Quran 33:37 — Surah Al-Ahzaab Ayah 37 | Arabic, Translation & Tafsir

وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍۢ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَض...

33:37

Al-Ahzaab

مَّا كَانَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ مِنْ حَرَجٍۢ فِيمَا فَ...

وَإِذْ تَقُولُ لِلَّذِىٓ أَنْعَمَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَأَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْسِكْ عَلَيْكَ زَوْجَكَ وَٱتَّقِ ٱللَّهَ وَتُخْفِى فِى نَفْسِكَ مَا ٱللَّهُ مُبْدِيهِ وَتَخْشَى ٱلنَّاسَ وَٱللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَن تَخْشَىٰهُ ۖ فَلَمَّا قَضَىٰ زَيْدٌۭ مِّنْهَا وَطَرًۭا زَوَّجْنَٰكَهَا لِكَىْ لَا يَكُونَ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ حَرَجٌۭ فِىٓ أَزْوَٰجِ أَدْعِيَآئِهِمْ إِذَا قَضَوْا۟ مِنْهُنَّ وَطَرًۭا ۚ وَكَانَ أَمْرُ ٱللَّهِ مَفْعُولًۭا

Wa iz taqoolu lillazeee an'amal laahu 'alaihi wa an'amta 'alaihi amsik 'alaika zawjaka wattaqil laaha wa tukhfee fee nafsika mal laahu mubdeehi wa takhshan naasa wallaahu ahaqqu an takhshaah; falammaa qadaa Zaidum minhaa wataran zawwajnaa kahaa likay laa yakoona 'alal mu'mineena harajun feee azwaaji ad'iyaaa'ihim izaa qadaw minhunna wataraa; wa kaana amrul laahi af'oolaa

And [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor, "Keep your wife and fear Allah," while you concealed within yourself that which Allah is to disclose. And you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him. So when Zayd had no longer any need for her, We married her to you in order that there not be upon the believers any discomfort concerning the wives of their adopted sons when they no longer have need of them. And ever is the command of Allah accomplished.

Related Tafsir

Ibn Kathir

Allah's rebuke to His Messenger and the Story of Zayd and Zaynab

Allah tells what His Prophet said to his freed slave Zayd bin Harithah, may Allah be pleased with him, who was the one on whom Allah had bestowed grace, i.e., through Islam and following the Messenger .

وَأَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِ

(and you have done a favor to him) means, by freeing him from slavery. And he was a great leader, held in high esteem and beloved by the Prophet . He was known as the beloved, and his son Usamah was known as the beloved son of the beloved. `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ never sent him on a campaign but he appointed him as its commander, and if he had lived after him he would have appointed him as his Khalifah." This was recorded by Imam Ahmad. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had given him in marriage to the daughter of his paternal aunt, Zaynab bint Jahsh Al-Asadiyyah, may Allah be pleased with her, whose mother was Umaymah bint `Abd Al-Muttalib. For her dowery he gave her ten Dinars, sixty Dirhams, a veil, a cloak and a shirt, fifty Mudds of food and ten Mudds of dates. This was stated by Muqatil bin Hayyan. She stayed with him for a year, more or less, then problems arose between them. Zayd complained about her to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who told him, "Stay with your wife and have Taqwa of Allah." Allah says:

وَتُخْفِى فِى نِفْسِكَ مَا اللَّهُ مُبْدِيهِ وَتَخْشَى النَّاسَ وَاللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَن تَخْشَـهُ

(But you did hide in yourself that which Allah will make manifest, you did fear the people whereas Allah had a better right that you should fear Him.) Ibn Jarir narrated that `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said, "If Muhammad ﷺ were to have concealed anything that was revealed to him of the Book of Allah, he would have concealed this Ayah:

وَتُخْفِى فِى نِفْسِكَ مَا اللَّهُ مُبْدِيهِ وَتَخْشَى النَّاسَ وَاللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَن تَخْشَـهُ

(But you did hide in yourself that which Allah will make manifest, you did fear the people whereas Allah had a better right that you should fear Him.)"

فَلَمَّا قَضَى زَيْدٌ مِّنْهَا وَطَراً زَوَّجْنَـكَهَا

(So, when Zayd had completed his aim with her, We gave her to you in marriage,) meaning, `when her marriage to Zayd was over and he had separated from her, We married her to you,' and the One Who was her Wali (guardian) in this marriage was Allah Himself, in the sense that He revealed to the Prophet that he should go in unto her without any Wali, contractual agreement, dowery or witnesses among mankind. Imam Ahmad recorded that Thabit said that Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "When Zaynab's `Iddah finished, may Allah be pleased with her, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Zayd bin Harithah,

«اذْهَبْ فَاذْكُرْهَا عَلَي»

(Go to her and tell her about me (that I want to marry her).) So, he went to her and found her kneading dough. He (Zayd) said, `When I saw her I felt such respect for her that I could not even look at her and tell her what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had said, so I turned my back to her and stepped aside, and said, `O Zaynab! Rejoice, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has sent me to propose marriage to you on his behalf.' She said, `I will not do anything until I pray to my Lord, may He be glorified.' So she went to the place where she usually prayed. Then Qur'an was revealed and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came and entered without permission. We were there when she entered upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and for the wedding feast we offered bread and meat. Then the people left, and some men stayed behind conversing in the house after they had eaten. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out and I followed him. He started to go around all the apartments of his wives, greeting them, and they said, `O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, how did you find your (new) wife' I do not know whether I or someone else told him that those people had left, so he went and entered the house, and I went to enter after him, but he drew the curtain between himself and I. The ruling of Hijab was revealed and he exhorted the people as Allah had exhorted them:

لاَ تَدْخُلُواْ بُيُوتَ النَّبِىِّ إِلاَّ أَن يُؤْذَنَ لَكُمْ

(Enter not the Prophet's houses, unless permission is given to you)." This was also recorded by Muslim and An-Nasa'i. Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, recorded that Anas bin Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Zaynab bint Jahsh, may Allah be pleased with her, used to boast to the other wives of the Prophet , saying, `Your families arranged your marriages, but Allah arranged my marriage from above the seven heavens."' In (our Tafsir of) Surat An-Nur we mentioned that Muhammad bin `Abdullah bin Jahsh said: "Zaynab and `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with them, were boasting to one another; Zaynab, may Allah be pleased with her, said, `I am the one whose marriage was revealed from above the heaven.' `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said, `I am the one whose innocence was revealed from heaven.' So, Zaynab conceded that, may Allah be pleased with her."

لِكَىْ لاَ يَكُونَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ حَرَجٌ فِى أَزْوَاجِ أَدْعِيَآئِهِمْ إِذَا قَضَوْاْ مِنْهُنَّ وَطَراً

(so that there may be no difficulty to the believers in respect of the wives of their adopted sons when the latter have no desire to keep them.) means, `We permitted you to marry her, and We did that so that there would no longer be any difficulty for the believers with regard to their marrying the ex-wives of their adopted sons.' Before prophethood, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had adopted Zayd bin Harithah, may Allah be pleased with him, and he was known as Zayd, the son of Muhammad ﷺ. Allah put a stop to this when He said:

وَمَا جَعَلَ أَدْعِيَآءَكُمْ أَبْنَآءَكُمْ

(nor has He made your adopted sons your real sons) until:

ادْعُوهُمْ لاًّبَآئِهِمْ هُوَ أَقْسَطُ عِندَ اللَّهِ

(Call them after their fathers, that is more just with Allah) (33:4-5). Then this was confirmed and made even clearer by the marriage of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to Zaynab bint Jahsh, may Allah be pleased with her, when Zayd bin Harithah divorced her. Allah says in Ayat At-Tahrim:

وَحَلَـئِلُ أَبْنَآئِكُمُ الَّذِينَ مِنْ أَصْلَـبِكُمْ

(the wives of your sons from your own loins) (4:23) which specifically excludes adopted sons. This custom (of adopting sons) was widespread among them.

وَكَانَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ مَفْعُولاً

(And Allah's command must be fulfilled.) means, `this that has happened was decreed by Allah and was inevitable.' Allah knew that Zaynab, may Allah be pleased with her, would become one of the wives of the Prophet .

View Full Tafsir: Allah's rebuke to His Messenger and the Story of Zayd and ZaynabAyahs 37–37

"If the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was to have concealed anything that was revealed to him, then he would have concealed these Ayat: 'When you said to him on whom Allah has bestowed grace (meaning by Islam); and you have done a favor (meaning that he was a slave and you freed him) "Keep your wife to yourself, and have Taqwa of Allah." But you did hide in yourself that which Allah will make manifest, you did fear the people whereas Allah had better right that you should fear Him' up to His saying: 'And Allah's command must be fulfilled (33:37).' They said: 'He married his wife's son, so Allah revealed: 'Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Last of the Prophets (33:40).' The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had taken (adopted) him as a son when he was small, and he remained being called 'Zaid bin Muhammad' until he grew up to adulthood, then Allah revealed: 'Call them by their fathers, then your brothers in religion and your Mawali (33:5). (Say) So-and-so, the Mawla of so-and-so, and; So-and-so, the brother of so-and-so. 'That is more just with Allah' meaning that doing that is more just to Allah."

Jami` at-Tirmidhi #3296Narrated Anas:

"When this Ayah was revealed: 'But you did hide in yourself that which Allah will make manifest... (33:37)' about Zainab bint Jahsh, Zaid had come to the Prophet (ﷺ) complaining, and he wanted to divorce her, so he consulted with the Prophet (ﷺ). The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'Keep your wife to yourself, and have Taqwa of Allah (33:37).'"

Sahih al-Bukhari #7137Narrated Anas:

Zaid bin Haritha came to the Prophet (ﷺ) complaining about his wife. The Prophet (ﷺ) kept on saying (to him), "Be afraid of Allah and keep your wife." Aisha said, "If Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) were to conceal anything (of the Qur'an he would have concealed this Verse." Zainab used to boast before the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) and used to say, "You were given in marriage by your families, while I was married (to the Prophet) by Allah from over seven Heavens." And Thabit recited, "The Verse:-- 'But (O Muhammad) you did hide in your heart that which Allah was about to make manifest, you did fear the people,' (33.37) was revealed in connection with Zainab and Zaid bin Haritha."

Sahih Muslim #345Dawud reported on the same authorities the hadith as narrated above by Ibn 'Uliyya and added:

She ('A'isha) said: If Muhammad were to conceal anything which was sent to him, he would have certainly concealed this verse:" And when thou saidst to him on whom Allah had conferred favour and thou too had conferred favour: Keep thy wife to thyself and fear Allah, and thou wast concealing in thy heart that which Allah was going to disclose, and thou wast fearing men while Allah has a better right that thou shouldst fear Him."

Sahih al-Bukhari #4582Narrated Aisha:

I used to look down upon those ladies who had given themselves to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and I used to say, "Can a lady give herself (to a man)?" But when Allah revealed: "You (O Muhammad) can postpone (the turn of) whom you will of them (your wives), and you may receive any of them whom you will; and there is no blame on you if you invite one whose turn you have set aside (temporarily).' (33.51) I said (to the Prophet), "I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires."