4.1 . O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women . Be careful of your duty toward Allah in Whom ye claim ( your rights ) of one another , and toward the wombs ( that bare you ) . Lo! Allah hath been a Watcher over you .

4.2 . Give unto orphans their wealth . Exchange not the good for the bad ( in your management thereof ) nor absorb their wealth into your own wealth . Lo! that would be a great sin .

4.3 . And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans , marry of the women , who seem good to you , two or three or four ; and if ye fear that ye cannot do justice ( to so many ) then one ( only ) or ( the captives ) that your right hands possess . Thus it is more likely that ye will not do injustice .

4.4 . And give unto the women , ( whom ye marry ) free gift of their marriage portions ; but if they of their own accord remit unto you a part thereof , then ye are welcome to absorb it ( in your wealth ) .

4.5 . Give not unto the foolish ( what is in ) your ( keeping of their ) wealth , which Allah hath given you to maintain ; but feed and clothe them from it , and speak kindly unto them .

4.6 . Prove orphans till they reach the marriageable age ; then , if ye find them of sound judgment , deliver over unto them their fortune ; and devour it not squandering and in haste lest they should grow up . Whoso ( of the guardians ) is rich , let him abstain generously ( from taking of the property of orphans ) ; and whoso is poor let him take thereof in reason ( for his guardianship ) . And when ye deliver up their fortune unto orphans , have ( the transaction ) witnessed in their presence . Allah sufficeth as a Reckoner .

4.7 . Unto the men ( of a family ) belongeth a share of that which parents and near kindred leave , and unto the women a share of that which parents and near kindred leave , whether it be little or much a legal share .

4.8 . And when kinsfolk and orphans and the needy are present at the devision ( of the heritage ) , bestow on them therefrom and speak kindly unto them .

4.9 . And let those fear ( in their behavior toward orphans ) who if they left behind them weak offspring would be afraid for them . So let them mind their duty to Allah , and speak justly .

4.10 . Lo! Those who devour the wealth of orphans wrongfully , they do but swallow fire into their bellies , and they will be exposed to burning flame .

4.11 . Allah chargeth you concerning ( the provision for ) your children : to the male the equivalent of the portion of two females , and if there be women more than two , then theirs is two-thirds of the inheritance , and if there be one ( only ) then the half . And to his parents a sixth of the inheritance , if he have a son ; and if he have no son and his parents are his heirs , then to his mother appertaineth the third ; and if he have brethren , then to his mother appertaineth the sixth , after any legacy he may have bequeathed , or debt ( hath been paid ) . Your parents or your children : Ye know not which of them is nearer unto you in usefulness . It is an injunction from Allah . Lo! Allah is Knower , rise .

4.12 . And unto you belongeth a half of that which your wives leave , if they have no child ; but if they have a child then unto you the fourth of that which they leave , after any legacy they may have bequeathed , or debt ( they may have contracted , hath been paid ) . And unto them belongeth the fourth of that which ye leave if ye have no child , but if ye have a child then the eighth of that which ye leave , after any legacy ye may have bequeathed , or debt ( ye may have contracted , hath been paid ) . And if a man or a woman have a distant heir ( having left neither parent nor child ) , and he ( or she ) have a brother or a sister ( only on the mother ' s side ) then to each of them twain ( the brother and the sister ) the sixth , and if they be more than two , then they shall be sharers in the third , after any legacy that may have been bequeathed or debt ( contracted ) not injuring ( the heirs by willing away more than a third of the heritage ) hath been paid . A commandment from Allah . Allah is knower , Indulgent .

4.13 . These are the limits ( imposed by ) Allah . Whoso obeyeth Allah and His messenger , He will make him enter Gardens underneath which rivers flow , where such will dwell for ever . That will be the great success .

4.14 . And whoso disobeyeth Allah and His messenger and transgresseth His limits , He will make him enter Fire , where such will dwell for ever ; his will be a shameful doom .

4.15 . As for those of your women who are guilty of lewdness , call to witness four of you against them . And if they testify ( to the truth of the allegation ) then confine them to the houses until death take them or ( until ) Allah appoint for them a way ( through new legislation ) .

4.16 . And as for the two of you who are guilty thereof , punish them both . And if they repent and improve , then let them be . Lo! Allah is Relenting , Merciful .

4.17 . Forgiveness is only incumbent on Allah toward those who do evil in ignorance ( and ) then turn quickly ( in repentance ) to Allah . These are they toward whom Allah relenteth . Allah is ever Knower , Wise .

4.18 . The forgiveness is not for those who do ill deeds until , when death attendeth upon one of them , he saith : Lo! I repent now ; nor yet for those who die while they are disbelievers . For such We have prepared a painful doom .

4.19 . O ye who believe! It is not lawful for you forcibly to inherit the women ( of your deceased kinsmen ) , nor ( that ) ye should put constraint upon them that ye may take away a part of that which ye have given them , unless they be guilty of flagrant lewdness . But consort with them in kindness , for if ye hate them it may happen that ye hate a thing wherein Allah hath placed much good .

4.20 . And if ye wish to exchange one wife for another and ye have given unto one of them a sum of money ( however great ) , take nothing from it . Would ye take it by the way of calumny and open wrong?