The Clans
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[33:53]
O YOU who have attained to faith! Do not enter the Prophet’s dwellings unless you are given leave; [and when invited] to a meal, do not come [so early as] to wait for it to be readied: but whenever you are invited, enter [at the proper time]; and when you have partaken of the meal, disperse without lingering for the sake of mere talk: that, behold, might give offence to the Prophet, and yet he might feel shy of [asking] you [to leave]: but God is not shy of [teaching you] what is right.
And [as for the Prophet’s wives,] whenever you ask them for anything that you need, ask them from behind a screen: this will but deepen the purity of your hearts and theirs. Moreover, it does not behove you to give offence to God’s Apostle – just as it would not behove you ever to marry his widows after he has passed away: that, verily, would be an enormity in the sight of God.

---

* v.53 : Connecting with the reference, in verses 45-48, to the Prophet’s mission, the above passage is meant to stress his unique position among his contemporaries; but as is so often the case with Qur’anic references to historical events and situations, the ethical principle enunciated here is not restricted to a particular time or environment. By exhorting the Prophet’s Companions to revere his person, the Qur’ān reminds all believers, at all times, of his exalted status (cf. note 85 on 2:104); beyond that, it teaches them certain rules of behaviour bearing on the life of the community as such: rules which, however insignificant they may appear at first glance, are of psychological value in a society that is to be governed by a genuine feeling of brotherhood, mutual consideration, and respect for the sanctity of each other’s personality and privacy.
* The term hijāb denotes anything that intervenes between two things, or conceals, shelters, or protects the one from the other; it may be rendered, according to the context, as “barrier,” “obstacle,” “partition,” “screen,” “curtain,” “veil,” etc., in both the concrete and abstract connotations of these words. The prohibition to approach the Prophet’s wives otherwise than “from behind a screen” or “curtain” may be taken literally – as indeed it was taken by most of the Companions of the Prophet – or metaphorically, indicating the exceptional reverence due to these “mothers of the faithful.”
* Lit., “to marry his wives after him.”