وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تُقْسِطُوا۟ فِى ٱلْيَتَـٰمَىٰ فَٱنكِحُوا۟ مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ مَثْنَىٰ وَثُلَـٰثَ وَرُبَـٰعَ ۖ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا۟ فَوَٰحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَـٰنُكُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَدْنَىٰٓ أَلَّا تَعُولُوا۟
Wa in khiftum allaa tuqsitoo fil yataamaa fankihoo maa taaba lakum minan nisaaa'i masnaa wa sulaasa wa rubaa'a fa'in khiftum allaa ta'diloo fawaahidatan aw maa malakat aimaanukum; zaalika adnaaa allaa ta'ooloo
If you fear you will not deal justly with the orphans, then marry from among the women who seem good to you — two, three, or four. But if you fear you will not be equitable, then only one, or those whom your right hands rightfully hold. That is closer to keeping you from injustice.
The sentence begins with orphans, and the marriage clause enters as a remedy for the fear of failing them; early commentators connected it to guardians who married girls in their care in order to keep hold of their property. Readers have split on the closing word, ta'ulu, taking it from a root for swerving into injustice or from one for carrying many dependents. The verses on either side both concern property that is owed, to orphans in one and to wives in the other.