16وَلَولا إِذ سَمِعتُموهُ قُلتُم ما يَكونُ لَنا أَن نَتَكَلَّمَ بِهٰذا سُبحانَكَ هٰذا بُهتانٌ عَظيمٌMuhammad AsadAnd [once again]: Why do you not say, whenever you hear such [a rumour], "It does not behove us to speak of this, O Thou who art limitless in Thy glory: this is an awesome calumny"?1The interjection subhanaka ("O Thou who art limitless in Thy glory") stresses here the believer's moral duty to bethink himself of God whenever he is tempted to listen to, or to repeat, a calumny (since every such rumour must be considered a calumny unless its truth is legally Proved).