The Quran

114

۞ لا خَيرَ في كَثيرٍ مِن نَجواهُم إِلّا مَن أَمَرَ بِصَدَقَةٍ أَو مَعروفٍ أَو إِصلاحٍ بَينَ النّاسِ ۚ وَمَن يَفعَل ذٰلِكَ ابتِغاءَ مَرضاتِ اللَّهِ فَسَوفَ نُؤتيهِ أَجرًا عَظيمًا

Muhammad Asad

NO GOOD comes, as a rule, out of secret confabulations - saving such as are devoted to enjoining charity, or equitable dealings, or setting things to rights between people:¹ and unto him who does this out of a longing for God's goodly acceptance We shall in time grant a mighty reward.

Lit., "There is no good in much of their secret confabulation (najwa) - excepting him who enjoins...", etc. Thus, secret talks aiming at positive, beneficial ends - for instance, peace negotiations between states or communities - are excepted from the disapproval of "secret confabulations" because premature publicity may sometimes be prejudicial to the achievement of those ends or may (especially in cases where charity is involved) hurt the feelings of the people concerned.