Surah 65. At-Talaq

1.

O PROPHET! When you¹ [intend to] divorce women, divorce them with a view to the waiting-period appointed for them,² and reckon the period [carefully], and be conscious of God, your Sustainer. Do not expel them from their homes;³ and neither shall they [be made to] leave⁴ unless they become openly guilty of immoral conduct.⁵ These, then, are the bounds set by God - and he who transgresses the bounds set by God does indeed sin against himself: [for, O man, although] thou knowest it not, after that [first breach] God may well cause something new to come about.⁶

See 2:228 and the corresponding notes, especially note [215]. - Most of the great jurists hold the view that the required three pronouncements of divorce, which make it final and irrevocable (cf. first paragraph of 2:229 , must be made singly, i.e., spaced over the waiting-period of three months, so as to give the husband time to reconsider his intention, and thus to prevent a hasty act which might be subsequently regretted. This provision is in tune with the well-authenticated saying of the Prophet, "In the sight of God, the most hateful of all things allowed (abghad al-halali) is divorce" (Abu Da'ud, on the authority of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar). In other words, divorce is just barely permissible, and must not be resorted to unless it is absolutely evident that nothing can save the marriage from utter hopelessness.

I.e. during the waiting-period. As shown in verse {6} below, during that period the husband is fully responsible for the maintenance of the wife whom he is divorcing in accordance with the standard of living observed during their married life.

E.g., by their husbands' failure to provide for their maintenance. (This particular injunction does not imply a prohibition of a divorced woman's leaving her home of her own free will.)

Implying that in such a case she may be lawfully turned out of her marital home. Regarding the term fahishah ("immoral conduct"), see surah {4}, note [14].

According to Ibn 'Abbas (as quoted by Razi) and several other authorities (see Ibn Kathir), this is an allusion to the possibility of reconciliation and, hence, a resumption of marital relations before the divorce becomes final (see surah {2}, second part of verse {228} and first paragraph of {229}).

2.

And so, when they are about to reach the end of their waiting-term, either retain them in a fair manner or part with them in a fair manner. And let two persons of [known] probity from among your own community⁷ witness [what you have decided]; and do yourselves bear true witness before God:⁸ thus are admonished all who believe in God and the Last Day. And unto everyone who is conscious of God, He [always] grants a way out [of unhappiness],

Lit., "from yourselves": i.e., persons who are sufficiently acquainted with the circumstances of the case.

Sc., that the relevant decision has not been made in a frivolous spirit.

3.

and provides for him in a manner beyond all expectation;⁹ and for everyone who places his trust in God, He [alone] is enough. Verily, God always attains to His purpose: [and] indeed, unto everything has God appointed its [term and] measure.

Lit., "whence he does not expect". It is to be noted that the relative pronoun man ("whoever" or "everyone who") - although grammatically requiring the use of the masculine gender in the verbs or pronouns to which it relates - applies to persons of either sex, as is evidenced by innumerable passages in the Qur'an: hence, the present passage, too, including the sentence that follows, must be understood as relating to the women as well as to the men in question; and the same holds good of verses {5} and {11} below.

4.

Now as for such of your women as are beyond the age of monthly courses, as well as for such as do not have any courses,¹⁰ their waiting-period - if you have any doubt [about it] - shall be three [calendar] months; and as for those who are with child, the end of their waiting-term shall come when they deliver their burden. And for everyone who is conscious of God, He makes it easy to obey His commandment:¹¹

I.e., for any physiological reason whatever.

Lit., "He grants ease out of his condition" - i.e., makes his condition easy: the implication being that God-consciousness makes it easy for the believer to submit gladly to whatever God may decree.

5.

[for] all this is God's commandment, which He has bestowed upon you from on high. And unto everyone who is conscious of God will He pardon [some of] his bad deeds, and will grant him a vast reward.

6.

[Hence,] let the women [who are undergoing a waiting-period] live in the same manner as you live yourselves¹² in accordance with your means; and do not harass them with a view to making their lives a misery. And if they happen to be with child, spend freely on them until they deliver their burden; and if they nurse your offspring [after the divorce has become final], give them their [due] recompense; and take counsel with one another in a fair manner [about the child's future]. And if both of you find it difficult [that the mother should nurse the child],¹³ let another woman nurse it on behalf of him [who has begotten it].¹⁴

Lit., "let them dwell wherever you dwell" - i.e., tropically, "let them share fully your standard of living".

E.g., for reasons of her health, or because she intends to remarry, etc.

I.e., at the father's expense: see 2:233 and the corresponding notes [219] and [220].

7.

[In all these respects,] let him who has ample means spend in accordance with¹⁵ his amplitude; and let him whose means of subsistence are scanty spend in accordance with what God has given him: God does not burden any human being with more than He has given him - [and it may well be that] God will grant, after hardship, ease.

Lit., "out of".

8.

AND HOW MANY a community has turned with disdain from the commandment of its Sustainer and His apostles!¹⁶ - whereupon We called them all to account with an accounting severe, and caused them to suffer with a suffering unnameable:

This connects with, and stresses, the fact that all the preceding injunctions are divinely ordained.

9.

and thus they had to taste the evil outcome of their own doing:¹⁷ for, [in this world,] the end of their doings was ruin,

See note [4] on 64:5 .

10.

[the while] God has readied for them [yet more] suffering severe [in the life to come]. Hence, remain conscious of God, O you who are endowed with insight - [you] who have attained to faith! God has indeed bestowed on you reminder from on high:

11.

[He has sent] an apostle who conveys unto you God's clear messages, so that He might lead those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds out of the depths of darkness into the light. And whoever believes in God and does what is right and just, him will He admit into gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide beyond the count of time: indeed, a most goodly provision will God have granted him!

12.

GOD is He who has created seven heavens,¹⁸ and, like them, [the many aspects] of the earth. Through all of them flows down from on high, unceasingly, His [creative] will,¹⁹ so that you might come to know that God has the power to will anything, and that God encompasses all things with His knowledge.

See surah {2}, note [20].

Lit., "the command". The verbal form yatanazzalu implies recurrence and continuity; its combination with the noun al-amr reflects the concept of God's unceasing creative activity.