لَّا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِٱللَّغْوِ فِىٓ أَيْمَـٰنِكُمْ وَلَـٰكِن يُؤَاخِذُكُم بِمَا كَسَبَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ حَلِيمٌ
Laa yu'aakhi zukumul laahu billaghwi feee aymaa nikum wa laakiny yu'aakhi zukum bimaa kasabat quloo bukum; wallaahu Ghafoorun Haleem
خدا تمہاری لغو قسموں پر تم سے مواخذہ نہ کرے گا۔ لیکن جو قسمیں تم قصد دلی سے کھاؤ گے ان پر مواخذہ کرے گا۔ اور خدا بخشنے والا بردبار ہے
God will not hold you accountable for thoughtless words in your oaths, but he will hold you accountable for what your hearts have earned. And God is forgiving, forbearing.
Accountability is placed where intention lives: what the hearts have done uses kasaba, to earn, the commercial verb the Qur'an applies to deeds, so the earning is credited to the heart rather than the tongue. What counts as an unmeant oath has been read differently across the schools, and the verse leaves that line undrawn. It closes on ḥalīm, the one able to respond who holds back.