بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِىُّ إِذَا طَلَّقْتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فَطَلِّقُوهُنَّ لِعِدَّتِهِنَّ وَأَحْصُوا۟ ٱلْعِدَّةَ ۖ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ رَبَّكُمْ ۖ لَا تُخْرِجُوهُنَّ مِنۢ بُيُوتِهِنَّ وَلَا يَخْرُجْنَ إِلَّآ أَن يَأْتِينَ بِفَٰحِشَةٍۢ مُّبَيِّنَةٍۢ ۚ وَتِلْكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَتَعَدَّ حُدُودَ ٱللَّهِ فَقَدْ ظَلَمَ نَفْسَهُۥ ۚ لَا تَدْرِى لَعَلَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحْدِثُ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ أَمْرًۭا
O Prophet, when you [Muslims] divorce women, divorce them for [the commencement of] their waiting period and keep count of the waiting period, and fear Allah, your Lord. Do not turn them out of their [husbands'] houses, nor should they [themselves] leave [during that period] unless they are committing a clear immorality. And those are the limits [set by] Allah. And whoever transgresses the limits of Allah has certainly wronged himself. You know not; perhaps Allah will bring about after that a [different] matter.
Introduction
This is āyah 1 of Sūrat At-Talaaq (The Divorce), the 99th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 28. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 99 of 114
- Surah
- At-Talaaq (65)
O Prophet, when you divorce women, divorce them for the set period. This explains the ruling on divorce. Although the Shariah permits divorce, God hates it, for it is the cause of separation. MuṣṬafā said, “Among the permitted things most hateful to God is divorce.” He also said, “Take spouses and do not divorce, for the Throne shudders at divorce. Whenever a woman asks her husband for divorce, the ease of the Garden is forbidden to her.” He is saying, “Get married and do not seek divorce, for the Tremendous Throne trembles at divorce and separa- tion. Any woman who seeks divorce from her husband without his having harmed her or made her suffer will never smell the scent of the eight paradises.” Marriage is the cause of joining, and God loves union. Divorce is the cause of parting, and God hates separation. The wall of separation's world is affliction, and the water of separation's ocean is the bloody tears of remorse. The day of separation has no sun and the night of severance no day. If there were any drink more bitter than separation, it would have been placed on that rejected one of the Threshold, Iblis. A bowl was prepared of curses, the drink of severance and separation was poured into it, and it was put in his hand. He drank it all down, not leaving a drop. That was expressed like this: “Upon thee shall be My curse until the Day of Doom” [38:78]. The great ones of the religion have said that two goblets appeared from the Unseen. One was And he was one of the unbelievers [2:34] and the other was He is Ever-Merciful toward the faithful [33:43]. The cup of unbelief was full of the drink of separation and the cup of mercy full of the drink of union. He sent the cup of mercy on the hand of welcome with the escort of bounty to the spirit of MuṣṬafā the Arab. God says, “Surely God's bounty upon thee is magnificent” [4:113]. The cup of unbelief was given by the hand of justice with the description of abasement to Iblis the abandoned. It was said, “I shall surely fill Gehenna with thee and whosoever follows thee, all together” [38:85]. Rābiʿa ʿAdawī said, “Unbelief has the flavor of separation, and faith has the pleasure of union.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
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