Those who came with the slander are a band of you; do not reckon it evil for you; rather it is good for you. Every man of them shall have the sin that he has earned charged to him; and whosoever of them took upon himself the greater part of it, him there awaits a mighty chastisement. 11 When you heard of it, why did not the believing men and believing women think well of their own people, and say, "This is a manifest slander?" 12 Wherefore did they not bring four witnesses thereof! Then when they brought not the witnesses, those! with Allah they are the liars. 13 Were it not for the grace and mercy of Allah on you, in this world and the Hereafter, a grievous penalty would have seized you in that ye rushed glibly into this affair. 14 When you were propagating it with your tongues, and uttering with your mouths that whereof you had no knowledge, you counted it a little thing, while with Allah it was very great. 15 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'? 16 Allah exhorteth you lest ye may ever revert to the like thereof, if ye are believers indeed. 17 God explains to you His revelations. He is All-knowing and All-wise. 18 Those who love that indecency should be spread abroad concerning them that believe -- there awaits them a painful chastisement in the present world and the world to come; and God knows, and you know not. 19 Had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy unto you, and that Allah is Clement, Merciful, (ye had been undone). 20