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24. "The Light"
  
     
1.
 Here is a surah which We have revealed and enjoined, and wherein We have revealed plain tokens, that haply you may take heed.
 
2.
 The adulterer and the adulteress, scourge you each one of them with a hundred stripes. And let not pity for the two withhold you from obedience to Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a party of believers witness their judgment.
 
3.
 The adulterer shall not marry except an adulteress or an idolatress, and the adulteress none shall marry except an adulterer or an idolater. All that is forbidden unto believers.
 
4.
 And those who accuse honourable women but bring not four witnesses, scourge them with eighty stripes and never afterward accept their testimony - They indeed are evil-doers -
 
5.
 Save those who afterward repent and make amends. For such Lo and Behold! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
 
6.
 As for those who accuse their wives but have no witnesses except themselves; let the testimony of one of them be four testimonies, swearing by Allah that he is of those who speak the truth;
 
7.
 And yet a fifth, invoking the sadness of Allah on him if he is of those who lie.
 
8.
 And it shall avert the judgment from her if she bear witness before Allah four times that the thing he says is indeed false,
 
9.
 And a fifth time that the wrath of Allah be upon her if he speaketh truth.
 
10.
 And had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy unto you, and that Allah is Clement, Wise, ye had been undone.
 
11.
 Behold! they who spread the slander are a gang among you. Deem it not a bad thing for you; nay, it is good for you. Unto every man of them will be paid that which he has earned of the sin; and as for him among them who had the greater share therein, his will be an awful doom.
 
12.
 Why did not the believers, men and women, when you heard it, think good of their own own people, and say: It is a manifest untruth?
 
13.
 Why did they not produce four witnesses? Since they produce not witnesses, they truly are liars in the sight of Allah.
 
14.
 Had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy unto you in the world and the Hereafter an awful doom had overtaken you for that of which you murmured.
 
15.
 When you welcomed it with your tongues, and uttered with your mouths that of which you had no knowledge, you counted it a trifle. In the sight of Allah it is very great.
 
16.
 Wherefor, when you heard it, said you not: It is not for us to speak of this. Glory be to You O Allah! This is awful calumny.
 
17.
 Allah admonisheth you that you repeat not the like thereof ever, if you are in truth believers.
 
18.
 And He expoundeth unto you the revelations. Allah is Knower, Wise.
 
19.
 Behold! those who love that slander should be spread concerning those who believe, theirs will be a painful judgment in the world and the Hereafter. Allah knows. Ye know not.
 
20.
 Had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy unto you, and that Allah is Clement, Merciful, ye had been undone.
 
21.
 O you who believe! Follow not the footsteps of the devil. Unto whomsoever follows the footsteps of the devil, Lo and Behold! he commands filthiness and wrong. Had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy unto you, not one of you would ever have grown pure. But Allah causes whom He will to grow. And Allah is Hearer, Knower.
 
22.
 And let not those who possess dignity and ease among you swear not to give to the near of kin and to the needy, and to fugitives for the cause of Allah. Let them forgive and show indulgence. Yearn you not that Allah may forgive you? Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
 
23.
 Behold! as for those who traduce virtuous, believing women who are careless, denounced are they in the world and the Hereafter. Theirs by choice will be great anguish and regret
 
24.
 On the day when their tongues and their hands and their feet testify against them as to what they used to do,
 
25.
 On that day Allah will pay them their just due, and they will know that Allah, He is the Manifest Truth.
 
26.
 Vile women are for vile men, and vile men for vile women. Good women are for good men, and good men for good women; such are innocent of that which people say: For them is pardon and a bountiful provision.
 
27.
 O you who believe! Enter not houses other than your own without first announcing your presence and invoking peace upon the people thereof. That is better for you, that you may be heedful.
 
28.
 And if you find no-one therein, still enter not until permission has been given. And if it be said unto you: Go away again, then go away, for it is purer for you. Allah knows what you do.
 
29.
 It is no sin for you to enter uninhabited houses wherein is comfort for you. Allah knows what you proclaim and what you hide.
 
30.
 Tell the believing men to be modest with self-respect in appearance. That is purer for them. Behold! Allah is aware of what they do.
 
31.
 And tell the believing womento be modest with self-respect in appearance. Even so, it is their choice what to wear and what to wear not. Their body and their apparance is theirs, not men to decide. And turn unto Allah together, O believers, in order that you may succeed.
 
32.
 And marry carefully and on consideration of more than just flesh but the cadence of their souls. Allah is of ample means, Aware.
 
33.
 And let those who cannot find a match keep chaste till Allah give them independence by His grace. And such of your employees and in your care as seek a writing of emancipation, write it for them if you are aware of anyway can of good in them, and bestow upon them of the wealth of Allah which He has bestowed upon you. Force not any woman under your care or employ into actions of slavedom that you may seek enjoyment of the life of the world, if they would preserve their chastity. Force no one against their will and respect all. Lo and Behold! Allah will be Forgiving, Merciful.
 
34.
 And truly The Lord have sent down for you revelations that make plain, and the example of those who passed away before you. An warning unto those who ward off evil.
 
35.
 Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The likeness of His light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is as it were a shining star. This lamp is kindled from a blessed tree, an olive neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil would almost glow forth of itself though no fire touched it. Light upon light. Allah guides unto His light whom He will. And Allah speaketh to humanity in allegories, for Allah is Knower of all things.
 
36.
 This lamp is found in houses which Allah has allowed to be exalted and that His name shall be remembered therein. Therein do offer praise to Him at morn and evening.
 
37.
 Men whom neither merchandise nor sale beguileth from remembrance of Allah and constancy in prayer and paying to the poor their due; who fear a day when hearts and eyeballs will be overturned;
 
38.
 That Allah may reward them with the best of what they did, and increase reward for them of His bounty. Allah gives blessings without stint to whom He will.
 
39.
 As for those who disbelieve, their deeds are as a mirage in a desert. The thirsty one supposeth it to be water till he comes unto it and finds it nothing, and finds, in the place thereof, Allah Who payeth him his due; and Allah is swift at reckoning.
 
40.
 Or as darkness on a vast, abysmal sea. There covereth him a wave, above which is a wave, above which is a cloud. Layer upon layer of darkness. When he holdeth out his hand he scarce can see it. And he for whom Allah has not appointed light, for him there is no light.
 
41.
 Have you not seen that Allah, It is He Whom all who are in the heavens and the earth praise, and the birds in their flight? Of each He knows truly the worship and the praise; and Allah is Aware of what they do.
 
42.
 And unto Allah belongs the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth, and unto Allah is the journeying.
 
43.
 Have you not seen how Allah wafteth the clouds, then gathereth them, then maketh them layers, and you seest the rain come forth from between them; He sends down from the heaven mountains wherein is hail, and striketh therewith whom He will, and averteth it from whom He will. The flashing of His lightning all but snatches away the sight.
 
44.
 Allah causes the revolution of the day and the night. Behold! herein is indeed a lesson for those who see.
 
45.
 Allah has created every animal of water. Of them is a kind that goes upon its belly and a kind that goes upon two legs and a kind that goes upon four. Allah creates what He will. Behold! Allah is Able to do all things.
 
46.
 Verily We have sent down revelations and explained them. Allah guides whom He will unto a straight path.
 
47.
 And they say: We believe in Allah and the messenger, and we obey; then after that a faction of them turn away. Such are not believers.
 
48.
 And when they appeal unto Allah and His messenger to judge between them, Lo and Behold! a faction of them are averse;
 
49.
 But if right had been with them they would have come unto him willingly.
 
50.
 Is there in their hearts a disease, or have they doubts, or fear they lest Allah and His messenger should wrong them in judgment? No, but such are evil-doers.
 
51.
 The saying of all true believers when they appeal unto Allah and His messenger to judge between them is only that they say: We hear and we obey. And such are the successful.
 
52.
 He who obeys Allah and His messenger, and fears Allah, and keepeth duty unto Him: such indeed are the victorious.
 
53.
 They swear by Allah solemnly that, if you order them, they will go forth. Let it be said: Swear not; known obedience is better. Behold! Allah is Informed of what you do.
 
54.
 Let it be said: Obey Allah and obey the messenger. But if you turn away, then it is for him to do only that wherewith he has been charged, and for you to do only that wherewith you have been charged. If you obey him, you will go aright. But the messenger has no other charge than to convey the message plainly.
 
55.
 Allah has promised such of you as believe and do good work that He will surely make them to succeed the present rulers in the earth even as He caused those who were before them to succeed others; and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has approved for them, and will give them in exchange safety after their fear. They serve Me. They ascribe no thing as partner unto Me. Those who disbelieve henceforth, they are the disbelievers.
 
56.
 Establish worship and pay the poor-due and obey the messenger, that haply you may find mercy.
 
57.
 Think not that the disbelievers can escape in the land. Fire will be their home - a hapless journey's end!
 
58.
 O you who believe! Let your slaves, and those of you who have not come to puberty, ask leave of you at three times before they come into your presence: Before the prayer of dawn, and when you lay aside your raiment for the heat of noon, and after the prayer of night. Three times of privacy for you. It is no sin for them or for you at other times, when some of you go round attendant upon others if they come into your presence without leave. Thus Allah maketh clear the revelations for you. Allah is Knower, Wise.
 
59.
 And when the children among you come to puberty then let them ask leave even as those before them used to ask it. Thus Allah maketh clear His revelations for you. Allah is Knower, Wise.
 
60.
 For all women, their dress is their choice. Let no man seek to cover up what Allah has made. It is for woman to show self-respect and restraint. Allah is Hearer, Knower.
 
61.
 No blame is there upon the blind nor any blame upon the lame nor any blame upon the sick nor on yourselves if you eat from your houses, or the houses of your fathers, or the houses of your mothers, or the houses of your brothers, or the houses of your sisters, or the houses of your fathers' brothers, or the houses of your fathers' sisters, or the houses of your mothers' brothers, or the houses of your mothers' sisters, or from that of which you hold the keys, or from the house of a friend. No sin shall it be for you whether you eat together or apart. But when you enter houses, salute one another with a greeting from Allah, blessed and sweet. Thus Allah maketh clear His revelations for you, that haply you may understand.
 
62.
 They only are the true believers who believe in Allah and His messenger and, when they are with him on some common errand, go not away until they have asked leave of him. Behold! those who ask leave of thee, those are they who believe in Allah and His messenger. So, if they ask thy leave for some affair of theirs, give leave to whom you will of them, and ask for them forgiveness of Allah. Behold! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
 
63.
 Make not the calling of the messenger among you as your calling one of another. Allah knows those of you who steal away, hiding themselves. And let those who conspire to evade orders beware lest grief or painful judgment befall them.
 
64.
 Behold! truly unto Allah belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth. He knows your condition. And He knows the Day when they are returned unto Him so that He may inform them of what they did. Allah is Knower of all things.  
   
 
 

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