َ إِنْ تَتُوبَا إِلَى اللَّهِ فَقَدْ صَغَتْ قُلُوبُكُمَا وَإِنْ تَظَاهَرَا عَلَيْهِ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ مَوْلَاهُ وَجِبْرِيلُ وَصَالِحُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ ظَهِيرٌ ﴿۴﴾ عَسَى رَبُّهُ إِنْ طَلَّقَكُنَّ أَنْ يُبْدِلَهُ أَزْوَاجًا خَيْرًا مِنْكُنَّ مُسْلِمَاتٍ مُؤْمِنَاتٍ قَانِتَاتٍ تَائِبَاتٍ عَابِدَاتٍ سَائِحَاتٍ ثَيِّبَاتٍ وَأَبْكَارًا ﴿۵﴾

﴾4﴿ In tatoobaaa ilal laahi faqad saghat quloobukumaa wa in tazaaharaa 'alaihi fa innal laaha huwa mawlaahu wa jibreelu wa saalihul mu'mineen; wal malaaa'ikatu ba'da zaalika zaheer
﴾5﴿ Asaa rabbuhooo in tallaqakunna anyyubdilahooo azwaajan khairam minkunna muslimaatim mu'minaatin qaanitaatin taaa'ibaatin 'aabidaatin saaa'ihaatin saiyibaatinw wa abkaaraa

﴾4﴿ If you both repent to Allah, then indeed your hearts have inclined [to righteousness]. But if you cooperate against him, then indeed Allah is his protector, as well as Gabriel (peace be upon him), the righteous believers, and furthermore, the angels are his supporters
﴾5﴿ It may be that if he [the Prophet, May Allah bless him and give him peace] divorces you, his Lord will give him in exchange wives better than you—submissive [to Allah], believing, devoutly obedient, repentant, worshipping, and fasting—whether previously married or virgins

[4] This verse is an encouragement toward repentance.
(فَقَدْ صَغَتْ قُلُوبُكُمَا)—Ṣaghat comes from ṣawgh, meaning “to incline” or “be shaped toward something,” whether good or bad. Zaygh is always used in a negative sense, so here ṣaghat implies that your hearts have inclined toward repentance and are ready for it.
(قُلُوبُكُمَا)—In Arabic grammar, when two duals are joined through possession (iḍāfah), expressing both in dual form is considered heavy, so the first is often made plural. This is the most eloquent form of expression, although using the singular or dual forms is also grammatically valid.
The pronoun kumā refers to ʿĀ’ishah and Ḥafṣah (may Allah be pleased with them), as mentioned in the hadith narrated by Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both), recorded by Imam Bukhārī.
(وَإِنْ تَظَاهَرَا عَلَيْهِ)—“If you both support each other against him”—taẓāhur means to back each other up and join forces.
(وَجِبْرِيلُ)—The better interpretation is that this is the subject (mubtadāʾ), and what follows is connected to it. Ẓahīr is the predicate (khabar) and here used in the sense of a collective—although singular in form, it refers to the unified support of multiple beings. Their unity and agreement make them as if they are one.
(صَالِحُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ)—Ṣāliḥ here is a generic term that includes all righteous believers, past and future—those who honor the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace), send blessings upon him, and follow his Sunnah.
[5] This verse contains a warning and admonition to the wives of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) concerning divorce and replacement—if they did not repent and continued to support one another against him. However, they did repent and abandoned such behavior, and thus the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) did not divorce them. The report about the divorce of Ḥafṣah (may Allah be pleased with her) is not authentically established.
(عَسَى رَبُّهُ)—“It may be that his Lord…”—ʿAsā when used by Allah indicates certainty (obligation), but only when it is not conditional. Here, it is conditional with (إِنْ طَلَّقَكُنَّ)—“If he divorces you.” Since the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) did not divorce them, the matter remained hypothetical.
(أَنْ يُبْدِلَهُ أَزْوَاجًا)—“He will replace you with wives…”—Divorce itself is a great trial for any woman, and for another wife to replace her adds even greater sorrow and distress. Hence, both aspects—divorce and replacement—are mentioned for emphasis.
(خَيْرًا مِنْكُنَّ)—Question: Does this imply that there are women better than the Prophet’s wives? Answer: No, it does not. Because this replacement is mentioned hypothetically (taqdeeran), not as an actual event. Meaning, if the Prophet’s wives had continued disobedience and alliance against him, then, in that case, Allah would certainly provide wives better in quality and character. However, since they repented and abandoned that behavior, and all the described virtues already existed in them, it proves that no better women existed.
Another proof is: if there were women better than the purified wives of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace), it would imply that Allah, the Exalted, kept His Messenger with lesser women until his death and withheld the best—this is an invalid and unacceptable claim. Therefore, it is certain that the wives of the Prophet are the best of all women.
(مُسْلِمَاتٍ)—The verse then lists six qualities of complete servitude in a person, male or female. Muslimāt—those who submit fully; here, it implies sincerity with complete surrender, placed before mu’mināt (believers) because sincerity is a prerequisite for true faith. (سَائِحَاتٍ)—originally means traveling the earth. The scholars mentioned three interpretations:
1. Women who fast
2. Those who migrate for Allah’s sake
3. Those who travel for acts of worship