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 Whether you reveal anything, or whether you conceal it, surely God has knowledge of everything. 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 God and His angels bestow blessings on the Prophet. O believers, you also should invoke blessings on him and give him greetings of peace. 56 Verily those who cause annoyance to Allah and His Messenger - Allah has cursed them in this world and in the Hereafter and has prepared for them a humiliating chastisement. 57 Those who cause hurt to believing men and to believing women have invited upon themselves a calumny and a manifest sin. 58