Al-Qur'an Surah An-Nur Verse 16

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And why, when you heard of it, did you not say, “It is not for us to speak about this. Pure are You (O Allah). This is a terrible calumny.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

If only you had said upon hearing it, “How can we speak about such a thing! Glory be to You ˹O Lord˺! This is a heinous slander!”

Ruwwad Translation Center

If only you had said when you heard it, “How can we speak about such a thing! Glory be to You [O Allah]! This is a monstrous slander!”

A. J. Arberry

And why, when you heard it, did you not say, 'It is not for us to speak about this; glory be to Thee! This is a mighty calumny'?

Abdul Haleem

When you heard the lie, why did you not say, ‘We should not repeat this- God forbid!- It is a monstrous slander’?

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And wherefore, when ye heard it, did ye not say: it is not for us to speak thereof, hallowed be Thou! that is a slander mighty!

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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!"

Abul Ala Maududi

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."

Ahmed Ali

Why did you not say when you heard it: "It is not for us to speak of it? God preserve us, it is a great calumny!"

Ahmed Raza Khan

And why was it not that, when you heard it, you would have said, “It does not befit us to speak regarding this; Purity is to You, O Allah – this is a great accusation.”

Ali Quli Qarai

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!’

Ali Ünal

Why did you not say, when you heard of it, "It is not for us to speak of this. All-Glorified are You (O God)! This is an awesome slander."

Amatul Rahman Omar

And why did you not say as soon as you heard of it, `It does not behove us to talk like this. Holy are You (O Gracious God). This is a monstrous calumny,´

English Literal

And if only when you want/listened (to) it, you said: "It (is) not to be for us that we converse/speak with that, Your praise/glory, that (is) great falsehood/slander ."

Faridul Haque

And why was it not that, when you heard it, you would have said, "It does not befit us to speak regarding this; Purity is to You, O Allah – this is a great accusation."

Hamid S. Aziz

Behold, you received it with your tongues, and spoke with your mouths what you had no knowledge of, and deemed it a light thing, while it was most grave in the sight of Allah.

Hilali & Khan

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."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

When you received it on your tongues and spoke with your mouths that of which you had no knowledge, and you deemed it a trifle, while with Allah it was serious.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And why did you not, when you heard it, say: It does not beseem us that we should talk of it; glory be to Thee! this is a great calumny?

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

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.

Muhammad Sarwar

Would that on hearing this report, you had said, "We have nothing to say about it. God forbid! It is a serious accusation."

Qaribullah & Darwish

When you heard it, why did you not say: 'It is not right for us to speak of this. Exaltations to You! This is a mighty slander'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

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."

Wahiduddin Khan

When you heard it, why did you not say, "It is not right for us to speak of this. God forbid! This is a monstrous slander."

Talal Itani

When you heard it, you should have said, “It is not for us to repeat this. By Your glory, this is a serious slander.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And why, when you heard it, did you not say, `It is not for us to speak about this. Glory be to You! -- this [exclamation] here is meant to indicate amazement -- This is an awful calumny?', [an awful] lie?

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Further Discipline

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;

إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى تَجَاوَزَ لاُِمَّتِي عَمَّا حَدَّثَتْ بِهِ أَنْفُسُهَا مَا لَمْ تَقُلْ أَوْ تَعْمَلْ

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;

وَلَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُم مَّا يَكُونُ لَنَا أَن نَّتَكَلَّمَ بِهَذَا

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.

سُبْحَانَكَ هَذَا بُهْتَانٌ عَظِيمٌ



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