Surah Nur Ayat 16 in Arabic Text
English Translation
Here you can read various translations of verse 16
And why, when you heard it, did you not say, “It is not for us to speak of this. Exalted are You, [O Allah]; this is a great slander”?
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!”
Why did you not, as soon as you heard of it, say, “It is not proper for us to utter such a thing? Glory be to Allah! This is a great slander.”
And why did you not, when you heard it, say? “It is not right for us to speak of this. Glory be to You (O Allah) this is a great lie.”
Wherefor, when ye heard it, said ye not: It is not for us to speak of this. Glory be to Thee (O Allah)! This is awful calumny.
And if you had (but) said, as you heard it, “In no way is it for us to talk about this. All Extolment be to You! This is a tremendous calumny.”
When you heard the lie, why did you not say, ‘We should not repeat this- God forbid!- It is a monstrous slander’?
تم نے ایسی بات کو سنتے ہی کیوں نہ کہہ دیا کہ ہمیں ایسی بات منھ سے نکالنی بھی ﻻئق نہیں۔ یا اللہ! تو پاک ہے، یہ تو بہت بڑا بہتان ہے اور تہمت ہے
Quran 24 Verse 16 Explanation
For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Nur ayat 16, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.
Ala-Maududi
(24:16) And why, no sooner than you had heard it, did you not say: “It becomes us not even to utter such a thing? Holy are You (O Allah)! This is a mighty calumny.”
There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.
Ibn-Kathir
16. And why did you not, when you heard it, say: “It is not right for us to speak of this. Glory be to You (O Allah)! This is a great lie.” 17. Allah forbids you from it and warns you not to repeat the like of it forever, if you are believers. 18. And Allah makes the Ayat plain to you, and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.
This is further discipline, in addition to the command to think well of people, i.e., if something unbefitting is mentioned about good people, then one should think well of them, and not feel towards them anything but good. Then if a person has any unsuitable thoughts about them, insinuated into his mind and imagination by Shaytan, he should not speak about that, for the Prophet said:
(Allah will excuse my Ummah for anything that occurs to their minds, so long as they do not speak about it or act upon it.) This was reported in the Two Sahihs. Allah’s saying:
(And why did you not, when you heard it, say: “It is not right for us to speak of this”.) meaning, we should not talk about it or mention it to anyone.
(Glory be to You (O Allah)! This is a great lie.) means, glory be to Allah that such a thing should be said about the wife of His Prophet and close Friend . Then Allah says,
(Allah forbids you from it and warns you not to repeat the like of it forever, ) meaning, Allah is forbidding you and warning you from doing anything like this again in the future. Allah says,
(if you are believers.) meaning, if you believe in Allah and His Laws, and you respect His Messenger . As for those who are described as disbelievers, a different ruling applies in their case. Then Allah says,
(And Allah makes the Ayat plain to you,) meaning, He makes clear to you the rulings of Shari`ah and His divine decrees.
(and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.) means, He knows what is right for His servants and He is Wise in His Laws and decrees.
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