۞ Believers, do not follow the footsteps of satan; whoever does so will be made by satan to commit indecency and sin. Were it not for the favor and mercy of God, none of you would ever have been purified. God purifies whomever He wants. God is All-hearing and All-knowing. 21 Those among you, who are bountiful and persons of means, should not swear on oath that they would withhold their help from their relatives, the indigent and those who have left their homes for the cause of Allah: they should forgive and forbear. Do you not wish that Allah should forgive you? and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. 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 and their hands and their feet shall bear witness against them as to what they did. 24 On that Day Allah will give them the full recompense they deserve, and they will realize that Allah is the very Truth, Who makes the Truth manifest. 25 Vile women for vile men, and vile men for vile women; and virtuous women for virtuous men, and virtuous men for virtuous women; such are innocent of what these people say; for them are forgiveness, and an honourable sustenance. 26