مَا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِرَجُلٍ مِنْ قَلْبَيْنِ فِي جَوْفِهِ وَمَا جَعَلَ أَزْوَاجَكُمُ اللَّائِي تُظَاهِرُونَ مِنْهُنَّ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ وَمَا جَعَلَ أَدْعِيَاءَكُمْ أَبْنَاءَكُمْ ذَلِكُمْ قَوْلُكُمْ بِأَفْوَاهِكُمْ وَاللَّهُ يَقُولُ الْحَقَّ وَهُوَ يَهْدِي السَّبِيلَ ﴿۴﴾ ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْ هُوَ أَقْسَطُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَعْلَمُوا آبَاءَهُمْ فَإِخْوَانُكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَمَوَالِيكُمْ وَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا أَخْطَأْتُمْ بِهِ وَلَكِنْ مَا تَعَمَّدَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا ﴿۵﴾

﴾4﴿ Maa ja'alal laahu lirajulim min qalbaini fee jawfih; wa maa ja'ala azwaajakumul laaa'ee tuzaahiroona minhunna ummahaatikum; wa maa ja'ala ad'iyaaa'akum abnaaa'akum; zaalikum qawlukum bi afwaa hikum wallaahu yaqoolul haqqa wa Huwa yahdis sabeel
﴾5﴿ Ud'oohum li aabaaa'ihim huwa aqsatu 'indal laah; fa illam ta'lamooo aabaaa'ahum fa ikhwaanukum fid deeni wa mawaaleekum; wa laisa 'alaikum junaahun feemaaa akhtaatum bihee wa laakim maa ta'ammadat quloobukum; wa kaanal laahu Ghafoorar Raheemaa

﴾4﴿ Allah has not made for any man two hearts within his chest, nor has He made your wives whom you declare as your mothers (through Zihar) truly your mothers, nor has He made your adopted sons truly your sons. These are mere words from your mouths (without any real basis). But Allah speaks the truth and guides to the right path
﴾5﴿ Call them by their fathers' names; that is more just in the sight of Allah. But if you do not know their fathers, then they are your brothers in faith and your freed slaves. And there is no sin upon you for what you do mistakenly, but there is sin in what your hearts intend deliberately. And Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful

[4] The purpose of this verse is to refute the polytheists, based on three interpretations:
The first interpretation refers to what they said to the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace): that he should accept their idols as compulsory intercessors (shufa‘ā qahriyyah), and in return, they would acknowledge the greatness and majesty of Allah.
This was rejected, because belief is a matter of the heart, and shirk (polytheism) and tawḥīd (monotheism) are two opposing beliefs that cannot coexist in the same heart — because the coexistence of opposites in a single entity is intellectually impossible.
And since a person cannot have two hearts, it becomes clear that a person cannot be both a monotheist and a polytheist at the same time.
(This interpretation connects this verse to ittaqullah — fear Allah.)
The second interpretation refers to their custom of saying to their wives, “You are to me like my mother,” and they would take this literally, considering the woman to be permanently forbidden to them like a mother.
Details and refutation of this will come in Surah Al-Mujādalah.
The intended point here is that two opposing attributes cannot coexist in one woman — that she be both a wife and a mother at the same time.
This serves as a metaphor indicating that a servant cannot become a deity.
The third interpretation is when they used to say to a boy, “You are my son,” referring to adopted sons (mutabannā), and would apply the rulings of biological sons upon them.
They would even prohibit the wife of the adopted son as if she were the wife of their real son.
So, the intended message is that one person cannot simultaneously have two contradictory statuses — that he be born of one set of parents and also of another set.
This too serves as a reference to the absurdity of the polytheists' claim that a servant can be the “son of Allah,” and at the same time a helper and deity.
Such a combination of opposites is logically and religiously impossible.
[5] This address is first directed to the believers, to refute the custom of the polytheists and to establish proper etiquette regarding adopted sons (mutabannā).
This is because, in this surah, there is a reference to the incident of Ḥārithah ibn Zayd, whom the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and give him peace) had adopted.
People used to call him Zayd ibn Muhammad. Later, when the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace), by Allah's command, married Zaynab, the divorced wife of Zayd, the polytheists and hypocrites began to object: “How can a prophet marry the wife of his own son?”
Therefore, this surah refuted their objection — in verse 4, it was stated that Zayd cannot be considered the son of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace).
Now in this verse, it is forbidden to refer to Zayd as the Prophet’s son:
"Call them by the names of their fathers" — meaning in naming and in calling them out, say Zayd ibn Harithah, not Zayd ibn Muhammad.
"There is no blame upon you…" — this is a general divine rule: whether in the case of adopted sons or other matters, if something is said mistakenly, it is excused.
And since mistakes are excused, then forgetfulness is even more so — because a mistake involves an incorrect judgment, while forgetfulness simply involves the absence of remembrance, and both occur unintentionally.