What is the meaning of the verse: "The fornicator does not marry except a fornicatress or a polytheistess, and as for the fornicatress, no one marries her except a fornicator or a polytheist"? Does it mean that a fornicator marries a fornicatress even if he repents, and if a man is righteous, can he marry a fornicatress who has repented?

Some exegetes, in explaining the meaning of the verse, stated that it prohibits a chaste Muslim man from marrying an unchaste woman (a fornicator) and a chaste Muslim woman from marrying an unchaste man (a fornicator). Others interpreted nikah as sexual intercourse, meaning that a fornicator only commits fornication with an unchaste woman or a polytheist woman. This does not mean that the fornicator will be punished by marrying an unchaste woman; rather, he can marry a chaste woman, and if he repents, Allah will forgive him. Scholars differed on the validity of marrying an unchaste woman before her repentance. The majority held that it is valid, though disliked (makrooh), while the Hanbalis deemed it impermissible. A condition for prohibiting marriage to an unchaste woman is the husband's knowledge of her fornication.