Indeed those who have brought this great accusation are a group from among you; do not consider it bad for you; on the contrary, it is good for you; for each man among them is the sin that he has earned; and for the one among them who played the greatest part in it – for him is a terrible punishment. 11 Why did not the believing men and the believing women, when you heard it, think well of their own people, and say: This is an evident falsehood? 12 Why did they not produce four witnesses? If they could not produce any witnesses, they were indeed liars in the sight of God! 13 Were it not for Allah's grace and mercy towards you in this world and in the Hereafter, a painful scourge would have visited you because of the things in which you were involved. 14 Behold, ye received it on your tongues, and said out of your mouths things of which ye had no knowledge; and ye thought it to be a light matter, while it was most serious in the sight of Allah. 15 And wherefore, when ye heard it, did ye not say: it is not for us to speak thereof, hallowed be Thou! that is a slander mighty! 16 Allah advises you never to speak like this again, if you have faith. 17 God explains His commands to you clearly, for God is all-knowing and all-wise. 18 Those who desire that indecencies should spread among the believers, will have a painful chastisement in this world and the Hereafter. God knows, and you do not know. 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