Prohibition (Al-Tahreem)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ O PROPHET! Why dost thou, out of a desire to please [one or another of] thy wives, impose [on thyself] a prohibition of something that God has made lawful to thee? But God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace: 1 Allah indeed has sanctioned for you the expiation of your oaths and Allah is your Protector, and He is the Knowing the Wise. 2 And lo! [It so happened that] the Prophet told something in confidence to one of his wives; and when she thereupon divulged it, and God made this known to him, he acquainted [others] with some of it and passed over some of it. And as soon as he let her know it, she asked, "Who has told thee this?" - [to which] he replied, "The All-Knowing, the All-Aware has told me." 3 If you two repent to God, yet your hearts certainly inclined; but if you support one another against him, God is his Protector, and Gabriel, and the righteous among the believers; and, after that, the angels are his supporters. 4 Were he to divorce you, his Lord might well replace you with better wives -- submissive [to God], believing, pious, penitent, devout in worship, given to fasting -- previously married and virgins. 5 Believers, guard yourselves and your families against the Fire the fuel of which is people and stones, over which there are harsh, and stern angels who never disobey Allah in that which He orders and do what they are ordered. 6 O you who have disbelieved, make no excuses that Day. You will only be recompensed for what you used to do. 7