[1] (In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful)

The meaning

More explanation

[It is narrated that a vessel with honey was presented to one of the wives of the Prophet, and she used to give him to drink out of it, every time he came to her, and the Prophet started to sit longer with her.

Then when his wife Âyshah knew about that, she made an agreement with the rest of his wives, and they made a trick for the Prophet; so they consulted each other and plotted that each one of them should say to the Prophet when he came to her: “I smell the odor of urfut in your mouth” which is a bad smell.

So when the Prophet saw the unanimity of his wives about such words, he thought that what they said was true, and that the honey which he drank had the bad smell of urfut; therefore, he swore that he would not afterwards drink the honey, neither would he go to his wife who gave him the honey.

Therefore, this aya was revealed, including the admonishing of the Prophet with some reproof for his forbidding himself the honey.]

[2] 1. O prophet, why do you prohibit [for yourself] that which God has made lawful to you, just to please your wives^a?

But God is Most Forgiving [for you], Most Merciful [to you.]

[3] 2. God has allowed you [Muslims] to expiate your oaths [of such a kind]^b; for God is your Protecting Master^c, and He is the All-Knowing^d, the Most Wise^e.

[4] 3. And when the prophet [Mohammed] confided to [Hafsa:] one of his wives a certain matter; and then, when she divulged it^f, and God disclosed that to him^g, he [then] mentioned part of it [to some of his companions] and passed over part^h.

Then when the [Prophet] told [Hafsa] about itⁱ, she said: "Who has acquainted you about this^j?"

The [Prophet] said: "[God:] the All-Knowing [about all affairs], the All-Aware [about secrets that are in breasts] has acquainted me about it."

[Then when Hafsa heard the aya revealed concerning her, she said: “I have repented, God’s messenger, and I will not repeat that again.” As such did Âyshah repent; therefore, the following aya was revealed:]

[5] 4. In case you, two [wives of the prophet: Hafsa and Âyshah] repent to God, then your hearts have indeed listened and yielded [to the Quran and the admonition of God.]

But if you support one another against the [Prophet, once again], then God certainly is his Protecting Master^k, and Gabriel^l, and the righteous believers^m and, furthermore, the angels [with Gabriel]ⁿare his supporters.

[6] 5. It may be that if he divorces you, his Lord will give him in exchange wives better than you ––

that submit [themselves to God, in the religion of the Islam],

that are believers,

that devote [themselves exclusively to him rather than other people],

that repent [from the disobedience],

that worship [God alone],

and that preach [the religion of the Islam] ––

such as previously married^oand as virgins^p, too.

^{1 a} i.e. those who designed this trick against him.

The meaning: you seek to please them by forbidding for yourself the honey and the coming in to the one who gave you the honey to drink.

^{2 b} i.e. God has explained to you how to be free of the obligation of your oaths.

The meaning: God has explained to you the prescription and the statement of the breaking of your oath, if you swear then break your oath.

It is His saying – be glorified – in the Quran 5: 89, which means:

(God will not require of you concerning your unintentional oaths,

but He will require of you concerning your oaths that you affirm.

The expiation thereof is to feed ten of the needy.)

The meaning: Do not persist on your forbidding the honey, but break your oath and pay the expiation as have We explained to you in the Quran 5: 89.

^{2 c} Who takes care about your affairs.

^{2 d} Of your circumstances.

^{2 e} In managing your affairs.

^{3 f} And she told someone else, and exposed his secret.

^{3 g} That the secret has been divulged; that was when Gabriel came and told him about the divulging of the secret.

^{3 h} And he did not mention it as a whole.

^{3 i} And he said to her: “Why have you divulged the secret?”

^{3 j} That I have divulged the matter.

^{4 k} i.e. God will take care about and support him.

^{4 l} Will tell him.

^{4 m} Will aid him. It means: And the righteous believers will help him.

^{4 n} The meaning: Gabriel will support him, and the angels who follow Gabriel will also support him.

^{5 o} Whose husband died or he divorced her.

^{5 p} Who have not married yet.

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[7] 6. O you who believe, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire^a, the fuel of which is men and stones^b,

on which are [appointed in charge, for the punishment of disbelievers], angels hard [- hearted: showing no mercy to disbelievers] and stern [in seizing and chastising],

who never disobey God in that He commands them^c, but they carry out [the chastisement with] which they are commanded.

[8] 7. [Then the angels will say to them:] "O disbelievers make no excuses today; you are only requited for [the deeds of falsehood and wickedness] that you did [in the life of the World.]"

^{6 a} i.e. beware of the falling into the Fire, and avoid it by carrying out the obedience and by warding off the disobedience and sins.

^{6 b} Which are the meteoritic stones because the sun gravitates them to it; this is on Doomsday, while in the Barzakh world (or the Afterlife), i.e. following death, the fire is the fire of volcanoes and the molten stones which volcanoes hurl out of the [earth] core.

^{6 c} To drag disbelievers, by chains, to Hell.

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[Then God – be glorified – addressed the believers and said:]

[9] 8. O you believers, turn to God with sincere repentance^a [from your sins and from the association]; that your Lord may conceal your evil deeds [from the sight of souls, in the afterlife, so they will not see them], and admit you into Gardens with rivers flowing under [their trees.]^b

On the Day [of Judgment] God will not disgrace the prophet and those who believe with him [by covering their nakedness with garments; unlike the disbelievers and associaters who will be naked.]^c

Their light runs before them and by their right hands^d; they say: "Our Lord, complete for us our light [by admitting us into Paradise] and forgive us [our sins]; for surely You are Most Able to do all things.

^{8 a} i.e. like the repentance of one who is loyal to God and His messenger.

^{8 b} In the Garden of Refuge following death, i.e. in the Barzakh world. And in the Garden of Everlasting on Doomsday.

^{8 c} That is because people will be gathered together naked, so that their shames will appear to souls, which is a disgrace for them; but the Prophet and the believers with him: the angels bring them some of the Paradise dresses, which they wear and cover their shames with such dresses.

^{8 d} It is the light of the belief; it issues from their breasts.

An aya similar to this one has been explained in the interpretation of the Quran 57: 12.

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[10] 9. O prophet, strive against the disbelievers [by fighting them] and [against] the hypocrites [by rebuking and frightening them.] And be harsh with them [by censuring and hating them] . Their refuge will be Hell –– an evil destination [indeed will their destination be in the Next Life.]

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[11] 10. God cites [as] an example of those who disbelieve^a: [like] the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot^b:

they were under [the marriage bond of] two of Our righteous servants^c, but they betrayed their [husbands],

so they [: Noah and Lot] availed their [ wives] nothing [in averting the punishment of] God [from them]^d,

and it was said [to the two betraying women, after their death]: "Go into Hell – both of you – together with the [disbelievers] who go in, [on account of their disbelief.]"^e

[12] 11. And God cites [as] an example of those who believe^f –– the wife^g of Pharaoh; when she said:

"My Lord, build for me a house in Paradise, in your neighborhood, and save me from Pharaoh and his work, and save me from the people of the wrong-doers [: Pharaoh's people.]"^h

[13] 12. And Mary: Amram's daughter, who guarded her virginity [against the evil of the disobedience], so We breathed into her [womb] by Our spirit [: Gabriel]ⁱ, and she believed in the [Ten] Words of her Lord [: the Ten Commandments^j] and His scriptures [: the scripture of Abraham, the Torah of Moses, the Psalms of David and the Gospel of Jesus], and was one of the devout [servants, so she entered Paradise following her death.^k]

^{10 a} Concerning their ungratefulness to the bounty of their Lord and concerning their worshipping those other than God.

^{10 b} i.e. like the wife of Noah as regards her betraying of her husband, and being ungrateful to his bounties, and in her substituting his favor on her with the betrayal.

As such was the wife of Lot: she betrayed her husband, was not grateful for his favor on her, but she returned that with betrayal and disobedience.

^{10 c} i.e. Noah and Lot.

^{10 d} It means: Noah and Lot did not avert any part of the punishment from their wives.

^{10 e} This in fact is a parable which God cited about one who eats out of His provision, and yet worships others; so He simulated him to the betraying woman who eats of the food of her husband and yet commits adultery with another or with others.

This is in spite of that her husband is a generous one, his manners of behavior are good: he does not insult her, neither is he niggardly towards her with anything; so if she breaks a dish or destroys some of his stuffs, he does not punish her accordingly, but he forgives her that, and if she asks of him anything, he brings it to her.

So his bounties on her are so many; but in spite of that, she is ungrateful to his favors, and she looks to other men who are less and lower than he is, following her desires about that; therefore, such betrayer does not deserve forgiveness, but she deserves the punishment and loss.

Therefore, such is the parable of one who eats out of the provision of God, and yet associates with Him other created beings in the worship and sanctification.

In the Torah Collection [which Christians call the Old Testament], a large number of such parables in which God considers the associater like the adulteress who forsakes her husband and commits adultery with another one or more.

For it is written in the Book of Jeremiah, chapter 3, the following [about the Children of Israel and their associating the idols with God:]

“If a man divorces his wife, and she leaves him, and marries another man, will he return to her again? Will not that land be greatly defiled?

But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers; will you now return to me? declares the Lord.

Look up to the barren heights and see is there any place where you have not committed adultery?

By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert.

You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness [It means: with your association and worshipping the idols; the addressing here is to the Children of Israel.]

Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain;

Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute, and you refuse to blush with shame.

This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can.”

During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, “Have you [Jeremiah] seen what faithless Israel has done?

She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading green tree and has committed adultery there [This means: the Children of Israel, worshipped stones and trees.]

And I said after she had done all these things, Return to me.

But she did not return. And her unfaithful sister Judah saw it.

And I saw, when for this very cause that faithless Israel had committed adultery I had divorced her and given her, her certificate of divorce, and sent her away; yet her unfaithful sister Judah feared not.

And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me.”

This had been done by the Children of Israel, while Prophet Mohammed – salam to him – said: “You, Muslims, will follow in their footsteps, and do exactly like what they did.”

In fact, nowadays, most of Muslims have become like them in the association, as did God’s messenger foretell about.

I do not say they worship the idols, but they assign to God peers and equals that they worship apart from or besides God.

They have worshipped the graves of imams and sheikhs as had Christians worshipped the Christ and his mother.

They worship the graves of prophets and patrons, they prostrate themselves to such graves, go round about them, vow their vows to them, seeking the blessing of the dust of the graves, sacrificing to them their sacrifices, burning incent in their shrines, asking of the patrons their needs and forsaking God their Creator.

Moreover, they mention their imams with praise and glorification, more than they mention God, and seek their help in their standing up and sitting down and they have blotted [the name of] God from their memories.

They rejoice in their festivals and birthdays, cheer, clap hands, knock on drums, enraging the wrath of God their Lord. They have also exaggerated in loving them, attributed every grace to them and according to their blessing, and they have turned their faces away from God their Creator and Provider.

So now, return, O Mohammed’s nation, to your Lord with repentance, and forsake the worship of graves and do not associate anything with God: in order that He may forgive you and pardon your past sins, and fulfill His promise to your Prophet: to make your religion prevail over all religions, and your power over all others, and your blessings more than all the earth blessings, and He will increase your wealth and seed; surely He is All-Able to do that.

You may say that the Children of Israel worshipped the idols which are engraved stones, while we do not worship the stone, neither the gold nor the silver in the tombs of the imams!

However, reader of this book of mine, I say to you: Let us travel I and you together to Iran, to a village called Qadam-Gah situated between Tehran and Khorasan.

And now, as have we arrived, let us go to the shrine therein: look now to this large yard, the tremendous dome, the wide corridor, the big chandeliers and the spread-out carpets: do you see here any shrine, grave or cage of a grave? No, there is nothing like that.

So where is the shrine to be visited? I shall show to you what they worship in this wide corridor; come with me to the left side of this wall, and look to this yellow rock which is like the amber in its color and clearness; it is built within the wall; the length of the rock is about half a meter or less than that; in which they engraved a man’s feet, claiming that [Imam] Ali son of Moses Al-Ridha stood on this rock and his feet were inserted in it.

In this place as a whole, there is nothing other than this rock built in this wall, and they kiss it, seeking its blessing, rub on it with their hands then on their faces seeking to be blessed with it. Therefore, they have worshipped the stone as had the Children of Israel worshipped the Baal.

So this is one of the kinds of the association and one kind of statues which have become worshipped besides God.

What is the purpose from all this? The purpose is to gain money from visitors. So their likeness with such building is like the spider which makes its web as a trap for trapping insects; so likewise those who build the shrines take them as a means for gaining money from visitors.

A man who travelled to Turkey told me that there is in their museum, a rock on which also they claim that the donkey of the Christ trod and the hoof of the donkey was inserted in the rock.

^{11 f} About their patience and forbearance of the hurt for the sake of God, like:

^{11 g} She converted and submitted herself to God, so Pharaoh tormented her till death.

^{11 h} So God admitted her, following her death, into His Paradises or Gardens.

^{12 i} i.e. Gabriel admitted into it, one of the spirits that are with us in heaven, and so the Christ was formed.

The ‘spirit’ is the implication of Gabriel; the indication of this is His saying – be glorified – in the Quran 19: 17, which means:

(And We sent to her [Gabriel] Our 'spirit', who assumed before her the likeness of a well-made man.)

^{12 j} That are in the Tablets, which is the original Torah that Moses brought down from the mount Al-Tor [or Horeb]

^{12 k} The meaning: Everyone forbears patiently the hurt of disbelievers for the sake of God, and strives in His way, God will admit him into Paradise and he will attain dignity and honor, as did Mary daughter of Amram and the wife of Pharaoh attain.

By God's help, the interpretation of the soora 66 of the Quran is completed;

So (praise be to God: Lord of the worlds.)

[2] 1. يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ لِمَ تُحَرِّمُ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكَ تَبْتَغِي مَرْضَاتَ أَزْوَاجِكَ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

[3] 2. قَدْ فَرَضَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ تَحِلَّةَ أَيْمَانِكُمْ وَاللَّهُ مَوْلَاكُمْ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ

[4] 3. وَإِذْ أَسَرَّ النَّبِيُّ إِلَى بَعْضِ أَزْوَاجِهِ حَدِيثًا فَلَمَّا نَبَّأَتْ بِهِ وَأَظْهَرَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ عَرَّفَ بَعْضَهُ وَأَعْرَضَ عَن بَعْضٍ فَلَمَّا نَبَّأَهَا بِهِ قَالَتْ مَنْ أَنبَأَكَ هَذَا قَالَ نَبَّأَنِيَ الْعَلِيمُ الْخَبِيرُ

[5] 4. إِن تَتُوبَا إِلَى اللَّهِ فَقَدْ صَغَتْ قُلُوبُكُمَا وَإِن تَظَاهَرَا عَلَيْهِ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ مَوْلَاهُ وَجِبْرِيلُ وَصَالِحُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ ظَهِيرٌ

[6] 5. عَسَى رَبُّهُ إِن طَلَّقَكُنَّ أَن يُبْدِلَهُ أَزْوَاجًا خَيْرًا مِّنكُنَّ مُسْلِمَاتٍ مُّؤْمِنَاتٍ قَانِتَاتٍ تَائِبَاتٍ عَابِدَاتٍ سَائِحَاتٍ ثَيِّبَاتٍ وَأَبْكَارًا

[7] 6. يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ عَلَيْهَا مَلَائِكَةٌ غِلَاظٌ شِدَادٌ لَا يَعْصُونَ اللَّهَ مَا أَمَرَهُمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ

[8] 7. يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا الْيَوْمَ إِنَّمَا تُجْزَوْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

[9] 8. يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ يَوْمَ لَا يُخْزِي اللَّهُ النَّبِيَّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَى بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا إِنَّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

[10] 9. يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ جَاهِدِ الْكُفَّارَ وَالْمُنَافِقِينَ وَاغْلُظْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَمَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ

[11] 10. ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا اِمْرَأَةَ نُوحٍ وَاِمْرَأَةَ لُوطٍ كَانَتَا تَحْتَ عَبْدَيْنِ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا صَالِحَيْنِ فَخَانَتَاهُمَا فَلَمْ يُغْنِيَا عَنْهُمَا مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئًا وَقِيلَ ادْخُلَا النَّارَ مَعَ الدَّاخِلِينَ

[12] 11. وَضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اِمْرَأَةَ فِرْعَوْنَ إِذْ قَالَتْ رَبِّ ابْنِ لِي عِندَكَ بَيْتًا فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَنَجِّنِي مِن فِرْعَوْنَ وَعَمَلِهِ وَنَجِّنِي مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ

[13] 12. وَمَرْيَمَ ابْنَتَ عِمْرَانَ الَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِنَا وَصَدَّقَتْ بِكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّهَا وَكُتُبِهِ وَكَانَتْ مِنَ الْقَانِتِينَ