SURAH
24: AL NUR (The Light).
In the name of Allah, the Gracious,
the Merciful
1
A surah which we have sent down and which we have ordained: in it have we sent
down clear signs, in order that you may receive admonition.
2
The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication, flog each of them with
a hundred stripes: let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter
prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party
of the believers witness their punishment.
3
Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry any but a woman similarly
guilty, or an unbeliever: nor let any but such a man or an unbeliever marry
such a woman: to the believers such a thing is forbidden.
4
And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four
witnesses, flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after:
for such men are wicked transgressors;
5
Unless they repent thereafter and mend their conduct; for Allah is
oft-forgiving, most merciful.
6
And for those who launch a charge against their spouses, and have no evidence
but their own, their solitary evidence can be received if they bear witness
four times with an oath by Allah that they are solemnly telling the truth;
7
And the fifth oath should be that they solemnly invoke the curse of Allah on
themselves if they tell a lie.
8
But it would avert the punishment from the wife, if she bears witness four
times with an oath by Allah, that her husband is telling a lie;
9
And the fifth oath should be that she solemnly invokes the wrath of Allah on
herself if her accuser is telling the truth.
10
If it were not for Allah's grace and mercy on you, and that Allah is
oft-returning, full of wisdom, you would be ruined indeed.
11
Those who brought forward the lie are a body among yourselves: think it not to
be an evil to you; on the contrary it is good for you: to every man among them
will come the punishment of the sin that he earned, and to him who took on
himself the lead among them, will be a penalty grievous.
12
Why did not the believers men and women when you heard of the affair, put the
best construction on it in their own minds and say, This charge is an obvious
lie?
13
Why did they not bring four witnesses to prove it? When they have not brought the
witnesses, such men, in the sight of Allah, stand forth themselves as liars!
14
Were it not for the grace and mercy of Allah on you, in this world and the
hereafter, a grievous penalty would have seized you in that you rushed glibly
into this affair.
15
Behold, you received it on your tongues, and said out of your mouths things of
which you had no knowledge; and you thought it to be a light matter, while it
was most serious in the sight of Allah.
16
And why did you not, when you heard it, say: It is not right of us to speak of
this: glory to Allah! This is a most serious slander!
17
Allah admonishes you, that you may never repeat such conduct, if you are
believers.
18
And Allah makes the signs plain to you: for Allah is full of knowledge and
wisdom.
19
Those who love scandal published broadcast among the believers, will have a
grievous penalty in this life and in the hereafter: Allah knows, and you know
not.
20
Were it not for the grace and mercy of Allah on you, and that Allah is full of
kindness and mercy, you would be ruined indeed.
21
O you who believe! Follow not Satan's footsteps: if any will follow the
footsteps of Satan, he will but command what is shameful and wrong: and were
it not for the grace and mercy of Allah on you, not one of you would ever have
been pure: but Allah purifies whom he pleases: and Allah is one who hears and
knows all things.
22
Let not those among you who are endued with grace and amplitude of means
resolve by oath against helping their kinsmen, those in want, and those who
have left their homes in Allah's cause: let them forgive and overlook, do you
not wish that Allah should forgive you? For Allah is oft-forgiving, most
merciful.
23
Those who slander chaste women, indiscreet but believing, are cursed in this
life and in the hereafter: for them is a grievous penalty,
24
On the day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will bear witness
against them as to their actions.
25
On that day Allah will pay them back all their just dues, and they will realize
that Allah is the truth, that makes all things manifest,
26
Women impure are for men impure, and men impure for women impure and women of
purity are for men of purity, and men of purity are for women of purity: these
are not affected by what people say: for them there is forgiveness and a
provision honourable.
27
O you who believe! Enter not houses other than your own, until you have asked
permission and saluted those in them: that is best for you, in order that you
may heed.
28
If you find no one in the house, enter not until permission is given to you: if
you are asked to go back, go back: that makes for greater purity for
yourselves: and Allah knows well all that you do.
29
It is no sin on your part to enter houses not used for living in, which serve
some use for you: and Allah has knowledge of what you reveal and what you
conceal.
30
Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their
modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and Allah is well
acquainted with all that they do.
31
And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard
their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except
what must ordinarily appear; that they should draw their veils over their
bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers,
their husband's fathers, their sons, their husband's sons, their brothers or
their brother's sons, or their sister's sons, or their women, or the slaves
whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or
small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not
strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O
you believers! All of you, turn towards Allah, that you may attain bliss.
32
Marry those among you who are single, or the virtuous ones among your slaves,
male or female: if they are in poverty, Allah will give them means out of his
grace: for Allah encompasses all, and he knows all things.
33
Let those who cannot afford to marry keep themselves chaste, until Allah gives
them means out of his grace. And if any of your slaves ask for a deed in
writing to enable them to earn their freedom for a certain sum, give them such
a deed if you know any good in them; yes, give them something yourselves out of
the means which Allah has given to you. But force not your slave-girls to
prostitution in order that you may make money, if they desire to preserve their
chastity. But if anyone compels them, yet, after such compulsion, is Allah
oft-forgiving, most merciful to them.
34
We have already sent down to you verses making things clear, an illustration
from people who passed away before you, and an admonition for those who fear
Allah.
35
Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of his light is as
if there were a niche and within it a lamp: the lamp enclosed in glass: the
glass as it were a brilliant star: lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither
of the east nor of the west, whose oil is almost luminous, though fire scarce
touched it: light upon light! Allah guides whom he will to his light: Allah
sets forth parables for men: and Allah knows all things.
36
Lit is such a light in houses, which Allah has permitted to be raised to
honour; for the celebration, in them, of his name: in them is he glorified in
the mornings and in the evenings,
37
By men whom neither traffic nor merchandise can divert from the remembrance of
Allah, nor from regular prayer, nor from the practice of regular charity: their
only fear is for the day when hearts and eyes will be transformed,
38
That Allah may reward them according to the best of their deeds, and add even
more for them out of his grace: for Allah provides for those whom he will, without
measure.
39
But the unbelievers, their deeds are like a mirage in sandy deserts, which the
man parched with thirst mistakes for water; until when he comes up to it, he
finds it to be nothing: but he finds Allah ever with him, and Allah will pay
him his account: and Allah is swift in taking account.
40
Or the unbelievers' state is like the depths of darkness in a vast deep ocean,
overwhelmed with billow topped by billow, topped by dark clouds: depths of
darkness, one above another: if a man stretches out his hand, he can hardly see
it! For any to whom Allah gives not light, there is no light!
41
Do you not see that it is Allah whose praises all beings in the heavens and on
earth do celebrate, and the birds with wings outspread? Each one knows its own
mode of prayer and praise. And Allah knows well all that they do.
42
Yes, to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and to Allah
is the final goal of all.
43
Do you not see that Allah makes the clouds move gently, then joins them
together, them makes them into a heap? Then will you see rain issue forth from
their midst. And he sends down from the sky mountain masses of clouds wherein
is hail: he strikes therewith whom he pleases and he turns it away from whom he
pleases. The vivid flash of his lightning nearly blinds the sight.
44
It is Allah who alternates the night and the day: truly in these things is an
instructive example for those who have vision!
45
And Allah has created every animal from water: of them there are some that
creep on their bellies; some that walk on two legs; and some that walk on four.
Allah creates what he wills; for truly Allah has power over all things.
46
We have indeed sent down signs that make things clear: and Allah guides whom he
wills to a way that is straight.
47
They say, "We believe in Allah and in the messenger, and we obey":
but even after that, some of them turn away: they are not believers.
48
When they are summoned to Allah and his messenger, in order that he may judge
between them, behold, some of them decline to come.
49
But if the right is on their side, they come to him with all submission.
50
Is it that there is a disease in their hearts? Or do they doubt, or are they in
fear, that Allah and his messenger will deal unjustly with them? No, it is they
themselves who do wrong.
51
The answer of the believers, when summoned to Allah and his messenger, in order
that he may judge between them, is no other than this: they say, "We hear
and we obey": it is such as these that will attain felicity.
52
It is such as obey Allah and his messenger, and fear Allah and do right, that
will win.
53
They swear their strongest oaths by Allah that, if only you would command them,
they would leave their homes. Say: "Swear not; obedience is more
reasonable; truly, Allah is well acquainted with all that you do."
54
Say: "Obey Allah, and obey the messenger: but if you turn away, he is only
responsible for the duty placed on him and you for that placed on you. If you
obey him, you shall be on right guidance. The messenger's duty is only to
preach the clear message.
55
Allah has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds,
that he will, surely grant them in the land, inheritance of power, as he
granted it to those before them; that he will establish in authority their
religion, the one which he has chosen for them; and that he will change their
state, after the fear in which they lived, to one of security and peace: They will
worship me alone and not associate anything with me.' If any do reject faith after this, they are rebellious and
wicked.
56
So establish regular prayer and give regular charity; and obey the messenger;
that you may receive mercy.
57
Never think you that the unbelievers are going to frustrate Allah's plan on
earth: their abode is the fire, and it is indeed an evil refuge!
58
O you who believe! Let those whom your right hands possess, and the children
among you who have not come of age ask your permission before they come to your
presence on three occasions: before morning prayer; the while you doff your
clothes for the noonday heat; and after the late night prayer: these are your
three times of undress: outsides those times it is not wrong for you or for them
to move about attending to each other: thus does Allah make clear the signs to
you: for Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.
59
But when the children among you come of age, let them also ask for permission,
as do those senior to them in age: thus does Allah make clear his signs to you:
for Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.
60
Such elderly women as are past the prospect of marriage, there is no blame on
them if they lay aside their outer garments, provided they make not a wanton
display of their beauty: but it is best for them to be modest: and Allah is one
who sees and knows all things.
61
It is no sin in the blind nor in one born lame, nor in one afflicted with
illness, nor in yourselves, that you should eat in your own houses, or those of
your fathers, or your mothers, or your brothers, or your sisters, or your
father's brothers or your father's sisters, or your mother's brothers, or your
mother's sisters, or in houses of which the keys are in your possession. Or in
the house of a sincere friend of yours: there is no blame on you, whether you
eat in company or separately. But if you enter houses, salute each other a
greeting of blessing and purity as from Allah. Thus does Allah make clear the
signs to you: that you may understand.
62
Only those are believers, who believe in Allah and his messenger: when they are
with him on a matter requiring collective action, they do not depart until they
have asked for his leave; those who ask for your leave are those who believe in
Allah and his messenger; so when they ask for your leave, for some business of
theirs, give leave to those of them whom you will, and ask Allah for their
forgiveness: for Allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful.
63
Deem not the summons of the messenger among yourselves like the summons of one
of you to another: Allah knows those of you who slip away under shelter of some
excuse: then let those beware who withstand the messenger's order, lest some
trial befall them, or a grievous penalty be inflicted on them.
64
Be quite sure that to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and on earth.
Well does he know what you are intent upon: and one day they will be brought
back to him, and he will tell them the truth of what they did: for Allah knows
all things.