Translation of the meanings Ayah 129 Surah An-Nisā’ - English translation - Jacob - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

Ayah: 129

وَلَن تَسۡتَطِيعُوٓاْ أَن تَعۡدِلُواْ بَيۡنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ وَلَوۡ حَرَصۡتُمۡۖ فَلَا تَمِيلُواْ كُلَّ ٱلۡمَيۡلِ فَتَذَرُوهَا كَٱلۡمُعَلَّقَةِۚ وَإِن تُصۡلِحُواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ غَفُورٗا رَّحِيمٗا

129. Yet you (men) will never be able to do complete and pure justice (in emotional feeling) between wives, even you do your best55, but be not inclined (from one) with all the inclination, so that you leave her (the other behind) like the hanging one. But if you effect a reconciliation and guard yourselves against evil, Allah is certainly All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

55. A man who has more than one wife will inevitably prefer, in his own heart, one over another. However, men are reminded to be mindful of Allāh and to be moderate and treat their wives on an equal footing. It is mandatory for a man to be absolutely even-handed in securing each wife her given marital rights, or else he will do better taking on only one wife. If a man has more than one wife, he has to treat them equally, whether they are Muslims or from among the People of the Book [i.e., Jewish or Christian]. If he does not treat them equally, then he has disobeyed Allāh and he has to make it up to the one whom he wronged. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said: “Whoever has two wives and leans towards (i.e. favours) one of them (over the other), will come on the Day of Resurrection with half of his body leaning.” What is meant by this “leaning” is favouring in terms of actions; a man will not be taken to task for the inclination of his heart if he treats (his wives) equally in practical terms.