The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

33: 73
The Joint Forces 271
ger will be rejected by God in this world and the next – He has
prepared a humiliating torment for them – 58 and those who
undeservedly insult believing men and women will bear the guilt
of slander and flagrant sin.
59 Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters, and women believers
to make their outer garments hang low over them a so as to be recognized
and not insulted: God is most forgiving, most merciful. 60 If the
hypocrites, the sick at heart, and those who spread lies in the city do
not desist, We shall rouse you [Prophet] against them, and then they
will only be your neighbours in this city for a short while. 61 They
will be rejected. Wherever they are found, they will be arrested and
put to death. 62 This has been God’s practice with those who went
before. You will find no change in God’s practices.
63 People ask you about the Hour. Say, ‘God alone has knowledge
of it.’ How could you [Prophet] know? The Hour may well be near.
64 God has rejected the disbelievers and prepared a blazing fire for
them. 65 There they will stay permanently, with no one to befriend or
support them. 66 On the Day when their faces are being turned about
in the Fire, they will say, ‘If only we had obeyed God and the
Messenger,’ 67 and ‘Lord! We obeyed our masters and our chiefs, and
they led us astray. 68 Lord! Give them a double punishment and reject
them completely.’
69 Believers, do not be like those who insulted Moses – God
cleared him of their allegations and he was highly honoured in God’s
eyes. 70 Believers, be mindful of God, speak in a direct fashion and to
good purpose, 71 and He will put your deeds right for you and forgive
you your sins. Whoever obeys God and His Messenger will truly
achieve a great triumph. 72 We offered the Trust b to the heavens, the
earth, and the mountains, yet they refused to undertake it and were
afraid of it; mankind undertook it – they have always been inept c and
foolish. 73 God will punish the hypocrites and the idolaters, both men
and women, and turn with mercy to the believers, both men and
women: God is most forgiving, most merciful.
a The Arabic idiom adna al-jilbab means ‘make it hang low’, not ‘wrap around’ as
other translators have assumed (al-Mujam al-Wasit).
b [Of reason and moral responsibility]
c The meaning of dhalama is ‘put something out of its place’.