Lo! 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 hath earned of the sin; and as for him among them who had the greater share therein, his will be an awful doom. 11 Why, when you heard it, did the believing men and women not of their own account think good thoughts, and say, 'This is a manifest calumny'? 12 Why did they not produce four witnesses? Since they produce not witnesses, they verily are liars in the sight of Allah. 13 Had there not been Allah's grace upon you and His mercy in the world and the Hereafter, surely there would have touched you, for that wherein ye had rushed, torment mighty. 14 You carried with your tongues and uttered with your mouths what you did not know. You have thought it a trifle, but before Allah it was a mighty thing. 15 And why did ye not, when ye heard it, say? - "It is not right of us to speak of this: Glory to Allah! this is a most serious slander!" 16 God counsels you not to do a thing like this, if you are believers. 17 God makes clear to you the signs; and God is All-knowing, All-wise. 18 Those who love that indecency should be broadcast about those who believe theirs is a painful punishment in this world and in the Everlasting Life. Allah knows, and you do not know. 19 And had there not been Allah's grace upon you and His mercy, and that Allah was Tender and Merciful, ye had Perished. 20