانية في الأصل في الظاء، وفي قراءة بدونها تتعاونا {عليه} أي النبي فيما يكرهه {فإن الله هو} فصل {مولاه} ناصره {وجبريل وصالح المؤمنين} أبو بكر وعمر ؓ معطوف على محل اسم إن فيكونون ناصريه {والملائكة بعد ذلك} بعد نصر الله والمذكورين {ظهير} ظهراء أعوان له في نصره عليكما.
quran:66:5

Perhaps his Lord, if he divorced you ˹all˺, would substitute for him wives better than you - submitting ˹to Allah˺, believing, devoutly obedient, repentant, worshipping, and traveling - ˹ones˺ previously married and virgins.  

It may be that, if he divorces you, that is, ˹if˺ the Prophet divorces his wives, his Lord will give him in ˹your˺ stead (read yubaddilahu or yubdilahu) wives better than you (azwājan khayran minkunna is the predicate of ‘asā, ‘it may be’, the sentence being the response to the conditional) — the replacement ˹of his wives by God˺ never took place because the condition ˹of his divorcing them˺ never arose — women submissive ˹to God˺, affirming Islam, believing, faithful, obedient, penitent, devout, given to fasting — or given to emigrating ˹in God’s way˺ — previously married and virgins.
القرآن:٦٦:٥

عَسَىٰ رَبُّهُ إِنْ طَلَّقَكُنَّ أَنْ يُبْدِلَهُ أَزْوَاجًا خَيْرًا مِنْكُنَّ مُسْلِمَاتٍ مُؤْمِنَاتٍ قَانِتَاتٍ تَائِبَاتٍ عَابِدَاتٍ سَائِحَاتٍ ثَيِّبَاتٍ وَأَبْكَارًا  

{عسى ربه إن طلقكن} أي طلق النبي أزواجه {أن يبدِّله} بالتشديد والتخفيف {أزواجا خيرا منكن} خبر عسى والجملة جواب الشرط ولم يقع التبديل لعدم وقوع الشرط {مسلمات} مقرات بالإسلام {مؤمنات} مخلصات {قانتات} مطيعات {تائبات عابدات سائحات} صائمات أو مهاجرات {ثيبات وأبكارا}.
quran:66:6

O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are ˹appointed˺ angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded.  

O you who believe! Guard yourselves and your families, by enjoining obedience to God, against a Fire whose fuel is, disbelieving, people and stones, such as those idols of theirs made of that ˹stone˺ — the meaning is that it is extremely hot, fuelled by the above-mentioned, unlike the fire of this world which is fuelled by wood and the like — over which stand angels, its keepers — numbering nineteen as will be stated in ˹sūrat˺ al-Muddaththir ˹Q. 74:30˺ — stern, a sternness of the heart, mighty, in ˹their power of˺ assault, who do not disobey God in what He commands them (mā amarahum is a substitution for His Majesty ˹‘God’˺), in other words, they do not disobey the command of God, but do what they are commanded — this is ˹reiterated˺ for emphasis; the verse is meant as a threat to deter believers from apostatising and for hypocrites who believe only with their tongues and not with their hearts.
القرآن:٦٦:٦

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ عَلَيْهَا مَلَائِكَةٌ غِلَاظٌ شِدَادٌ لَا يَعْصُونَ اللَّهَ مَا أَمَرَهُمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ  

{‌يا أيها الذين آمنوا قوا أنفسكم وأهليكم} بالحمل على طاعة الله {نارًا وقودها الناس} الكفار {والحجارة} كأصنامهم منها، يعني أنها مفرطة الحرارة تتقد بما ذكر لا كنار الدنيا تتقد بالحطب ونحوه {عليها ملائكة} خزنتها عدتهم تسعة عشر كما سيأتي في (المدثر) {غلاظ} من غلظ القلب {شداد} في البطش {لا يعصون الله ما أمرهم} بدل من الجلالة، أي لا يعصون أمر الله {ويفعلون ما يؤمرون} تأكيد والآية تخويف للمؤمنين عن الارتداد وللمنافقين المؤمنين بألسنتهم دون قلوبهم.
quran:66:7

O you who have disbelieved, make no excuses that Day. You will only be recompensed for what you used to do.  

‘O you who disbelieve! Do not make any excuses today — this is said to them upon their entering the Fire — in other words, because this ˹excusing˺ will be of no use to you. You are only being requited for what you used to do’, that is, ˹only˺ the ˹due˺ requital thereof.
القرآن:٦٦:٧

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا الْيَوْمَ ۖ إِنَّمَا تُجْزَوْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ  

{يا أيها الذين كفروا لا تعتذروا اليوم} يقال لهم ذلك عند دخولهم النار، أي لأنه لا ينفعكم {إنما تجزون ما كنتم تعملون} أي جزاءه.
quran:66:8

O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow ˹on˺ the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him. Their light will proceed before them and on their right; they will say, "Our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us. Indeed, You are over all things competent."  

O you who believe! Repent to God with sincere repentance (read nasūhan or nusūhan), a truthful ˹repentance˺, so that one does not return to ˹committing˺ that sin again, nor have the desire to return to it. It may be that your Lord (‘asā: ˹an expression denoting˺ ‘a hope’ that will be realised) will absolve you of your misdeeds and admit you into gardens, orchards, underneath which rivers flow, on the day when God will not let down, by admitting into the Fire, the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their light will be running before them, in front of them, and, it will be, on their right. They will say (yaqūlūna: this denotes the beginning of a new ˹syntactically independent˺ sentence), ‘Our Lord! Perfect our light for us, towards Paradise — whereas the hypocrites, their light will be extinguished — and forgive us, Our Lord. Assuredly You have power over all things’.
القرآن:٦٦:٨

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمْ أَنْ يُكَفِّرَ عَنْكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ يَوْمَ لَا يُخْزِي اللَّهُ النَّبِيَّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ ۖ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَىٰ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ  

{يا أيها الذين آمنوا توبا إلى الله توبة نصوحا} بفتح النون وضمها صادقة، بأن لا يعاد إلى الذنب ولا يُراد العود إليه {عسى ربكم} ترجية تقع {أن يكفر عنكم سيئاتكم ويدخلكم جنات} بساتين {تجري من تحتها الأنهار يوم لا يجزي الله} بإدخال النار {النبي والذين آمنوا معه نورهم يسعى بين أيديهم} أمامهم {و} يكون {بأيمانهم يقولون} مستأنف {ربنا أتمم لنا نورنا} إلى الجنة والمنافقون يطفأ نورهم {واغفر لنا} ربنا {إنك على كل شيءٍ قدير}.
quran:66:9

O Prophet, strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be harsh upon them. And their refuge is Hell, and wretched is the destination.  

O Prophet! Struggle against the disbelievers, with the sword, and the hypocrites, by the tongue and with argument, and be stern with them, in rebuke and hatred. For their abode will be Hell — and ˹what˺ an evil journey’s end!, it is.
القرآن:٦٦:٩

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ جَاهِدِ الْكُفَّارَ وَالْمُنَافِقِينَ وَاغْلُظْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ وَمَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ ۖ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ  

{يا أيها النبي جاهد الكفار} بالسيف {والمنافقين} باللسان والحجة {واغلظ عليهم} بالانتهار والمقت {ومأواهم جهنم وبئس المصير} هي.
quran:66:10

Allah presents an example of those who disbelieved: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were under two of Our righteous servants but betrayed them, so those prophets did not avail them from Allah at all, and it was said, "Enter the Fire with those who enter."  

God has struck a similitude for those who disbelieve: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were under two of Our righteous servants, yet they betrayed them, in ˹their˺ religion, for they both disbelieved — Noah’s wife, called Wāhila, used to say to his people that he was a madman, while Lot’s wife, called Wā‘ila, used to tell his people the whereabouts of his guests when they stayed with him, at night by lighting a fire, and during the day by making smoke. So they, that is, Noah and Lot, did not avail the two women in any way against God, against His chastisement, and it was said, to the two women: ‘Enter, both of you, the Fire along with the incomers’, from among the disbelievers of the peoples of Noah and Lot.
القرآن:٦٦:١٠

ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا امْرَأَتَ نُوحٍ وَامْرَأَتَ لُوطٍ ۖ كَانَتَا تَحْتَ عَبْدَيْنِ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا صَالِحَيْنِ فَخَانَتَاهُمَا فَلَمْ يُغْنِيَا عَنْهُمَا مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئًا وَقِيلَ ادْخُلَا النَّارَ مَعَ الدَّاخِلِينَ  

{ضرب الله مثلا للذين كفروا امرأة نوح وامرأة لوط كانتا تحت عبدين من عبادنا صالحين فخانتاهما} في الدين إذ كفرتا وكانت امرأة نوح واسمها واهلة تقول لقومه: إنه مجنون، وامرأة لوط واسمها واعلة تدل قومه على أضيافه إذا نزلوا به ليلا بإيقاد النار ونهارا بالتدخين {فلم يغنيا} أي نوح ولوط {عنهما من الله} من عذابه {شيئا وقيل} لهما {ادخلا النار مع الداخلين} من كفار قوم نوح وقوم لوط.
quran:66:11

And Allah presents an example of those who believed: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, "My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds and save me from the wrongdoing people."  

And God has struck a similitude for those who believe: the wife of Pharaoh — she believed in Moses, her name was Āsiya; Pharaoh chastised her by tying her hands and feet to pegs and placing a huge millstone on her chest, and having her laid out in the sun; but when those in charge of her would leave her, the angels would ˹come to˺ shade her — when she said, during her torture, ‘My Lord, build for me a home near You in Paradise, — so He disclosed for her ˹a veil of the Unseen˺ and she saw it, which in turn alleviated for her the torture — and deliver me from Pharaoh and his work, his torture, and deliver me from the evildoing folk’, the followers of his ˹Pharaoh’s˺ religion, whereat God took ˹unto Himself˺ her spirit ˹in death˺. Ibn Kaysān said, ‘She was raised to Paradise alive, where she eats and drinks’.
القرآن:٦٦:١١

وَضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا امْرَأَتَ فِرْعَوْنَ إِذْ قَالَتْ رَبِّ ابْنِ لِي عِنْدَكَ بَيْتًا فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَنَجِّنِي مِنْ فِرْعَوْنَ وَعَمَلِهِ وَنَجِّنِي مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ  

{وضرب الله مثلا للذين آمنوا امرأة فرعون} آمنت بموسى واسمها آسية فعذبها فرعون بأن أوتد يديها ورجليها وألقى على صدرها رحى عظيمة واستقبل بها الشمس فكانت إذا تفرق عنها من وكل بها ظللتها الملائكة {إذ قالت} في حال التعذيب {رب ابن لي عندك بيتا في الجنة} فكشف لها فرأته فسهل عليها التعذيب {ونجني من فرعون وعمله} وتعذيبه {ونجني من القوم الظالمين} أهل دينه فقبض الله روحها، وقال ابن كيسان: رفعت إلى الجنة حية فهي تأكل وتشرب.
quran:66:12

And ˹the example of˺ Mary, the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity, so We blew into ˹her garment˺ through Our angel, and she believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures and was of the devoutly obedient.  

And Mary (wa-Maryama is a supplement to imra’ata Fir‘awna) daughter of ‘Imrān, who preserved ˹the chastity of˺ her womb, so We breathed into it of Our Spirit, namely, Gabriel — when he breathed into the opening of her shirt, by God’s creation of this action of his which reached her womb, thus conceiving Jesus — and she confirmed the words of her Lord, His prescriptions, and His, revealed, Scriptures and she was of the obedient, ˹one˺ of the obedient folk. Meccan, consisting of 30 verses.
القرآن:٦٦:١٢

وَمَرْيَمَ ابْنَتَ عِمْرَانَ الَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهِ مِنْ رُوحِنَا وَصَدَّقَتْ بِكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّهَا وَكُتُبِهِ وَكَانَتْ مِنَ الْقَانِتِينَ  

{ومريم} عطف على امرأة فرعون {ابنة عمران التي أحصنت فرجها} حفظته {فنفخنا فيه من روحنا} أي جبريل حيث نفخ في جيب درعها بخلق الله تعالى فعله الواصل إلى فرجها فحملت بعيسى {وصدقت بكلمات ربها} شرائعه {وكتبه} المنزلة {وكانت من القانتين} من القوم المطيعين.