30إِلّا عَلىٰ أَزواجِهِم أَو ما مَلَكَت أَيمانُهُم فَإِنَّهُم غَيرُ مَلومينَMuhammad Asad[not giving way to their desires] with any but their spouses - that is, those whom they rightfully possess [through wedlock] - :1 for then, behold, they are free of all blame,See the identical passage in 23:5-7, as well as the corresponding note 3, in which I have fully explained the reasons for my rendering of the phrase aw ma malakat aymanuhum as "that is, those whom they rightfully possess [through wedlock]". As regards this interpretation, see al Razi's comments on 4:24, as well as one of the alternative interpretations of that verse advanced by Tabari on the authority of lbn Abbas and Mujahid.