Quran 4:20 — An-Nisaa, verse 20
M. A. S. Abdel Haleem · selected translation
If you wish to replace one wife with another, do not take any of her bride-gift back, even if you have given her a great amount of gold.
وَإِنْ أَرَدْتُمُ اسْتِبْدَالَ زَوْجٍ مَكَانَ زَوْجٍ وَآتَيْتُمْ إِحْدَاهُنَّ قِنْطَارًا فَلَا تَأْخُذُوا مِنْهُ شَيْئًا ۚ أَتَأْخُذُونَهُ بُهْتَانًا وَإِثْمًا مُبِينًا
wa-in aradttumu is'tib'dāla zawjin makāna zawjin waātaytum iḥ'dāhunna qinṭāran falā takhudhū min'hu shayan atakhudhūnahu buh'tānan wa-ith'man mubīnan
Other translations
- A. J. Arberry
- And if you desire to exchange a wife in place of another, and you have given to one a hundredweight, take of it nothing. What, will you take it by way of calumny and manifest sin?
- Muhammad Asad
- But if you desire to give up a wife and to take another in her stead, do not take away anything of what you have given the first one, however much it may have been. Would you, perchance, take it away by slandering her and thus committing a manifest sin?
- Sahih International
- But if you want to replace one wife with another and you have given one of them a great amount [in gifts], do not take [back] from it anything. Would you take it in injustice and manifest sin?
Words
| # | Word | Meaning | Root |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | وَإِنْwa-in | And if | — |
| 2 | أَرَدتُّمُaradttumu | you intend | رود |
| 3 | ٱسْتِبْدَالَis'tib'dāla | replacing | بدل |
| 4 | زَوْجٍۢzawjin | a wife | زوج |
| 5 | مَّكَانَmakāna | (in) place | كون |
| 6 | زَوْجٍۢzawjin | (of) a wife | زوج |
| 7 | وَءَاتَيْتُمْwaātaytum | and you have given | أتي |
| 8 | إِحْدَىٰهُنَّiḥ'dāhunna | one of them | أحد |
| 9 | قِنطَارًۭاqinṭāran | heap (of gold) | قنطر |
| 10 | فَلَاfalā | then (do) not | — |
| 11 | تَأْخُذُوا۟takhudhū | take away | أخذ |
| 12 | مِنْهُmin'hu | from it | — |
| 13 | شَيْـًٔا ۚshayan | anything | شيأ |
| 14 | أَتَأْخُذُونَهُۥatakhudhūnahu | Would you take it | أخذ |
| 15 | بُهْتَـٰنًۭاbuh'tānan | (by) slander | بهت |
| 16 | وَإِثْمًۭاwa-ith'man | and a sin | أثم |
| 17 | مُّبِينًۭاmubīnan | open | بين |