Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2005)
so beware of Him;
and know that Allah is all-forgiving, all-forbearing.
236 There is no sin upon you if you divorce women
while you have not yet touched them
or settled a dowry for them.
Yet provide for them
— the well-off according to his capacity,
and the poorly-off according to his capacity —
with a sustenance that is honourable,
an obligation on the virtuous.
237 And if you divorce them before you touch them,
and you have already settled a dowry for them,
then [pay them] half of what you have settled,
unless they forgo it,
or someone in whose hand is the marriage tie forgoes it.1
And to forgo is nearer to Godwariness;
so do not forget graciousness among yourselves.
Indeed Allah sees best what you do.
238 Be watchful of your prayers,
and [especially] the middle prayer,2
and stand in obedience 3 to Allah;
239 and should you fear [a danger],
then [pray] on foot or mounted,
and when you are safe,
1 That is, the wife’s guardian or the husband. The bride’s guardian may forgo the half of the dowry which is her right to receive, or the husband may refrain from demanding half of the dowry he has already paid.
2 That is, the ẓuhr (noon) prayer, according to several traditions narrated from the Imams of the Prophet’s Household, as well as many traditions narrated in the Sunnī sources (see al-Tafsīr al-Burhān, al-Ṭabarī’s Jāmi‘ al-Bayān). According to other interpretations, the phrase ‘the middle prayer’ refers to the ‘aṣr (afternoon), maghrib (sunset) or fajr (dawn) prayer.
3 Or ‘stand humbly’ (or ‘prayerfully,’ ‘devoutly’) before Allah.
