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An-Nisa 4:3

وَإِنۡ خِفۡتُمۡ أَلَّا تُقۡسِطُواْ فِي ٱلۡيَتَٰمَىٰ فَٱنكِحُواْ مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ مَثۡنَىٰ وَثُلَٰثَ وَرُبَٰعَۖ فَإِنۡ خِفۡتُمۡ أَلَّا تَعۡدِلُواْ فَوَٰحِدَةً أَوۡ مَا مَلَكَتۡ أَيۡمَٰنُكُمۡۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَدۡنَىٰٓ أَلَّا تَعُولُواْ

If you fear you might fail to give orphan women their ˹due˺ rights ˹if you were to marry them˺, then marry other women of your choice—two, three, or four. But if you are afraid you will fail to maintain justice, then ˹content yourselves with˺ one or those ˹bondwomen˺ in your possession. This way you are less likely to commit injustice.

Word by word

وَإِنۡ
wa-in
And if
Vocabulary
خِفۡتُمۡ
khif'tum
you fear
Vocabulary
Root: خوف
أَلَّا
allā
that not
Vocabulary
تُقۡسِطُواْ
tuq'siṭū
you will be able to do justice
Vocabulary
Root: قسط
فِي
fī
with
Vocabulary
ٱلۡيَتَٰمَىٰ
l-yatāmā
the orphans
Vocabulary
Root: يتم
فَٱنكِحُواْ
fa-inkiḥū
then marry
Vocabulary
Root: نكح
مَا
mā
what
Vocabulary
طَابَ
ṭāba
seems suitable
Vocabulary
Root: طيب
لَكُم
lakum
to you
Vocabulary
مِّنَ
mina
from
Vocabulary
ٱلنِّسَآءِ
l-nisāi
the women
Vocabulary
Root: نسو
مَثۡنَىٰ
mathnā
two
Vocabulary
Root: ثني
وَثُلَٰثَ
wathulātha
or three
Vocabulary
Root: ثلث
وَرُبَٰعَۖ
warubāʿa
or four
Vocabulary
Root: ربع
فَإِنۡ
fa-in
But if
Vocabulary
خِفۡتُمۡ
khif'tum
you fear
Vocabulary
Root: خوف
أَلَّا
allā
that not
Vocabulary
تَعۡدِلُواْ
taʿdilū
you can do justice
Vocabulary
Root: عدل
فَوَٰحِدَةً
fawāḥidatan
then (marry) one
Vocabulary
Root: وحد
أَوۡ
aw
or
Vocabulary
مَا
mā
what
Vocabulary
مَلَكَتۡ
malakat
possesses
Vocabulary
Root: ملك
أَيۡمَٰنُكُمۡۚ
aymānukum
your right hand
Vocabulary
Root: يمن
ذَٰلِكَ
dhālika
That
Vocabulary
أَدۡنَىٰٓ
adnā
(is) more appropriate
Vocabulary
Root: دنو
أَلَّا
allā
that (may) not
Vocabulary
تَعُولُواْ
taʿūlū
you oppress
Vocabulary
Root: عول

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About the sources

Root and lemma annotations: Quranic Arabic Corpus © 2011 Kais Dukes (GPL), based on Tanzil text. Grammar tag guide. Only verified word alignments are annotated; missing roots are not guessed. A verse may be a phrase or span several sentences.