Sūra IV.: Nisāa, or The Women.

Section 3

15. Waallatee ya/teena alfahishata min nisa-ikum faistashhidoo AAalayhinna arbaAAatan minkum fa-in shahidoo faamsikoohunna fee albuyooti hatta yatawaffahunna almawtu aw yajAAala Allahu lahunna sabeelan

15. If any of your women
Are guilty of lewdness,
Take the evidence of four
(Reliable) witnesses from amongst you
Against them; and if they testify,
Confine them to houses until
Death do claim them,
Or God ordain for them
Some (other) way.

16. Waallathani ya/tiyaniha minkum faathoohuma fa-in taba waaslaha faaAAridoo AAanhuma inna Allaha kana tawwaban raheeman

16. If two men among you
Are guilty of lewdness,
Punish them both.
If they repent and amend,
Leave them alone; for God
Is Oft-returning, Most Merciful.

17. Innama alttawbatu AAala Allahi lillatheena yaAAmaloona alssoo-a bijahalatin thumma yatooboona min qareebin faola-ika yatoobu Allahu AAalayhim wakana Allahu AAaleeman hakeeman

17. God accepts the repentance
Of those who do evil
In ignorance and repent
Soon afterwards; to them
Will God turn in mercy:
For God is full of knowledge
And wisdom.

18. Walaysati alttawbatu lillatheena yaAAmaloona alssayyi-ati hatta itha hadara ahadahumu almawtu qala innee tubtu al-ana wala allatheena yamootoona wahum kuffarun ola-ika aAAtadna lahum AAathaban aleeman

18. Of no effect is the repentance
Of those who continue
To do evil, until Death
Faces one of them, and he says,
"Now have I repented indeed;"
Nor of those who die
Rejecting Faith: for them
Have we prepared
A punishment most grievous.

19. Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo la yahillu lakum an tarithoo alnnisaa karhan wala taAAduloohunna litathhaboo bibaAAdi ma ataytumoohunna illa an ya/teena bifahishatin mubayyinatin waAAashiroohunna bialmaAAroofi fa-in karihtumoohunna faAAasa an takrahoo shay-an wayajAAala Allahu feehi khayran katheeran

19. O ye who believe!
Ye are forbidden to inherit
Women against their will.
Nor should ye treat them
With harshness, that ye may
Take away part of the dower
Ye have given them,—except
Where they have been guilty
Of open lewdness;
On the contrary live with them
On a footing of kindness and equity.
If ye take a dislike to them
It may be that ye dislike
A thing, and God brings about
Through it a great deal of good.

20. Wa-in aradtumu istibdala zawjin makana zawjin waataytum ihdahunna qintaran fala ta/khuthoo minhu shay-an ata/khuthoonahu buhtanan wa-ithman mubeenan

20. But if ye decide to take
One wife in place of another,
Even if ye had given the latter
A whole treasure for dower,
Take not the least bit of it back:
Would ye take it by slander
And a manifest wrong?

21. Wakayfa ta/khuthoonahu waqad afda baAAdukum ila baAAdin waakhathna minkum meethaqan ghaleethan

21. And how could ye take it
When ye have gone in
Unto each other, and they have
Taken from you a solemn covenant?

22. Wala tankihoo ma nakaha abaokum mina alnnisa-i illa ma qad salafa innahu kana fahishatan wamaqtan wasaa sabeelan

22. And marry not women
Whom your fathers married,—
Except what is past:
It was shameful and odious,—
An abominable custom indeed.

Next: Section 4 (23-25)