۞ O ye who believe! Follow not the footsteps of the devil. Unto whomsoever followeth the footsteps of the devil, lo! he commandeth 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 causeth whom He will to grow. And Allah is Hearer, Knower. 21 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. 22 Surely, those who defame chaste, unsuspecting, believing women, shall be cursed in this world and in the Everlasting Life, and for them there is a mighty punishment. 23 on the Day when their own tongues and hands and feet will bear witness against them by [recalling] all that they did! 24 on that Day God will justly requite them, and they will realize that God is the truth, that makes all things manifest. 25 Impure women are for impure men and impure men for impure women, and pure women are for pure men and pure men for pure women. They are free from those scandals which the slanderers utter. There is forgiveness for them and honourable provision. 26