إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ جَآءُو بِٱلْإِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌۭ مِّنكُمْ ۚ لَا تَحْسَبُوهُ شَرًّۭا لَّكُم ۖ بَلْ هُوَ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ ۚ لِكُلِّ ٱمْرِئٍۢ مِّنْهُم مَّا ٱكْتَسَبَ مِنَ ٱلْإِثْمِ ۚ وَٱلَّذِى تَوَلَّىٰ كِبْرَهُۥ مِنْهُمْ لَهُۥ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌۭ
Indeed those who initiated the calumny are a group from among yourselves. Do not suppose it is bad thing for you. No, it is for your good. Each man among them bears [the onus for] his share in the sin, and as for him who assumed its major burden from among them, there is a great punishment for him.
لَّوْلَآ إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتُ بِأَنفُسِهِمْ خَيْرًۭا وَقَالُوا۟ هَٰذَآ إِفْكٌۭ مُّبِينٌۭ
When you [first] heard about it, why did not the faithful, men and women, think well of their folks, and say, ‘This is an obvious calumny’?
لَّوْلَا جَآءُو عَلَيْهِ بِأَرْبَعَةِ شُهَدَآءَ ۚ فَإِذْ لَمْ يَأْتُوا۟ بِٱلشُّهَدَآءِ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ هُمُ ٱلْكَٰذِبُونَ
Why did they not bring four witnesses to it? So when they could not bring the witnesses, they are liars in Allah’s sight.
وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُۥ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْءَاخِرَةِ لَمَسَّكُمْ فِى مَآ أَفَضْتُمْ فِيهِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ
Were it not for Allah’s grace and His mercy upon you in this world and the Hereafter, there would have befallen you a great punishment for what you ventured into,
إِذْ تَلَقَّوْنَهُۥ بِأَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَتَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِكُم مَّا لَيْسَ لَكُم بِهِۦ عِلْمٌۭ وَتَحْسَبُونَهُۥ هَيِّنًۭا وَهُوَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ عَظِيمٌۭ
when you were receiving it on your tongues, and were mouthing something of which you had no knowledge, supposing it to be a light matter, while it was a grave [matter] with Allah.
وَلَوْلَآ إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُم مَّا يَكُونُ لَنَآ أَن نَّتَكَلَّمَ بِهَٰذَا سُبْحَٰنَكَ هَٰذَا بُهْتَٰنٌ عَظِيمٌۭ
And why did you not, when you heard it, say, ‘It is not for us to say such a thing. [O Allah!] You are immaculate! This is a monstrous calumny!’
يَعِظُكُمُ ٱللَّهُ أَن تَعُودُوا۟ لِمِثْلِهِۦٓ أَبَدًا إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
Allah advises you lest you should ever repeat the like of it, should you be faithful.
وَيُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمُ ٱلْءَايَٰتِ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ
Allah clarifies the signs for you, and Allah is all-knowing, all-wise.
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يُحِبُّونَ أَن تَشِيعَ ٱلْفَٰحِشَةُ فِى ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْءَاخِرَةِ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
Indeed those who want indecency to spread among the faithful—there is a painful punishment for them in the world and the Hereafter, and Allah knows and you do not know.
وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُۥ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ رَءُوفٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ
Were it not for Allah’s grace and His mercy upon you, and that Allah is all-kind, all-merciful…
۞ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ خُطُوَٰتِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ ۚ وَمَن يَتَّبِعْ خُطُوَٰتِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ فَإِنَّهُۥ يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱلْمُنكَرِ ۚ وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُۥ مَا زَكَىٰ مِنكُم مِّنْ أَحَدٍ أَبَدًۭا وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُزَكِّى مَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌۭ
O you who have faith! Do not follow in Satan’s steps. Whoever follows in Satan’s steps [should know that] he indeed prompts [you to commit] indecent and wrongful acts. Were it not for Allah’s grace and His mercy upon you, not one of you would ever become pure. But Allah purifies whomever He wishes, and Allah is all-hearing, all-knowing.
وَلَا يَأْتَلِ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْفَضْلِ مِنكُمْ وَٱلسَّعَةِ أَن يُؤْتُوٓا۟ أُو۟لِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَٰكِينَ وَٱلْمُهَٰجِرِينَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَلْيَعْفُوا۟ وَلْيَصْفَحُوٓا۟ ۗ أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌ
The well-off and the opulent among you should not vow that they will not give [any longer] to the relatives and the needy, and to those who have migrated in the way of Allah, and let them excuse and forbear. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَرْمُونَ ٱلْمُحْصَنَٰتِ ٱلْغَٰفِلَٰتِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ لُعِنُوا۟ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْءَاخِرَةِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌۭ
Indeed those who accuse chaste and unwary faithful women shall be cursed in this world and the Hereafter, and there shall be a great punishment for them
يَوْمَ تَشْهَدُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَلْسِنَتُهُمْ وَأَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَرْجُلُهُم بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ
on the day when witness shall be given against them by their tongues, their hands, and their feet concerning what they used to do.
يَوْمَئِذٍۢ يُوَفِّيهِمُ ٱللَّهُ دِينَهُمُ ٱلْحَقَّ وَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْحَقُّ ٱلْمُبِينُ
On that day, Allah will pay them in full their due recompense, and they shall know that Allah is the Manifest Reality.
ٱلْخَبِيثَٰتُ لِلْخَبِيثِينَ وَٱلْخَبِيثُونَ لِلْخَبِيثَٰتِ ۖ وَٱلطَّيِّبَٰتُ لِلطَّيِّبِينَ وَٱلطَّيِّبُونَ لِلطَّيِّبَٰتِ ۚ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ مُبَرَّءُونَ مِمَّا يَقُولُونَ ۖ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌۭ وَرِزْقٌۭ كَرِيمٌۭ
Vicious women are for vicious men, and vicious men for vicious women. Good women are for good men, and good men for good women. These are absolved of what they say [about them]. For them is forgiveness and a noble provision.
English translation: Ali Quli Qarai
What the passage says. These sixteen verses answer a slander (al-ifk) cast against one of the Prophet's household by "a band from among you" (v.11). The Qurʾān rebukes the believers for not thinking well of their own and for not demanding four witnesses (vv.12–13), warns that repeating unverified talk is "grave with God" though reckoned light (vv.14–15), commands them to have said "this is a manifest calumny" (vv.16–17), threatens those "who love that indecency should spread among the believers" (v.19), forbids the well-off from swearing off charity to kin who erred (v.22), curses those who accuse "chaste, heedless, believing women" with the limbs testifying on the Day (vv.23–24), and closes with the maxim "vile for vile, good for good — those are cleared of what they say" (v.26).
A locus of divergence, rendered as-attributed. The sources split sharply on who was slandered, and each is presented exactly as it stands, without harmonizing. The published Enlightening Commentary [enlightening_commentary], Ṭabarsī [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] (via al-Zuhrī from ʿĀʾisha) and al-Ṭūsī [tusi_al_tibyan] narrate the received Sunnī occasion — the slander of ʿĀʾisha on the return from Banū al-Muṣṭaliq, with Ṣafwān b. al-Muʿaṭṭal, and the slanderers ʿAbdallāh b. Ubayy, Misṭaḥ, Ḥassān and Ḥamna. Al-Qummī [qummi] and al-Baḥrānī [bahrani_al_burhan] narrate the Shīʿī occasion — the slander of Māriya the Copt, mother of Ibrāhīm, accused (in these reports, by ʿāʾisha and the hypocrite women) of conceiving Ibrāhīm by Jurayḥ, whom ʿAlī, sent to investigate, found to be a castrated Copt servant, so that the Prophet said, "Praise be to God who turns evil away from us, the People of the House." Al-Mīzān [tabatabai_al_mizan] uniquely reports both narratives and then subjects both to criticism: he judges neither report fully to fit the verses' picture of an organized, drawn-out rumour, objects that the ʿĀʾisha reports imply the Prophet doubted his wife (which he holds incompatible with prophetic infallibility and with reason's demand that prophets' households be kept pure), and argues on the delayed-ḥadd difficulty besetting both sets of reports that the qadhf verse (vv.4–5) must post-date the ifk. These are rendered strictly as al-Mīzān's own analysis, not as the app's ruling.
How the present sources read the rest. On the "greater part" (v.11), Ṭabarsī and al-Ṭūsī identify ʿAbdallāh b. Ubayy, the hypocrite chief. On v.19, al-Qummī and al-Baḥrānī turn the verse into a broad ethic against broadcasting a believer's faults — al-Baḥrānī's chains (the "belie your hearing and sight… even if fifty swear," the "mire of khabāl," "conceal seventy grave sins") among the passage's richest material. On v.22, all note the Abū Bakr–Misṭaḥ occasion (or its more general sense), with Ṭabarsī and al-Ṭūsī drawing al-Jubbāʾī's point that a man of Badr could still sin. On v.26 the four classical readings (vile speech / deeds / women / abrogated) are laid out by Ṭabarsī and al-Ṭūsī; al-Qummī, al-Baḥrānī and al-Mīzān foreground the report from al-Bāqir and al-Ṣādiq pairing it with 24:3, and al-Mīzān closes with al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī's application of the verse to the partisans of ʿAlī versus Muʿāwiya — again, as that source's taʾwīl.
Sources present: tabarsi_majma_al_bayan, qummi, tusi_al_tibyan, bahrani_al_burhan, tabatabai_al_mizan, enlightening_commentary; silent: none.