O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not enter the Prophet's dwellings unless you are given leave; [and when invited] to a meal, do not come [so early as] to wait for it to be readied: but whenever you are invited, enter [at the proper time]; and when you have partaken of the meal, disperse without lingering for the sake of mere talk: that, behold, might give offence to the Prophet, and yet he might feel shy of [asking] you [to leave]: but God is not shy of [teaching you] what is right. And [as for the Prophet's wives,] whenever you ask them for anything that you need, ask them from behind a screen: this will but deepen the purity of your hearts and theirs. Moreover, it does not behove you to give offence to God's Apostle - just as it would not behove you ever to marry his widows after he has passed away: that, verily, would be an enormity in the sight of God. 53 If you do a thing openly or do it in secret, then surely Allah is Cognizant of all things. 54 [However,] it is no sin for them [to appear freely] before their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their womenfolk, or such [male slaves] as their right hands may possess. But [always, O wives of the Prophet,] remain conscious of God - for, behold, God is witness unto everything. 55 Indeed Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet; O People who Believe! Send blessings and abundant salutations upon him. (Everlasting peace and unlimited blessings be upon the Holy Prophet Mohammed.) 56 Lo! those who malign Allah and His messenger, Allah hath cursed them in the world and the Hereafter, and hath prepared for them the doom of the disdained. 57 Those who affront believing men and believing women without their having deserved it [done any wrong] shall bear the weight of slander and flagrant sin. 58