۞ O Ye who believe! follow not the footsteps of the Satan. And whosoever followeth the footsteps of the Satan, then he only urgeth to indecency and abomination. And had there not been the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy, not one of you would ever have been cleansed; but Allah cleanseth whomsoever He will and Allah is Hearing, Knowing. 21 Hence, [even if they have been wronged by slander,] let not those of you who have been graced with God's favour and ease of life ever become remiss in helping [the erring ones among] their near of kin, and the needy, and those who have forsaken the domain of evil for the sake of God, but let them pardon and forbear. [For,] do you not desire that God should forgive you your sins, seeing that God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace? 22 [But,] verily, those who [falsely, and without repentance,] accuse chaste women who may have been unthinkingly careless but have remained true to their faith, shall be rejected [from God's grace] in this world as well as in the life to come: and awesome suffering awaits them 23 on the day when their tongues, hands, and feet will testify to what they had done. 24 On that Day Allah will pay them the recompense of their deeds in full, and they will know that Allah, He is the Manifest Truth. 25 Evil words are for evil men, and evil men are [subjected] to evil words. And good words are for good men, and good men are [an object] of good words. Those [good people] are declared innocent of what the slanderers say. For them is forgiveness and noble provision. 26