Qut al Quloob Chapters 45-46 by Abu Ṭalib al-Makki

قُوتُ الْقُلُوبِ فِي مُعَامَلَةِ الْمَحْبُوبِ وَوَصْفِ طَرِيقِ الْمُرِيدِ إِلَى مَقَامِ التَّوْحِيدِ

Qūtu al-qulūbi fī muʿāmalati al-maḥbūbi wa-waṣfi ṭarīqi al-murīdi ʾilā maqāmi al-tawḥīdi

Nourishment for Hearts in Dealings with the Beloved and a Description of the Seeker’s Path to the Station of Divine Oneness

Chapters 45–46

الزَّوَاجُ وَدُخُولُ الْحَمَّامِ

Al-zawāju wa-dukhūlu al-ḥammāmi

Marriage and Entering the Bathhouse

أَبُو طَالِبٍ الْمَكِّيُّ

Abu Ṭalib al-Makki

الْفَصْلُ الْخَامِسُ وَالْأَرْبَعُونَ فِيهِ ذِكْرُ التَّزْوِيجِ وَتَرْكِهِ أَيُّهُمَا أَفْضَلُ وَمُخْتَصَرُ أَحْكَامِ النِّسَاءِ فِي ذَلِكَ

al-faṣlu al-khāmisu wa-al-ʾarbaʿūna fīhi dhikru al-tazwīji watarkihi ʾayyuhumā ʾafḍalu wamukhtaṣaru ʾaḥkāmi al-nisāʾi fī dhālika

Chapter Forty-Five: Marriage and foregoing it, which is better, and a brief account of the rulings concerning women in this matter

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٣٩٦

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 396

Volume Two, page 396

قَالَ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى: (وَأَنْكِحُوا الْأَيَامَى مِنْكُمْ)، الْآيَةَ، فَأَمَرَ الْمُحْتَاجِينَ وَنَدَبَ الْمَعْصُومِينَ، فَالنِّكَاحُ فَرْضٌ مَعَ الْحَاجَةِ وَسُنَّةٌ عَلَى الْكِفَايَةِ، ثُمَّ وَعَدَهُمْ تَعَالَى الْغِنَى عَلَى الْفَقْرِ، فَالْغِنَى عَلَى الْغَنِيِّ يَجْعَلُهُ عَلَى نَحْوِ الْفَقْرِ مِنَ الْفَقِيرِ، فَقَدْ يَكُونُ فَقِيرًا مِنَ الْأَجْرِ فَيُغْنِيهِ بِالْأَجْرِ، وَيَكُونُ فَقِيرًا مِنْ عَدَمِ الْحُكْمِ فَيُغْنِيهِ بِإِيجَابِ الْحُكْمِ عَلَيْهِ.

qāla subḥānahu wataʿālā: (waʾankiḥū al-ʾayāmā minkum), al-ʾāyata, faʾamara al-muḥtājīna wanadaba al-maʿṣūmīna, fa-al-nikāḥu farḍun maʿa al-ḥājati wasunnatun ʿalā al-kifāyati, thumma waʿadahum taʿālā al-ghinā ʿalā al-faqri, fa-al-ghinā ʿalā al-ghaniyyi yajʿaluhu ʿalā naḥwi al-faqri mina al-faqīri, faqad yakūnu faqīran mina al-ʾajri fayughnīhi bi-al-ʾajri, wayakūnu faqīran min ʿadami al-ḥukmi fayughnīhi biʾījābi al-ḥukmi ʿalayhi.

He, glorified and exalted is He, said: “Marry off the unmarried among you,” and the rest of the verse. He commanded those in need and encouraged those protected from sin. Marriage is obligatory when needed and a collectively sufficient sunna otherwise. He, exalted is He, then promised wealth in place of poverty. For the wealthy, wealth corresponds to the kind of poverty the poor person suffers: someone may lack reward, and He enriches him with reward; or lack an obligation, and He enriches him by imposing that obligation.

وَيَكُونُ فَقِيرًا بِالضَّيْعَةِ وَالشَّتَاتِ وَفَقْدِ الْمَنْزِلِ وَالْأَثَاثِ فَيُغْنِيهِ بِوُجُودِ ذَلِكَ، وَأَحْكَمَهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بِمَا عَقَّبَهُ مِنْ قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ: (وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ)، فَهُوَ وَاسِعٌ لِغِنَاهُمْ عَنْ مَعَانِي فَقْرِهِمْ عَلِيمٌ بِحَالِهِمْ وَمَا يُصْلِحُهُمْ فِيمَا لَا يَعْلَمُونَ عَلَى مَقَادِيرِ رُتَبِهِمْ.

wayakūnu faqīran bi-al-ḍayʿati wa-al-shatāti wafaqdi al-manzili wa-al-ʾathāthi fayughnīhi biwujūdi dhālika, waʾaḥkamahu ʿazza wajalla bimā ʿaqqabahu min qawlihi taʿālā wahuwa al-ḥakīmu: (wa-Allāhu wāsiʿun ʿalīmun), fahuwa wāsiʿun lighināhum ʿan maʿānī faqrihim ʿalīmun biḥālihim wamā yuṣliḥuhum fīmā lā yaʿlamūna ʿalā maqādīri rutabihim.

Someone may be impoverished by neglect, scattered affairs, and the lack of a home and furnishings; He enriches him by providing these. He, mighty and majestic, confirmed this through the words that follow, spoken by Him, exalted is He, the Wise: “God is all-embracing, all-knowing.” His abundance encompasses their enrichment from the various forms of their poverty. He knows their condition and what will set them right in matters they do not know, according to their respective ranks.

وَرَوَى الْحَسَنُ عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَنْ تَرَكَ التَّزْوِيجَ مَخَافَةَ الْعَيْلَةِ فَلَيْسَ مِنَّا. وَرَوَيْنَا عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: إِذَا أَتَاكُمْ مَنْ تَرْضَوْنَ دِينَهُ وَأَمَانَتَهُ فَأَنْكِحُوهُ، أَلَّا تَفْعَلُوهُ تَكُنْ فِتْنَةٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَفَسَادٌ كَبِيرٌ. وَفِي الْخَبَرِ: مَنْ نَكَحَ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَأَنْكَحَ لِلَّهِ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى اسْتَحَقَّ وِلَايَةَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى.

warawā al-ḥasanu ʿan ʾabī saʿīdin ʿani al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: man taraka al-tazwīja makhāfata al-ʿaylati falaysa minnā. warawaynā ʿani al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾidhā ʾatākum man tarḍawna dīnahu waʾamānatahu faʾankiḥūhu, ʾallā tafʿalūhu takun fitnatun fī al-ʾarḍi wafasādun kabīrun. wafī al-khabari: man nakaḥa li-llāhi ʿazza wajalla waʾankaḥa li-llāhi tabāraka wataʿālā istaḥaqqa wilāyata Allāhi taʿālā.

Al-Ḥasan related from Abū Saʿīd, from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Whoever forgoes marriage for fear of poverty is not one of us.” We have related from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “When someone whose religion and trustworthiness satisfy you comes to you, marry him to your womanfolk. Unless you do so, there will be turmoil and great corruption on earth.” Another report says: “Whoever marries for God, mighty and majestic, and arranges a marriage for God, blessed and exalted, deserves the friendship of God, exalted is He.”

وَهَذَا أَدْنَى حَالٍ تُنَالُ بِهِ الْوِلَايَةُ لِأَنَّهَا مَقَامَاتٌ لِكُلِّ مَقَامٍ عَمَلٌ مِنَ الصَّالِحَاتِ، إِلَّا أَنَّا رَوَيْنَا أَنَّ بِشْرَ بْنَ الْحَارِثِ قِيلَ لَهُ: إِنَّ النَّاسَ يَتَكَلَّمُونَ فِيكَ. فَقَالَ: وَمَا عَسَى يَقُولُونَ؟ قِيلَ: يَقُولُونَ إِنَّكَ تَارِكٌ لِسُنَّةٍ، يَعْنُونَ النِّكَاحَ. فَقَالَ: قُلْ لَهُمْ: إِنِّي مَشْغُولٌ بِالْفَرْضِ عَنِ السُّنَّةِ.

wa-hādhā ʾadnā ḥālin tunālu bihi al-wilāyatu liʾannahā maqāmātun likulli maqāmin ʿamalun mina al-ṣāliḥāti, ʾillā ʾannā rawaynā ʾanna bishra bna al-ḥārithi qīla lahu: ʾinna al-nāsa yatakallamūna fīka. faqāla: wamā ʿasā yaqūlūna? qīla: yaqūlūna ʾinnaka tārikun lisunnatin, yaʿnūna al-nikāḥa. faqāla: qul lahum: ʾinnī mashghūlun bi-al-farḍi ʿani al-sunnati.

This is the lowest condition by which divine friendship is attained, for it consists of stations, each with its own righteous act. Yet we have related that Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith was told: “People are speaking about you.” He said: “What might they be saying?” He was told: “They say you have abandoned a sunna,” meaning marriage. He replied: “Tell them that my attention to the obligatory leaves me occupied away from the sunna.”

وَقَالَ مَرَّةً: مَا يَمْنَعُنِي مِنْ ذَلِكَ إِلَّا آيَةٌ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى قَوْلُهُ: (وَلَهُنَّ مِثْلُ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِنَّ)، وَلَعَسَى أَنْ لَا أَقُومَ بِذَلِكَ. وَكَانَ يَقُولُ: لَوْ كُنْتُ أَعُولُ دَجَاجَةً لَخِفْتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ جَلَّادًا عَلَى الْجِسْرِ. هَذَا يَقُولُهُ فِي سَنَةِ عِشْرِينَ وَمِائَتَيْنِ، وَالْحَلَالُ وَالنِّسَاءُ أَحْمَدُ عَاقِبَةً، فَكَيْفَ بِوَقْتِنَا هَذَا؟

waqāla marratan: mā yamnaʿunī min dhālika ʾillā ʾāyatun fī kitābi Allāhi taʿālā qawluhu: (walahunna mithlu alladhī ʿalayhinna), walaʿasā ʾan lā ʾaqūma bi-dhālika. wakāna yaqūlu: law kuntu ʾaʿūlu dajājatan lakhiftu ʾan ʾakūna jallādan ʿalā al-jisri. hādhā yaqūluhu fī sanati ʿishrīna wamiʾatayni, wa-al-ḥalālu wa-al-nisāʾu ʾaḥmadu ʿāqibatan, fakayfa biwaqtinā hādhā?

On another occasion he said: “Nothing keeps me from it except a verse in the Book of God, exalted is He: ‘Women have rights comparable to their obligations.’ I may well fail to fulfill them.” He used to say: “If I were responsible even for a hen, I would fear becoming a flogger upon the Bridge.” He said this in the year two hundred and twenty, when lawful livelihood and women had a more commendable outcome. What, then, of our own time?

فَالْأَفْضَلُ لِلْمُرِيدِ فِي مِثْلِ زَمَانِنَا هَذَا تَرْكُ التَّزْوِيجِ إِذَا أَمِنَ الْفِتْنَةَ وَعُوِّدَ الْعِصْمَةَ، وَلَمْ تُنَازِعْهُ نَفْسُهُ إِلَى مَعْصِيَةٍ، وَلَمْ يَتَرَادَفْ خَوَاطِرُ النِّسَاءِ عَلَى قَلْبِهِ حَتَّى يَتَشَتَّتَ هَمُّهُ أَوْ يَقْطَعَهُ عَنْ حُسْنِ الْإِقْبَالِ عَلَى الْخِدْمَةِ مِنْ مُسَامَرَةِ الْفِكْرِ وَمُحَادَثَةِ النَّفْسِ بِأَمْرِ النِّسَاءِ.

fa-al-ʾafḍalu li-l-murīdi fī mithli zamāninā hādhā tarku al-tazwīji ʾidhā ʾamina al-fitnata waʿuwwida al-ʿiṣmata, walam tunāziʿhu nafsuhu ʾilā maʿṣiyatin, walam yatarādaf khawāṭiru al-nisāʾi ʿalā qalbihi ḥattā yatashattata hammuhu ʾaw yaqṭaʿahu ʿan ḥusni al-ʾiqbāli ʿalā al-khidmati min musāmarati al-fikri wamuḥādathati al-nafsi biʾamri al-nisāʾi.

For the spiritual aspirant in a time such as ours, foregoing marriage is therefore better if he is safe from temptation and accustomed to divine protection, if his soul does not pull him toward disobedience, and if thoughts of women do not crowd upon his heart, scattering his concentration or interrupting his wholehearted attention to service through lingering fantasies and inward conversations about women.

وَمَا لَمْ يَجْمَحْ بَصَرُهُ إِلَى مَحْظُورٍ وَلَمْ يُخَالِطْ ذَكَرَهُ شَهْوَةٌ تَسْتَوْلِي عَلَيْهِ، لِأَنَّ أَوَّلَ خَطَايَا الْفَرْجِ شَهْوَةُ الْقَلْبِ بِمُسَامَرَةِ الْفِكْرِ وَهُوَ مَعْقُولٌ.

wamā lam yajmaḥ baṣaruhu ʾilā maḥẓūrin walam yukhāliṭ dhakarahu shahwatun tastawlī ʿalayhi, liʾanna ʾawwala khaṭāyā al-farji shahwatu al-qalbi bimusāmarati al-fikri wahuwa maʿqūlun.

This holds so long as his gaze does not stray toward anything forbidden and his sexual organ is not stirred by overpowering desire. For the first of the sexual organs’ sins is the heart’s desire through lingering fantasy; it is something apprehended inwardly.

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٣٩٧

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 397

Volume Two, page 397

الْخَطِيئَةُ الثَّانِيَةُ: إِنْعَاظُ الْفَرْجِ عَنْ شَهْوَةِ الْقَلْبِ وَهَذَا عَمَلٌ، وَقَبْضُ الرَّجُلِ عَلَى فَرْجِهِ مُنْعِظًا مَعْصِيَةٌ ثَالِثَةٌ، فَإِنْ ظَهَرَتِ الشَّهْوَةُ مِنَ الْفَرْجِ فَهُوَ مَعْصِيَةٌ رَابِعَةٌ، وَمَسُّ الْفَرْجِ بِالْيَمِينِ مَكْرُوهٌ، فَمَتَى وَقَعَتْ هَذِهِ الْمَعَانِي فَإِنَّهَا تُغَيِّرُ الْقَلْبَ عَنِ الْخُشُوعِ، وَتُدْخِلُ عَلَيْهِ النُّقْصَانَ.

al-khaṭīʾatu al-thāniyatu: ʾinʿāẓu al-farji ʿan shahwati al-qalbi wa-hādhā ʿamalun, waqabḍu al-rajuli ʿalā farjihi munʿiẓan maʿṣiyatun thālithatun, faʾin ẓaharati al-shahwatu mina al-farji fahuwa maʿṣiyatun rābiʿatun, wamassu al-farji bi-al-yamīni makrūhun, famatā waqaʿat hādhihi al-maʿānī faʾinnahā tughayyiru al-qalba ʿani al-khushūʿi, watudkhilu ʿalayhi al-nuqṣāna.

The second sin is an erection arising from the heart’s desire; this is an act. A man’s grasping his erect organ is a third disobedience. If desire issues from the organ, that is a fourth disobedience. Touching the sexual organ with the right hand is disapproved. Whenever these things occur, they turn the heart away from humility and introduce a deficiency into it.

وَمَتَى لَمْ يُبْتَلَ الْعَبْدُ بِهَا، فَإِنَّ الْخَلْوَةَ أَفْضَلُ الْمَعَانِي، وَفِيهَا يَجِدُ لَذَّةَ الْوُجُودِ وَحَلَاوَةَ الْمُعَامَلَةِ، وَيُقْبِلُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ وَيَشْتَغِلُ بِحَالِهِ وَلَا يَهْتَمُّ بِحَالِ غَيْرِهِ، فَيَحْمِلُ حَالَهُ عَلَى حَالِ غَيْرِهِ فَيُقَصِّرُ، أَوْ يَقُومُ بِحُكْمٍ آخَرَ فَيَعْجِزُ، وَيُعَالِجُ شَيْطَانًا آخَرَ مَعَ شَيْطَانِهِ، وَتَنْضَمُّ نَفْسٌ أُخْرَى إِلَى نَفْسِهِ، وَلَهُ فِي مُجَاهَدَةِ نَفْسِهِ وَمُصَابَرَةِ هَوَاهُ وَعَدُوِّهِ أَكْبَرُ الْأَشْغَالِ.

wamatā lam yubtala al-ʿabdu bihā, faʾinna al-khalwata ʾafḍalu al-maʿānī, wafīhā yajidu ladhdhata al-wujūdi waḥalāwata al-muʿāmalati, wayuqbilu ʿalā nafsihi wayashtaghilu biḥālihi walā yahtammu biḥāli ghayrihi, fayaḥmilu ḥālahu ʿalā ḥāli ghayrihi fayuqaṣṣiru, ʾaw yaqūmu biḥukmin ʾākhara fayaʿjizu, wayuʿāliju shayṭānan ʾākhara maʿa shayṭānihi, watanḍammu nafsun ʾukhrā ʾilā nafsihi, walahu fī mujāhadati nafsihi wamuṣābarati hawāhu waʿaduwwihi ʾakbaru al-ʾashghāli.

When the servant is not afflicted by these things, solitude is the best condition. There he finds the delight of spiritual finding and the sweetness of dealing with God. He attends to himself and his own condition, without becoming concerned with someone else’s condition, adapting his own to it and falling short, or undertaking another obligation and failing. Otherwise he must contend with another devil alongside his own, and another soul joins his soul, though struggling against himself and patiently resisting his desire and enemy already occupy him more than enough.

وَمِنْهَا أَنَّ الْمَكَاسِبَ قَدْ فَسَدَتْ فَلَيْسَ يُنَالُ أَكْثَرُهَا إِلَّا بِمَعْصِيَةٍ وَهُوَ مَسْؤُولٌ مِنْ أَيْنَ اكْتَسَبَهُ وَفِيمَ أَنْفَقَهُ، فَإِنْ كَانَ كَسَبَ مِنْ غَيْرِ حِلِّهِ حُسِبَ ذَلِكَ عَلَيْهِ، وَإِنْ أَنْفَقَ عَلَى هَوَاهُ لَمْ يُحْسَبْ ذَلِكَ لَهُ، وَمِنْهَا أَنَّ أَكْثَرَ النِّسَاءِ قَلِيلَاتُ الدِّينِ وَالصَّلَاحِ، وَالْأَغْلَبُ عَلَيْهِنَّ الْجَهْلُ وَالْهَوَى.

waminhā ʾanna al-makāsiba qad fasadat falaysa yunālu ʾaktharuhā ʾillā bimaʿṣiyatin wahuwa masʾūlun min ʾayna iktasabahu wafīma ʾanfaqahu, faʾin kāna kasaba min ghayri ḥillihi ḥusiba dhālika ʿalayhi, waʾin ʾanfaqa ʿalā hawāhu lam yuḥsab dhālika lahu, waminhā ʾanna ʾakthara al-nisāʾi qalīlātu al-dīni wa-al-ṣalāḥi, wa-al-ʾaghlabu ʿalayhinna al-jahlu wa-al-hawā.

Another consideration is that livelihoods have become corrupt: most earnings are obtained only through disobedience, and one will be questioned about where one acquired them and how one spent them. If he earned them unlawfully, that is counted against him; if he spent them according to his desire, that is not credited to him. Another is that most women possess little religion or righteousness, with ignorance and desire predominating among them.

فَلَا يَأْمَنُ أَنْ يَنْقَادَ لَهُنَّ لِأَجْلِ هَوَاهُ فَيَخْسَرَ آخِرَتَهُ، أَوْ يُمَانِعَهُنَّ فَيُغَالِطَهُنَّ، فَلَا يَنْقَدْنَ لَهُ فَيَتَنَغَّصَ عَلَيْهِ عَيْشُ دُنْيَاهُ، وَقَالَ الْحَسَنُ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ: وَاللَّهِ مَا أَصْبَحَ الْيَوْمَ رَجُلٌ يُطِيعُ امْرَأَتَهُ فِيمَا تَهْوَى إِلَّا أَكَبَّهُ اللَّهُ فِي النَّارِ.

falā yaʾmanu ʾan yanqāda lahunna liʾajli hawāhu fayakhsara ʾākhiratahu, ʾaw yumāniʿahunna fayughāliṭahunna, falā yanqadna lahu fayatanaghghaṣa ʿalayhi ʿayshu dunyāhu, waqāla al-ḥasanu raḥimahu Allāhu: wa-Allāhi mā ʾaṣbaḥa al-yawma rajulun yuṭīʿu imraʾatahu fīmā tahwā ʾillā ʾakabbahu Allāhu fī al-nāri.

He cannot be sure that he will not yield to them because of his desire and lose his hereafter, or resist them and dispute with them, only for them to refuse obedience and spoil his worldly life. Al-Ḥasan, may God have mercy on him, said: “By God, no man today obeys his wife in whatever she desires without God casting him face down into the Fire.”

وَمِنْهَا أَنَّ الْأَغْنِيَاءَ فِي مَقَامِ الظَّالِمِينَ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ لِبَخْسِ حُقُوقِهِمْ عَنْهُمْ، وَتَقْصِيرِهِمْ عَمَّا أَوْجَبَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَلَيْهِمْ لَهُمْ، فَإِنْ كَانَ الْمُتَأَهِّلُ فَقِيرًا لَقِيَ شِدَّةً وَجَهْدًا وَعَنَتًا وَكَدًّا وَلَمْ يَأْمَنْ دُخُولَ الْآفَاتِ عَلَيْهِ لِأَجْلِ عَيْلَتِهِ، وَقَدْ سُئِلَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ عَنْ جَهْدِ الْبَلَاءِ فَقَالَ: كَثْرَةُ الْعِيَالِ، وَقِلَّةُ الْمَالِ.

waminhā ʾanna al-ʾaghniyāʾa fī maqāmi al-ẓālimīna li-l-fuqarāʾi libakhsi ḥuqūqihim ʿanhum, wataqṣīrihim ʿammā ʾawjaba Allāhu ʿazza wajalla ʿalayhim lahum, faʾin kāna al-mutaʾahhilu faqīran laqiya shiddatan wajahdan waʿanatan wakaddan walam yaʾman dukhūla al-ʾāfāti ʿalayhi liʾajli ʿaylatihi, waqad suʾila ibnu ʿumara raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu ʿan jahdi al-balāʾi faqāla: kathratu al-ʿiyāli, waqillatu al-māli.

Another consideration is that the wealthy stand as oppressors of the poor, withholding their rights and failing to provide what God, mighty and majestic, has made obligatory upon them for the poor. If a married man is poor, he meets hardship, distress, suffering, and toil, and cannot be sure that calamities will not befall him because of his poverty. Ibn ʿUmar, may God be pleased with him, was asked what severe affliction meant. He answered: “Many dependants and little money.”

وَقَالَ بَعْضُ السَّلَفِ: قِلَّةُ الْعِيَالِ أَحَدُ الْيَسَارَيْنِ، وَكَثْرَةُ الْعِيَالِ أَحَدُ الْفَقْرَيْنِ، وَيُقَالُ: إِنَّ الْعِيَالَ عُقُوبَةُ شَهْوَةِ الْحَلَالِ وَإِنَّ الْحِرْصَ عُقُوبَةُ طَلَبِ فَوْقَ الْكِفَايَةِ فَهُوَ عُقُوبَةُ الْمُوَحِّدِينَ. وَقَدْ جَاءَ فِي الْأَثَرِ: الْوَحْدَةُ خَيْرٌ مِنْ قَرِينِ السُّوءِ وَهُوَ مِنَ الْقَرِينِ الصَّالِحِ عَلَى غَيْرِ يَقِينٍ، فَلَا يُزَالُ الْيَقِينُ بِالشَّكِّ.

waqāla baʿḍu al-salafi: qillatu al-ʿiyāli ʾaḥadu al-yasārayni, wakathratu al-ʿiyāli ʾaḥadu al-faqrayni, wayuqālu: ʾinna al-ʿiyāla ʿuqūbatu shahwati al-ḥalāli waʾinna al-ḥirṣa ʿuqūbatu ṭalabi fawqa al-kifāyati fahuwa ʿuqūbatu al-muwaḥḥidīna. waqad jāʾa fī al-ʾathari: al-waḥdatu khayrun min qarīni al-sūʾi wahuwa mina al-qarīni al-ṣāliḥi ʿalā ghayri yaqīnin, falā yuzālu al-yaqīnu bi-al-shakki.

One of the early Muslims said: “Few dependants are one of the two forms of ease; many dependants are one of the two forms of poverty.” It is said: “Dependants are the penalty for lawful desire, and greed is the penalty for seeking more than sufficiency; it is a punishment for those who affirm God’s oneness.” A transmitted saying declares: “Solitude is better than a bad companion.” He is not certain of finding a good companion, and certainty is not removed by doubt.

فَإِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النِّسَاءِ مَنْ لَا صَلَاحَ فِيهِ لِغَلَبَةِ الْهَوَى وَحُبِّ الدُّنْيَا عَلَيْهِنَّ، وَفِي الْخَبَرِ: مَثَلُ الْمَرْأَةِ الصَّالِحَةِ فِي النِّسَاءِ كَمَثَلِ الْغُرَابِ الْأَعْصَمِ مِنْ مِائَةِ غُرَابٍ، يَعْنِي الْأَبْيَضَ الْبَطْنِ، وَفِي وَصِيَّةِ لُقْمَانَ لِابْنِهِ: يَا بُنَيَّ اتَّقِ الْمَرْأَةَ السُّوءَ فَإِنَّهَا تُشَيِّبُكَ قَبْلَ الْمَشِيبِ، وَاتَّقِ شِرَارَ النِّسَاءِ فَإِنَّهُنَّ لَا يَدْعُونَ إِلَى خَيْرٍ، وَكَانَ مِنْ خِيَارِهِنَّ عَلَى حَذَرٍ.

faʾinna ʾakthara al-nisāʾi man lā ṣalāḥa fīhi lighalabati al-hawā waḥubbi al-dunyā ʿalayhinna, wafī al-khabari: mathalu al-marʾati al-ṣāliḥati fī al-nisāʾi kamathali al-ghurābi al-ʾaʿṣami min miʾati ghurābin, yaʿnī al-ʾabyaḍa al-baṭni, wafī waṣiyyati luqmāna li-ibnihi: yā bunayya ittaqi al-marʾata al-sūʾa faʾinnahā tushayyibuka qabla al-mashībi, wa-ittaqi shirāra al-nisāʾi faʾinnahunna lā yadʿūna ʾilā khayrin, wakāna min khiyārihinna ʿalā ḥadharin.

Most women lack righteousness, because desire and love of this world dominate them. A report says: “A righteous woman among women is like the white-marked raven among a hundred ravens,” meaning one with a white belly. Luqmān counseled his son: “My dear son, beware of a bad woman, for she will turn you gray before your time. Beware of wicked women, for they never call you to good.” He was wary even of the best of them.

وَقَدْ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي خَيْرَاتِ النِّسَاءِ: إِنَّكُنَّ صَوَاحِبَاتُ يُوسُفَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ، إِنَّ صَرْفَكُنَّ أَبَا بَكْرٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ عَنِ الْإِمَامَةِ مَيْلٌ مِنْكُنَّ إِلَى الْهَوَى وَتَزْيِينٌ وَإِغْوَاءٌ، كَمَا أَنَّ زُلَيْخَا حِينَ رَاوَدَتْ يُوسُفَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ كَانَ ذَلِكَ مِنْهَا غِوَايَةً وَتَسْوِيلًا، فَفِيهِ اعْتِذَارٌ لِيُوسُفَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ وَإِيقَاعُ اللَّوْمِ عَلَيْهَا وَتَشَبُّهٌ لَهُنَّ بِهَا.

waqad qāla al-nabiyyu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama fī khayrāti al-nisāʾi: ʾinnakunna ṣawāḥibātu yūsufa ʿalayhi al-salāmu, ʾinna ṣarfakunna ʾabā bakrin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu ʿani al-ʾimāmati maylun minkunna ʾilā al-hawā watazyīnun waʾighwāʾun, kamā ʾanna zulaykhā ḥīna rāwadat yūsufa ʿalayhi al-salāmu kāna dhālika minhā ghiwāyatan wataswīlan, fafīhi iʿtidhārun liyūsufa ʿalayhi al-salāmu waʾīqāʿu al-lawmi ʿalayhā watashabbuhun lahunna bihā.

The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said even to the best women: “You are the women around Joseph, peace be upon him.” Your diverting Abū Bakr, may God be pleased with him, from leading the prayer is an inclination toward desire, an embellishment and a seduction, just as Zulaykhā’s attempt to seduce Joseph, peace be upon him, was an act of temptation and enticement. This excuses Joseph, peace be upon him, lays the blame upon her, and likens them to her.

وَقَالَ اللَّهُ فِيهِنَّ حِينَ أَفْشَيْنَ سِرَّ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: (إِنْ تَتُوبَا إِلَى اللَّهِ فَقَدْ صَغَتْ قُلُوبُكُمَا)، يَعْنِي مَالَتْ إِلَى الْهَوَى فَأَمَرَهُمَا بِالتَّوْبَةِ لِلْمَيْلِ إِلَى الْهَوَى، ثُمَّ قَالَ: وَإِنْ تَظَاهَرَا عَلَيْهِ يَعْنِي تَعَاوَنَا وَهُمَا مِنْ خَيْرِ الْأَزْوَاجِ فَمَا ظَنُّكَ بِمَنْ شَاكَلَتْهُ الْجَهَالَةُ وَوَصْفُ الْهَوَى وَالضَّلَالَةِ؟

waqāla Allāhu fīhinna ḥīna ʾafshayna sirra al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: (ʾin tatūbā ʾilā Allāhi faqad ṣaghat qulūbukumā), yaʿnī mālat ʾilā al-hawā faʾamarahumā bi-al-tawbati li-l-mayli ʾilā al-hawā, thumma qāla: waʾin taẓāharā ʿalayhi yaʿnī taʿāwanā wahumā min khayri al-ʾazwāji famā ẓannuka biman shākalat-hu al-jahālatu wawaṣfu al-hawā wa-al-ḍalālati?

God said concerning them when they disclosed the secret of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “If you both repent to God, for your hearts have inclined,” meaning inclined toward desire. He commanded them to repent of that inclination. Then He said: “And if you support one another against him,” meaning cooperate. These were among the best wives; what, then, do you suppose of those characterized by ignorance, desire, and error?

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٣٩٨

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 398

Volume Two, page 398

وَفِي الْخَبَرِ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَا أَفْلَحَ قَوْمٌ تَمْلِكُهُمُ امْرَأَةٌ، وَقَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى مُخْبِرًا بِعَدَاوَةِ بَعْضِ الْأَزْوَاجِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ: (إِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجِكُمْ وَأَوْلَادِكُمْ عَدُوًّا لَكُمْ فَاحْذَرُوهُمْ)، يَعْنِي فِي الْآخِرَةِ لِانْحِطَاطِكُمْ فِي أَهْوَائِهِمْ وَمَيْلِكُمْ إِلَى وَهْنِ آرَائِهِنَّ، فَصَارُوا عَدُوًّا غَدًا.

wafī al-khabari ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: mā ʾaflaḥa qawmun tamlikuhumu imraʾatun, waqāla Allāhu taʿālā mukhbiran biʿadāwati baʿḍi al-ʾazwāji wa-al-ʾawlādi: (ʾinna min ʾazwājikum waʾawlādikum ʿaduwwan lakum fa-iḥdharūhum), yaʿnī fī al-ʾākhirati li-inḥiṭāṭikum fī ʾahwāʾihim wamaylikum ʾilā wahni ʾārāʾihinna, faṣārū ʿaduwwan ghadan.

A report from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, says: “A people ruled by a woman have not prospered.” God, exalted is He, spoke of the enmity of certain spouses and children: “Among your spouses and children are enemies to you, so beware of them.” This means in the hereafter, because you descend into their desires and incline toward the weakness of their judgments; thus they become enemies tomorrow.

كَيْفَ وَقَدْ تَكُونُ الْمَرْأَةُ وَالْوَلَدُ أَعْدَى عَدُوٍّ لِلرَّجُلِ الْيَوْمَ قَبْلَ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ إِذَا خَالَفَهُمْ فِي أَهْوَائِهِمْ وَعَمِلَ بِالْعِلْمِ فِي أَحْوَالِهِمْ، وَقَدْ كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ أَدْهَمَ يَقُولُ: مَنْ تَعَوَّدَ أَفْخَاذَ النِّسَاءِ لَمْ يُفْلِحْ، وَكَانَ بِشْرٌ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ يَقُولُ: لَوْ كَانَ لِي عِيَالٌ لَخَشِيتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ جَلَّادًا عَلَى الْجِسْرِ.

kayfa waqad takūnu al-marʾatu wa-al-waladu ʾaʿdā ʿaduwwin li-l-rajuli al-yawma qabla yawmi al-qiyāmati ʾidhā khālafahum fī ʾahwāʾihim waʿamila bi-al-ʿilmi fī ʾaḥwālihim, waqad kāna ʾibrāhīmu bnu ʾad-hama yaqūlu: man taʿawwada ʾafkhādha al-nisāʾi lam yufliḥ, wakāna bishrun raḥimahu Allāhu yaqūlu: law kāna lī ʿiyālun lakhashītu ʾan ʾakūna jallādan ʿalā al-jisri.

Indeed, a wife and child may already be a man’s bitterest enemies today, before the Day of Resurrection, if he opposes their desires and treats their affairs according to knowledge. Ibrāhīm ibn Adham used to say: “Whoever becomes accustomed to women’s thighs will not prosper.” Bishr, may God have mercy on him, used to say: “If I had dependants, I would fear becoming a flogger upon the Bridge.”

فَالْوَحْدَةُ أَرْوَحُ لِلْقَلْبِ وَأَقَلُّ لِلْهَمِّ لِخِفَّةِ الْمَؤُونَةِ وَقِلَّةِ الْمُطَالَبَةِ وَأَمْنِ الْمُنَازَعَةِ وَسُقُوطِ حُكْمٍ مِنْ أَحْكَامِ الشَّرْعِ عَنْهُ، وَقَدْ كَانَ السَّلَفُ يَعْمَلُونَ فِي إِسْقَاطِ الْحُكْمِ عَنْهُمْ لِلْعَجْزِ عَنِ الْقِيَامِ بِهَا، وَيَغْتَنِمُونَ ذَلِكَ، وَفِي التَّخَلِّي قِلَّةُ الِاهْتِمَامِ بِالِادِّخَارِ وَالْجَمْعِ، وَتَرْكُ الْمُرَاعَاةِ، وَالتَّحَفُّظِ لِلْمَبِيتِ فِي الْبَيْتِ.

fa-al-waḥdatu ʾarwaḥu li-l-qalbi waʾaqallu li-l-hammi likhiffati al-maʾūnati waqillati al-muṭālabati waʾamni al-munāzaʿati wasuqūṭi ḥukmin min ʾaḥkāmi al-sharʿi ʿanhu, waqad kāna al-salafu yaʿmalūna fī ʾisqāṭi al-ḥukmi ʿanhum li-l-ʿajzi ʿani al-qiyāmi bihā, wayaghtanimūna dhālika, wafī al-takhallī qillatu al-ihtimāmi bi-al-iddikhāri wa-al-jamʿi, watarku al-murāʿāti, wa-al-taḥaffuẓi li-l-mabīti fī al-bayti.

Solitude brings greater rest to the heart and fewer worries, through lighter upkeep, fewer demands, freedom from quarrels, and exemption from one of the Law’s obligations. The early Muslims worked to free themselves from obligations they could not fulfill and welcomed that opportunity. Withdrawal also lessens concern with saving and accumulating, and frees one from keeping watch and taking precautions about spending the night at home.

وَسُقُوطُ الْمَسْأَلَةِ وَالِاسْتِخْبَارِ، وَتَرْكُ التَّجَسُّسِ لِلْآثَارِ الَّتِي نَهَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ عَنْهَا إِذْ لَا يَأْمَنُ ذَلِكَ مَعَ الزَّوْجَةِ السُّوءِ، وَإِنَّمَا زَهِدَ الزَّاهِدُونَ فِي الدُّنْيَا لِرَاحَةِ الْقَلْبِ وَاطِّرَاحِ الْهَمِّ وَسُقُوطِ الْمُطَالَبَةِ، وَقَدْ أُبِيحَتِ الْعُزْبَةُ وَفُضِّلَ التَّعَزُّبُ لِهَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ.

wasuqūṭu al-masʾalati wa-al-istikhbāri, watarku al-tajassusi li-l-ʾāthāri allatī nahā Allāhu warasūluhu ʿanhā ʾidh lā yaʾmanu dhālika maʿa al-zawjati al-sūʾi, waʾinnamā zahida al-zāhidūna fī al-dunyā lirāḥati al-qalbi wa-iṭṭirāḥi al-hammi wasuqūṭi al-muṭālabati, waqad ʾubīḥati al-ʿuzbatu wafuḍḍila al-taʿazzubu li-hādhihi al-ʾummati fī ʾākhiri al-zamāni.

It removes questioning and seeking information, and abandons the prying into traces that God and His Messenger forbade, for with a bad wife one cannot be sure of avoiding that. Renunciants renounced the world to rest their hearts, cast off anxiety, and escape demands. Celibacy has been permitted, and remaining unmarried preferred, for this community at the end of time.

بَعْدَ الْمِائَتَيْنِ أُبِيحَتِ الْعُزْبَةُ لِأُمَّتِي، وَلَأَنْ يُرَبِّيَ أَحَدُكُمْ جِرْوَ كَلْبٍ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ يُرَبِّيَ وَلَدًا، وَالْخَبَرُ الْمَشْهُورُ: خَيْرُ النَّاسِ بَعْدَ الْمِائَتَيْنِ الْخَفِيفُ الْحَادُّ الَّذِي لَا أَهْلَ لَهُ وَلَا وَلَدَ. وَفِي خَبَرٍ آخَرَ: يَأْتِي عَلَى النَّاسِ زَمَانٌ يَكُونُ هَلَاكُ الرَّجُلِ عَلَى يَدَيْ زَوْجَتِهِ وَأَبَوَيْهِ وَوَلَدِهِ.

baʿda al-miʾatayni ʾubīḥati al-ʿuzbatu liʾummatī, walaʾan yurabbiya ʾaḥadukum jirwa kalbin khayrun min ʾan yurabbiya waladan, wa-al-khabaru al-mashhūru: khayru al-nāsi baʿda al-miʾatayni al-khafīfu al-ḥāddu alladhī lā ʾahla lahu walā walada. wafī khabarin ʾākhara: yaʾtī ʿalā al-nāsi zamānun yakūnu halāku al-rajuli ʿalā yaday zawjatihi waʾabawayhi wawaladihi.

“After the year two hundred, celibacy is permitted to my community; for one of you to rear a puppy is better than rearing a child.” The well-known report says: “The best person after the year two hundred is the lightly burdened, resolute man who has neither wife nor child.” Another report says: “A time will come when a man’s destruction will be brought about by his wife, his parents, and his child.”

يُعَيِّرُونَهُ بِالْفَقْرِ وَيُحَمِّلُونَهُ مَا لَا يُطِيقُ، فَيَدْخُلُ الْمَدَاخِلَ الَّتِي يَذْهَبُ فِيهَا دِينُهُ فَيَهْلِكُ، وَرُبَّمَا كَانَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ عُقُوبَةً لِلْعَبْدِ. وَقَدْ حَدَّثُونَا فِي أَخْبَارِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّلَامُ أَنَّ قَوْمًا دَخَلُوا عَلَى يُونُسَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ فَأَضَافَهُمْ، وَكَانَ يَدْخُلُ وَيَخْرُجُ إِلَى مَنْزِلِهِ فَتُؤْذِيهِ امْرَأَتُهُ وَتَسْتَطِيلُ عَلَيْهِ وَهُوَ سَاكِتٌ.

yuʿayyirūnahu bi-al-faqri wayuḥammilūnahu mā lā yuṭīqu, fayadkhulu al-madākhila allatī yadhhabu fīhā dīnuhu fayahliku, warubbamā kānati al-marʾatu ʿuqūbatan li-l-ʿabdi. waqad ḥaddathūnā fī ʾakhbāri al-ʾanbiyāʾi ʿalayhimu al-salāmu ʾanna qawman dakhalū ʿalā yūnusa ʿalayhi al-salāmu faʾaḍāfahum, wakāna yadkhulu wayakhruju ʾilā manzilihi fatuʾdhīhi imraʾatuhu watastaṭīlu ʿalayhi wahuwa sākitun.

“They will reproach him for poverty and burden him beyond his capacity, so that he enters pursuits in which he loses his religion and is ruined.” A wife may sometimes be a punishment for the servant. They have told us among the stories of the prophets, peace be upon them, that some people visited Jonah, peace be upon him, and he entertained them. As he went in and out of his house, his wife hurt him and treated him overbearingly, while he remained silent.

فَعَجِبُوا مِنْ ذَلِكَ، وَهَابُوهُ أَنْ يَسْأَلُوهُ فَقَالَ: لَا تَعْجَبُوا مِنْ هَذَا، فَإِنِّي سَأَلْتُ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فَقُلْتُ: يَا رَبِّ مَا كُنْتَ مُعَاقِبِي بِهِ فِي الْآخِرَةِ فَعَجِّلْهُ لِي فِي الدُّنْيَا فَقَالَ: إِنَّ عُقُوبَتَكَ ابْنَةُ فُلَانٍ فَتَزَوَّجْ بِهَا، فَتَزَوَّجْتُ بِهَا وَأَنَا صَابِرٌ عَلَى مَا تَرَوْنَ مِنْهَا.

faʿajibū min dhālika, wahābūhu ʾan yasʾalūhu faqāla: lā taʿjabū min hādhā, faʾinnī saʾaltu Allāha ʿazza wajalla faqultu: yā rabbi mā kunta muʿāqibī bihi fī al-ʾākhirati faʿajjilhu lī fī al-dunyā faqāla: ʾinna ʿuqūbataka ibnatu fulānin fatazawwaj bihā, fatazawwajtu bihā waʾanā ṣābirun ʿalā mā tarawna minhā.

They were astonished but stood too much in awe of him to ask. He said: “Do not be astonished. I asked God, mighty and majestic: ‘My Lord, whatever You would punish me with in the hereafter, hasten it for me in this world.’ He said: ‘Your punishment is the daughter of so-and-so; marry her.’ So I married her and patiently endure what you see from her.”

وَهَذَا كُلُّهُ لِمَنْ لَمْ يَخْشَ الْعَنَتَ، فَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ الْعَنَتَ وَهُوَ الزِّنَا، وَأَصْلُ الْعَنَتِ فِي اللُّغَةِ هُوَ الْكَسْرُ بَعْدَ جَبْرٍ، يُقَالُ لِلدَّابَّةِ إِذَا كُسِرَتْ بَعْدَ مَا جُبِرَتْ قَدْ عَنِتَتْ، فَكَأَنَّهُ كَانَ مَجْبُورًا بِالْعِصْمَةِ وَبِالتَّوْبَةِ ثُمَّ كُسِرَ بِالزَّلَلِ أَوِ الْعَادَةِ السَّوْدَاءِ، فَنِكَاحُ الْأَمَةِ حِينَئِذٍ خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنَ الْعَنَتِ.

wa-hādhā kulluhu liman lam yakhsha al-ʿanata, faʾammā man khāfa al-ʿanata wahuwa al-zinā, waʾaṣlu al-ʿanati fī al-lughati huwa al-kasru baʿda jabrin, yuqālu li-l-dābbati ʾidhā kusirat baʿda mā jubirat qad ʿanitat, fakaʾannahu kāna majbūran bi-al-ʿiṣmati wabi-al-tawbati thumma kusira bi-al-zalali ʾawi al-ʿādati al-sawdāʾi, fanikāḥu al-ʾamati ḥīnaʾidhin khayrun lahu mina al-ʿanati.

All this concerns someone who does not fear falling into sin. For someone who fears it, meaning unlawful intercourse, the word’s original linguistic sense is a fracture after a bone has healed: an animal is said to have suffered ʿanat when it breaks a bone after healing. It is as though he had been mended through protection and repentance, then broken by a lapse or a dark habit. In that case, marrying an enslaved woman is better for him than falling into sin.

وَالصَّبْرُ عَنْ نِكَاحِ الْأَمَةِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ نِكَاحِهَا، وَهَذَا مَعْنَى قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي نِكَاحِ الْأَمَةِ: (ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ خَشِيَ الْعَنَتَ مِنْكُمْ)، وَكَذَلِكَ إِنْ كَثُرَتِ الْخَوَاطِرُ الرَّدِيَّةُ وَالْوَسَاوِسُ الدَّنِيَّةُ فِي قَلْبِهِ بِذِكْرِ النِّكَاحِ فَشَغَلَهُ ذَلِكَ عَنْ فَرْضِهِ أَوْ شَتَّتَ ذَلِكَ هَمَّهُ، فَإِنَّ نِكَاحَ الْأَمَةِ أَيْضًا خَيْرٌ لَهُ.

wa-al-ṣabru ʿan nikāḥi al-ʾamati khayrun min nikāḥihā, wa-hādhā maʿnā qawlihi ʿazza wajalla fī nikāḥi al-ʾamati: (dhālika liman khashiya al-ʿanata minkum), wa-kadhālika ʾin kathurati al-khawāṭiru al-radiyyatu wa-al-wasāwisu al-daniyyatu fī qalbihi bidhikri al-nikāḥi fashaghalahu dhālika ʿan farḍihi ʾaw shattata dhālika hammahu, faʾinna nikāḥa al-ʾamati ʾayḍan khayrun lahu.

Yet patiently refraining from marrying an enslaved woman is better than marrying her. This is the meaning of the saying of God, mighty and majestic, concerning such a marriage: “That is for those of you who fear falling into sin.” Likewise, if vile thoughts and base whisperings about intercourse multiply in his heart, distracting him from his obligation or scattering his concentration, then marrying an enslaved woman is also better for him.

عَلَى أَنَّ نِكَاحَ الْأَمَةِ مُحَرَّمٌ عَلَى مَنْ وَجَدَ طَوْلًا بِحُرَّةٍ، انْصَرَفَ النَّاسُ ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ مِنْ مَجْلِسِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ وَبَقِيَ شَابٌّ لَمْ

ʿalā ʾanna nikāḥa al-ʾamati muḥarramun ʿalā man wajada ṭawlan biḥurratin, inṣarafa al-nāsu dhāta yawmin min majlisi ibni ʿabbāsin wabaqiya shābbun lam

Nevertheless, marrying an enslaved woman is forbidden to someone who possesses the means to marry a free woman. One day the people left Ibn ʿAbbās’s gathering, but a young man remained and did not

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٣٩٩

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 399

Volume Two, page 399

يَبْرَحْ، فَأَطَالَ الْقُعُودَ فَقَالَ لَهُ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: هَلْ لَكَ مِنْ حَاجَةٍ؟ فَقَالَ: نَعَمْ، لِي حَاجَةٌ اسْتَحْيَيْتُ أَنْ أَسْأَلَكَ عَنْهَا بِحَضْرَةِ الْمَلَأِ. قَالَ: سَلْنِي عَمَّا شِئْتَ. قَالَ: إِنِّي أَهَابُكَ وَأُجِلُّكَ. فَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: إِنَّمَا الْعَالِمُ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الْوَالِدِ لَا حِشْمَةَ عَلَى السَّائِلِ مِنْهُ.

yabraḥ, faʾaṭāla al-quʿūda faqāla lahu ibnu ʿabbāsin: hal laka min ḥājatin? faqāla: naʿam, lī ḥājatun istaḥyaytu ʾan ʾasʾalaka ʿanhā biḥaḍrati al-malaʾi. qāla: salnī ʿammā shiʾta. qāla: ʾinnī ʾahābuka waʾujilluka. faqāla ibnu ʿabbāsin: ʾinnamā al-ʿālimu bimanzilati al-wālidi lā ḥishmata ʿalā al-sāʾili minhu.

leave. He sat for a long time, until Ibn ʿAbbās asked: “Do you need something?” He answered: “Yes. I have a question I was too embarrassed to ask in front of everyone.” He said: “Ask whatever you wish.” The young man said: “I stand in awe of you and revere you.” Ibn ʿAbbās replied: “A scholar is like a father. The person asking him need feel no embarrassment.”

فَمَهْمَا أَفْضَيْتَ بِهِ إِلَى أَبِيكَ فَأَفْضِ بِهِ إِلَيَّ فَإِنَّهُ لَا عَيْبَ عَلَيْكَ عِنْدِي. فَقَالَ: رَحِمَكَ اللَّهُ إِنِّي شَابٌّ لَا زَوْجَةَ لِي وَرُبَّمَا خَشِيتُ الْعَنَتَ عَلَى نَفْسِي، وَرُبَّمَا اسْتَمْنَيْتُ بِذَكَرِي فَهَلْ لِي فِي ذَلِكَ مَعْصِيَةٌ؟ فَأَعْرَضَ عَنْهُ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا ثُمَّ قَالَ: أُفٍّ وَتُفٍّ، نِكَاحُ الْأَمَةِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ هَذَا، وَهَذَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ الزِّنَا.

famahmā ʾafḍayta bihi ʾilā ʾabīka faʾafḍi bihi ʾilayya faʾinnahu lā ʿayba ʿalayka ʿindī. faqāla: raḥimaka Allāhu ʾinnī shābbun lā zawjata lī warubbamā khashītu al-ʿanata ʿalā nafsī, warubbamā istamnaytu bidhakarī fahal lī fī dhālika maʿṣiyatun? faʾaʿraḍa ʿanhu ibnu ʿabbāsin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhumā thumma qāla: ʾuffin watuffin, nikāḥu al-ʾamati khayrun min hādhā, wa-hādhā khayrun mina al-zinā.

“Whatever you would confide to your father, confide to me; I will find no fault with you.” He said: “May God have mercy on you. I am young and have no wife. Sometimes I fear falling into unlawful intercourse, and sometimes I masturbate. Is that a sin for me?” Ibn ʿAbbās, may God be pleased with them both, turned away, then said: “Fie and shame! Marrying an enslaved woman is better than this, and this is better than unlawful intercourse.”

وَنِكَاحُ الْأَمَةِ عِنْدَ عُلَمَاءِ الْعِرَاقِ حَرَامٌ عَلَى مَنْ وَجَدَ عَشَرَةَ دَرَاهِمَ، وَعِنْدَ بَعْضِ عُلَمَاءِ الْحِجَازِ إِذَا كَانَ وَاجِدًا ثَلَاثَةَ دَرَاهِمَ لَمْ يَحِلَّ لَهُ نِكَاحُ الْأَمَةِ، وَعَنْ بَعْضِ أَصْحَابِ ابْنِ الْمُسَيِّبِ إِنْ وَجَدَ الرَّجُلُ دِرْهَمَيْنِ حَرُمَ عَلَيْهِ الْأَمَةُ.

wanikāḥu al-ʾamati ʿinda ʿulamāʾi al-ʿirāqi ḥarāmun ʿalā man wajada ʿasharata darāhima, waʿinda baʿḍi ʿulamāʾi al-ḥijāzi ʾidhā kāna wājidan thalāthata darāhima lam yaḥilla lahu nikāḥu al-ʾamati, waʿan baʿḍi ʾaṣḥābi ibni al-musayyibi ʾin wajada al-rajulu dirhamayni ḥaruma ʿalayhi al-ʾamatu.

According to the scholars of Iraq, marrying an enslaved woman is forbidden to anyone who possesses ten dirhams. According to certain scholars of the Hijaz, if he possesses three dirhams, such a marriage is unlawful for him. It is related from some of Ibn al-Musayyib’s companions that if a man possesses two dirhams, an enslaved woman is forbidden to him.

وَقَالَ بَعْضُ النَّاسِ: أَحْمَقُ النَّاسِ حُرٌّ تَزَوَّجَ بِأَمَةٍ، وَأَعْقَلُ النَّاسِ عَبْدٌ تَزَوَّجَ بِحُرَّةٍ، لِأَنَّ هَذَا يَعْتِقُ بَعْضُهُ وَذَلِكَ يَرِقُّ بَعْضُهُ، لِأَنَّهُ يَرِقُّ وَلَدُهُ. وَقَدْ جَاءَ فِي كَرَاهَةِ الِاسْتِمْنَاءِ وَتَحْرِيمِهِ وَالتَّغْلِيظِ فِيهِ أَخْبَارٌ شَدِيدَةٌ.

waqāla baʿḍu al-nāsi: ʾaḥmaqu al-nāsi ḥurrun tazawwaja biʾamatin, waʾaʿqalu al-nāsi ʿabdun tazawwaja biḥurratin, liʾanna hādhā yaʿtiqu baʿḍuhu wa-dhālika yariqqu baʿḍuhu, liʾannahu yariqqu waladuhu. waqad jāʾa fī karāhati al-istimnāʾi wataḥrīmihi wa-al-taghlīẓi fīhi ʾakhbārun shadīdatun.

Someone said: “The most foolish person is a free man who marries an enslaved woman, and the most sensible is an enslaved man who marries a free woman. Part of the latter becomes free, while part of the former becomes enslaved,” because his child becomes enslaved. Stern reports have been transmitted disapproving of masturbation, forbidding it, and treating it severely.

رَوَيْنَا أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ أَهْلَكَ أُمَّةً مِنَ الْأُمَمِ كَانُوا يَعْبَثُونَ بِمَذَاكِيرِهِمْ، وَقَدْ أَسْنَدَهُ إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ أَبَانَ عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، وَسُئِلَ أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ عَنِ النِّسَاءِ فَقَالَ: الصَّبْرُ عَنْهُنَّ وَلَا الصَّبْرُ عَلَيْهِنَّ، وَالصَّبْرُ عَلَيْهِنَّ خَيْرٌ مِنَ الصَّبْرِ عَلَى النَّارِ، وَكَذَلِكَ قَالَ بَعْضُ الْعُلَمَاءِ قَبْلَهُ: مُعَالَجَةُ الْعُزْبَةِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ مُعَالَجَةِ النِّسَاءِ.

rawaynā ʾanna Allāha ʿazza wajalla ʾahlaka ʾummatan mina al-ʾumami kānū yaʿbathūna bimadhākīrihim, waqad ʾasnadahu ʾismāʿīlu bnu ʾabāna ʿan ʾanasi bni mālikin, wasuʾila ʾabū muḥammadin ʿani al-nisāʾi faqāla: al-ṣabru ʿanhunna walā al-ṣabru ʿalayhinna, wa-al-ṣabru ʿalayhinna khayrun mina al-ṣabri ʿalā al-nāri, wa-kadhālika qāla baʿḍu al-ʿulamāʾi qablahu: muʿālajatu al-ʿuzbati khayrun min muʿālajati al-nisāʾi.

We have related that God, mighty and majestic, destroyed a people who played with their penises; Ismāʿīl ibn Abān transmitted it with a chain from Anas ibn Mālik. Abū Muḥammad was asked about women and said: “Endure being without them rather than enduring them; yet enduring them is better than enduring the Fire.” A scholar before him similarly said: “Struggling with celibacy is better than struggling with women.”

وَقَالَ بَعْضُ عُلَمَائِنَا الْبَصْرِيِّينَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْوَرَعِ وَالْيَقِينِ، وَقَدْ سُئِلَ عَنِ التَّزْوِيجِ فِي مِثْلِ زَمَانِنَا، فَذَكَرَ ضِيقَ الْمَكَاسِبِ وَقِلَّةَ الْحَلَالِ وَكَثْرَةَ فَسَادِ النِّسَاءِ، فَكَرِهَهُ لِلْوَرِعِ وَأَمَرَهُ بِالْمُدَافَعَةِ فَأُعِيدَ عَلَيْهِ فِي ذَلِكَ، فَقَالَ إِنَّهُ يَدْخُلُ فِي الْمَعَاصِي لِدُخُولِ الْإِنْسَانِ فِي الْآفَاتِ وَفِي الْمَكَاسِبِ الْمُحَرَّمَاتِ وَمِنْ أَكْلِهِ بِدِينِهِ وَتَصَنُّعِهِ لِلْخَلْقِ.

waqāla baʿḍu ʿulamāʾinā al-baṣriyyīna min ʾahli al-waraʿi wa-al-yaqīni, waqad suʾila ʿani al-tazwīji fī mithli zamāninā, fadhakara ḍīqa al-makāsibi waqillata al-ḥalāli wakathrata fasādi al-nisāʾi, fakarihahu li-l-wariʿi waʾamarahu bi-al-mudāfaʿati faʾuʿīda ʿalayhi fī dhālika, faqāla ʾinnahu yadkhulu fī al-maʿāṣī lidukhūli al-ʾinsāni fī al-ʾāfāti wafī al-makāsibi al-muḥarramāti wamin ʾaklihi bidīnihi wataṣannuʿihi li-l-khalqi.

One of our Basran scholars, a man of scrupulousness and certainty, was asked about marriage in a time like ours. He mentioned the narrow opportunities for earning, the scarcity of lawful income, and the widespread corruption of women. He discouraged it for a scrupulous person and told him to put it off. Pressed again, he said that it leads into sins, because a person falls into harmful practices and forbidden earnings, makes a livelihood from his religion, and puts on a show for people.

فَلَا يَصْلُحُ التَّزْوِيجُ فِي هَذَا الْوَقْتِ إِلَّا لِرَجُلٍ يُدْرِكُهُ مِنَ الشَّبَقِ مَا يُدْرِكُ الْحِمَارَ إِذَا نَظَرَ إِلَى أَتَانٍ، لَمْ يَمْلِكْ نَفْسَهُ أَنْ يَثِبَ عَلَيْهَا حَتَّى يُضْرَبَ رَأْسُهُ، وَهُوَ لَا يَنْثَنِي، فَإِنْ كَانَ الْإِنْسَانُ عَلَى مِثْلِ هَذَا الْوَصْفِ كَانَ التَّزْوِيجُ لَهُ أَفْضَلَ.

falā yaṣluḥu al-tazwīju fī hādhā al-waqti ʾillā lirajulin yudrikuhu mina al-shabaqi mā yudriku al-ḥimāra ʾidhā naẓara ʾilā ʾatānin, lam yamlik nafsahu ʾan yathiba ʿalayhā ḥattā yuḍraba raʾsuhu, wahuwa lā yanthanī, faʾin kāna al-ʾinsānu ʿalā mithli hādhā al-waṣfi kāna al-tazwīju lahu ʾafḍala.

Marriage at this time is therefore appropriate only for a man seized by lust like a donkey seeing a she-ass: it cannot restrain itself from mounting her, even when its head is struck, and will not turn away. If a person is in such a condition, marriage is better for him.

وَقَدْ رَوَيْنَا عَنْ قَتَادَةَ فِي قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ)، قَالَ: الْغُلْمَةَ، وَعَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ وَمُجَاهِدٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا: وَخُلِقَ الْإِنْسَانُ ضَعِيفًا، قَالَ: لَا يَصْبِرُ عَنِ النِّسَاءِ. وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ فَيَّاضِ بْنِ نَجِيحٍ: إِذَا قَامَ ذَكَرُ الرَّجُلِ ذَهَبَ ثُلُثَا عَقْلِهِ، وَبَعْضُهُمْ يَقُولُ: ذَهَبَ ثُلُثُ دِينِهِ.

waqad rawaynā ʿan qatādata fī qawlihi ʿazza wajalla: (walā tuḥammilnā mā lā ṭāqata lanā bihi), qāla: al-ghulmata, waʿan ʿikrimata wamujāhidin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhumā: wakhuliqa al-ʾinsānu ḍaʿīfan, qāla: lā yaṣbiru ʿani al-nisāʾi. warawaynā ʿan fayyāḍi bni najīḥin: ʾidhā qāma dhakaru al-rajuli dhahaba thuluthā ʿaqlihi, wabaʿḍuhum yaqūlu: dhahaba thuluthu dīnihi.

We have related that Qatāda explained the saying of God, mighty and majestic, “Do not burden us with what we cannot bear,” as referring to sexual craving. From ʿIkrima and Mujāhid, may God be pleased with them both, concerning “Man was created weak,” comes the explanation: “He cannot endure being without women.” We have related from Fayyāḍ ibn Najīḥ: “When a man’s penis becomes erect, two-thirds of his reason departs.” Some say: “A third of his religion departs.”

وَرَوَيْنَا فِي نَوَادِرِ التَّفْسِيرِ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ: وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ، قَالَ: قِيَامُ الذَّكَرِ وَقَدْ أَسْنَدَهُ بَعْضُ الرُّوَاةِ، إِلَّا أَنَّهُ قَالَ فِيهِ: الذَّكَرُ إِذَا دَخَلَ وَلَمْ يَذْكُرْ قَامَ، وَفِي الْخَبَرِ: إِذَا تَزَوَّجَ الرَّجُلُ فَقَدْ أَحْرَزَ نِصْفَ دِينِهِ، فَلْيَتَّقِ اللَّهَ فِي الشَّطْرِ الْآخَرِ.

warawaynā fī nawādiri al-tafsīri ʿani ibni ʿabbāsin: wamin sharri ghāsiqin ʾidhā waqaba, qāla: qiyāmu al-dhakari waqad ʾasnadahu baʿḍu al-ruwāti, ʾillā ʾannahu qāla fīhi: al-dhakaru ʾidhā dakhala walam yadhkur qāma, wafī al-khabari: ʾidhā tazawwaja al-rajulu faqad ʾaḥraza niṣfa dīnihi, falyattaqi Allāha fī al-shaṭri al-ʾākhari.

Among unusual interpretations, we have related from Ibn ʿAbbās concerning “And from the evil of darkness when it enters”: “The erection of the penis.” Some transmitters furnished a chain for it, except that their wording was “the penis when it enters,” without mentioning “becomes erect.” A report says: “When a man marries, he has secured half his religion; let him fear God regarding the other half.”

وَفِي دُعَاءِ الْبَرَاءِ بْنِ عَازِبٍ: أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ سَمْعِي وَبَصَرِي وَقَلْبِي وَمَنِيِّي، فَكَانَ الْمَنِيُّ إِذَا امْتَلَأَ بِهِ خَرَزُ

wafī duʿāʾi al-barāʾi bni ʿāzibin: ʾaʿūdhu bika min sharri samʿī wabaṣarī waqalbī wamaniyyī, fakāna al-maniyyu ʾidhā imtalaʾa bihi kharazu

Al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib’s supplication includes: “I seek refuge in You from the evil of my hearing, sight, heart, and semen.” When the semen fills the vertebrae of

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٠٠

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 400

Volume Two, page 400

الصُّلْبِ، فَطَلَبَ الْخُرُوجَ فَخِيفَ مِنْهُ فَسَادُ الْقَلْبِ وَمَرَضُهُ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الدَّمِ إِذَا كَانَ فِي الْعُرُوقِ، فَإِذَا تَصَاعَدَ مِنَ الصُّلْبِ طَبَخَهُ وَغَيَّرَهُ فَابْيَضَّ وَصَارَ مَنِيًّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ.

al-ṣulbi, faṭalaba al-khurūja fakhīfa minhu fasādu al-qalbi wamaraḍuhu bimanzilati al-dami ʾidhā kāna fī al-ʿurūqi, faʾidhā taṣāʿada mina al-ṣulbi ṭabakhahu waghayyarahu fa-ibyaḍḍa waṣāra maniyyan biʾidhni Allāhi ʿazza wajalla.

the spine, it seeks an outlet, and one fears that it may corrupt and sicken the heart. It is like blood while in the veins; when it rises from the spine, the spine cooks and changes it, so that it turns white and becomes semen by the permission of God, mighty and majestic.

وَذُكِرَ النِّسَاءُ فِي مَجْلِسِ مُعَاوِيَةَ فَذَمَّهُنَّ قَوْمٌ فَقَالَ: لَا تَفْعَلُوا، فَمَا عَلَّلَ الْمَرِيضَ وَلَا نَدَبَ الْمَيِّتَ وَلَا عَمَرَ الْبُيُوتَ مِثْلُهُنَّ، وَلَا احْتَاجَتِ الرِّجَالُ إِلَى مِثْلِهِنَّ. وَفِي بَعْضِ التَّفْسِيرِ قَالَ: (إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا مَا عَلَى الْأَرْضِ زِينَةً لَهَا) قَالَ: النِّسَاءُ.

wadhukira al-nisāʾu fī majlisi muʿāwiyata fadhammahunna qawmun faqāla: lā tafʿalū, famā ʿallala al-marīḍa walā nadaba al-mayyita walā ʿamara al-buyūta mithluhunna, walā iḥtājati al-rijālu ʾilā mithlihinna. wafī baʿḍi al-tafsīri qāla: (ʾinnā jaʿalnā mā ʿalā al-ʾarḍi zīnatan lahā) qāla: al-nisāʾu.

Women were mentioned in Muʿāwiya’s gathering, and some people criticized them. He said: “Do not do that. No one nurses the sick, mourns the dead, or makes homes flourish as they do; men have never needed anyone as they need them.” In one interpretation of “We have made whatever is upon the earth an adornment for it,” the explanation is: “Women.”

وَعَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ: لَا يَتِمُّ نُسُكُ الشَّابِّ حَتَّى يَتَزَوَّجَ، وَكَانَ يَجْمَعُ غِلْمَانَهُ لَمَّا أَدْرَكُوا عِكْرِمَةَ وَكُرَيْبًا وَغَيْرَهُمَا فَيَقُولُ: إِنْ أَرَدْتُمُ النِّكَاحَ أَنْكَحْتُكُمْ، فَإِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِذَا زَنَى نُزِعَ نُورُ الْإِيمَانِ مِنْ قَلْبِهِ، وَقَدْ قَالَ عُمَرُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ لِأَبِي الزَّوَائِدِ: مَا يَمْنَعُكَ مِنَ النِّكَاحِ إِلَّا عَجْزٌ أَوْ فُجُورٌ.

waʿani ibni ʿabbāsin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhumā qāla: lā yatimmu nusuku al-shābbi ḥattā yatazawwaja, wakāna yajmaʿu ghilmānahu lammā ʾadrakū ʿikrimata wakurayban waghayrahumā fayaqūlu: ʾin ʾaradtumu al-nikāḥa ʾankaḥtukum, faʾinna al-ʿabda ʾidhā zanā nuziʿa nūru al-ʾīmāni min qalbihi, waqad qāla ʿumaru raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu liʾabī al-zawāʾidi: mā yamnaʿuka mina al-nikāḥi ʾillā ʿajzun ʾaw fujūrun.

Ibn ʿAbbās, may God be pleased with them both, said: “A young man’s devotion is not complete until he marries.” When his young servants reached maturity, he gathered ʿIkrima, Kurayb, and the others and said: “If you wish to marry, I will arrange it, for when a servant commits unlawful intercourse, the light of faith is removed from his heart.” ʿUmar, may God be pleased with him, said to Abū al-Zawāʾid: “Nothing prevents you from marrying except incapacity or immorality.”

وَحَدَّثَنَا بَعْضُ عُلَمَاءِ خُرَاسَانَ عَنْ شَيْخٍ لَهُ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ، كَانَ يَصْحَبُ عَبْدَانَ صَاحِبَ ابْنِ الْمُبَارَكِ وَوَصَفَ مِنْ صَلَاحِهِ وَعِلْمِهِ قَالَ: فَكَانَ يُكْثِرُ التَّزْوِيجَ حَتَّى لَمْ يَكُنْ يَخْلُو مِنِ اثْنَتَيْنِ أَوْ ثَلَاثَةٍ فَعُوتِبَ فِي ذَلِكَ فَقَالَ: هَلْ يَعْرِفُ أَحَدٌ مِنْكُمْ أَنَّهُ جَلَسَ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مَجْلِسًا، أَوْ وَقَفَ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللَّهِ مَوْقِفًا فِي مُعَامَلَتِهِ

waḥaddathanā baʿḍu ʿulamāʾi khurāsāna ʿan shaykhin lahu mina al-ṣāliḥīna, kāna yaṣḥabu ʿabdāna ṣāḥiba ibni al-mubāraki wawaṣafa min ṣalāḥihi waʿilmihi qāla: fakāna yukthiru al-tazwīja ḥattā lam yakun yakhlū mini ithnatayni ʾaw thalāthatin faʿūtiba fī dhālika faqāla: hal yaʿrifu ʾaḥadun minkum ʾannahu jalasa bayna yadayi Allāhi ʿazza wajalla majlisan, ʾaw waqafa bayna yadayi Allāhi mawqifan fī muʿāmalatihi

One of the scholars of Khurasan told us about a righteous shaykh of his who kept company with ʿAbdān, Ibn al-Mubārak’s companion. He described the man’s righteousness and knowledge, then said: “He married frequently and was never without two or three wives. Reproached for this, he asked: ‘Does any of you recall sitting before God, mighty and majestic, or standing before God in his spiritual dealings with Him,

فَخَطَرَ عَلَى قَلْبِهِ خَاطِرُ شَهْوَةٍ، وَأَفْكَرَ فِي ذَلِكَ؟ فَقِيلَ: قَدْ يُصِيبُنَا هَذَا كَثِيرٌ فَقَالَ: لَوْ رَضِيتُ فِي عُمْرِي كُلِّهِ بِمِثْلِ حَالِكُمْ فِي وَقْتٍ وَاحِدٍ لَمَا تَزَوَّجْتُ ثُمَّ قَالَ: لَكِنِّي مَا خَطَرَ عَلَى قَلْبِي خَاطِرٌ يَشْغَلُنِي عَنْ حَالِي إِلَّا نَفَّذْتُهُ لِأَسْتَرِيحَ مِنْهُ، وَأَرْجِعَ إِلَى شُغْلِي ثُمَّ قَالَ: مُنْذُ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً مَا خَطَرَ عَلَى قَلْبِي خَاطِرُ مَعْصِيَةٍ.

fakhaṭara ʿalā qalbihi khāṭiru shahwatin, waʾafkara fī dhālika? faqīla: qad yuṣībunā hādhā kathīrun faqāla: law raḍītu fī ʿumrī kullihi bimithli ḥālikum fī waqtin wāḥidin lamā tazawwajtu thumma qāla: lākinnī mā khaṭara ʿalā qalbī khāṭirun yashghalunī ʿan ḥālī ʾillā naffadhtuhu liʾastarīḥa minhu, waʾarjiʿa ʾilā shughlī thumma qāla: mundhu ʾarbaʿīna sanatan mā khaṭara ʿalā qalbī khāṭiru maʿṣiyatin.

‘when a thought of desire crossed his heart and he dwelled on it?’ They replied: ‘This happens to us often.’ He said: ‘If I had ever been content with your condition for a single moment in my entire life, I would not have married.’ Then he said: ‘But whenever a thought distracts me from my condition, I carry it out so that I may be relieved of it and return to my occupation.’ He added: ‘For forty years, no thought of disobedience has crossed my heart.’”

وَسَمِعَ بَعْضُ الْعُلَمَاءِ بَعْضَ الْجُهَّالِ يَطْعَنُ عَلَى الصُّوفِيَّةِ فَقَالَ: يَا هَذَا مَا الَّذِي نَقَصَهُمْ عِنْدَكَ؟ فَقَالَ: يَأْكُلُونَ كَثِيرًا فَقَالَ: وَأَنْتَ أَيْضًا، لَوْ جُعْتَ كَمَا يَجُوعُونَ لَأَكَلْتَ كَمَا يَأْكُلُونَ ثُمَّ قَالَ: مَاذَا؟ قَالَ: وَيَتَزَوَّجُونَ كَثِيرًا فَقَالَ: وَأَنْتَ أَيْضًا، لَوْ حَفِظْتَ فَرْجَكَ كَمَا يَحْفَظُونَ تَزَوَّجْتَ كَمَا يَتَزَوَّجُونَ.

wasamiʿa baʿḍu al-ʿulamāʾi baʿḍa al-juhhāli yaṭʿanu ʿalā al-ṣūfiyyati faqāla: yā hādhā mā alladhī naqaṣahum ʿindaka? faqāla: yaʾkulūna kathīran faqāla: waʾanta ʾayḍan, law juʿta kamā yajūʿūna laʾakalta kamā yaʾkulūna thumma qāla: mādhā? qāla: wayatazawwajūna kathīran faqāla: waʾanta ʾayḍan, law ḥafiẓta farjaka kamā yaḥfaẓūna tazawwajta kamā yatazawwajūna.

A scholar heard an ignorant man disparaging the Sufis. He asked: “What lowers them in your estimation?” The man answered: “They eat a great deal.” He replied: “If you went hungry as they do, you too would eat as they do.” He asked: “What else?” The man said: “They marry often.” He replied: “If you guarded your chastity as they do, you too would marry as they do.”

وَأَيُّ شَيْءٍ أَيْضًا؟ قَالَ: وَيَسْمَعُونَ الْقَوْلَ قَالَ: وَأَنْتَ أَيْضًا، لَوْ نَظَرْتَ كَمَا يَنْظُرُونَ لَسَمِعْتَ كَمَا يَسْمَعُونَ، وَقَدْ سُئِلَ بَعْضُ الْعُلَمَاءِ عَنِ الْقُرَّاءِ: لِمَ يُكْثِرُونَ الْأَكْلَ وَيُكْثِرُونَ الْجِمَاعَ وَتُعْجِبُهُمُ الْحَلَاوَةُ؟ فَقَالَ: لِأَنَّهُ يَطُولُ جُوعُهُمْ وَيَتَعَذَّرُ عَلَيْهِمْ مَوْجُودُ الطَّعَامِ، فَإِذَا وَجَدُوا اسْتَكْثَرُوا مِنْهُ.

waʾayyu shayʾin ʾayḍan? qāla: wayasmaʿūna al-qawla qāla: waʾanta ʾayḍan, law naẓarta kamā yanẓurūna lasamiʿta kamā yasmaʿūna, waqad suʾila baʿḍu al-ʿulamāʾi ʿani al-qurrāʾi: lima yukthirūna al-ʾakla wayukthirūna al-jimāʿa watuʿjibuhumu al-ḥalāwatu? faqāla: liʾannahu yaṭūlu jūʿuhum wayataʿadhdharu ʿalayhim mawjūdu al-ṭaʿāmi, faʾidhā wajadū istaktharū minhu.

“And what else?” He said: “They listen to recited verse.” He replied: “If you perceived things as they do, you too would listen as they do.” A scholar was asked about the devout reciters: “Why do they eat a great deal, have intercourse often, and enjoy sweets?” He answered: “Their hunger lasts long, and food is difficult for them to obtain; when they find it, they take plenty.”

وَأَمَّا الْحَلَاوَةُ فَإِنَّهُمْ تَرَكُوا شُرْبَ الْخَمْرِ وَكَثْرَةَ لَذَّاتِ النُّفُوسِ فَاجْتَمَعَتْ لَذَّتُهُمْ فِي الْحَلَاوَةِ، فَهُمْ يَأْكُلُونَهَا، وَأَمَّا الْجِمَاعُ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَضُّوا أَبْصَارَهُمْ فِي الظَّاهِرِ، فَضَيَّقُوا عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ فِي الْخَوَاطِرِ، فَاتَّسَعُوا فِي النِّكَاحِ فَأَكْثَرُوا مِنْهُ لَمَّا ضَيَّقُوا عَلَى جَوَارِحِهِمْ عَنِ الِانْتِشَارِ فِي الْأَبْصَارِ.

waʾammā al-ḥalāwatu faʾinnahum tarakū shurba al-khamri wakathrata ladhdhāti al-nufūsi fa-ijtamaʿat ladhdhatuhum fī al-ḥalāwati, fahum yaʾkulūnahā, waʾammā al-jimāʿu faʾinnahum ghaḍḍū ʾabṣārahum fī al-ẓāhiri, faḍayyaqū ʿalā qulūbihim fī al-khawāṭiri, fa-ittasaʿū fī al-nikāḥi faʾaktharū minhu lammā ḍayyaqū ʿalā jawāriḥihim ʿani al-intishāri fī al-ʾabṣāri.

“As for sweets, they have given up drinking wine and many of the soul’s pleasures, so their enjoyment has come together in sweets, which they therefore eat. As for intercourse, they lower their outward gaze and restrain the thoughts of their hearts; thus they allow themselves greater freedom in lawful intercourse and practice it often, having restrained their limbs from letting their eyes roam.”

وَقَدْ كَانَ الْجُنَيْدُ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ يَقُولُ: أَحْتَاجُ إِلَى الْجِمَاعِ كَمَا أَحْتَاجُ إِلَى الْقُوتِ، وَكَانَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ مِنْ زُهَّادِ أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَعُلَمَائِهِمْ، وَكَانَ يَصُومُ كَثِيرًا، وَكَانَ يُفْطِرُ عَلَى الْجِمَاعِ قَبْلَ الْأَكْلِ، وَرُبَّمَا جَامَعَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُصَلِّيَ بِالْمَغْرِبِ ثُمَّ يَغْتَسِلُ وَيُصَلِّي.

waqad kāna al-junaydu raḥimahu Allāhu yaqūlu: ʾaḥtāju ʾilā al-jimāʿi kamā ʾaḥtāju ʾilā al-qūti, wakāna ibnu ʿumara raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu min zuhhādi ʾaṣḥābi al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama waʿulamāʾihim, wakāna yaṣūmu kathīran, wakāna yufṭiru ʿalā al-jimāʿi qabla al-ʾakli, warubbamā jāmaʿa qabla ʾan yuṣalliya bi-al-maghribi thumma yaghtasilu wayuṣallī.

Al-Junayd, may God have mercy on him, used to say: “I need intercourse as I need nourishment.” Ibn ʿUmar, may God be pleased with him, was among the ascetics and scholars of the companions of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. He fasted frequently and would end his fast with intercourse before eating. Sometimes he had intercourse before praying the sunset prayer, then bathed and prayed.

وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ جَامَعَ أَرْبَعًا مِنْ جَوَارِيهِ فِي رَمَضَانَ قَبْلَ صَلَاةِ عِشَاءِ الْآخِرِ، وَقَدْ كَانَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ يَقُولُ: خَيْرُ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ أَكْثَرُهَا نِكَاحًا، وَكَانَ سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ

warawaynā ʿanhu ʾannahu jāmaʿa ʾarbaʿan min jawārīhi fī ramaḍāna qabla ṣalāti ʿishāʾi al-ʾākhiri, waqad kāna ibnu ʿabbāsin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu yaqūlu: khayru hādhihi al-ʾummati ʾaktharuhā nikāḥan, wakāna sufyānu bnu ʿuyaynata

We have related that he had intercourse with four of his enslaved women during Ramadan before the later evening prayer. Ibn ʿAbbās, may God be pleased with him, used to say: “The best of this community is the one with the most marriages.” Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna used to

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٠١

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 401

Volume Two, page 401

يَقُولُ: كَثْرَةُ النِّسَاءِ لَيْسَتْ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا لِأَنَّ عَلِيًّا رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ كَانَ أَزْهَدَ أَصْحَابِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَكَانَ لَهُ أَرْبَعُ نِسْوَةٍ وَسَبْعَةَ عَشَرَ سُرِّيَّةً، فَالنِّكَاحُ سُنَّةٌ مَاضِيَةٌ وَخُلُقٌ مِنْ أَخْلَاقِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ صَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِمْ.

yaqūlu: kathratu al-nisāʾi laysat mina al-dunyā liʾanna ʿaliyyan raḍiya Allāhu taʿālā ʿanhu kāna ʾazhada ʾaṣḥābi rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama, wakāna lahu ʾarbaʿu niswatin wasabʿata ʿashara surriyyatan, fa-al-nikāḥu sunnatun māḍiyatun wakhuluqun min ʾakhlāqi al-ʾanbiyāʾi ṣalawātu Allāhi ʿalayhim.

say: “Having many women does not belong to worldliness, for ʿAlī, may God, exalted is He, be pleased with him, was the most ascetic of the companions of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, yet he had four wives and seventeen concubines.” Marriage is an established sunna and one of the characteristics of the prophets, God’s blessings be upon them.

وَقَدْ رَوَيْنَا فِي أَخْبَارِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ أَنَّ عَابِدًا تَبَتَّلَ وَبَلَغَ مِنَ الْعِبَادَةِ مَا فَاقَ عَلَى أَهْلِ زَمَانِهِ، وَوُصِفَ بِذَلِكَ فَقَالَ: فَذُكِرَ ذَلِكَ لِنَبِيِّ ذَلِكَ الزَّمَانِ، فَأَثْنَى عَلَيْهِ بِحُسْنِ الثَّنَاءِ فَقَالَ: نِعْمَ الرَّجُلُ هُوَ لَوْلَا أَنَّهُ تَارِكٌ لِشَيْءٍ مِنَ السُّنَّةِ. قَالَ: فَنَمَى ذَلِكَ إِلَى الْعَابِدِ فَأَهَمَّهُ.

waqad rawaynā fī ʾakhbāri al-ʾanbiyāʾi ʾanna ʿābidan tabattala wabalagha mina al-ʿibādati mā fāqa ʿalā ʾahli zamānihi, wawuṣifa bi-dhālika faqāla: fadhukira dhālika linabiyyi dhālika al-zamāni, faʾathnā ʿalayhi biḥusni al-thanāʾi faqāla: niʿma al-rajulu huwa lawlā ʾannahu tārikun lishayʾin mina al-sunnati. qāla: fanamā dhālika ʾilā al-ʿābidi faʾahammahu.

We have related among the stories of the prophets that a worshipper devoted himself to celibacy and reached a degree of worship surpassing his contemporaries. He became known for this. The narrator said that it was mentioned to that age’s prophet, who spoke well of him but said: “What a fine man he would be, were he not neglecting something of the sunna.” The narrator said that this reached the worshipper and troubled him.

فَقَالَ: مَا يَنْفَعُنِي عِبَادَتِي لَيْلًا وَنَهَارًا وَأَنَا تَارِكٌ لِلسُّنَّةِ، فَجَاءَ إِلَى ذَلِكَ النَّبِيِّ فَسَأَلَهُ فَقَالَ: نَعَمْ أَنْتَ تَارِكٌ لِلتَّزَوُّجِ فَقَالَ: مَا تَرَكْتُهُ أَنَّنِي حَرَّمْتُهُ وَمَنَعَنِي مِنْهُ إِلَّا أَنِّي فَقِيرٌ لَا شَيْءَ عِنْدِي وَأَنَا عِيَالٌ عَلَى النَّاسِ، يُطْعِمُنِي هَذَا مَرَّةً وَهَذَا مَرَّةً.

faqāla: mā yanfaʿunī ʿibādatī laylan wanahāran waʾanā tārikun li-l-sunnati, fajāʾa ʾilā dhālika al-nabiyyi fasaʾalahu faqāla: naʿam ʾanta tārikun li-l-tazawwuji faqāla: mā taraktuhu ʾannanī ḥarramtuhu wamanaʿanī minhu ʾillā ʾannī faqīrun lā shayʾa ʿindī waʾanā ʿiyālun ʿalā al-nāsi, yuṭʿimunī hādhā marratan wa-hādhā marratan.

He said: “What benefit is there in my worshipping night and day if I neglect the sunna?” He went to that prophet and asked him. The prophet said: “Yes, you have neglected marriage.” He replied: “I did not abandon it because I considered it forbidden. Nothing prevented me except that I am poor, possess nothing, and depend on others: this person feeds me one time, that person another.”

فَكَرِهْتُ أَنْ أَتَزَوَّجَ امْرَأَةً أَعْضُلُهَا وَأُرْهِقُهَا جَهْدًا، فَقَالَ: مَا يَمْنَعُكَ إِلَّا هَذَا؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ. قَالَ: فَأَنَا أُزَوِّجُكَ ابْنَتِي. قَالَ: فَزَوَّجَهُ النَّبِيُّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ ابْنَتَهُ فِي قِصَّةٍ طَوِيلَةٍ. وَرَوَيْنَا فِي نَوَادِرِ أَخْبَارِهِمْ أَيْضًا: أَنَّ يَحْيَى بْنَ زَكَرِيَّا عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَامُ تَزَوَّجَ امْرَأَةً وَلَمْ يَكُنْ يَقْرَبُهَا.

fakarihtu ʾan ʾatazawwaja imraʾatan ʾaʿḍuluhā waʾurhiquhā jahdan, faqāla: mā yamnaʿuka ʾillā hādhā? qāla: naʿam. qāla: faʾanā ʾuzawwijuka ibnatī. qāla: fazawwajahu al-nabiyyu ʿalayhi al-salāmu ibnatahu fī qiṣṣatin ṭawīlatin. warawaynā fī nawādiri ʾakhbārihim ʾayḍan: ʾanna yaḥyā bna zakariyyā ʿalayhimā al-salāmu tazawwaja imraʾatan walam yakun yaqrabuhā.

“So I disliked marrying a woman whom I would constrain and burden with hardship.” The prophet asked: “Is that the only thing preventing you?” He answered: “Yes.” He said: “Then I will marry my daughter to you.” The narrator said that the prophet, peace be upon him, married his daughter to him, in a lengthy story. Among their unusual reports we have also related that John son of Zechariah, peace be upon them both, married a woman but did not approach her sexually.

قِيلَ: لِغَضِّ الْبَصَرِ وَقِيلَ: لِلْفَضْلِ فِي ذَلِكَ، كَأَنَّهُ أَرَادَ أَنْ يَجْمَعَ الْفَضَائِلَ كُلَّهَا، وَقِيلَ: لِلسُّنَّةِ، وَكَانَ بِشْرُ بْنُ الْحَارِثِ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ يَعْتَقِدُ أَحْمَدَ بْنَ حَنْبَلٍ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ وَيَقُولُ: فَضَلَ عَلَيَّ بِثَلَاثٍ بِطَلَبِ الْحَلَالِ لِنَفْسِهِ وَلِغَيْرِهِ، وَأَنَا أَطْلُبُ الْحَلَالَ لِنَفْسِي وَاتِّسَاعِهِ لِلنِّكَاحِ وَضِيقِي عَنْهُ وَقَدْ جُعِلَ إِمَامًا لِلْعَامَّةِ، وَأَنَا أَطْلُبُ الْوَحْدَةَ لِنَفْسِي.

qīla: lighaḍḍi al-baṣari waqīla: li-l-faḍli fī dhālika, kaʾannahu ʾarāda ʾan yajmaʿa al-faḍāʾila kullahā, waqīla: li-l-sunnati, wakāna bishru bnu al-ḥārithi raḥimahu Allāhu yaʿtaqidu ʾaḥmada bna ḥanbalin raḥimahu Allāhu wayaqūlu: faḍala ʿalayya bithalāthin biṭalabi al-ḥalāli linafsihi walighayrihi, waʾanā ʾaṭlubu al-ḥalāla linafsī wa-ittisāʿihi li-l-nikāḥi waḍīqī ʿanhu waqad juʿila ʾimāman li-l-ʿāmmati, waʾanā ʾaṭlubu al-waḥdata linafsī.

It was said that he did so to lower his gaze; or for marriage’s excellence, as though wishing to combine all virtues; or to follow the sunna. Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith, may God have mercy on him, held Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, may God have mercy on him, in reverence and said: “He surpasses me in three things: he seeks lawful provision for himself and others, whereas I seek it for myself; he has room for marriage while I cannot manage it; and he has been made a leader for the public, while I seek solitude for myself.”

وَيُقَالُ إِنَّ أَحْمَدَ بْنَ حَنْبَلٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ تَزَوَّجَ الْيَوْمَ الثَّانِيَ مِنْ وَفَاةِ أُمِّ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ وَلَدِهِ، وَيُقَالُ إِنَّهُ لَمْ يَبِتْ عَزَبًا بَعْدَ وَفَاتِهَا إِلَّا لَيْلَةً، وَلَكِنْ قَدْ كَانَ بِشْرٌ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ يَحْتَجُّ لِنَفْسِهِ بِحُجَّةٍ، قِيلَ لَهُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ يَتَكَلَّمُونَ فِيكَ فَقَالَ: وَمَا عَسَى أَنْ يَقُولُوا؟

wayuqālu ʾinna ʾaḥmada bna ḥanbalin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu tazawwaja al-yawma al-thāniya min wafāti ʾummi ʿabdi Allāhi waladihi, wayuqālu ʾinnahu lam yabit ʿazaban baʿda wafātihā ʾillā laylatan, wa-lākin qad kāna bishrun raḥimahu Allāhu yaḥtajju linafsihi biḥujjatin, qīla lahu ʾinna al-nāsa yatakallamūna fīka faqāla: wamā ʿasā ʾan yaqūlū?

It is said that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, may God be pleased with him, married on the second day after the death of the mother of his son ʿAbd Allāh. It is also said that he spent only one night unmarried after her death. Bishr, may God have mercy on him, nevertheless offered a defense of his own position. When told that people were speaking about him, he asked: “What might they be saying?”

قَالَ: يَقُولُونَ هُوَ تَارِكٌ لِلسُّنَّةِ فِي تَرْكِ النِّكَاحِ فَقَالَ: قُلْ لَهُمْ: هُوَ مَشْغُولٌ بِالْفَرْضِ عَنِ السُّنَّةِ، وَعُوتِبَ مَرَّةً أُخْرَى فِي تَرْكِ التَّزَوُّجِ فَقَالَ: مَا يَمْنَعُنِي مِنْ ذَلِكَ إِلَّا حَرْفٌ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَلَهُنَّ مِثْلُ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِنَّ).

qāla: yaqūlūna huwa tārikun li-l-sunnati fī tarki al-nikāḥi faqāla: qul lahum: huwa mashghūlun bi-al-farḍi ʿani al-sunnati, waʿūtiba marratan ʾukhrā fī tarki al-tazawwuji faqāla: mā yamnaʿunī min dhālika ʾillā ḥarfun fī kitābi Allāhi ʿazza wajalla: (walahunna mithlu alladhī ʿalayhinna).

He was told: “They say he has abandoned the sunna by abandoning marriage.” He replied: “Tell them: He is occupied with the obligatory, away from the sunna.” Reproached another time for foregoing marriage, he said: “Nothing prevents me except a phrase in the Book of God, mighty and majestic: ‘Women have rights comparable to their obligations.’”

قَالَ: فَذُكِرَ ذَلِكَ لِأَحْمَدَ بْنِ حَنْبَلٍ فَقَالَ: وَأَيْنَ مِثْلُ بِشْرٍ؟ إِنَّهُ قَعَدَ عَلَى مِثْلِ حَدِّ السِّنَانِ، وَعَلَى ذَلِكَ فَقَدْ بَلَغَنَا أَنَّهُ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ رُئِيَ فِي الْمَنَامِ بَعْدَ وَفَاتِهِ، فَسُئِلَ عَنْ حَالِهِ فَقَالَ: رُفِعْتُ سَبْعِينَ دَرَجَةً فِي عِلِّيِّينَ، وَأُشْرِفَ بِي عَلَى مَقَامَاتِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَلَمْ أَبْلُغْ مَنَازِلَ الْمُتَأَهِّلِينَ.

qāla: fadhukira dhālika liʾaḥmada bni ḥanbalin faqāla: waʾayna mithlu bishrin? ʾinnahu qaʿada ʿalā mithli ḥaddi al-sināni, waʿalā dhālika faqad balaghanā ʾannahu raḥimahu Allāhu ruʾiya fī al-manāmi baʿda wafātihi, fasuʾila ʿan ḥālihi faqāla: rufiʿtu sabʿīna darajatan fī ʿilliyyīna, waʾushrifa bī ʿalā maqāmāti al-ʾanbiyāʾi walam ʾablugh manāzila al-mutaʾahhilīna.

The narrator said that this was mentioned to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, who replied: “Where is another like Bishr? He has seated himself upon something like a spear’s edge.” Even so, we have heard that he, may God have mercy on him, was seen in a dream after his death and asked about his condition. He said: “I was raised seventy degrees in ʿIlliyyūn and brought within sight of the prophets’ stations, but I did not reach the abodes of the married.”

وَبَلَغَنَا عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: وَعَاتَبَنِي رَبِّي عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَقَالَ: يَا بِشْرُ مَا كُنْتُ أُحِبُّ أَنْ تَلْقَانِي عَزَبًا. قَالَ: فَقُلْتُ لَهُ مَا فَعَلَ أَبُو نَصْرٍ التَّمَّارُ؟ فَقَالَ: رُفِعَ فَوْقِي سَبْعِينَ دَرَجَةً فَقُلْنَا: بِمَاذَا، وَقَدْ كُنَّا نَرَاكَ فَوْقَهُ؟ فَقَالَ: بِصَبْرِهِ عَلَى بَنَاتِهِ وَالْعِيَالِ.

wabalaghanā ʿanhu ʾannahu qāla: waʿātabanī rabbī ʿazza wajalla waqāla: yā bishru mā kuntu ʾuḥibbu ʾan talqānī ʿazaban. qāla: faqultu lahu mā faʿala ʾabū naṣrin al-tammāru? faqāla: rufiʿa fawqī sabʿīna darajatan faqulnā: bimādhā, waqad kunnā narāka fawqahu? faqāla: biṣabrihi ʿalā banātihi wa-al-ʿiyāli.

We have also heard that he said: “My Lord, mighty and majestic, reproached me, saying: ‘Bishr, I did not wish you to meet Me unmarried.’” The dreamer said: “I asked him: ‘What happened to Abū Naṣr al-Tammār?’ He answered: ‘He was raised seventy degrees above me.’ We asked: ‘For what, when we used to consider you above him?’ He replied: ‘For patiently caring for his daughters and dependants.’”

وَقَدْ كَانَ ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ يَقُولُ: لَوْ لَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْ عُمْرِي إِلَّا عَشَرَةُ أَيَّامٍ أَمُوتُ فِي آخِرِهَا لَأَحْبَبْتُ أَنْ أَتَزَوَّجَ، وَلَا أَلْقَى اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَأَنَا أَعْزَبُ، وَمَاتَتِ امْرَأَةُ مُعَاذِ بْنِ جَبَلٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ فِي الطَّاعُونِ، وَكَانَ هُوَ أَيْضًا مَطْعُونًا فَقَالَ: زَوِّجُونِي فَإِنِّي أَكْرَهُ أَنْ أَلْقَى اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَزَبًا.

waqad kāna ibnu masʿūdin yaqūlu: law lam yabqa min ʿumrī ʾillā ʿasharatu ʾayyāmin ʾamūtu fī ʾākhirihā laʾaḥbabtu ʾan ʾatazawwaja, walā ʾalqā Allāha ʿazza wajalla waʾanā ʾaʿzabu, wamātati imraʾatu muʿādhi bni jabalin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu fī al-ṭāʿūni, wakāna huwa ʾayḍan maṭʿūnan faqāla: zawwijūnī faʾinnī ʾakrahu ʾan ʾalqā Allāha ʿazza wajalla ʿazaban.

Ibn Masʿūd used to say: “If only ten days remained in my life and I were to die at their end, I would still wish to marry, rather than meet God, mighty and majestic, unmarried.” The wife of Muʿādh ibn Jabal, may God be pleased with him, died in the plague, and he too was stricken. He said: “Find me a wife, for I dislike meeting God, mighty and majestic, unmarried.”

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٠٢

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 402

Volume Two, page 402

وَقَدْ كَانَ بَعْضُ الصَّحَابَةِ انْقَطَعَ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَخْدُمُهُ وَيَبِيتُ عِنْدَهُ لِحَاجَةٍ إِنْ طَرَقَتْهُ فَقَالَ لَهُ: أَلَا تَتَزَوَّجُ؟ فَقَالَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، أَنَا فَقِيرٌ لَا شَيْءَ لِي وَأَنْقَطِعُ عَنْ خِدْمَتِكَ، فَسَكَتَ عَنْهُ ثُمَّ أَعَادَ عَلَيْهِ ثَانِيَةً: أَلَا تَتَزَوَّجُ؟ فَقَالَ لَهُ مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ.

waqad kāna baʿḍu al-ṣaḥābati inqaṭaʿa ʾilā rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama yakhdumuhu wayabītu ʿindahu liḥājatin ʾin ṭaraqat-hu faqāla lahu: ʾalā tatazawwaju? faqāla: yā rasūla Allāhi, ʾanā faqīrun lā shayʾa lī waʾanqaṭiʿu ʿan khidmatika, fasakata ʿanhu thumma ʾaʿāda ʿalayhi thāniyatan: ʾalā tatazawwaju? faqāla lahu mithla dhālika.

One of the companions had devoted himself to serving God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, and spent the night near him in case a need arose. He asked the man: “Will you not marry?” He answered: “Messenger of God, I am poor and own nothing, and it would interrupt my service to you.” He left him alone, then asked a second time: “Will you not marry?” The man gave the same answer.

ثُمَّ تَفَكَّرَ الصَّحَابِيُّ فِي نَفْسِهِ فَقَالَ: وَاللَّهِ لَرَسُولُ اللَّهِ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَصْلُحُ فِي دُنْيَايَ وَآخِرَتِي، وَمَا يُقَرِّبُنِي إِلَى اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مِنِّي لَئِنْ قَالَ لِيَ الثَّالِثَةَ لَأَفْعَلَنَّ. فَقَالَ لَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَلَا تَتَزَوَّجُ؟ قَالَ: فَقُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ زَوِّجْنِي.

thumma tafakkara al-ṣaḥābiyyu fī nafsihi faqāla: wa-Allāhi larasūlu Allāhi ʾaʿlamu bimā yaṣluḥu fī dunyāya waʾākhiratī, wamā yuqarribunī ʾilā Allāhi ʿazza wajalla minnī laʾin qāla liya al-thālithata laʾafʿalanna. faqāla lahu rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾalā tatazawwaju? qāla: faqultu: yā rasūla Allāhi zawwijnī.

The companion then reflected: “By God, God’s Messenger knows better than I what will set right my worldly life and my hereafter, and what will bring me closer to God, mighty and majestic. If he asks a third time, I will do it.” God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, asked him: “Will you not marry?” The man related: “I answered: ‘Messenger of God, find me a wife.’”

قَالَ: اذْهَبْ إِلَى بَنِي فُلَانٍ فَقُلْ لَهُمْ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تُنْكِحُونِي فَتَاتَكُمْ. قَالَ: فَقُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَا شَيْءَ لِي فَقَالَ لِأَصْحَابِهِ: اجْمَعُوا لِأَخِيكُمْ وَزْنَ نَوَاةٍ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ، فَجَمَعُوا لَهُ وَذَهَبَ إِلَى الْقَوْمِ فَأَنْكَحُوهُ.

qāla: idhhab ʾilā banī fulānin faqul lahum ʾinna rasūla Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama yaʾmurukum ʾan tunkiḥūnī fatātakum. qāla: faqultu: yā rasūla Allāhi ʾinnahu lā shayʾa lī faqāla liʾaṣḥābihi: ijmaʿū liʾakhīkum wazna nawātin min dhahabin, fajamaʿū lahu wadhahaba ʾilā al-qawmi faʾankaḥūhu.

He said: “Go to the clan of so-and-so and tell them: ‘God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, commands you to marry your young woman to me.’” The man said: “I replied: ‘Messenger of God, I have nothing.’” He told his companions: “Collect a date-stone’s weight of gold for your brother.” They collected it, and he went to the people, who married her to him.

فَقَالَ لَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَوْلِمْ فَقَالَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ لَا شَيْءَ عِنْدِي فَقَالَ لِأَصْحَابِهِ: اجْمَعُوا لِأَخِيكُمْ ثَمَنَ شَاةٍ، فَجَمَعُوا لَهُ وَأَصْلَحَ طَعَامًا، وَدَعَا عَلَيْهِ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَأَصْحَابَهُ.

faqāla lahu rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾawlim faqāla: yā rasūla Allāhi lā shayʾa ʿindī faqāla liʾaṣḥābihi: ijmaʿū liʾakhīkum thamana shātin, fajamaʿū lahu waʾaṣlaḥa ṭaʿāman, wadaʿā ʿalayhi rasūla Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama waʾaṣḥābahu.

God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, told him: “Hold a wedding feast.” He replied: “Messenger of God, I have nothing.” He told his companions: “Collect the price of a sheep for your brother.” They collected it, and the man prepared food and invited God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, and his companions to it.

وَفِي الْخَبَرِ الْمَشْهُورِ: مَنْ كَانَ ذَا طَوْلٍ فَلْيَتَزَوَّجْ، وَفِي لَفْظٍ آخَرَ: مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ مِنْكُمُ الْبَاءَةَ يَعْنِي الْجِمَاعَ فَلْيَتَزَوَّجْ، فَإِنَّهُ أَغَضُّ لِلْبَصَرِ وَأَحْصَنُ لِلْفَرْجِ، وَمَنْ لَا فَلْيَصُمْ، فَإِنَّ الصَّوْمَ لَهُ وِجَاءٌ، وَأَصْلُ الْوِجَاءِ رَضُّ الْخُصْيَتَيْنِ لِلْفَحْلِ مِنَ الْغَنَمِ لِتَذْهَبَ فُحُولَتُهُ وَضِرَابُهُ.

wafī al-khabari al-mashhūri: man kāna dhā ṭawlin falyatazawwaj, wafī lafẓin ʾākhara: mani istaṭāʿa minkumu al-bāʾata yaʿnī al-jimāʿa falyatazawwaj, faʾinnahu ʾaghaḍḍu li-l-baṣari waʾaḥṣanu li-l-farji, waman lā falyaṣum, faʾinna al-ṣawma lahu wijāʾun, waʾaṣlu al-wijāʾi raḍḍu al-khuṣyatayni li-l-faḥli mina al-ghanami litadhhaba fuḥūlatuhu waḍirābuhu.

The well-known report says: “Whoever has the means should marry.” Another wording is: “Whoever among you is capable of sexual union,” meaning intercourse, “should marry, for it better restrains the gaze and guards the sexual organs. Whoever cannot should fast, for fasting is a restraint for him.” The original meaning of wijāʾ is crushing a ram’s testicles to remove its virility and power to mate.

فَكَانَتِ الْعَرَبُ تَجَأُ بِحَجَرَيْنِ فَتَقْطَعُ ضِرَابَهُ، فَيَسْكُنُ لِذَلِكَ عَهْرُهُ وَيَسْمَنُ، وَمِنْ ذَلِكَ الْخَبَرُ ضَحَّى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِكَبْشَيْنِ أَمْلَحَيْنِ مَوْجُوءَيْنِ يَعْنِي أَبْيَضَيْنِ مَرْضُوضَيِ الْخُصْيَةِ.

fakānati al-ʿarabu tajaʾu biḥajarayni fataqṭaʿu ḍirābahu, fayaskunu li-dhālika ʿahruhu wayasmanu, wamin dhālika al-khabaru ḍaḥḥā rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama bikabshayni ʾamlaḥayni mawjūʾayni yaʿnī ʾabyaḍayni marḍūḍayi al-khuṣyati.

The Arabs would castrate it with two stones, putting an end to its mating; its sexual restlessness would subside and it would grow fat. Related to this is the report that God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, sacrificed two white, castrated rams, meaning white ones whose testicles had been crushed.

رَوَيْنَا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: تَنَاكَحُوا، تَنَاسَلُوا فَإِنِّي مُكَاثِرٌ بِكُمُ الْأُمَمَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حَتَّى بِالسِّقْطِ وَالرَّضِيعِ، وَفِي الْخَبَرِ الْآخَرِ: مَنْ أَحَبَّنِي فَلْيَسْتَنَّ بِسُنَّتِي يَعْنِي النِّكَاحَ، وَحَدِيثُ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ: مَنْ تَرَكَ النِّكَاحَ مَخَافَةَ الْعَيْلَةِ فَلَيْسَ مِنَّا.

rawaynā ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: tanākaḥū, tanāsalū faʾinnī mukāthirun bikumu al-ʾumama yawma al-qiyāmati ḥattā bi-al-siqṭi wa-al-raḍīʿi, wafī al-khabari al-ʾākhari: man ʾaḥabbanī falyastanna bisunnatī yaʿnī al-nikāḥa, waḥadīthu ʾabī saʿīdin al-khudriyyi: man taraka al-nikāḥa makhāfata al-ʿaylati falaysa minnā.

We have related from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Marry and reproduce, for through you I shall outnumber the other communities on the Day of Resurrection, even through the miscarried child and the nursing infant.” Another report says: “Whoever loves me should follow my sunna,” meaning marriage. Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī’s report says: “Whoever forgoes marriage for fear of poverty is not one of us.”

وَقَدْ كَانَ عُمَرُ يُكْثِرُ النِّكَاحَ وَيَقُولُ: مَا أَتَزَوَّجُ إِلَّا لِأَجْلِ الْوَلَدِ، وَقَدْ كَانَتْ هَذِهِ نِيَّةَ جَمَاعَةٍ مِنَ السَّلَفِ، يَتَزَوَّجُونَ لِأَجْلِ أَنْ يُولَدَ لَهُمْ فَيَعِيشَ، فَيُوَحِّدَ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى وَيَذْكُرَهُ أَوْ يَمُوتَ، فَيَكُونَ فَرَطًا صَالِحًا يَثْقُلُ بِهِ مِيزَانُهُ.

waqad kāna ʿumaru yukthiru al-nikāḥa wayaqūlu: mā ʾatazawwaju ʾillā liʾajli al-waladi, waqad kānat hādhihi niyyata jamāʿatin mina al-salafi, yatazawwajūna liʾajli ʾan yūlada lahum fayaʿīsha, fayuwaḥḥida Allāha taʿālā wayadhkurahu ʾaw yamūta, fayakūna faraṭan ṣāliḥan yathqulu bihi mīzānuhu.

ʿUmar married frequently and said: “I marry only for the sake of children.” This was the intention of a group of the early Muslims: they married so that a child might be born to them and live to affirm the oneness of God, exalted is He, and remember Him; or die and become a righteous forerunner whose loss would weigh heavily in the parent’s balance of good deeds.

كَيْفَ، وَقَدْ رَوَيْنَا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَنَّ الطِّفْلَ يَجُرُّ أَبَوَيْهِ بِسَرَرِهِ إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ وَأَنَّ الْمَوْلُودَ يُقَالُ لَهُ: ادْخُلِ الْجَنَّةَ. قَالَ: فَيَقِفُ عَلَى بَابِ الْجَنَّةِ، فَيَظَلُّ مُحْبَنْطِئًا أَيْ مُمْتَلِئًا غَيْظًا وَغَضَبًا فَيَقُولُ: لَا أَدْخُلُ إِلَّا وَأَبَوَايَ مَعِي فَيُقَالُ: أَدْخِلُوا أَبَوَيْهِ مَعَهُ الْجَنَّةَ.

kayfa, waqad rawaynā ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾanna al-ṭifla yajurru ʾabawayhi bisararihi ʾilā al-jannati waʾanna al-mawlūda yuqālu lahu: udkhuli al-jannata. qāla: fayaqifu ʿalā bābi al-jannati, fayaẓallu muḥbanṭiʾan ʾay mumtaliʾan ghayẓan waghaḍaban fayaqūlu: lā ʾadkhulu ʾillā waʾabawāya maʿī fayuqālu: ʾadkhilū ʾabawayhi maʿahu al-jannata.

Indeed, we have related from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, that a child draws its parents into the Garden by its umbilical cord. The child is told: “Enter the Garden,” but stands at its gate, swollen with indignation and anger, saying: “I will not enter unless my parents are with me.” Then it is said: “Bring its parents into the Garden with it.”

وَقَدْ رَوَيْنَا خَبَرًا غَرِيبًا: أَنَّ الْأَطْفَالَ يُجْمَعُونَ فِي مَوْقِفِ الْقِيَامَةِ عِنْدَ عَرْضِ الْخَلَائِقِ لِلْحِسَابِ فَيُقَالُ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ: اذْهَبُوا بِهَؤُلَاءِ إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ. قَالَ: فَيَقِفُونَ عَلَى بَابِ الْجَنَّةِ. قَالَ: فَيَقُولُ لَهُمْ: مَرْحَبًا بِذَرَارِيِّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ، ادْخُلُوا لَا حِسَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ فَيَقُولُونَ: فَأَيْنَ آبَاؤُنَا وَأُمَّهَاتُنَا؟

waqad rawaynā khabaran gharīban: ʾanna al-ʾaṭfāla yujmaʿūna fī mawqifi al-qiyāmati ʿinda ʿarḍi al-khalāʾiqi li-l-ḥisābi fayuqālu li-l-malāʾikati: idhhabū bi-hāʾulāʾi ʾilā al-jannati. qāla: fayaqifūna ʿalā bābi al-jannati. qāla: fayaqūlu lahum: marḥaban bidharāriyyi al-muslimīna, udkhulū lā ḥisāba ʿalaykum fayaqūlūna: faʾayna ʾābāʾunā waʾummahātunā?

We have related an unusual report that children are gathered at the Resurrection’s standing place when creation is presented for reckoning. The angels are told: “Take these to the Garden.” They stand at its gate and are told: “Welcome, offspring of the Muslims! Enter; you have no reckoning.” They ask: “Where, then, are our fathers and mothers?”

قَالَ: فَتَقُولُ الْخَزَنَةُ: إِنَّ آبَاءَكُمْ وَأُمَّهَاتِكُمْ لَيْسُوا مِثْلَكُمْ، إِنَّهُمْ كَانَتْ لَهُمْ ذُنُوبٌ وَسَيِّئَاتٌ، فَهُمْ يُحَاسَبُونَ عَلَيْهَا وَيُطَالَبُونَ. قَالَ: فَيَتَضَاغَوْنَ وَيَضِجُّونَ عَلَى بَابِ الْجَنَّةِ ضَجَّةً وَاحِدَةً فَيَقُولُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ، وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ: مَا هَذِهِ الضَّجَّةُ؟

qāla: fataqūlu al-khazanatu: ʾinna ʾābāʾakum waʾummahātikum laysū mithlakum, ʾinnahum kānat lahum dhunūbun wasayyiʾātun, fahum yuḥāsabūna ʿalayhā wayuṭālabūna. qāla: fayataḍāghawna wayaḍijjūna ʿalā bābi al-jannati ḍajjatan wāḥidatan fayaqūlu Allāhu ʿazza wajalla li-l-malāʾikati, wahuwa ʾaʿlamu: mā hādhihi al-ḍajjatu?

The keepers answer: “Your fathers and mothers are not like you. They committed sins and misdeeds, for which they are being called to account and held responsible.” The children cry and raise a single outcry at the Garden’s gate. God, mighty and majestic, asks the angels, though He knows best: “What is this outcry?”

فَيَقُولُونَ: يَا رَبَّنَا، أَطْفَالُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ قَالُوا لَا نَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ إِلَّا مَعَ آبَائِنَا فَيَقُولُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: تَخَلَّلُوا الْجَمْعَ، فَخُذُوا بِأَيْدِي آبَائِهِمْ فَأَدْخِلُوهُمْ مَعَهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ.

fayaqūlūna: yā rabbanā, ʾaṭfālu al-muslimīna qālū lā nadkhulu al-jannata ʾillā maʿa ʾābāʾinā fayaqūlu Allāhu ʿazza wajalla: takhallalū al-jamʿa, fakhudhū biʾaydī ʾābāʾihim faʾadkhilūhum maʿahumu al-jannata.

They answer: “Our Lord, the Muslim children have said: ‘We will enter the Garden only with our parents.’” God, mighty and majestic, says: “Go through the gathering, take their parents by the hand, and bring them into the Garden with them.”

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٠٣

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 403

Volume Two, page 403

وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَنْ مَاتَ لَهُ اثْنَانِ مِنَ الْوَلَدِ، فَقَدِ احْتُظِرَ لَهُ بِحِظَارٍ مِنَ النَّارِ، وَفِي خَبَرٍ آخَرَ: مَنْ مَاتَ لَهُ ثَلَاثَةٌ لَمْ يَبْلُغُوا الْحِنْثَ أَدْخَلَهُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ الْجَنَّةَ، بِفَضْلِ رَحْمَتِهِ إِيَّاهُمْ قِيلَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، فَاثْنَانِ؟ قَالَ: وَاثْنَانِ.

warawaynā ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: man māta lahu ithnāni mina al-waladi, faqadi uḥtuẓira lahu biḥiẓārin mina al-nāri, wafī khabarin ʾākhara: man māta lahu thalāthatun lam yablughū al-ḥintha ʾadkhalahu Allāhu ʿazza wajalla al-jannata, bifaḍli raḥmatihi ʾiyyāhum qīla: yā rasūla Allāhi, fa-ithnāni? qāla: wa-ithnāni.

We have related from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Whoever loses two children has had a barrier erected for him against the Fire.” Another report says: “Whoever loses three children before they reach the age of accountability, God, mighty and majestic, will admit him to the Garden through the bounty of His mercy toward them.” He was asked: “Messenger of God, and two?” He answered: “And two.”

وَكَانَ بَعْضُ الصَّالِحِينَ يُعْرَضُ عَلَيْهِ التَّزْوِيجُ فَيَأْبَاهُ بُرْهَةً مِنْ دَهْرِهِ. قَالَ: فَانْتَبَهَ مِنْ نَوْمِهِ ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ فَقَالَ: زَوِّجُونِي فَسُئِلَ عَنْ ذَلِكَ فَقَالَ: لَعَلَّ اللَّهَ يَرْزُقُنِي وَلَدًا أَوْ يَقْبِضُنِي، فَيَكُونُ مُقَدِّمَةً لِي فِي الْآخِرَةِ، ثُمَّ حَدَّثَ عَنْ سَبَبِ ذَلِكَ.

wakāna baʿḍu al-ṣāliḥīna yuʿraḍu ʿalayhi al-tazwīju fayaʾbāhu burhatan min dahrihi. qāla: fa-intabaha min nawmihi dhāta yawmin faqāla: zawwijūnī fasuʾila ʿan dhālika faqāla: laʿalla Allāha yarzuqunī waladan ʾaw yaqbiḍunī, fayakūnu muqaddimatan lī fī al-ʾākhirati, thumma ḥaddatha ʿan sababi dhālika.

A righteous man was repeatedly offered marriage but refused it for a period of his life. One day he awoke and said: “Find me a wife.” Asked why, he answered: “Perhaps God will grant me a child, or take me, so that it may be a forerunner for me in the hereafter.” Then he explained what had prompted him.

فَقَالَ: رَأَيْتُ فِي نَوْمِي كَأَنَّ الْقِيَامَةَ قَدْ قَامَتْ، وَكُنْتُ فِي جُمْلَةِ الْخَلَائِقِ فِي الْمَوْقِفِ، وَبِي مِنَ الْعَطَشِ مَا كَادَ أَنْ يَقْطَعَ عُنُقِي، وَكَذَلِكَ الْخَلَائِقُ فِي شِدَّةِ الْعَطَشِ مِنَ الْحَرِّ وَالشَّمْسِ وَالْكَرْبِ. قَالَ: فَبَيْنَمَا نَحْنُ كَذَلِكَ، إِذَا الْوِلْدَانُ يَتَخَلَّلُونَ الْجَمْعَ، عَلَيْهِمْ مَنَادِيلُ مِنْ نُورٍ وَبِأَيْدِيهِمْ أَبَارِيقُ مِنْ فِضَّةٍ وَأَكْوَابٌ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ.

faqāla: raʾaytu fī nawmī kaʾanna al-qiyāmata qad qāmat, wakuntu fī jumlati al-khalāʾiqi fī al-mawqifi, wabī mina al-ʿaṭashi mā kāda ʾan yaqṭaʿa ʿunuqī, wa-kadhālika al-khalāʾiqu fī shiddati al-ʿaṭashi mina al-ḥarri wa-al-shamsi wa-al-karbi. qāla: fabaynamā naḥnu kadhālika, ʾidhā al-wildānu yatakhallalūna al-jamʿa, ʿalayhim manādīlu min nūrin wabiʾaydīhim ʾabārīqu min fiḍḍatin waʾakwābun min dhahabin.

He said: “I dreamed that the Resurrection had come and I stood among all creation at the gathering, suffering a thirst that almost severed my neck. All creation likewise suffered intense thirst from heat, sun, and anguish. While we were in that condition, children began moving through the gathering, wearing cloths of light and carrying silver pitchers and golden cups.”

وَهُمْ يَسْقُونَ الْوَاحِدَ بَعْدَ الْوَاحِدِ، وَيَتَخَلَّلُونَ الْجَمْعَ وَيُجَاوِزُونَ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ. قَالَ: فَمَدَدْتُ يَدِي إِلَى أَحَدِهِمْ فَقُلْتُ: اسْقِنِي شَرْبَةً فَقَدْ أَجْهَدَنِي الْعَطَشُ فَقَالَ: لَيْسَ لَكَ فِينَا وَلَدٌ إِنَّمَا نَسْقِي آبَاءَنَا فَقُلْتُ: وَمَا أَنْتُمْ؟ فَقَالُوا: نَحْنُ مَنْ مَاتَ مِنْ أَطْفَالِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ.

wahum yasqūna al-wāḥida baʿda al-wāḥidi, wayatakhallalūna al-jamʿa wayujāwizūna ʾakthara al-nāsi. qāla: famadadtu yadī ʾilā ʾaḥadihim faqultu: isqinī sharbatan faqad ʾajhadanī al-ʿaṭashu faqāla: laysa laka fīnā waladun ʾinnamā nasqī ʾābāʾanā faqultu: wamā ʾantum? faqālū: naḥnu man māta min ʾaṭfāli al-muslimīna.

“They gave drinks to one person after another, moving through the gathering and passing most people by. I stretched out my hand to one of them and said: ‘Give me a drink; thirst has exhausted me.’ He answered: ‘You have no child among us. We give drinks only to our parents.’ I asked: ‘Who are you?’ They replied: ‘We are the Muslim children who died.’”

وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: خَيْرُ نِسَائِكُمُ الْوَدُودُ الْوَلُودُ، وَرُوِيَ أَيْضًا: حَصِيرَةٌ فِي الْبَيْتِ خَيْرٌ مِنِ امْرَأَةٍ لَا تَلِدُ، وَرُوِيَ أَيْضًا: سَوْدَاءُ وَلُودٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ حَسْنَاءَ لَا تَلِدُ، هَذَا كُلُّهُ لِأَجْلِ هَذَا.

warawaynā ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: khayru nisāʾikumu al-wadūdu al-walūdu, waruwiya ʾayḍan: ḥaṣīratun fī al-bayti khayrun mini imraʾatin lā talidu, waruwiya ʾayḍan: sawdāʾu walūdun khayrun min ḥasnāʾa lā talidu, hādhā kulluhu liʾajli hādhā.

We have related from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “The best of your women is the loving, fertile woman.” It is also related: “A mat in the house is better than a woman who does not bear children.” And again: “A black woman who bears children is better than a beautiful woman who does not.” All this is for the reason just given.

وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَنْ رَغِبَ عَنْ سُنَّتِي فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي وَإِنَّ مِنْ سُنَّتِي النِّكَاحَ، وَمَنْ أَحَبَّنِي فَلْيَسْتَنَّ بِسُنَّتِي وَيُقَالُ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى لَمْ يَذْكُرْ فِي كِتَابِهِ مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ إِلَّا الْمُتَأَهِّلِينَ وَهُمْ خَمْسٌ وَثَلَاثُونَ، وَقَدْ ذَكَرْنَا آنِفًا أَنَّ يَحْيَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ قَدْ تَزَوَّجَ.

warawaynā ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: man raghiba ʿan sunnatī falaysa minnī waʾinna min sunnatī al-nikāḥa, waman ʾaḥabbanī falyastanna bisunnatī wayuqālu: ʾinna Allāha taʿālā lam yadhkur fī kitābihi mina al-ʾanbiyāʾi ʾillā al-mutaʾahhilīna wahum khamsun wathalāthūna, waqad dhakarnā ʾānifan ʾanna yaḥyā ʿalayhi al-salāmu qad tazawwaja.

We have related from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Whoever turns away from my sunna is not of me. Marriage is among my sunnas, and whoever loves me should follow my sunna.” It is said that God, exalted is He, mentioned in His Book only married prophets, thirty-five in number. We have already mentioned that John, peace be upon him, married.

وَأَمَّا عِيسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ فَإِنَّهُ سَيَنْكِحُ إِذَا نَزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَيُولَدُ لَهُ، وَقَدْ قِيلَ إِنَّ فَضْلَ الْمُتَأَهِّلِ عَلَى الْعَزَبِ كَفَضْلِ الْمُجَاهِدِ عَلَى الْقَاعِدِ، وَإِنَّ رَكْعَتَيْنِ مِنْ مُتَأَهِّلٍ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ سَبْعِينَ رَكْعَةً مِنْ أَعْزَبَ.

waʾammā ʿīsā ʿalayhi al-salāmu faʾinnahu sayankiḥu ʾidhā nazala mina al-samāʾi wayūladu lahu, waqad qīla ʾinna faḍla al-mutaʾahhili ʿalā al-ʿazabi kafaḍli al-mujāhidi ʿalā al-qāʿidi, waʾinna rakʿatayni min mutaʾahhilin ʾafḍalu min sabʿīna rakʿatan min ʾaʿzaba.

As for Jesus, peace be upon him, he will marry when he descends from heaven and a child will be born to him. It has been said that a married person’s superiority over an unmarried one is like the superiority of one who strives in battle over one who stays behind, and that two units of prayer from a married person are better than seventy from an unmarried person.

وَقَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِي وَصْفِ الرُّسُلِ وَمَدْحِهِمْ: (وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلًا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُمْ أَزْوَاجًا وَذُرِّيَّةً)، فَعَدَّ الْأَزْوَاجَ وَالذُّرِّيَّةَ مِنْ مَدْحِهِمْ وَذَكَرَهَا فِي وَصْفِهِمْ، وَكَذَلِكَ أَلْحَقَ بِهِمْ أَوْلِيَاءَهُ فِي الْمَدْحِ وَالْفَضْلِ فِي قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَالَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّاتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ).

waqāla Allāhu taʿālā fī waṣfi al-rusuli wamadḥihim: (walaqad ʾarsalnā rusulan min qablika wajaʿalnā lahum ʾazwājan wadhurriyyatan), faʿadda al-ʾazwāja wa-al-dhurriyyata min madḥihim wadhakarahā fī waṣfihim, wa-kadhālika ʾalḥaqa bihim ʾawliyāʾahu fī al-madḥi wa-al-faḍli fī qawlihi ʿazza wajalla: (wa-alladhīna yaqūlūna rabbanā hab lanā min ʾazwājinā wadhurriyyātinā qurrata ʾaʿyunin).

God, exalted is He, described and praised the messengers: “We sent messengers before you and gave them wives and offspring.” He counted wives and offspring among their praiseworthy attributes and included them in their description. He likewise joined His friends to them in praise and excellence by saying, mighty and majestic: “Those who say: ‘Our Lord, grant us in our spouses and offspring a delight to our eyes.’”

فَسَأَلُوا اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ، وَكُلُّ مَا ذَكَرْنَاهُ مِنْ فَضْلِ النِّكَاحِ يَشْتَرِكُ فِي فَضْلِ ذَلِكَ النِّسَاءُ، بَلْ هُوَ لَهُنَّ أَفْضَلُ وَأَثْوَبُ لِسُقُوطِ الْمَكَاسِبِ عَنْهُنَّ، وَقَدْ أَمَرَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْمَرْأَةَ بِالتَّزَوُّجِ وَنَدَبَهَا

fasaʾalū Allāha ʿazza wajalla min faḍlihi, wakullu mā dhakarnāhu min faḍli al-nikāḥi yashtariku fī faḍli dhālika al-nisāʾu, bal huwa lahunna ʾafḍalu waʾathwabu lisuqūṭi al-makāsibi ʿanhunna, waqad ʾamara al-nabiyyu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama al-marʾata bi-al-tazawwuji wanadabahā

They asked God, mighty and majestic, for His bounty. Women share in every excellence of marriage that we have mentioned. Indeed, for them it is more excellent and more rewarding, since earning a livelihood is not required of them. The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, commanded a woman to marry and encouraged her

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٠٤

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 404

Volume Two, page 404

إِلَيْهِ، وَأَخْبَرَ بِفَضْلِ الرَّجُلِ وَفَضْلِ الْمُتَزَوِّجَةِ عَلَى الْعَزْبَاءِ فِي غَيْرِ حَدِيثٍ، وَقَالَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: لَعَنَ اللَّهُ الْمُتَبَتِّلِينَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ الَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ: لَا نَتَزَوَّجُ، لَعَنَ اللَّهُ الْمُتَبَتِّلَاتِ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ اللَّاتِي يَقُلْنَ: لَا نَتَزَوَّجُ بَعْدَ مَا ذَكَرَ مِنْ عَظِيمِ حَقِّ الرَّجُلِ عَلَى الْمَرْأَةِ وَثِقَلِ وَاجِبِهِ حَتَّى قَالَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ إِذًا لَا أَتَزَوَّجُ إِذًا قَالَ: بَلْ تَزَوَّجِي، فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ.

ʾilayhi, waʾakhbara bifaḍli al-rajuli wafaḍli al-mutazawwijati ʿalā al-ʿazbāʾi fī ghayri ḥadīthin, waqāla ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: laʿana Allāhu al-mutabattilīna mina al-rijāli alladhīna yaqūlūna: lā natazawwaju, laʿana Allāhu al-mutabattilāti mina al-nisāʾi allātī yaqulna: lā natazawwaju baʿda mā dhakara min ʿaẓīmi ḥaqqi al-rajuli ʿalā al-marʾati wathiqali wājibihi ḥattā qālati al-marʾatu ʾidhan lā ʾatazawwaju ʾidhan qāla: bal tazawwajī, fahuwa khayrun.

toward it. In more than one report, he spoke of the husband’s merit and the married woman’s superiority over the unmarried woman. He, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “May God curse celibate men who say, ‘We will not marry,’ and may God curse celibate women who say, ‘We will not marry.’” After he described the husband’s great rights over his wife and the weight of her obligations, the woman said: “Then I will not marry.” He replied: “Do marry; it is better.”

وَالْأَخْبَارُ فِي فَضْلِ النِّكَاحِ لِلزَّوْجَيْنِ مَعًا أَكْثَرُ، وَلَيْسَ مَذْهَبُنَا الْإِطَالَةَ وَالْإِكْثَارَ فِي الْجَمْعِ، وَقَدْ نَدَبَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى إِلَى النِّكَاحِ فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: (فَأْتُوا حَرْثَكُمْ أَنَّى شِئْتُمْ)، وَفِي أَنَّى ثَلَاثُ مَعَانٍ: مَعْنَيَانِ مِنْهَا هُنَا يَكُونُ أَنَّى بِمَعْنَى كَيْفَ شِئْتُمْ مِنْ لَيْلٍ أَوْ نَهَارٍ.

wa-al-ʾakhbāru fī faḍli al-nikāḥi li-l-zawjayni maʿan ʾaktharu, walaysa madhhabunā al-ʾiṭālata wa-al-ʾikthāra fī al-jamʿi, waqad nadaba Allāhu taʿālā ʾilā al-nikāḥi fī qawlihi taʿālā: (faʾtū ḥarthakum ʾannā shiʾtum), wafī ʾannā thalāthu maʿānin: maʿnayāni minhā hunā yakūnu ʾannā bimaʿnā kayfa shiʾtum min laylin ʾaw nahārin.

There are still more reports concerning marriage’s excellence for both spouses, but our method is not to prolong the discussion or accumulate reports. God, exalted is He, encouraged intercourse in the saying of God, exalted is He: “Come to your tilth however you wish.” Annā has three meanings, two of which apply here: it can mean “as you wish, by night or day.”

فَكَيْفَ شِئْتُمْ مُقْبِلَةً أَوْ مُدْبِرَةً، وَبَيْنَ ذَلِكَ بَعْدَ أَنْ يَكُونَ فِي مَوْضِعِ الْحَرْثِ، وَقَدْ يَكُونُ أَنَّى فِي مَوْضِعٍ آخَرَ بِمَعْنَى أَيْنَ، وَلَا يَصْلُحُ هَذَا الْوَجْهُ هَهُنَا ثُمَّ قَالَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَقَدِّمُوا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ)، قِيلَ: النِّكَاحُ مَعْطُوفٌ بِهِ الْإِتْيَانُ، وَهُوَ أَحَدُ الْوُجُوهِ الثَّلَاثَةِ.

fakayfa shiʾtum muqbilatan ʾaw mudbiratan, wabayna dhālika baʿda ʾan yakūna fī mawḍiʿi al-ḥarthi, waqad yakūnu ʾannā fī mawḍiʿin ʾākhara bimaʿnā ʾayna, walā yaṣluḥu hādhā al-wajhu hāhunā thumma qāla ʿazza wajalla: (waqaddimū liʾanfusikum), qīla: al-nikāḥu maʿṭūfun bihi al-ʾityānu, wahuwa ʾaḥadu al-wujūhi al-thalāthati.

Or: “in whatever manner you wish,” with the woman facing toward or away from you, or between these positions, provided intercourse takes place in the place of tilth. Elsewhere annā may mean “where,” but that meaning is unsuitable here. He then said, mighty and majestic: “Send ahead for yourselves.” This has been interpreted as intercourse, joined in construction to the command to approach; that is one of the three interpretations.

لِمَا فِيهِ مِنْ فَضْلِ الِاغْتِسَالِ مِنَ الْجَنَابَةِ، وَلِمَا فِيهِ مِنْ فَضْلِ مُبَاشَرَةِ الْمَرْأَةِ وَأَنَّ الْمَرْأَةَ إِذَا لَاعَبَهَا بَعْلُهَا وَقَبَّلَهَا كَثُرَتْ لَهُ مِنَ الْحَسَنَاتِ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ، فَإِذَا اغْتَسَلَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ مِنْ كُلِّ قَطْرَةٍ مَلَكًا يُسَبِّحُ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَجَعَلَ ثَوَابَ ذَلِكَ لَهُمَا.

limā fīhi min faḍli al-ightisāli mina al-janābati, walimā fīhi min faḍli mubāsharati al-marʾati waʾanna al-marʾata ʾidhā lāʿabahā baʿluhā waqabbalahā kathurat lahu mina al-ḥasanāti mā shāʾa Allāhu, faʾidhā ightasalā khalaqa Allāhu min kulli qaṭratin malakan yusabbiḥu Allāha taʿālā ʾilā yawmi al-qiyāmati, wajaʿala thawāba dhālika lahumā.

This is because of the excellence of bathing after sexual impurity and the excellence of intimacy with one’s wife. When a husband plays affectionately with his wife and kisses her, his good deeds multiply as God wills. When they both bathe, God creates from every drop an angel who glorifies God, exalted is He, until the Day of Resurrection, and assigns the reward of that to them both.

وَلِمَا فِي ذَلِكَ مِنَ التَّحْصِينِ لَهُمَا وَوَضْعِ النُّطْفَةِ فِي مَحَلِّهَا، وَفِي ذَلِكَ فَضَائِلُ جَمَّةٌ، وَقَدْ أَمَرَ بِهِ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي قَوْلِهِ: لِيَتَّخِذْ أَحَدُكُمْ قَلْبًا شَاكِرًا وَلِسَانًا ذَاكِرًا، زَوْجَةً مُؤْمِنَةً تُعِينُهُ عَلَى آخِرَتِهِ.

walimā fī dhālika mina al-taḥṣīni lahumā wawaḍʿi al-nuṭfati fī maḥallihā, wafī dhālika faḍāʾilu jammatun, waqad ʾamara bihi rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama fī qawlihi: liyattakhidh ʾaḥadukum qalban shākiran walisānan dhākiran, zawjatan muʾminatan tuʿīnuhu ʿalā ʾākhiratihi.

It also guards the chastity of both and places the drop of semen where it belongs; many virtues are found in this. God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, commanded it when he said: “Let each of you acquire a grateful heart, a remembering tongue, and a believing wife who helps him toward his hereafter.”

وَالْوَجْهُ الثَّانِي فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: (وَقَدِّمُوا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ)، قِيلَ: الْوَلَدُ قَدِّمُوا لِآخِرَتِكُمْ، لِأَنَّهُ عَمَلٌ مِنْ أَعْمَالِكُمْ، كَمَا قَالَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (أَلْحَقْنَا بِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَمَا أَلَتْنَاهُمْ مِنْ عَمَلِهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ)، أَيْ مَا نَقَصْنَاهُمْ أَوْلَادَهُمْ، أَيْ جَازَيْنَاهُمْ بِهِمْ وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ مَزِيدًا فِي حَسَنَاتِهِمْ لِأَنَّهُمْ مِنْ أَعْمَالِهِمْ وَأَكْسَابِهِمْ.

wa-al-wajhu al-thānī fī qawlihi taʿālā: (waqaddimū liʾanfusikum), qīla: al-waladu qaddimū liʾākhiratikum, liʾannahu ʿamalun min ʾaʿmālikum, kamā qāla ʿazza wajalla: (ʾalḥaqnā bihim dhurriyyatahum wamā ʾalatnāhum min ʿamalihim min shayʾin), ʾay mā naqaṣnāhum ʾawlādahum, ʾay jāzaynāhum bihim wajaʿalnāhum mazīdan fī ḥasanātihim liʾannahum min ʾaʿmālihim waʾaksābihim.

The second interpretation of the saying of God, exalted is He, “Send ahead for yourselves,” is children: send them ahead for your hereafter, because they are among your deeds. He said, mighty and majestic: “We joined their offspring to them and diminished none of their deeds.” That is, We did not deprive them of their children; We rewarded them through them and made them an addition to their good deeds, because children belong to their deeds and earnings.

وَكَمَا قَالَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (مَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُ مَالُهُ وَمَا كَسَبَ)، يَعْنِي وَلَدَهُ، فَفِي تَدَبُّرِهِ أَنَّ الْوَلَدَ يُغْنِي الْمُؤْمِنَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ كَمَا يُغْنِي الْمَالُ عَنْهُ إِذَا أَنْفَقَهُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى، وَفِي الْخَبَرِ: وَلَدُ الرَّجُلِ مِنْ كَسْبِهِ فَأَحَلُّ مَا أَكَلَ مِنْ كَسْبِ وَلَدِهِ.

wakamā qāla ʿazza wajalla: (mā ʾaghnā ʿanhu māluhu wamā kasaba), yaʿnī waladahu, fafī tadabburihi ʾanna al-walada yughnī al-muʾmina fī al-ʾākhirati kamā yughnī al-mālu ʿanhu ʾidhā ʾanfaqahu fī sabīli Allāhi taʿālā, wafī al-khabari: waladu al-rajuli min kasbihi faʾaḥallu mā ʾakala min kasbi waladihi.

Likewise He said, mighty and majestic: “His wealth and what he earned availed him nothing,” meaning his children. Reflection on this shows that a child benefits the believer in the hereafter just as wealth benefits him when he spends it in the path of God, exalted is He. A report says: “A man’s child is part of his earnings; the most lawful thing he eats is from his child’s earnings.”

وَالْوَجْهُ الثَّالِثُ فِي قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَقَدِّمُوا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ)، قِيلَ التَّسْمِيَةُ عِنْدَ الْجِمَاعِ أَيْ اذْكُرُوا اسْمَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى عِنْدَهُ، فَذَلِكَ تَقْدِمَةٌ لَكُمْ، وَأَنَّهُ يُسْتَحَبُّ لِلْمُجَامِعِ أَنْ يُسَمِّيَ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عِنْدَ جِمَاعِهِ، وَيَقْرَأَ (قُلْ: هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ) قَبْلَهُ.

wa-al-wajhu al-thālithu fī qawlihi ʿazza wajalla: (waqaddimū liʾanfusikum), qīla al-tasmiyatu ʿinda al-jimāʿi ʾay udhkurū isma Allāhi taʿālā ʿindahu, fa-dhālika taqdimatun lakum, waʾannahu yustaḥabbu li-l-mujāmiʿi ʾan yusammiya Allāha ʿazza wajalla ʿinda jimāʿihi, wayaqraʾa (qul: huwa Allāhu ʾaḥadun) qablahu.

The third interpretation of the saying of God, mighty and majestic, “Send ahead for yourselves,” is invoking God’s name during intercourse: mention the name of God, exalted is He, then, and that is something sent ahead for you. It is recommended for the man to invoke the name of God, mighty and majestic, at intercourse and to recite “Say: He is God, One” beforehand.

وَكَانَ بَعْضُ أَصْحَابِ الْحَدِيثِ إِذَا أَرَادَ الْجِمَاعَ، هَلَّلَ وَكَبَّرَ حَتَّى يَسْمَعَ أَهْلُ الدَّارِ تَكْبِيرَهُ، وَإِذَا كَانَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ مُعِينَةً لِزَوْجِهَا عَلَى الطَّاعَةِ، طَالِبَةً لِلتَّقَلُّلِ وَالْقَنَاعَةِ فَهِيَ نِعْمَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ يُطَالِبُهُ بِشُكْرِهَا.

wakāna baʿḍu ʾaṣḥābi al-ḥadīthi ʾidhā ʾarāda al-jimāʿa, hallala wakabbara ḥattā yasmaʿa ʾahlu al-dāri takbīrahu, waʾidhā kānati al-marʾatu muʿīnatan lizawjihā ʿalā al-ṭāʿati, ṭālibatan li-l-taqalluli wa-al-qanāʿati fahiya niʿmatun mina Allāhi ʿalayhi yuṭālibuhu bishukrihā.

One of the traditionists, when intending intercourse, would declare God’s oneness and greatness so loudly that the household heard his glorification. If a woman helps her husband in obedience and seeks to live with little and be content, she is a blessing from God for which He requires the husband’s gratitude.

قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَأَصْلَحْنَا لَهُ زَوْجَهُ) فَعَدَّ ذَلِكَ مِنْ نِعْمَةِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ وَإِحْسَانِهِ إِلَيْهِ، وَقِيلَ فِي التَّفْسِيرِ: كَانَ خُلُقُهَا سَيِّئًا فَحَسُنَ، وَقِيلَ: كَانَ فِي لِسَانِهَا طُولٌ فَقَصُرَ.

qāla Allāhu ʿazza wajalla: (waʾaṣlaḥnā lahu zawjahu) faʿadda dhālika min niʿmati Allāhi ʿalayhi waʾiḥsānihi ʾilayhi, waqīla fī al-tafsīri: kāna khuluquhā sayyiʾan faḥasuna, waqīla: kāna fī lisānihā ṭūlun faqaṣura.

God, mighty and majestic, said: “We set his wife right for him,” counting this among God’s blessings and kindness toward him. One interpretation says that her character had been bad and became good; another, that her tongue had been overlong and was shortened.

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٠٥

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 405

Volume Two, page 405

وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ نَبِيِّنَا صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: فُضِّلْتُ عَلَى آدَمَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ بِخَصْلَتَيْنِ: كَانَتْ لَهُ زَوْجَةٌ عَوْنًا لَهُ عَلَى الْمَعْصِيَةِ وَأَزْوَاجِي عَوْنًا لِي عَلَى الطَّاعَةِ، وَكَانَ شَيْطَانُهُ كَافِرًا وَشَيْطَانِي مُسْلِمًا لَا يَأْمُرُنِي إِلَّا بِخَيْرٍ، فَعَدَّ ذَلِكَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي فَضَائِلِهِ.

warawaynā ʿan nabiyyinā ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: fuḍḍiltu ʿalā ʾādama ʿalayhi al-salāmu bikhaṣlatayni: kānat lahu zawjatun ʿawnan lahu ʿalā al-maʿṣiyati waʾazwājī ʿawnan lī ʿalā al-ṭāʿati, wakāna shayṭānuhu kāfiran washayṭānī musliman lā yaʾmurunī ʾillā bikhayrin, faʿadda dhālika ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama fī faḍāʾilihi.

We have related from our Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “I have been favored over Adam, peace be upon him, in two respects: he had a wife who helped him toward disobedience, while my wives help me toward obedience; his devil was an unbeliever, while my devil is a Muslim and commands me only to good.” He, may God bless him and grant him peace, counted this among his distinctions.

وَإِذَا كَانَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ حَسَنَةَ الْوَجْهِ خَيِّرَةَ الْأَخْلَاقِ سَوْدَاءَ الْحَدَقَةِ وَالشَّعْرِ، كَبِيرَةَ الْعَيْنِ بَيْضَاءَ اللَّوْنِ، مُحِبَّةً لِزَوْجِهَا قَاصِرَةَ الطَّرْفِ فَهَذِهِ عَلَى صُورَةِ الْحُورِ الْعِينِ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِي ذَلِكَ: (فِيهِنَّ خَيْرَاتٌ حِسَانٌ)، قِيلَ: خَيْرَاتُ الْأَخْلَاقِ حِسَانُ الْوُجُوهِ.

waʾidhā kānati al-marʾatu ḥasanata al-wajhi khayyirata al-ʾakhlāqi sawdāʾa al-ḥadaqati wa-al-shaʿri, kabīrata al-ʿayni bayḍāʾa al-lawni, muḥibbatan lizawjihā qāṣirata al-ṭarfi fa-hādhihi ʿalā ṣūrati al-ḥūri al-ʿīni qāla Allāhu taʿālā fī dhālika: (fīhinna khayrātun ḥisānun), qīla: khayrātu al-ʾakhlāqi ḥisānu al-wujūhi.

If a woman is beautiful in face and good in character, with black pupils and hair, large eyes and fair complexion, loving her husband and restraining her gaze, she resembles the wide-eyed maidens of the Garden. God, exalted is He, said of them: “In them are good and beautiful women,” explained as good in character and beautiful in face.

وَقَالَ تَعَالَى: (وَحُورٌ عِينٌ كَأَمْثَالِ اللُّؤْلُؤِ الْمَكْنُونِ)، وَالْحُورُ الْبِيضُ وَالْعِينُ، كِبَارُ الْأَعْيُنِ هُوَ جَمْعُ عَيْنَاءَ، وَالْحَوْرَاءُ هِيَ الْبَيْضَاءُ شَدِيدَةُ بَيَاضِ الْعَيْنِ، شَدِيدَةُ سَوَادِهَا وَسَوَادِ الشَّعْرِ وَقَالَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (عُرُبًا).

waqāla taʿālā: (waḥūrun ʿīnun kaʾamthāli al-luʾluʾi al-maknūni), wa-al-ḥūru al-bīḍu wa-al-ʿīnu, kibāru al-ʾaʿyuni huwa jamʿu ʿaynāʾa, wa-al-ḥawrāʾu hiya al-bayḍāʾu shadīdatu bayāḍi al-ʿayni, shadīdatu sawādihā wasawādi al-shaʿri waqāla ʿazza wajalla: (ʿuruban).

He, exalted is He, said: “Fair maidens with wide eyes, like hidden pearls.” Ḥūr means fair women, and ʿīn means large-eyed women, the plural of ʿaynāʾ. A ḥawrāʾ is a fair woman with intensely white whites of the eyes, intensely black pupils, and black hair. He, mighty and majestic, also said: “Loving.”

الْعَرِبَةُ عَلَى مَعْنَيَيْنِ: تَكُونُ الْعَاشِقَةَ لِزَوْجِهَا، وَتَكُونُ الْمُشْتَهِيَةَ لِلْجِمَاعِ، وَذَلِكَ يَكُونُ مِنْ تَمَامِ اللَّذَّةِ فِي الْوِقَاعِ، لِأَنَّ الْمَرْأَةَ إِذَا لَمْ تَكُنْ مُحِبَّةً لِزَوْجِهَا وَلَا مُشْتَهِيَةً لِإِفْضَائِهِ إِلَيْهَا، نَقَصَ ذَلِكَ مِنْ لَذَّتِهِ فَلِذَلِكَ وَصَفَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ نِسَاءَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ بِتَمَامِ اللَّذَّةِ.

al-ʿaribatu ʿalā maʿnayayni: takūnu al-ʿāshiqata lizawjihā, watakūnu al-mushtahiyata li-l-jimāʿi, wa-dhālika yakūnu min tamāmi al-ladhdhati fī al-wiqāʿi, liʾanna al-marʾata ʾidhā lam takun muḥibbatan lizawjihā walā mushtahiyatan liʾifḍāʾihi ʾilayhā, naqaṣa dhālika min ladhdhatihi fali-dhālika waṣafa Allāhu ʿazza wajalla nisāʾa ʾahli al-jannati bitamāmi al-ladhdhati.

ʿAriba has two meanings: a woman passionately in love with her husband, and one who desires intercourse. This contributes to the fullness of pleasure in lovemaking, for if a woman does not love her husband or desire his intimacy, his pleasure is diminished. God, mighty and majestic, therefore described the women of the Garden’s inhabitants as bringing complete delight.

وَيُقَالُ: رَجُلٌ شَبِقٌ وَامْرَأَةٌ عَرِبَةٌ يُوصَفَانِ بِشَهْوَةِ الْجِمَاعِ كَيْفَ وَقَدْ رُوِيَ: خَيْرُ نِسَائِكُمُ الْغَلِمَةُ عَلَى زَوْجِهَا وَقَالَ بَعْضُ الْحُكَمَاءِ: ثَلَاثٌ مِنَ اللَّذَّاتِ لَا يُؤْبَهُ لَهُنَّ: الْمَشْيُ فِي الصَّيْفِ بِلَا سَرَاوِيلَ، وَالتَّبَرُّزُ عَلَى الشَّطِّ، وَمُجَامَعَةُ الرَّبُوخِ يَعْنِي الْمُشْتَهِيَةَ لِلْجِمَاعِ.

wayuqālu: rajulun shabiqun wa-imraʾatun ʿaribatun yūṣafāni bishahwati al-jimāʿi kayfa waqad ruwiya: khayru nisāʾikumu al-ghalimatu ʿalā zawjihā waqāla baʿḍu al-ḥukamāʾi: thalāthun mina al-ladhdhāti lā yuʾbahu lahunna: al-mashyu fī al-ṣayfi bilā sarāwīla, wa-al-tabarruzu ʿalā al-shaṭṭi, wamujāmaʿatu al-rabūkhi yaʿnī al-mushtahiyata li-l-jimāʿi.

A man is called shabiq and a woman ʿariba to describe their desire for intercourse. Indeed, it is related: “The best of your women is one who ardently desires her husband.” A sage said: “Three pleasures receive little notice: walking in summer without trousers, relieving oneself on the riverbank, and intercourse with a rabūkh,” meaning a woman who desires intercourse.

وَقَالَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي تَمَامِ وَصْفِهِنَّ: (قَاصِرَاتُ الطَّرْفِ)، أَيْ قَدْ قَصَرَ طَرْفُهَا عَلَى زَوْجِهَا وَحْدَهُ، فَلَيْسَتْ تَرَى أَحْسَنَ مِنْهُ وَلَا تُرِيدُ بَدَلًا غَيْرَهُ، وَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: خَيْرُ نِسَائِكُمُ الَّتِي إِذَا نَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا الرَّجُلُ سَرَّتْهُ، وَإِذَا أَمَرَهَا أَطَاعَتْهُ، وَإِذَا غَابَ عَنْهَا حَفِظَتْهُ فِي نَفْسِهِ وَمَالِهِ.

waqāla ʿazza wajalla fī tamāmi waṣfihinna: (qāṣirātu al-ṭarfi), ʾay qad qaṣara ṭarfuhā ʿalā zawjihā waḥdahu, falaysat tarā ʾaḥsana minhu walā turīdu badalan ghayrahu, waqāla rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: khayru nisāʾikumu allatī ʾidhā naẓara ʾilayhā al-rajulu sarrat-hu, waʾidhā ʾamarahā ʾaṭāʿat-hu, waʾidhā ghāba ʿanhā ḥafiẓat-hu fī nafsihi wamālihi.

He, mighty and majestic, completed their description with “restraining their gaze”: a woman’s gaze is confined to her husband alone; she sees none more handsome and wishes for no replacement. God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “The best of your women is she who delights a man when he looks at her, obeys him when he commands her, and guards him in his person and property when he is absent.”

وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ كَعْبٍ الْقُرَظِيِّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ فِي مَعْنَى قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً) قَالَ: الْمَرْأَةُ الصَّالِحَةُ، وَفِي بَعْضِ التَّفْسِيرِ: (فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُ حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً) قَالَ: الْمَرْأَةُ الصَّالِحَةُ.

warawaynā ʿan muḥammadi bni kaʿbin al-quraẓiyyi raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu fī maʿnā qawlihi ʿazza wajalla: (rabbanā ʾātinā fī al-dunyā ḥasanatan) qāla: al-marʾatu al-ṣāliḥatu, wafī baʿḍi al-tafsīri: (falanuḥyiyannahu ḥayātan ṭayyibatan) qāla: al-marʾatu al-ṣāliḥatu.

We have related from Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, may God be pleased with him, concerning the saying of God, mighty and majestic, “Our Lord, give us good in this world”: “A righteous woman.” One interpretation of “We shall surely give him a good life” likewise says: “A righteous woman.”

وَقَدْ كَانَ عُمَرُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ يَقُولُ: الْمَرْأَةُ الصَّالِحَةُ لَيْسَتْ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا لِأَنَّهَا تُفَرِّغُكَ لِلْآخِرَةِ، إِلَّا أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ: الْمُنْفَرِدُ يَجِدُ مِنْ حَلَاوَةِ الْعِبَادَةِ مَا لَا يَجِدُ الْمُتَزَوِّجُ، وَكَانَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ يَقُولُ: مَا أُعْطِيَ عَبْدٌ بَعْدَ إِيمَانٍ بِاللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ خَيْرًا مِنِ امْرَأَةٍ صَالِحَةٍ.

waqad kāna ʿumaru raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu yaqūlu: al-marʾatu al-ṣāliḥatu laysat mina al-dunyā liʾannahā tufarrighuka li-l-ʾākhirati, ʾillā ʾannahu kāna yaqūlu: al-munfaridu yajidu min ḥalāwati al-ʿibādati mā lā yajidu al-mutazawwiju, wakāna ʿumaru bnu al-khaṭṭābi raḍiya Allāhu taʿālā ʿanhu yaqūlu: mā ʾuʿṭiya ʿabdun baʿda ʾīmānin bi-Allāhi ʿazza wajalla khayran mini imraʾatin ṣāliḥatin.

ʿUmar, may God be pleased with him, used to say: “A righteous woman does not belong to worldliness, for she frees you for the hereafter.” Yet he also said: “A solitary man finds a sweetness in worship that a married man does not.” ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may God, exalted is He, be pleased with him, used to say: “After faith in God, mighty and majestic, a servant has been given nothing better than a righteous woman.”

وَوَصَفَ النِّسَاءَ فَقَالَ: مِنْهُنَّ غُنْمٌ لَا يُجْزَأُ مِنْهُ، يَعْنِي غَنِيمَةً لَا يُعْتَاضُ مِنْهَا بِعَطَاءٍ، الْحُذْيَا هِيَ الْعَطَاءُ، وَمِنْهُنَّ غُلٌّ لَا يُفْدَى مِنْهُ أَيْ لَا قِيمَةَ لَهُ فَيُفْدَى مِنْهُ وَيَجُوزُ أَنْ لَا رَاحَةَ مِنْهُ كَالْغُلِّ، فَصَاحِبُهَا أَسِيرٌ بِحُبِّهَا لَا يُفْتَدَى أَبَدًا إِلَّا بِمَوْتِهَا.

wawaṣafa al-nisāʾa faqāla: minhunna ghunmun lā yujzaʾu minhu, yaʿnī ghanīmatan lā yuʿtāḍu minhā biʿaṭāʾin, al-ḥudhyā hiya al-ʿaṭāʾu, waminhunna ghullun lā yufdā minhu ʾay lā qīmata lahu fayufdā minhu wayajūzu ʾan lā rāḥata minhu ka-al-ghulli, faṣāḥibuhā ʾasīrun biḥubbihā lā yuftadā ʾabadan ʾillā bimawtihā.

Describing women, he said: “Some are a gain that cannot be recompensed,” meaning a prize for which no gift can serve as an equivalent; ḥudhyā means a gift. “Others are a shackle from which no ransom frees one,” meaning there is no price by which release may be purchased. It may also mean that there is no respite from it, like a shackle: her companion is a prisoner of his love for her, never ransomed except by her death.

وَقَالَ أَيْضًا: قِيلَ: كَانَتِ الْعَرَبُ مِنْ نِهَايَةِ تَعْذِيبِهَا لِلْأَسِيرِ تَسْلُخُ جِلْدَ الشَّاةِ ثُمَّ تُلْبِسُهُ إِيَّاهُ لَحْمًا طَرِيًّا، فَيَلْتَزِقُ عَلَى جَسَدِهِ وَيَنْقَبِضُ، ثُمَّ لَا تَنْزِعُهُ عَنْهُ حَتَّى يَقْمَلَ وَيَنْتَثِرَ مِنْهُ الْهَوَامُّ، فَذَلِكَ هُوَ الْغُلُّ مِثْلُ الْمَرْأَةِ الْمُكْرِبَةِ.

waqāla ʾayḍan: qīla: kānati al-ʿarabu min nihāyati taʿdhībihā li-l-ʾasīri taslukhu jilda al-shāti thumma tulbisuhu ʾiyyāhu laḥman ṭariyyan, fayaltaziqu ʿalā jasadihi wayanqabiḍu, thumma lā tanziʿuhu ʿanhu ḥattā yaqmala wayantathira minhu al-hawāmmu, fa-dhālika huwa al-ghullu mithlu al-marʾati al-mukribati.

He also said that the Arabs, in their severest torture of a captive, would skin a sheep and clothe him in its hide with the flesh still fresh. It would stick to his body and contract, and they would not remove it until it became infested with lice and vermin scattered from it. That is the shackle to which a distressing wife is compared.

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ النِّسَاءَ عَلَى أَوْصَافِ النَّفْسِ، مَنْ عَرَفَ صِفَاتِ النَّفْسِ عَرَفَ بِهَا أَوْصَافَ النِّسَاءِ، وَقَاسَاهُنَّ بِالتَّجْرِبَةِ، وَالْخُبْرِ عَرَفَ بِذَلِكَ صِفَاتِ النَّفْسِ: فَمِنْهُنَّ الْمُسَوِّلَةُ وَهِيَ

wa-iʿlam ʾanna al-nisāʾa ʿalā ʾawṣāfi al-nafsi, man ʿarafa ṣifāti al-nafsi ʿarafa bihā ʾawṣāfa al-nisāʾi, waqāsāhunna bi-al-tajribati, wa-al-khubri ʿarafa bi-dhālika ṣifāti al-nafsi: faminhunna al-musawwilatu wahiya

Know that women correspond to the soul’s qualities. Whoever knows the soul’s attributes recognizes through them the qualities of women; through dealing with them in experience and practical acquaintance, he recognizes the soul’s attributes. Some are like the soul that entices, and this is

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٠٦

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 406

Volume Two, page 406

أَدْنَاهُنَّ، وَمِنْهُنَّ الْأَمَّارَةُ بِالسُّوءِ وَهِيَ شَرُّهُنَّ لَا تَفْتُرُ مِنَ الْأَذَى وَلَا تَنِي عَنْ خُلُقِ السُّوءِ وَالْبَذَاءِ، وَمِنْهُنَّ بِمَنْزِلَةِ النَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ وَهِيَ مِنْ صَالِحِي النِّسَاءِ، وَمِنْهُنَّ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ الْمَرْضِيَّةُ وَهَذِهِ هِيَ الصَّالِحَةُ الْخَيِّرَةُ السَّاكِنَةُ الرَّاضِيَةُ.

ʾadnāhunna, waminhunna al-ʾammāratu bi-al-sūʾi wahiya sharruhunna lā tafturu mina al-ʾadhā walā tanī ʿan khuluqi al-sūʾi wa-al-badhāʾi, waminhunna bimanzilati al-nafsi al-lawwāmati wahiya min ṣāliḥī al-nisāʾi, waminhunna al-muṭmaʾinnatu al-marḍiyyatu wa-hādhihi hiya al-ṣāliḥatu al-khayyiratu al-sākinatu al-rāḍiyatu.

the lowest of them. Others are like the soul that commands evil, the worst of them: she never slackens in causing harm or ceases from bad character and foul speech. Others resemble the self-reproaching soul and belong among righteous women. Others are tranquil and well-pleasing: this is the righteous, good, composed, contented woman.

وَفَصْلُ الْخِطَابِ: إِنْ كَانَ صَلَاحُ قَلْبِ الْعَبْدِ وَاسْتِقَامَةُ حَالِهِ فِي الْعُزْبَةِ فَلَا أَعْدِلُ بِالْوَحْدَةِ شَيْئًا، لِأَنَّ أَقَلَّ مَا فِيهَا السَّلَامَةُ، وَالسَّلَامَةُ فِي وَقْتِنَا هَذَا فَضِيلَةٌ وَغَنِيمَةٌ، وَإِنْ تَاقَتْ نَفْسُهُ إِلَى التَّزْوِيجِ وَلَمْ يَأْمَنْ دَوَاعِيَ الْهَوَى فَيَتَزَوَّجُ إِذَا أَدَّى إِلَى سَلَامَةِ دِينِهِ.

wafaṣlu al-khiṭābi: ʾin kāna ṣalāḥu qalbi al-ʿabdi wa-istiqāmatu ḥālihi fī al-ʿuzbati falā ʾaʿdilu bi-al-waḥdati shayʾan, liʾanna ʾaqalla mā fīhā al-salāmatu, wa-al-salāmatu fī waqtinā hādhā faḍīlatun waghanīmatun, waʾin tāqat nafsuhu ʾilā al-tazwīji walam yaʾman dawāʿiya al-hawā fayatazawwaju ʾidhā ʾaddā ʾilā salāmati dīnihi.

The decisive judgment is this: if the servant’s heart is sound and his condition upright in celibacy, I place nothing on a level with solitude, for its least benefit is safety, and safety in our time is a virtue and a prize. If his soul longs for marriage and he is not safe from the impulses of desire, he should marry when that will preserve his religion.

وَإِنْ لَمْ تَتِمَّ كِفَايَتُهُ بِوَاحِدَةٍ ضَمَّ إِلَيْهَا أُخْرَى فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ بِهِمَا غَنِيمَتُهُ وَتَمَامُ حَالِهِ وَتَحْصِينُهُ زَادَ ثَالِثَةً إِلَى أَرْبَعٍ، فَإِنَّ الْأَرْبَعَةَ مَعَ تَوَقَانِ النَّفْسِ إِلَى النِّكَاحِ وَقُوَّةِ شَهْوَتِهَا فِي التَّنَقُّلِ فِي الْمَنَاكِحِ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الْوَاحِدَةِ، وَإِنَّ الْوَاحِدَةَ مَعَ وُقُوعِ الْكِفَايَةِ وَوُجُودِ الِاسْتِغْنَاءِ تَنُوبُ عَنِ الْأَرْبَعِ.

waʾin lam tatimma kifāyatuhu biwāḥidatin ḍamma ʾilayhā ʾukhrā faʾin lam takun bihimā ghanīmatuhu watamāmu ḥālihi wataḥṣīnuhu zāda thālithatan ʾilā ʾarbaʿin, faʾinna al-ʾarbaʿata maʿa tawaqāni al-nafsi ʾilā al-nikāḥi waquwwati shahwatihā fī al-tanaqquli fī al-manākiḥi bimanzilati al-wāḥidati, waʾinna al-wāḥidata maʿa wuqūʿi al-kifāyati wawujūdi al-istighnāʾi tanūbu ʿani al-ʾarbaʿi.

If one wife does not fully suffice, he adds another. If these two do not provide his benefit, the completion of his condition, and his chastity, he adds a third, up to four. When the soul longs for intercourse and strongly desires variety in marital relations, four stand in the place of one; while a single wife, when sufficiency and contentment are found, stands in the place of four.

كَذَلِكَ خَيَّرَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ صُورَةَ النَّفْسِ فِيمَا عَلَيْهِ جَبَلَهَا، وَفَاوَتَ بَيْنَ الطَّبَائِعِ فِيمَا عَلَيْهِ جَعَلَهَا، يُقَالُ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ أَبَاحَ الْجَمْعَ بَيْنَ الْأَرْبَعِ لِأَجْلِ الطَّبَائِعِ الْأَرْبَعِ، لِكُلِّ طَبِيعَةٍ وَاحِدَةٌ عَلَى قَدْرِ حَرَكَاتِهَا وَتَوَقَانِ النَّفْسِ عِنْدَهَا.

kadhālika khayyara Allāhu ʿazza wajalla ṣūrata al-nafsi fīmā ʿalayhi jabalahā, wafāwata bayna al-ṭabāʾiʿi fīmā ʿalayhi jaʿalahā, yuqālu: ʾinna Allāha ʿazza wajalla ʾabāḥa al-jamʿa bayna al-ʾarbaʿi liʾajli al-ṭabāʾiʿi al-ʾarbaʿi, likulli ṭabīʿatin wāḥidatun ʿalā qadri ḥarakātihā watawaqāni al-nafsi ʿindahā.

Thus God, mighty and majestic, gave the soul’s form a choice within the disposition on which He fashioned it, and differentiated temperaments in the way He constituted them. It is said that God, mighty and majestic, permitted combining four wives because of the four temperaments, one for each temperament in proportion to its movements and the soul’s longing under its influence.

وَلَا نَقْصَ عَلَى الْعَبْدِ فِي ذَلِكَ إِذَا قَامَ بِمَا عَلَيْهِ لَهُنَّ أَوْ سَمَحْنَ بِحُقُوقِهِنَّ مِنَ النَّفَقَةِ وَالْمَبِيتِ لَهُ، بَلْ ذَلِكَ مَزِيدٌ لَهُ وَدَلَالَةٌ عَلَى قُوَّتِهِ وَتَمَكُّنِهِ فِي الْحَالِ، وَهَذِهِ طَرَائِقُ الْأَقْوِيَاءِ وَالْأَئِمَّةِ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ.

walā naqṣa ʿalā al-ʿabdi fī dhālika ʾidhā qāma bimā ʿalayhi lahunna ʾaw samaḥna biḥuqūqihinna mina al-nafaqati wa-al-mabīti lahu, bal dhālika mazīdun lahu wadalālatun ʿalā quwwatihi watamakkunihi fī al-ḥāli, wa-hādhihi ṭarāʾiqu al-ʾaqwiyāʾi wa-al-ʾaʾimmati mina al-rijāli.

There is no deficiency in the servant for this if he fulfills what he owes them, or they willingly waive for him their rights to maintenance and overnight companionship. Rather, it increases his merit and indicates his strength and firm establishment in his spiritual condition. These are the ways of strong men and leaders.

وَأَيْضًا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مَا أَنْعَمَ بِهِ مِنِ امْتِطَاءِ الْأَرْبَعِ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ مِنَ الْحِكْمَةِ، وَتَلْوِينِ الطَّبْعِ فِي الصَّنْعَةِ مِثْلُ مَا أَنْعَمَ بِهِ مِنْ تَكْوِينِ سِيرَةِ الْمَطَايَا، الَّتِي جَعَلَهُنَّ مَرَاكِبَ عِبَادِهِ، فَجَعَلَ تَفَاوُتَ تَكْوِينِ وَطْءِ الْأَرْبَعَةِ بِمَنْزِلَةِ تَغَايُرِ مَشْيِ دَوَابِّ الْبَرِّ الْأَرْبَعَةِ.

waʾayḍan faʾinna Allāha ʿazza wajalla mā ʾanʿama bihi mini imtiṭāʾi al-ʾarbaʿi mina al-nisāʾi mina al-ḥikmati, watalwīni al-ṭabʿi fī al-ṣanʿati mithlu mā ʾanʿama bihi min takwīni sīrati al-maṭāyā, allatī jaʿalahunna marākiba ʿibādihi, fajaʿala tafāwuta takwīni waṭʾi al-ʾarbaʿati bimanzilati taghāyuri mashyi dawābbi al-barri al-ʾarbaʿati.

Moreover, the blessing God, mighty and majestic, bestowed in mounting four women, with its wisdom and variation of nature in His workmanship, resembles His blessing in fashioning the different gaits of the mounts He made for His servants to ride. He made the differences in the constitution of intercourse with the four like the different gaits of the four land animals.

فَقَالَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَالْخَيْلَ وَالْبِغَالَ وَالْحَمِيرَ لِتَرْكَبُوهَا وَزِينَةً)، وَقَالَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (مِنَ الْفُلْكِ وَالْأَنْعَامِ مَا تَرْكَبُونَ)، يَعْنِي الْإِبِلَ، فَسَيْرُ النَّاقَةِ غَيْرُ سَيْرِ الْفَرَسِ، وَسَيْرُ الْبَغْلِ مُخَالِفٌ لِمَشْيِ الْحِمَارِ.

faqāla ʿazza wajalla: (wa-al-khayla wa-al-bighāla wa-al-ḥamīra litarkabūhā wazīnatan), waqāla ʿazza wajalla: (mina al-fulki wa-al-ʾanʿāmi mā tarkabūna), yaʿnī al-ʾibila, fasayru al-nāqati ghayru sayri al-farasi, wasayru al-baghli mukhālifun limashyi al-ḥimāri.

He said, mighty and majestic: “Horses, mules, and donkeys, for you to ride and as adornment.” He also said, mighty and majestic: “Of ships and livestock, that which you ride,” meaning camels. The she-camel’s gait differs from the horse’s, and the mule’s differs from the donkey’s walk.

وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلَ لِمَنْ جَمَعَ الْأَرْبَعَ بِالْوَطْءِ مَا لَا يَجْعَلُ بِالْآحَادِ وَالْمَثْنَى وَالثُّلَاثِ، فَحَسُنَ ذَلِكَ وَأَبَاحَهُ لِمَنْ جَمَعَ بَيْنَهُنَّ أَرْبَعًا كَإِطْلَاقِهِ لِمَنْ جَعَلَ لَهُ الْمَطَايَا أَرْبَعَةً يَنْتَقِلُ عَلَى دَابَّةٍ بَعْدَ دَابَّةٍ، فَكَانَ لَهُ فَرَسٌ وَبَغْلٌ وَحِمَارٌ إِذَا اتَّسَعَ بِذَلِكَ وَأَقَامَ بِمَؤُونَتِهِنَّ.

wa-kadhālika jaʿala liman jamaʿa al-ʾarbaʿa bi-al-waṭʾi mā lā yajʿalu bi-al-ʾāḥādi wa-al-mathnā wa-al-thulāthi, faḥasuna dhālika waʾabāḥahu liman jamaʿa baynahunna ʾarbaʿan kaʾiṭlāqihi liman jaʿala lahu al-maṭāyā ʾarbaʿatan yantaqilu ʿalā dābbatin baʿda dābbatin, fakāna lahu farasun wabaghlun waḥimārun ʾidhā ittasaʿa bi-dhālika waʾaqāma bimaʾūnatihinna.

Likewise, He gave one who combines four in intercourse something not given through one, two, or three. This is good, and He permitted it to one who combines four wives, just as He allowed someone given four mounts to move from one animal to another, owning a horse, mule, and donkey if he has the means and meets their upkeep.

وَقَدْ يَكْتَفِي الْوَاحِدُ بِدَابَّةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ فَيَكُونُ فِيهَا بَلَاغٌ إِلَى حِينٍ، ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ وَإِتْقَانُ صُنْعِ الْمُنْعِمِ الْحَكِيمِ، وَقَدْ شَرَطَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى مَعَ الزَّوْجَةِ ثَلَاثَةَ شُرُوطٍ، إِنْ وُجِدَتْ تَمَّتْ بِهِنَّ كِفَايَةُ الْعَبْدِ وَسَكَنَتْ بِهَا نَفْسُهُ، وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ الدَّالَّةِ عَلَيْهِ.

waqad yaktafī al-wāḥidu bidābbatin wāḥidatin fayakūnu fīhā balāghun ʾilā ḥīnin, dhālika taqdīru al-ʿazīzi al-ʿalīmi waʾitqānu ṣunʿi al-munʿimi al-ḥakīmi, waqad sharaṭa Allāhu taʿālā maʿa al-zawjati thalāthata shurūṭin, ʾin wujidat tammat bihinna kifāyatu al-ʿabdi wasakanat bihā nafsuhu, wakāna dhālika min ʾāyāti Allāhi al-dāllati ʿalayhi.

One person may be content with a single animal, sufficient for his needs for a time. Such is the determination of the Mighty, the Knowing, and the perfect workmanship of the Wise Benefactor. God, exalted is He, has stipulated three conditions with a wife. When they are present, the servant’s needs are fully met and his soul rests in her; this is among God’s signs pointing to Him.

وَإِنْ لَمْ تُوجَدِ الشُّرُوطُ الثَّلَاثَةُ مَعَ الْإِحْدَى، كَانَ لَهُ الْمَزِيدُ عَلَيْهَا إِلَى الرُّبَاعِ، وَكُنَّ فِي الْمَعْنَى كَالْآحَادِ لِعَدَمِ الشُّرُوطِ الَّتِي أَخْبَرَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بِسُكُونِ النَّفْسِ عِنْدَهَا، وَعِنْدَ الْأَرْبَعِ تُوجَدُ الشُّرُوطُ فِي قُلُوبِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ لَا مَحَالَةَ كَمَا أَخْبَرَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ أَيْضًا مِنْ آيَاتِهِ وَحِكْمَتِهِ الدَّالَّةِ عَلَيْهِ.

waʾin lam tūjadi al-shurūṭu al-thalāthatu maʿa al-ʾiḥdā, kāna lahu al-mazīdu ʿalayhā ʾilā al-rubāʿi, wakunna fī al-maʿnā ka-al-ʾāḥādi liʿadami al-shurūṭi allatī ʾakhbara Allāhu ʿazza wajalla bisukūni al-nafsi ʿindahā, waʿinda al-ʾarbaʿi tūjadu al-shurūṭu fī qulūbi al-muʾminīna lā maḥālata kamā ʾakhbara ʿazza wajalla, wakāna dhālika ʾayḍan min ʾāyātihi waḥikmatihi al-dāllati ʿalayhi.

If the three conditions are not found with one, he may add to her up to four. In effect they are like single wives, because the conditions with which God, mighty and majestic, associates the soul’s repose are absent. With four, these conditions inevitably arise in believers’ hearts, as He, mighty and majestic, has stated. This too is among His signs and the wisdom that points to Him.

فَقَالَ سُبْحَانَهُ: (وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا لِتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُمْ مَوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً).

faqāla subḥānahu: (wamin ʾāyātihi ʾan khalaqa lakum min ʾanfusikum ʾazwājan litaskunū ʾilayhā wajaʿala baynakum mawaddatan waraḥmatan).

He, glorified is He, said: “Among His signs is that He created spouses for you from yourselves, so that you might find repose in them, and placed affection and mercy between you.”

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٠٧

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 407

Volume Two, page 407

فَإِنْ وَجَدَ الْعَبْدُ سُكُونَ النَّفْسِ وَرَحْمَةَ الْقَلْبِ وَمَوَدَّةَ الْمَرْأَةِ فِي الْوَاحِدَةِ، فَهُوَ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَهِيَ كِفَايَتُهُ وَغُنْيَتُهُ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يَجِدِ السُّكُونَ وَلَا الرَّحْمَةَ وَلَا الْمَوَدَّةَ إِلَّا فِي الْأَرْبَعِ، فَهُنَّ حِينَئِذٍ كِفَايَتُهُ وَقِنْيَتُهُ.

faʾin wajada al-ʿabdu sukūna al-nafsi waraḥmata al-qalbi wamawaddata al-marʾati fī al-wāḥidati, fahuwa min ʾāyāti Allāhi ʿazza wajalla wahiya kifāyatuhu waghunyatuhu, waʾin lam yajidi al-sukūna walā al-raḥmata walā al-mawaddata ʾillā fī al-ʾarbaʿi, fahunna ḥīnaʾidhin kifāyatuhu waqinyatuhu.

If the servant finds repose of soul, mercy of heart, and a woman’s affection in one wife, this is among the signs of God, mighty and majestic, and she is his sufficiency and contentment. If he finds repose, mercy, and affection only in four, they are then his sufficiency and treasured possession.

وَاللَّهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى يُغْنِي بِالْوَاحِدَةِ وَيُقْنِي بِالْأَرْبَعِ، أَيْ يَجْعَلُ غَنِيًّا وَيَجْعَلُ قِنْيَةً جَمَاعَةً وَمُدَّخَرًا، وَذَلِكَ أَيْضًا مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَاخْتِيَارِهِ لِمَنْ قَوِيَ عَلَيْهِ وَاسْتَقَامَ بِهِ، وَقَدْ شَبَّهَ بَعْضُ النَّاسِ الْأَزْوَاجَ بِالْقُمُصِ فَقَالَ: لَيْسَ مِنَ السَّرَفِ أَنْ يَجْمَعَ الرَّجُلُ أَرْبَعَةَ أَقْمِصَةٍ، وَمَا زَادَ عَلَى ذَلِكَ كَانَ سَرَفًا.

wa-Allāhu tabāraka wataʿālā yughnī bi-al-wāḥidati wayuqnī bi-al-ʾarbaʿi, ʾay yajʿalu ghaniyyan wayajʿalu qinyatan jamāʿatan wamuddakharan, wa-dhālika ʾayḍan min ʾāyāti Allāhi taʿālā wa-ikhtiyārihi liman qawiya ʿalayhi wa-istaqāma bihi, waqad shabbaha baʿḍu al-nāsi al-ʾazwāja bi-al-qumuṣi faqāla: laysa mina al-sarafi ʾan yajmaʿa al-rajulu ʾarbaʿata ʾaqmiṣatin, wamā zāda ʿalā dhālika kāna sarafan.

God, blessed and exalted, makes one sufficient through a single wife and gives lasting possessions through four: He grants sufficiency and makes a gathered treasure and reserve. This too is among the signs of God, exalted is He, and His choice for one strong enough to undertake it and remain upright through it. Someone compared wives to shirts, saying: “It is not extravagance for a man to possess four shirts; anything beyond that is extravagance.”

كَمَا أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ أَمَرَ بِالْجَمْعِ بَيْنَ الْأَرْبَعِ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ، وَيَصْلُحُ أَنْ يُسْتَدَلَّ لَهُ بِقَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: (هُنَّ لِبَاسٌ لَكُمْ)، فَجَعَلَهُنَّ فِي مَعْنَى الْمَلْبُوسِ وَرَفَعَ فِيهِنَّ إِلَى الْأَرْبَعِ وَفِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: (فَانْكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ)، ثُمَّ ابْتَدَأَ فَنَصَّ عَلَى مَثْنَى وَلَمْ يَقُلْ: إِحْدَى.

kamā ʾanna Allāha ʿazza wajalla ʾamara bi-al-jamʿi bayna al-ʾarbaʿi mina al-nisāʾi, wayaṣluḥu ʾan yustadalla lahu biqawlihi taʿālā: (hunna libāsun lakum), fajaʿalahunna fī maʿnā al-malbūsi warafaʿa fīhinna ʾilā al-ʾarbaʿi wafī qawlihi taʿālā: (fa-inkiḥū mā ṭāba lakum mina al-nisāʾi), thumma ibtadaʾa fanaṣṣa ʿalā mathnā walam yaqul: ʾiḥdā.

Likewise God, mighty and majestic, commanded combining four women. The saying of God, exalted is He, “They are a garment for you,” may be adduced in support: He likened them to clothing and raised their number to four. In the saying of God, exalted is He, “Marry such women as please you,” He began by specifying “two,” rather than saying “one.”

عَلَى النَّدْبِ وَالِاسْتِحْبَابِ لِلْجَمْعِ بَيْنَ اثْنَيْنِ، وَإِنَّ الْعَدْلَ قَدْ يُوجَدُ وَيُقْدَرُ عَلَيْهِ مَعَهُمَا، ثُمَّ رَدَّ إِلَى الْوَاحِدَةِ لِمَنْ خَافَ الْجَوْرَ فِيهِنَّ فَقَالَ تَعَالَى: (فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَنْ لَا تَعْدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَةً)، فَفِي دَلِيلِ الْخِطَابِ اشْتِرَاطُ الْعَدْلِ فِي الْأَرْبَعِ، ثُمَّ ذَكَرَهُ بِقَوْلِهِ: (ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَنْ لَا تَعُولُوا)، يَعْنِي أَقْرَبَ أَنْ لَا تَجُورُوا.

ʿalā al-nadbi wa-al-istiḥbābi li-l-jamʿi bayna ithnayni, waʾinna al-ʿadla qad yūjadu wayuqdaru ʿalayhi maʿahumā, thumma radda ʾilā al-wāḥidati liman khāfa al-jawra fīhinna faqāla taʿālā: (faʾin khiftum ʾan lā taʿdilū fawāḥidatan), fafī dalīli al-khiṭābi ishtirāṭu al-ʿadli fī al-ʾarbaʿi, thumma dhakarahu biqawlihi: (dhālika ʾadnā ʾan lā taʿūlū), yaʿnī ʾaqraba ʾan lā tajūrū.

This encourages and recommends combining two, since justice between them may be found and achieved. He then directed anyone who fears unfairness back to one, saying, exalted is He: “If you fear that you will not act justly, then one.” The statement’s implication makes justice a condition for four. He then mentioned it by saying: “That is likelier to keep you from injustice,” meaning nearer to avoiding unfairness.

وَقَدْ قَالَ بَعْضُ الْفُقَهَاءِ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْحِجَازِ وَاللُّغَةِ: لَا تَعُولُوا، أَيْ لَا تَكْثُرْ عِيَالُكُمْ، وَالْأَوَّلُ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ، لِأَنَّهُ أَشْبَهُ بِالْقُرْآنِ كَأَنَّهُ عَطَفَ عَلَى النَّصِّ لَمَّا قَالَ: أَنْ لَا تَعُولُوا، قَالَ: ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَنْ لَا تَجُورُوا، وَالْأَوَّلُ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ.

waqad qāla baʿḍu al-fuqahāʾi min ʾahli al-ḥijāzi wa-al-lughati: lā taʿūlū, ʾay lā takthur ʿiyālukum, wa-al-ʾawwalu ʾaḥabbu ʾilayya, liʾannahu ʾashbahu bi-al-qurʾāni kaʾannahu ʿaṭafa ʿalā al-naṣṣi lammā qāla: ʾan lā taʿūlū, qāla: dhālika ʾadnā ʾan lā tajūrū, wa-al-ʾawwalu ʾaḥabbu ʾilayya.

Some jurists of the Hijaz and language scholars explained “that you not taʿūlū” as “that your dependants not become numerous.” I prefer the first interpretation, because it fits the Qurʾan better, as though the expression were joined to the explicit wording: when He said “that you not taʿūlū,” He meant “that is likelier to keep you from acting unfairly.” I prefer the first interpretation.

وَيَصْلُحُ هَذَا الْوَجْهُ أَيْضًا فِي اللُّغَةِ مِنْ قَالَ: عَالَ يَعُولُ، بِمَعْنَى أَعَالَ يُعِيلُ، وَأَكْثَرُ الْعَرَبِ فَرَّقَتْ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ يَقُولُونَ: عَالَ يَعُولُ إِذَا جَارَ، وَأَعَالَ يُعِيلُ مِنَ الْعَيْلَةِ إِذَا كَثُرَ عِيَالُهُ، وَشَاذٌّ نَادِرٌ مَنْ يَجْعَلُهَا لُغَتَيْنِ بِمَعْنًى.

wayaṣluḥu hādhā al-wajhu ʾayḍan fī al-lughati min qāla: ʿāla yaʿūlu, bimaʿnā ʾaʿāla yuʿīlu, waʾaktharu al-ʿarabi farraqat bayna dhālika yaqūlūna: ʿāla yaʿūlu ʾidhā jāra, waʾaʿāla yuʿīlu mina al-ʿaylati ʾidhā kathura ʿiyāluhu, washādhdhun nādirun man yajʿaluhā lughatayni bimaʿnan.

The other interpretation is also linguistically possible for those who use ʿāla, yaʿūlu in the sense of aʿāla, yuʿīlu. Most Arabs distinguish them: they say ʿāla, yaʿūlu when someone acts unjustly, and aʿāla, yuʿīlu, from ʿayla, when his dependants become numerous. Treating them as two forms with one meaning is an exceptional and rare usage.

فَلْيَتَوَخَّ الْعَدْلَ بَيْنَ أَزْوَاجِهِ، مَنْ جَمَعَ بَيْنَهُنَّ فِي النَّفَقَةِ وَالْكِسْوَةِ وَالْمَبِيتِ، وَلَا يَحِيفُ عَلَى بَعْضٍ فَيُقَصِّرَ عَنْ كِفَايَتِهَا وَوَاجِبِهَا فِي ذَلِكَ. فَقَدْ جَاءَ فِي الْحَدِيثِ: مَنْ كَانَتْ لَهُ امْرَأَتَانِ فَمَالَ إِلَى إِحْدَاهُمَا دُونَ الْأُخْرَى، وَفِي لَفْظٍ آخَرَ، فَلَمْ يَعْدِلْ بَيْنَهُمَا، جَاءَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَأَحَدُ شِقَّيْهِ مَائِلٌ.

falyatawakhkha al-ʿadla bayna ʾazwājihi, man jamaʿa baynahunna fī al-nafaqati wa-al-kiswati wa-al-mabīti, walā yaḥīfu ʿalā baʿḍin fayuqaṣṣira ʿan kifāyatihā wawājibihā fī dhālika. faqad jāʾa fī al-ḥadīthi: man kānat lahu imraʾatāni famāla ʾilā ʾiḥdāhumā dūna al-ʾukhrā, wafī lafẓin ʾākhara, falam yaʿdil baynahumā, jāʾa yawma al-qiyāmati waʾaḥadu shiqqayhi māʾilun.

Whoever combines several wives should seek justice between them in maintenance, clothing, and nights spent together, without wronging any by falling short of her needs and due rights. A tradition says: “Whoever has two wives and inclines toward one to the exclusion of the other,” or in another wording, “fails to act justly between them, will come on the Day of Resurrection with one side of his body leaning.”

وَلَا عَدْلَ عَلَيْهِ فِي الْمَحَبَّةِ وَالْجِمَاعِ، لِأَنَّ ذَلِكَ لَا يُمْلَكُ إِذَا سَوَّى بَيْنَ الْبَيْتُوتَةِ، وَلَا عَلَيْهِ أَيْضًا أَنْ يُجَامِعَ مَنْ بَاتَ عِنْدَهَا إِنَّمَا عَلَيْهِ الْمَبِيتُ لَيْلَةً وَلَيْلَةً وَفِي تَفْسِيرِ قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: (وَلَنْ تَسْتَطِيعُوا أَنْ تَعْدِلُوا بَيْنَ النِّسَاءِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتُمْ)، قَالَ: لَا تَقْدِرُوا عَلَى الْعَدْلِ بَيْنَهُنَّ فِي الْحُبِّ وَالْجِمَاعِ.

walā ʿadla ʿalayhi fī al-maḥabbati wa-al-jimāʿi, liʾanna dhālika lā yumlaku ʾidhā sawwā bayna al-baytūtati, walā ʿalayhi ʾayḍan ʾan yujāmiʿa man bāta ʿindahā ʾinnamā ʿalayhi al-mabītu laylatan walaylatan wafī tafsīri qawlihi taʿālā: (walan tastaṭīʿū ʾan taʿdilū bayna al-nisāʾi walaw ḥaraṣtum), qāla: lā taqdirū ʿalā al-ʿadli baynahunna fī al-ḥubbi wa-al-jimāʿi.

He is not obliged to equalize affection and intercourse, because these are not within his control, provided he treats them equally in overnight stays. Nor must he have intercourse with the wife whose night he spends; his obligation is simply to alternate the nights. The saying of God, exalted is He, “You will never be able to act equally between women, however eager you are,” is explained: “You cannot equalize love and intercourse between them.”

لِأَنَّ ذَلِكَ فِعْلُ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي الْقُلُوبِ وَفِي شَهْوَةِ النَّفْسِ، وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقْسِمُ بَيْنَ نِسَائِهِ فِي الْعَطَاءِ وَالْمَبِيتِ، وَكَانَ يَقُولُ: اللَّهُمَّ هَذَا جُهْدِي فِيمَا أَمْلِكُ وَلَا طَاقَةَ لِي فِيمَا تَمْلِكُ وَلَا أَمْلِكُ، يَعْنِي فِي الْمَحَبَّةِ وَالْجِمَاعِ.

liʾanna dhālika fiʿlu Allāhi ʿazza wajalla fī al-qulūbi wafī shahwati al-nafsi, warawaynā ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama ʾannahu kāna yaqsimu bayna nisāʾihi fī al-ʿaṭāʾi wa-al-mabīti, wakāna yaqūlu: Allāhumma hādhā juhdī fīmā ʾamliku walā ṭāqata lī fīmā tamliku walā ʾamliku, yaʿnī fī al-maḥabbati wa-al-jimāʿi.

This is the action of God, mighty and majestic, within hearts and the soul’s desire. We have related that God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, divided gifts and overnight stays among his wives, saying: “O God, this is my effort in what I control. I have no power over what You control and I do not,” meaning affection and intercourse.

فَقَدْ كَانَ يُحِبُّ بَعْضَهُنَّ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ بَعْضٍ وَكَانَتْ عَائِشَةُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا أَحَبَّهُنَّ، وَكَانَ يُطَافُ بِهِ مَحْمُولًا فِي مَرَضِهِ فِي كُلِّ يَوْمٍ وَلَيْلَةٍ فَيَقُولُ: أَيْنَ أَنَا غَدًا؟ فَفَطِنَتِ امْرَأَةٌ مِنْهُنَّ فَقَالَتْ: إِنَّمَا يَسْأَلُ عَنْ يَوْمِ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا فَقُلْنَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَيَشُقُّ

faqad kāna yuḥibbu baʿḍahunna ʾakthara min baʿḍin wakānat ʿāʾishatu raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā ʾaḥabbahunna, wakāna yuṭāfu bihi maḥmūlan fī maraḍihi fī kulli yawmin walaylatin fayaqūlu: ʾayna ʾanā ghadan? fafaṭinati imraʾatun minhunna faqālat: ʾinnamā yasʾalu ʿan yawmi ʿāʾishata raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā faqulna: yā rasūla Allāhi ʾinnahu layashuqqu

He loved some more than others, and ʿĀʾisha, may God be pleased with her, was the dearest. During his illness he was carried around to them each day and night, asking: “Where am I tomorrow?” One of the women understood and said: “He is asking about the day of ʿĀʾisha, may God be pleased with her.” They said: “Messenger of God, it is surely burdensome

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٠٨

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 408

Volume Two, page 408

عَلَيْكَ أَنْ تُحْمَلَ، فَقَدْ أَذِنَّا لَكَ أَنْ تَكُونَ فِي بَيْتِ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا فَقَالَ: قَدْ رَضِيتُنَّ بِذَلِكَ؟ قُلْنَ: نَعَمْ قَالَ: فَحَوِّلُونِي إِلَى بَيْتِ عَائِشَةَ، فَلِذَلِكَ كَانَتْ تَقُولُ: قُبِضَ فِي بَيْتِي وَبَيْنَ سَحْرِي وَنَحْرِي تَفْتَخِرُ بِذَلِكَ.

ʿalayka ʾan tuḥmala, faqad ʾadhinnā laka ʾan takūna fī bayti ʿāʾishata raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā faqāla: qad raḍītunna bi-dhālika? qulna: naʿam qāla: faḥawwilūnī ʾilā bayti ʿāʾishata, fali-dhālika kānat taqūlu: qubiḍa fī baytī wabayna saḥrī wanaḥrī taftakhiru bi-dhālika.

for you to be carried. We give you permission to stay in the house of ʿĀʾisha, may God be pleased with her.” He asked: “Are you all content with that?” They answered: “Yes.” He said: “Then move me to ʿĀʾisha’s house.” That is why she used to say with pride: “He was taken in death in my house, between my chest and throat.”

ثُمَّ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (فَلَا تَمِيلُوا كُلَّ الْمَيْلِ) يَعْنِي عَلَى وَاحِدَةٍ دُونَ الْأُخْرَى فِي التَّقْصِيرِ وَالنَّفَقَةِ فَتَذَرُوهَا كَالْمُعَلَّقَةِ أَيْ مَوْقُوفَةً غَيْرَ مُسْتَقِرَّةٍ، كَأَنَّهَا لَا ذَاتُ زَوْجٍ وَلَا مُطَلَّقَةٌ، أَيْ لَا أَيِّمٌ فَتَتَحَمَّلُ لِنَفْسِهَا وَلَا ذَاتُ زَوْجٍ يُنْفِقُ عَلَيْهَا فَتَسْتَغْنِي بِزَوْجِهَا.

thumma qāla Allāhu taʿālā ʿazza wajalla: (falā tamīlū kulla al-mayli) yaʿnī ʿalā wāḥidatin dūna al-ʾukhrā fī al-taqṣīri wa-al-nafaqati fatadharūhā ka-al-muʿallaqati ʾay mawqūfatan ghayra mustaqirratin, kaʾannahā lā dhātu zawjin walā muṭallaqatun, ʾay lā ʾayyimun fatataḥammalu linafsihā walā dhātu zawjin yunfiqu ʿalayhā fatastaghnī bizawjihā.

Then God, exalted is He, mighty and majestic, said: “Do not incline altogether,” meaning toward one to the exclusion of the other, neglecting her maintenance, “leaving her as though suspended”: held without settled status, neither truly married nor divorced. She is neither unmarried and able to take responsibility for herself, nor provided for by a husband and made sufficient through him.

وَالْعَرَبُ تَقُولُ: عَلَّقْتُ الْأَمْرَ إِذَا أَوْقَفْتَهُ، وَقَوْلٌ مُعَلَّقٌ أَيْ مَوْقُوفٌ غَيْرُ مُطْلَقٍ بِحُكْمٍ، فَعَلَيْهِ أَنْ يَقْسِمَ بَيْنَهُنَّ أَيَّامَهُ وَلَيَالِيَهُ، فَيَكُونُ عِنْدَ كُلِّ وَاحِدَةٍ يَوْمًا وَلَيْلَةً، إِلَّا أَنْ تَهَبَ لِصَاحِبَتِهَا لَيْلَتَهَا أَوْ تَسْمَحَ لَهُ بِذَلِكَ، فَكَذَلِكَ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقْسِمُ بَيْنَ نِسَائِهِ.

wa-al-ʿarabu taqūlu: ʿallaqtu al-ʾamra ʾidhā ʾawqaftahu, waqawlun muʿallaqun ʾay mawqūfun ghayru muṭlaqin biḥukmin, faʿalayhi ʾan yaqsima baynahunna ʾayyāmahu walayāliyahu, fayakūnu ʿinda kulli wāḥidatin yawman walaylatan, ʾillā ʾan tahaba liṣāḥibatihā laylatahā ʾaw tasmaḥa lahu bi-dhālika, fa-kadhālika kāna rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama yaqsimu bayna nisāʾihi.

The Arabs say “I suspended the matter” when one leaves it pending; a “suspended statement” is one held without a definitive judgment. A man must divide his days and nights among his wives, spending a day and night with each, unless one gives her night to her fellow wife or grants him permission otherwise. This is how God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, divided his time among his wives.

فَأَرَادَ أَنْ يُطَلِّقَ سَوْدَةَ بِنْتَ زَمْعَةَ لَمَّا كَبِرَتْ فَوَهَبَتْ لَيْلَتَهَا لِعَائِشَةَ، وَسَأَلَتْهُ أَنْ يُقِرَّهَا عَلَى الزَّوْجِيَّةِ لِتُحْشَرَ فِي نِسَائِهِ، فَتَرَكَهَا وَلَمْ يَكُنْ يَقْسِمُ لَهَا، فَكَانَ يَقْسِمُ لِعَائِشَةَ لَيْلَتَيْنِ وَلِسَائِرِ أَزْوَاجِهِ لَيْلَةً لَيْلَةً.

faʾarāda ʾan yuṭalliqa sawdata binta zamʿata lammā kabirat fawahabat laylatahā liʿāʾishata, wasaʾalat-hu ʾan yuqirrahā ʿalā al-zawjiyyati lituḥshara fī nisāʾihi, fatarakahā walam yakun yaqsimu lahā, fakāna yaqsimu liʿāʾishata laylatayni walisāʾiri ʾazwājihi laylatan laylatan.

When he wished to divorce Sawda bint Zamʿa after she had grown old, she gave her night to ʿĀʾisha and asked him to retain her as his wife so that she might be raised among his wives. He kept her and no longer assigned a night to her. He therefore assigned two nights to ʿĀʾisha and one night apiece to his other wives.

إِلَّا أَنَّهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لِشِدَّةِ عَدْلِهِ كَانَتْ نَفْسُهُ إِذَا تَاقَتْ إِلَى وَاحِدَةٍ فِي غَيْرِ لَيْلَتِهَا أَوْ نَهَارًا فِي غَيْرِ يَوْمِهَا أَتَاهَا فَجَامَعَهَا، ثُمَّ طَافَ فِي لَيْلَتِهِ عَلَى سَائِرِهِنَّ، وَكَذَلِكَ كَانَ يَفْعَلُ فِي يَوْمِهِ.

ʾillā ʾannahu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama lishiddati ʿadlihi kānat nafsuhu ʾidhā tāqat ʾilā wāḥidatin fī ghayri laylatihā ʾaw nahāran fī ghayri yawmihā ʾatāhā fajāmaʿahā, thumma ṭāfa fī laylatihi ʿalā sāʾirihinna, wa-kadhālika kāna yafʿalu fī yawmihi.

Yet he, may God bless him and grant him peace, was so scrupulously just that if he desired one of them on a night or day not assigned to her, he would go to her and have intercourse, then visit all the others that night. He did the same during the day.

فَمِنْ ذَلِكَ مَا رُوِيَ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا وَغَيْرِهَا، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ طَافَ عَلَى نِسَائِهِ فِي لَيْلَةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ، وَعَنْ أَنَسٍ، طَافَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَلَى تِسْعِ نِسْوَةٍ فِي ضَحْوَةٍ.

famin dhālika mā ruwiya ʿan ʿāʾishata raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā waghayrihā, ʾanna rasūla Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama ṭāfa ʿalā nisāʾihi fī laylatin wāḥidatin, waʿan ʾanasin, ṭāfa rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama ʿalā tisʿi niswatin fī ḍaḥwatin.

Examples are the report from ʿĀʾisha, may God be pleased with her, and others that God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, visited all his wives in a single night, and the report from Anas that God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, visited nine wives in one forenoon.

وَمَنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ إِلَّا وَاحِدَةٌ اسْتُحِبَّ لَهُ أَنْ يُفْضِيَ إِلَيْهَا فِي كُلِّ ثَلَاثِ لَيَالٍ بِمَنْزِلَةِ مَنْ لَهُ أَرْبَعُ نِسْوَةٍ، وَيَكُونُ يُبَاشِرُهَا فِي اللَّيْلَةِ الرَّابِعَةِ، وَبِهَذَا قَضَى عُمَرُ وَكَعْبُ بْنُ الْأَسْوَدِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا لِلرَّجُلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَهَا فِي كُلِّ أَرْبَعِ لَيَالٍ لَيْلَةً.

waman lam yakun lahu ʾillā wāḥidatun ustuḥibba lahu ʾan yufḍiya ʾilayhā fī kulli thalāthi layālin bimanzilati man lahu ʾarbaʿu niswatin, wayakūnu yubāshiruhā fī al-laylati al-rābiʿati, wabi-hādhā qaḍā ʿumaru wakaʿbu bnu al-ʾaswadi raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhumā li-l-rajuli ʾan yaʾtiyahā fī kulli ʾarbaʿi layālin laylatan.

For a man with only one wife, intimacy after every three nights is recommended, as for someone with four wives: he has intercourse with her on the fourth night. This was the judgment of ʿUmar and Kaʿb ibn al-Aswad, may God be pleased with them both, that a man should approach her one night in every four.

فَإِنْ عَلِمَ أَنَّ حَاجَتَهَا إِلَى أَكْثَرَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ كَانَ عَلَيْهِ أَنْ يَفْعَلَ مَا هُوَ أَقْرَبُ إِلَى تَحْصِينِهَا وَأَثْبَتُ لِعَفَافِهَا، وَإِنْ عَلِمَ مِنْهَا كَرَاهَةَ ذَلِكَ وَقِلَّةَ هِمَّتِهَا لَهُ لَمْ يَكُنْ عَلَيْهِ الْإِفْضَاءُ إِلَيْهَا إِلَّا فِي كُلِّ شَهْرٍ مَرَّةً أَوْ فِي كُلِّ سَنَةٍ مَرَّةً.

faʾin ʿalima ʾanna ḥājatahā ʾilā ʾakthara min dhālika kāna ʿalayhi ʾan yafʿala mā huwa ʾaqrabu ʾilā taḥṣīnihā waʾathbatu liʿafāfihā, waʾin ʿalima minhā karāhata dhālika waqillata himmatihā lahu lam yakun ʿalayhi al-ʾifḍāʾu ʾilayhā ʾillā fī kulli shahrin marratan ʾaw fī kulli sanatin marratan.

If he knows that she needs more than this, he must do what better protects her chastity and more firmly preserves her continence. If he knows that she dislikes it and has little desire for it, he need have intimacy with her only once a month or once a year.

وَعَلَيْهَا أَنْ لَا تَمْنَعَهُ لَيْلًا وَلَا نَهَارًا فِي كُلِّ وَقْتٍ، وَإِنْ كَانَتْ صَائِمَةً فَلَا يَحِلُّ لَهَا أَنْ تَصُومَ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ، وَتَزَوَّجَ عَلِيٌّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ بِعَشْرِ نِسْوَةٍ وَتُوُفِّيَ عَنْ أَرْبَعٍ وَسَبْعَ عَشْرَةَ سُرِّيَّةً، وَكَانَ بَعْضُ أُمَرَاءِ الشَّامِ إِذَا بَلَغَهُ عَنْهُ كَثْرَةُ نِكَاحِهِ يَقُولُ: لَسْتُ بِنِكْحَةٍ وَلَا طِلْقَةٍ يُعَرِّضُ لَهُ بِذَلِكَ.

waʿalayhā ʾan lā tamnaʿahu laylan walā nahāran fī kulli waqtin, waʾin kānat ṣāʾimatan falā yaḥillu lahā ʾan taṣūma ʾillā biʾidhnihi, watazawwaja ʿaliyyun ʿalayhi al-salāmu biʿashri niswatin watuwuffiya ʿan ʾarbaʿin wasabʿa ʿashrata surriyyatan, wakāna baʿḍu ʾumarāʾi al-shāmi ʾidhā balaghahu ʿanhu kathratu nikāḥihi yaqūlu: lastu binikḥatin walā ṭilqatin yuʿarriḍu lahu bi-dhālika.

She, for her part, must not refuse him at any time, night or day; even if she is fasting, she may not fast without his permission. ʿAlī, peace be upon him, married ten women and died leaving four wives and seventeen concubines. When one of the rulers of Syria heard of his frequent marriages, he would say in a pointed allusion to him: “I am no inveterate husband or divorcer.”

وَيُقَالُ إِنَّهُ تَزَوَّجَ بَعْدَ وَفَاةِ فَاطِمَةَ صَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهَا وَعَلَى أَبِيهَا بِتِسْعِ لَيَالٍ، وَنَكَحَ أُمَامَةَ ابْنَةَ زَيْنَبَ ابْنَةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، كَانَتْ فَاطِمَةُ صَلَوَاتٌ عَلَيْهَا أَوْصَتْهُ بِذَلِكَ، وَتَزَوَّجَ الْحَسَنُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا مِائَتَيْنِ وَخَمْسِينَ امْرَأَةً وَقِيلَ ثَلَاثَمِائَةٍ.

wayuqālu ʾinnahu tazawwaja baʿda wafāti fāṭimata ṣalawātu Allāhi ʿalayhā waʿalā ʾabīhā bitisʿi layālin, wanakaḥa ʾumāmata ibnata zaynaba ibnati rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama, kānat fāṭimatu ṣalawātun ʿalayhā ʾawṣat-hu bi-dhālika, watazawwaja al-ḥasanu bnu ʿaliyyin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhumā miʾatayni wakhamsīna imraʾatan waqīla thalāthamiʾatin.

It is said that he married nine nights after the death of Fāṭima, God’s blessings upon her and her father. He married Umāma, daughter of Zaynab, daughter of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace; Fāṭima, blessings upon her, had instructed him to do so. Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, may God be pleased with them both, married two hundred and fifty women, or, it is said, three hundred.

وَقَدْ كَانَ عَلِيٌّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ يَضْجَرُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ وَيَكْرَهُ حَيَاءً مِنْ أَهْلِيهِنَّ إِذَا طَلَّقَهُنَّ وَكَانَ يَقُولُ: إِنَّ حَسَنًا مُطَلِّقًا فَلَا تُنْكِحُوهُ فَقَالَ لَهُ رَجُلٌ مِنْ هَمْدَانَ: وَاللَّهِ يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، لَنُنْكِحَنَّهُ مَا شَاءَ فَمَنْ أَحَبَّ أَمْسَكَ وَمَنْ كَرِهَ فَارَقَ.

waqad kāna ʿaliyyun ʿalayhi al-salāmu yaḍjaru min dhālika wayakrahu ḥayāʾan min ʾahlīhinna ʾidhā ṭallaqahunna wakāna yaqūlu: ʾinna ḥasanan muṭalliqan falā tunkiḥūhu faqāla lahu rajulun min hamdāna: wa-Allāhi yā ʾamīra al-muʾminīna, lanunkiḥannahu mā shāʾa faman ʾaḥabba ʾamsaka waman kariha fāraqa.

ʿAlī, peace be upon him, became distressed by this and disliked it out of embarrassment before their families when al-Ḥasan divorced them. He used to say: “Ḥasan is a frequent divorcer; do not marry your women to him.” A man of Hamdān replied: “By God, Commander of the Faithful, we shall marry him to as many as he wishes. Whoever he loves he may keep, and whoever he dislikes he may leave.”

فَسُرَّ عَلِيٌّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ بِذَلِكَ وَأَنْشَأَ يَقُولُ: وَلَوْ كُنْتُ بَوَّابًا عَلَى بَابِ جَنَّةٍ، لَقُلْتُ لِهَمْدَانَ ادْخُلِي بِسَلَامٍ.

fasurra ʿaliyyun raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu bi-dhālika waʾanshaʾa yaqūlu: walaw kuntu bawwāban ʿalā bābi jannatin, laqultu lihamdāna udkhulī bisalāmin.

ʿAlī, may God be pleased with him, was pleased and recited: “Were I a doorkeeper at the gate of a garden, I would say to Hamdān: ‘Enter in peace.’”

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٠٩

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 409

Volume Two, page 409

وَهَذَا أَحَدُ مَا كَانَ الْحَسَنُ يُشْبِهُ فِيهِ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَكَانَ يُشْبِهُهُ فِي الْخَلْقِ وَالْخُلُقِ فَقَدْ قَالَ لَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَشْبَهْتَ خَلْقِي وَخُلُقِي، وَقَالَ: حَسَنٌ مِنِّي وَحُسَيْنٌ مِنْ عَلِيٍّ.

wa-hādhā ʾaḥadu mā kāna al-ḥasanu yushbihu fīhi rasūla Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama, wakāna yushbihuhu fī al-khalqi wa-al-khuluqi faqad qāla lahu rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾashbahta khalqī wakhuluqī, waqāla: ḥasanun minnī waḥusaynun min ʿaliyyin.

This was one respect in which al-Ḥasan resembled God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace. He resembled him in appearance and character, for God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, told him: “You resemble my appearance and character.” He also said: “Ḥasan is of me, and Ḥusayn is of ʿAlī.”

وَكَانَ الْحَسَنُ رُبَّمَا عَقَدَ عَلَى أَرْبَعَةٍ وَرُبَّمَا طَلَّقَ أَرْبَعًا فَأَرْسَلَ غُلَامَهُ بِطَلَاقِ امْرَأَتَيْنِ لَهُ وَقَالَ: قُلْ لَهُمَا: اعْتَدَّا، وَأَمَرَ لَهُ أَنْ يَدْفَعَ إِلَى كُلِّ وَاحِدَةٍ عَشَرَةَ آلَافِ دِرْهَمٍ فَفَعَلَ، فَلَمَّا رَجَعَ إِلَيْهِ قَالَ: مَاذَا قَالَتَا؟

wakāna al-ḥasanu rubbamā ʿaqada ʿalā ʾarbaʿatin warubbamā ṭallaqa ʾarbaʿan faʾarsala ghulāmahu biṭalāqi imraʾatayni lahu waqāla: qul lahumā: iʿtaddā, waʾamara lahu ʾan yadfaʿa ʾilā kulli wāḥidatin ʿasharata ʾālāfi dirhamin fafaʿala, falammā rajaʿa ʾilayhi qāla: mādhā qālatā?

Al-Ḥasan would sometimes contract marriage with four women and sometimes divorce four. He sent his servant to divorce two wives, saying: “Tell them to begin their waiting periods,” and instructed him to give each ten thousand dirhams. He did so. When he returned, al-Ḥasan asked: “What did they say?”

فَقَالَ لَهُ الرَّسُولُ: أَمَّا إِحْدَاهُمَا فَنَكَّسَتْ رَأْسَهَا وَسَكَتَتْ، وَأَمَّا الْأُخْرَى فَبَكَتْ وَانْتَحَبَتْ وَسَمِعْتُهَا تَقُولُ: مَتَاعٌ قَلِيلٌ مِنْ حَبِيبٍ مُفَارِقٍ فَأَطْرَقَ وَرَحِمَ لَهَا ثُمَّ قَالَ: لَوْ كُنْتُ مُرَاجِعًا امْرَأَةً لَرَاجَعْتُهَا.

faqāla lahu al-rasūlu: ʾammā ʾiḥdāhumā fanakkasat raʾsahā wasakatat, waʾammā al-ʾukhrā fabakat wa-intaḥabat wasamiʿtuhā taqūlu: matāʿun qalīlun min ḥabībin mufāriqin faʾaṭraqa waraḥima lahā thumma qāla: law kuntu murājiʿan imraʾatan larājaʿtuhā.

The messenger replied: “One lowered her head and said nothing. The other wept and sobbed, and I heard her say: ‘A small provision from a departing beloved.’” He lowered his head in compassion for her, then said: “If I were to take any woman back, I would take her back.”

وَدَخَلَ عَلَى عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ هِشَامٍ فَخَطَبَ ابْنَتَهُ فَقَالَ: إِنَّكَ لَأَحَبُّ النَّاسِ إِلَيَّ، وَلَكِنَّكَ مِطْلَاقٌ وَأَكْرَهُ أَنْ يَتَغَيَّرَ قَلْبِي عَلَيْكَ، فَإِنْ ضَمِنْتَ أَنَّكَ لَا تُفَارِقُهَا فَعَلْتُ، فَسَكَتَ ثُمَّ اتَّكَأَ عَلَى بَعْضِ أَصْحَابِهِ ثُمَّ قَالَ: مَا أَرَادَ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ إِلَّا أَنْ يَجْعَلَ ابْنَتَهُ طَوْقًا فِي عُنُقِي.

wadakhala ʿalā ʿabdi al-raḥmāni bni al-ḥārithi bni hishāmin fakhaṭaba ibnatahu faqāla: ʾinnaka laʾaḥabbu al-nāsi ʾilayya, wa-lākinnaka miṭlāqun waʾakrahu ʾan yataghayyara qalbī ʿalayka, faʾin ḍaminta ʾannaka lā tufāriquhā faʿaltu, fasakata thumma ittakaʾa ʿalā baʿḍi ʾaṣḥābihi thumma qāla: mā ʾarāda ʿabdu al-raḥmāni ʾillā ʾan yajʿala ibnatahu ṭawqan fī ʿunuqī.

He visited ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām and asked for his daughter’s hand. He replied: “You are the dearest person to me, but you divorce frequently, and I would hate my feelings toward you to change. If you guarantee that you will not leave her, I will agree.” Al-Ḥasan was silent, then leaned on one of his companions and said: “ʿAbd al-Raḥmān only wanted to make his daughter a collar around my neck.”

وَقَدْ رَوَيْنَا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يُحِبُّ النِّكَاحَ وَيُبْغِضُ الطَّلَاقَ، فَانْكِحُوا وَلَا تُطَلِّقُوا، وَهَذَا لَا يَصْلُحُ لِمَنْ أَرَادَ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ أَرْبَعٍ، وَتَزَوَّجَ الْمُغِيرَةُ بْنُ شُعْبَةَ بِثَمَانِينَ امْرَأَةً، وَقَدْ كَانَ فِي الصَّحَابَةِ مَنْ لَهُ الثَّلَاثُ وَالْأَرْبَعُ، وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ لَا يُحْصَى كَانَتْ لَهُ اثْنَتَانِ لَا يَخْلُو مِنْهُمَا.

waqad rawaynā ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama ʾanna Allāha ʿazza wajalla yuḥibbu al-nikāḥa wayubghiḍu al-ṭalāqa, fa-inkiḥū walā tuṭalliqū, wa-hādhā lā yaṣluḥu liman ʾarāda ʾakthara min ʾarbaʿin, watazawwaja al-mughīratu bnu shuʿbata bithamānīna imraʾatan, waqad kāna fī al-ṣaḥābati man lahu al-thalāthu wa-al-ʾarbaʿu, wakathīrun minhum lā yuḥṣā kānat lahu ithnatāni lā yakhlū minhumā.

We have related from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “God, mighty and majestic, loves marriage and hates divorce, so marry and do not divorce.” This does not suit someone who wishes for more than four. Al-Mughīra ibn Shuʿba married eighty women. Some companions had three or four wives, and countless others had two and were never without them.

وَيُقَالُ: إِنَّ كَثْرَةَ النِّكَاحِ مِنْ شِدَّةِ غَضِّ الْبَصَرِ وَقَطْعِ الْمَشْيِ فِي الْأَثَرِ، إِذَا خَشَعَ الطَّرْفُ وَقَصَرَ عَنِ الْحَرَامِ وَانْقَطَعَ الْمَشْيُ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ غَاضَّ الْبَصَرِ وَالنَّفْسِ فَاتَّسَعَ فِي الْحَلَالِ، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ لِلنَّفْسِ اسْتِرَاحَاتٍ إِلَى مَا جَانَسَهَا، هُوَ فُتُورُهَا عَنِ الذِّكْرِ، فَاسْتِرَاحَاتُ نُفُوسِ الْمُتَّقِينَ إِلَى الْمُبَاحِ.

wayuqālu: ʾinna kathrata al-nikāḥi min shiddati ghaḍḍi al-baṣari waqaṭʿi al-mashyi fī al-ʾathari, ʾidhā khashaʿa al-ṭarfu waqaṣara ʿani al-ḥarāmi wa-inqaṭaʿa al-mashyu ʿalā al-ʾarḍi ghāḍḍa al-baṣari wa-al-nafsi fa-ittasaʿa fī al-ḥalāli, wa-dhālika ʾanna li-l-nafsi istirāḥātin ʾilā mā jānasahā, huwa futūruhā ʿani al-dhikri, fa-istirāḥātu nufūsi al-muttaqīna ʾilā al-mubāḥi.

It is said that frequent marriage results from rigorously lowering the gaze and ceasing to follow after others. When the eyes become humble and refrain from the forbidden, and roaming the earth ceases with gaze and soul restrained, one finds greater scope in the lawful. The soul has intervals of rest in what resembles it, when its remembrance slackens; the souls of the God-fearing take their rest in what is permitted.

مِنْ ذَلِكَ قَوْلُهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (لِيَسْكُنَ إِلَيْهَا)، وَهَذَا سُكُونُ النَّفْسِ إِلَى الْجِنْسِ لِمَا تُلَائِمُهُ مِنَ الصِّفَاتِ الْمُجَانِسَةِ، وَهُوَ أَحَدُ الْمَعَانِي فِي قَوْلِ عَلِيٍّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ: رَوِّحُوا الْقُلُوبَ يَعْنِي فِي الذِّكْرِ قِيلَ: رَوِّحُوهَا بِاسْتِرَاحَةِ النَّفْسِ إِلَى الْمُبَاحِ، يَعْنِي ذِكْرَ الْآخِرَةِ لِأَنَّ الذِّكْرَ أَثْقَالٌ.

min dhālika qawluhu ʿazza wajalla: (liyaskuna ʾilayhā), wa-hādhā sukūnu al-nafsi ʾilā al-jinsi limā tulāʾimuhu mina al-ṣifāti al-mujānisati, wahuwa ʾaḥadu al-maʿānī fī qawli ʿaliyyin ʿalayhi al-salāmu: rawwiḥū al-qulūba yaʿnī fī al-dhikri qīla: rawwiḥūhā bi-istirāḥati al-nafsi ʾilā al-mubāḥi, yaʿnī dhikra al-ʾākhirati liʾanna al-dhikra ʾathqālun.

An example is the saying of God, mighty and majestic: “So that he might find repose in her.” This is the soul’s repose in its own kind, through compatible and kindred qualities. It is one meaning of the saying of ʿAlī, peace be upon him: “Give the hearts refreshment,” meaning in remembrance. It was explained: refresh them through the soul’s resting in what is permitted, meaning remembrance of the hereafter, for remembrance imposes burdens.

وَهُوَ بِمَعْنَى قَوْلِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: إِنَّ لِكُلِّ عَالِمٍ شَرَهًا وَفَتْرَةً، فَمَنْ كَانَتْ فَتْرَتُهُ إِلَى سُنَّتِي فَقَدِ اهْتَدَى، وَالشَّرَهُ الْمُكَابَدَةُ وَالْفَتْرَةُ الْوُقُوفُ وَالِاسْتِرَاحَةُ، وَقَدْ كَانَ أَبُو الدَّرْدَاءِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ يَقُولُ: إِنِّي لَأَسْتَجِمُّ نَفْسِي بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ اللَّهْوِ فَأَقْوَى بِذَلِكَ فِيمَا بَعْدُ عَلَى الْحَقِّ.

wahuwa bimaʿnā qawli al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾinna likulli ʿālimin sharahan wafatratan, faman kānat fatratuhu ʾilā sunnatī faqadi ihtadā, wa-al-sharahu al-mukābadatu wa-al-fatratu al-wuqūfu wa-al-istirāḥatu, waqad kāna ʾabū al-dardāʾi raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu yaqūlu: ʾinnī laʾastajimmu nafsī bishayʾin mina al-lahwi faʾaqwā bi-dhālika fīmā baʿdu ʿalā al-ḥaqqi.

It has the same sense as the saying of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Every scholar has eagerness and a period of slackening. Whoever turns toward my sunna in his slackening has been guided.” Eagerness is strenuous effort; slackening is stopping and resting. Abū al-Dardāʾ, may God be pleased with him, used to say: “I refresh myself with a little recreation, and thereby become stronger afterward for the truth.”

وَقَدْ كَانَ النِّسَاءُ قَدِيمًا عَلَى غَيْرِ وَصْفِهِنَّ الْآنَ، كَانَ الرَّجُلُ إِذَا خَرَجَ مِنْ مَنْزِلِهِ تَقُولُ لَهُ امْرَأَتُهُ: يَا هَذَا وَتَقُولُ لَهُ ابْنَتُهُ: يَا أَبَانَا، لَا تَكْسِبِ الْيَوْمَ شَيْئًا مِنْ غَيْرِ حِلِّهِ فَيُدْخِلَكَ النَّارَ، فَنَكُونَ نَحْنُ سَبَبَهُ، فَإِنَّا نَصْبِرُ عَلَى الْجُوعِ وَالضُّرِّ وَلَا نَكُونُ عُقُوبَةً لَكَ.

waqad kāna al-nisāʾu qadīman ʿalā ghayri waṣfihinna al-ʾāna, kāna al-rajulu ʾidhā kharaja min manzilihi taqūlu lahu imraʾatuhu: yā hādhā wataqūlu lahu ibnatuhu: yā ʾabānā, lā taksibi al-yawma shayʾan min ghayri ḥillihi fayudkhilaka al-nāra, fanakūna naḥnu sababahu, faʾinnā naṣbiru ʿalā al-jūʿi wa-al-ḍurri walā nakūnu ʿuqūbatan laka.

Women in earlier times were unlike those of today. When a man left his home, his wife would say, “My husband,” and his daughter, “Our father, do not earn anything unlawfully today and so be brought into the Fire with us as its cause. We can endure hunger and hardship; we do not wish to become a punishment for you.”

وَأَرَادَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ السَّلَفِ أَنْ يَغِيبَ عَنْ أَهْلِهِ فِي غَزْوَةٍ، فَكَرِهَ إِخْوَانُهُ ذَلِكَ لِأُنْسِهِمْ بِهِ فَجَاؤُوا إِلَى أَهْلِهِ فَقَالُوا: لِمَ تَتْرُكِينَ زَوْجَكِ يُسَافِرُ وَلَا يَدَعُ لَكِ نَفَقَةً، وَيَغِيبُ عَنْكِ وَلَا تَدْرِينَ مَتَى يَقْدَمُ؟ فَقَالَتْ: زَوْجِي مُنْذُ عَرَفْتُهُ أَكَّالٌ وَمَا عَرَفْتُهُ قَطُّ رَزَّاقًا، يَذْهَبُ الْأَكَّالُ وَيَبْقَى

waʾarāda rajulun mina al-salafi ʾan yaghība ʿan ʾahlihi fī ghazwatin, fakariha ʾikhwānuhu dhālika liʾunsihim bihi fajāʾū ʾilā ʾahlihi faqālū: lima tatrukīna zawjaki yusāfiru walā yadaʿu laki nafaqatan, wayaghību ʿanki walā tadrīna matā yaqdamu? faqālat: zawjī mundhu ʿaraftuhu ʾakkālun wamā ʿaraftuhu qaṭṭu razzāqan, yadhhabu al-ʾakkālu wayabqā

A man of the early generations wanted to leave his household on a military expedition. His brothers disliked losing his company and went to his wife, asking: “Why let your husband travel without leaving maintenance, when you do not know when he will return?” She answered: “Ever since I have known my husband, he has been an eater. I have never known him to be a provider. The eater goes, while there remains

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤١٠

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 410

Volume Two, page 410

الرَّزَّاقُ، وَمَعَ ذَلِكَ فَلَا أُحِبُّ أَنْ أَكُونَ مَشْؤُومَةً عَلَيْهِ أَقْطَعُهُ عَنْ سَبِيلِ الْخَيْرِ. قَالَ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عِيسَى الْخَرَّازُ لَمَّا تَزَوَّجَ بِامْرَأَةٍ: عَلَى أَيِّ شَيْءٍ تَزَوَّجْتِ بِي وَرَغِبْتِ فِيَّ؟ قَالَتْ: عَلَى أَنْ أَقُومَ بِحَقِّكَ عَلَيَّ وَأُسْقِطَ حَقِّي عَلَيْكَ.

al-razzāqu, wamaʿa dhālika falā ʾuḥibbu ʾan ʾakūna mashʾūmatan ʿalayhi ʾaqṭaʿuhu ʿan sabīli al-khayri. qāla ʾaḥmadu bnu ʿīsā al-kharrāzu lammā tazawwaja bi-imraʾatin: ʿalā ʾayyi shayʾin tazawwajti bī waraghibti fiyya? qālat: ʿalā ʾan ʾaqūma biḥaqqika ʿalayya waʾusqiṭa ḥaqqī ʿalayka.

the Provider. Besides, I do not wish to bring him ill fortune by cutting him off from the path of good.” When Aḥmad ibn ʿĪsā al-Kharrāz married a woman, he asked: “On what basis did you marry me and desire me?” She answered: “To fulfill your rights over me and waive my rights over you.”

وَخَطَبَتْ رَابِعَةُ بِنْتُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ أَحْمَدَ بْنَ أَبِي الْحَوَارِيِّ، فَكَرِهَ ذَلِكَ لِمَا فِيهِ مِنَ الْعِبَادَةِ فَأَلَحَّتْ عَلَيْهِ وَأَكْثَرَتْ فَقَالَ لَهَا: يَا هَذِهِ، مَا لِي هِمَّةٌ فِي النِّسَاءِ لِشُغْلِي بِحَالِي فَقَالَتْ: يَا هَذَا، إِنِّي لَأَشْغَلُ بِحَالِي مِنْ شُغْلِكَ بِحَالِكَ، وَمَا لِي شَهْوَةٌ فِي الرِّجَالِ.

wakhaṭabat rābiʿatu bintu ʾismāʿīla ʾaḥmada bna ʾabī al-ḥawāriyyi, fakariha dhālika limā fīhi mina al-ʿibādati faʾalaḥḥat ʿalayhi waʾaktharat faqāla lahā: yā hādhihi, mā lī himmatun fī al-nisāʾi lishughlī biḥālī faqālat: yā hādhā, ʾinnī laʾashghalu biḥālī min shughlika biḥālika, wamā lī shahwatun fī al-rijāli.

Rābiʿa bint Ismāʿīl proposed marriage to Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Ḥawārī. He disliked the idea because of his absorption in worship, but she pressed him repeatedly. He told her: “Woman, I have no interest in women; I am occupied with my spiritual condition.” She answered: “Man, I am more occupied with my condition than you are with yours, and I have no desire for men.”

وَلَكِنِّي وَرِثْتُ عَنْ زَوْجِي ثَلَاثَمِائَةِ أَلْفِ دِينَارٍ وَهِيَ حَلَالٌ، وَأَرَدْتُ أَنْ أُنْفِقَهَا عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَى إِخْوَانِكَ، وَأَعْرِفَ بِكَ الصَّالِحِينَ فَتَكُونَ طَرِيقًا إِلَى اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فَقَالَ: حَتَّى أَسْتَأْذِنَ أُسْتَاذِي. قَالَ: فَجِئْتُ إِلَى أَبِي سُلَيْمَانَ فَذَكَرْتُ قَوْلَهَا، وَقَدْ كَانَ يَنْهَانِي عَنِ التَّزْوِيجِ وَيَقُولُ: مَا تَزَوَّجَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا إِلَّا تَغَيَّرَ.

wa-lākinnī warithtu ʿan zawjī thalāthamiʾati ʾalfi dīnārin wahiya ḥalālun, waʾaradtu ʾan ʾunfiqahā ʿalayka waʿalā ʾikhwānika, waʾaʿrifa bika al-ṣāliḥīna fatakūna ṭarīqan ʾilā Allāhi ʿazza wajalla faqāla: ḥattā ʾastaʾdhina ʾustādhī. qāla: fajiʾtu ʾilā ʾabī sulaymāna fadhakartu qawlahā, waqad kāna yanhānī ʿani al-tazwīji wayaqūlu: mā tazawwaja min ʾaṣḥābinā ʾillā taghayyara.

“But I inherited three hundred thousand dinars from my husband, lawfully acquired. I wish to spend them on you and your brothers and, through you, become acquainted with righteous people, so that you may be a path to God, mighty and majestic.” He said: “Let me first ask my teacher’s permission.” He related: “I went to Abū Sulaymān and told him what she had said. He had forbidden me to marry, saying: ‘None of our companions married without changing.’”

فَلَمَّا ذَكَرْتُ لَهُ مَا قَالَتْ، أَدْخَلَ رَأْسَهُ فِي جَيْبِهِ وَسَكَتَ سَاعَةً، ثُمَّ رَفَعَ رَأْسَهُ وَقَالَ: يَا أَحْمَدُ، تَزَوَّجْ بِهَا فَإِنَّ هَذِهِ وَلِيَّةٌ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى، وَهَذَا كَلَامُ الصِّدِّيقِينَ. قَالَ: فَتَزَوَّجْتُ بِهَا قَالَ أَحْمَدُ: فَكَانَ فِي مَنْزِلِهَا كُرٌّ مِنْ جِصٍّ.

falammā dhakartu lahu mā qālat, ʾadkhala raʾsahu fī jaybihi wasakata sāʿatan, thumma rafaʿa raʾsahu waqāla: yā ʾaḥmadu, tazawwaj bihā faʾinna hādhihi waliyyatun li-llāhi taʿālā, wa-hādhā kalāmu al-ṣiddīqīna. qāla: fatazawwajtu bihā qāla ʾaḥmadu: fakāna fī manzilihā kurrun min jiṣṣin.

“When I told him her words, he lowered his head into the opening of his garment and remained silent for a while. Then he raised his head and said: ‘Aḥmad, marry her. This woman is a friend of God, exalted is He, and these are the words of the utterly truthful.’” He said: “So I married her.” Aḥmad related: “There was a kurr of gypsum in her house.”

فَلَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْهُ شَيْءٌ فِي غَسْلِ أَيْدِي الْمُسْتَعْجِلِينَ لِلْخُرُوجِ بَعْدَ الْأَكْلِ سِوَى مَنْ كَانَ يَغْسِلُ يَدَهُ بِالْأُشْنَانِ فِي الْبَيْتِ. قَالَ: وَتَزَوَّجْتُ عَلَيْهَا بِثَلَاثِ نِسْوَةٍ، فَكَانَتْ تُطْعِمُنِي مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَتُطَيِّبُنِي وَتَقُولُ: اذْهَبْ بِقُوَّتِكَ وَنَشَاطِكَ إِلَى أَزْوَاجِكَ.

falam yabqa minhu shayʾun fī ghasli ʾaydī al-mustaʿjilīna li-l-khurūji baʿda al-ʾakli siwā man kāna yaghsilu yadahu bi-al-ʾushnāni fī al-bayti. qāla: watazawwajtu ʿalayhā bithalāthi niswatin, fakānat tuṭʿimunī mina al-ṭayyibāti watuṭayyibunī wataqūlu: idhhab biquwwatika wanashāṭika ʾilā ʾazwājika.

“It was entirely used up washing the hands of those who hurried to leave after eating, apart from those who washed with cleansing alkali inside the house.” He said: “I married three other women alongside her. She fed me good things, perfumed me, and said: ‘Go to your wives with your strength and vigor.’”

فَكَانَتْ هَذِهِ مِنْ أَرْبَابِ الْقُلُوبِ، وَكَانَ الصُّوفِيَّةُ يَسْأَلُونَهَا عَنِ الْأَحْوَالِ، وَكَانَ أَحْمَدُ يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْهَا فِي بَعْضِ الْمَسَائِلِ، وَكَانَتْ فَاضِلَةً تُشَبَّهُ فِي أَهْلِ الشَّامِ بِرَابِعَةَ الْعَدَوِيَّةِ فِي أَهْلِ الْبَصْرَةِ، وَقَدْ كَانَ أَبُو سُلَيْمَانَ يَقُولُ فِي التَّزْوِيجِ قَوْلًا عَدْلًا: مَنْ صَبَرَ عَلَى الشِّدَّةِ فَالتَّزْوِيجُ لَهُ أَفْضَلُ.

fakānat hādhihi min ʾarbābi al-qulūbi, wakāna al-ṣūfiyyatu yasʾalūnahā ʿani al-ʾaḥwāli, wakāna ʾaḥmadu yarjiʿu ʾilayhā fī baʿḍi al-masāʾili, wakānat fāḍilatan tushabbahu fī ʾahli al-shāmi birābiʿata al-ʿadawiyyati fī ʾahli al-baṣrati, waqad kāna ʾabū sulaymāna yaqūlu fī al-tazwīji qawlan ʿadlan: man ṣabara ʿalā al-shiddati fa-al-tazwīju lahu ʾafḍalu.

She was one of the masters of the heart. Sufis asked her about spiritual states, and Aḥmad consulted her on certain questions. She was a virtuous woman, compared among the Syrians to Rābiʿa al-ʿAdawiyya among the Basrans. Abū Sulaymān gave a balanced judgment about marriage: “For someone who patiently endures hardship, marriage is better.”

وَالْوَحِيدُ يَجِدُ مِنْ حَلَاوَةِ الْعَمَلِ وَفَرَاغِ الْقَلْبِ مَا لَا يَجِدُ الْمُتَأَهِّلُ، وَقَالَ مَرَّةً: مَا رَأَيْتُ أَحَدًا مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا تَزَوَّجَ وَثَبَتَ عَلَى مَرْتَبَتِهِ الْأُولَى، وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: ثَلَاثٌ مَنْ طَلَبَهُنَّ فَقَدْ رَغِبَ فِي الدُّنْيَا، مَنْ طَلَبَ مَعَاشًا، أَوْ تَزَوَّجَ أَوْ كَتَبَ الْحَدِيثَ.

wa-al-waḥīdu yajidu min ḥalāwati al-ʿamali wafarāghi al-qalbi mā lā yajidu al-mutaʾahhilu, waqāla marratan: mā raʾaytu ʾaḥadan min ʾaṣḥābinā tazawwaja wathabata ʿalā martabatihi al-ʾūlā, warawaynā ʿanhu ʾannahu qāla: thalāthun man ṭalabahunna faqad raghiba fī al-dunyā, man ṭalaba maʿāshan, ʾaw tazawwaja ʾaw kataba al-ḥadītha.

“The solitary person, however, finds a sweetness in practice and a freedom of heart that the married person does not.” Once he said: “I have never seen one of our companions marry and remain at his former rank.” We have related that he said: “Whoever seeks three things has desired the world: seeking a livelihood, marrying, or writing down traditions.”

وَلَعَمْرِي أَنَّ الْمَرْأَةَ تَحْتَاجُ إِلَى فَضْلِ مُدَارَاةٍ وَلَطِيفَةٍ مِنَ الْحِكْمَةِ، وَطَرَفٍ مِنَ الْمُوَاسَاةِ وَبَابٍ مِنَ الْمُلَاطَفَةِ، وَاتِّسَاعِ صَدْرٍ لِلنَّفَقَةِ وَحُسْنِ خُلُقٍ، وَلُطْفِ لَفْظٍ وَهُوَ لَا يُحْسِنُهُ إِلَّا عَالِمٌ حَلِيمٌ، وَلَا يَقُومُ بِهِ إِلَّا عَارِفٌ حَكِيمٌ.

walaʿamrī ʾanna al-marʾata taḥtāju ʾilā faḍli mudārātin walaṭīfatin mina al-ḥikmati, waṭarafin mina al-muwāsāti wabābin mina al-mulāṭafati, wa-ittisāʿi ṣadrin li-l-nafaqati waḥusni khuluqin, waluṭfi lafẓin wahuwa lā yuḥsinuhu ʾillā ʿālimun ḥalīmun, walā yaqūmu bihi ʾillā ʿārifun ḥakīmun.

By my life, a woman requires abundant tact, a subtle measure of wisdom, a share of mutual support, an approach of tenderness, an open heart toward spending, good character, and gentle speech. Only a learned and forbearing man handles this well; only a wise knower can fulfill it.

فَمَنْ لَمْ يَقُمْ بِذَلِكَ وَلَمْ يَهْتَدِ إِلَيْهِ، وَلَمْ يَعْتَدْ لِلنَّفَقَةِ وَلَمْ يَأْلَفِ الْجَمَاعَةَ، وَكَانَ قَدْ أَلِفَ وَحْدَتَهُ وَاعْتَادَ الِانْفِرَادَ بِأَكْلَتِهِ، وَكَانَ ضَيِّقَ الْقَلْبِ بَخِيلَ الْكَفِّ، سَيِّئَ الْخُلُقِ غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ، فَظَّ اللَّفْظِ فَالْوَحْدَةُ لِهَذَا أَصْلَحُ، وَالْبُعْدُ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ لِقَلْبِهِ أَرْوَحُ.

faman lam yaqum bi-dhālika walam yahtadi ʾilayhi, walam yaʿtad li-l-nafaqati walam yaʾlafi al-jamāʿata, wakāna qad ʾalifa waḥdatahu wa-iʿtāda al-infirāda biʾaklatihi, wakāna ḍayyiqa al-qalbi bakhīla al-kaffi, sayyiʾa al-khuluqi ghalīẓa al-qalbi, faẓẓa al-lafẓi fa-al-waḥdatu li-hādhā ʾaṣlaḥu, wa-al-buʿdu mina al-nisāʾi liqalbihi ʾarwaḥu.

For someone who cannot fulfill this or find his way to it, is unprepared for expense and unaccustomed to company, has grown used to solitude and eating alone, and is narrow-hearted, tight-fisted, ill-tempered, hard-hearted, and harsh in speech, solitude is more suitable. Distance from women brings his heart greater ease.

فَمَتَى تَزَوَّجَ مَنْ هَذَا وَصْفُهُ عَذَّبَ وَعُذِّبَ، وَآذَى وَتَأَذَّى، وَأَثِمَ وَآثَمَ بِهِ لِأَنَّ النِّسَاءَ يَحْتَجْنَ إِلَى فَضْلِ حِلْمٍ يَحْمِلُ سَفَهَهُنَّ، وَإِلَى سَعَةِ عِلْمٍ يَغْمُرُ جَهْلَهُنَّ، وَإِلَى حُسْنِ لُطْفٍ وَحِكْمَةٍ يُدَارِي أَخْلَاقَهُنَّ وَيَتَغَافَلُ عَنْ زَلَلِهِنَّ.

famatā tazawwaja man hādhā waṣfuhu ʿadhdhaba waʿudhdhiba, waʾādhā wataʾadhdhā, waʾathima waʾāthama bihi liʾanna al-nisāʾa yaḥtajna ʾilā faḍli ḥilmin yaḥmilu safahahunna, waʾilā saʿati ʿilmin yaghmuru jahlahunna, waʾilā ḥusni luṭfin waḥikmatin yudārī ʾakhlāqahunna wayataghāfalu ʿan zalalihinna.

When such a man marries, he torments and is tormented, hurts and is hurt, sins and causes sin. Women require abundant forbearance to bear their foolishness, broad knowledge to encompass their ignorance, and gracious gentleness and wisdom to accommodate their temperaments and overlook their slips.

فَإِذَا كَانَ الرَّجُلُ جَاهِلًا سَفِيهًا، أَوْ كَانَ سَيِّئَ الْخُلُقِ فَظًّا غَلِيظًا، اجْتَمَعَ الْجَهْلُ فَافْتَرَقَ الْعَقْلُ وَتَقَادَحَ الْجَفَاءُ، وَغِلَظُ الْقَلْبِ وَالْأَذَى فَسَدَ أَكْثَرُ مِمَّا يَصْلُحُ، وَتَنَافَرَا وَلَمْ يَكُنْ بَيْنَهُمَا أَبَدًا صُلْحٌ، وَلَيْسَ هُوَ وَصْفَ الْعُقَلَاءِ.

faʾidhā kāna al-rajulu jāhilan safīhan, ʾaw kāna sayyiʾa al-khuluqi faẓẓan ghalīẓan, ijtamaʿa al-jahlu fa-iftaraqa al-ʿaqlu wataqādaḥa al-jafāʾu, waghilaẓu al-qalbi wa-al-ʾadhā fasada ʾaktharu mimmā yaṣluḥu, watanāfarā walam yakun baynahumā ʾabadan ṣulḥun, walaysa huwa waṣfa al-ʿuqalāʾi.

If the man is ignorant and foolish, or ill-tempered, coarse, and harsh, ignorance joins ignorance and reason departs; estrangement, hardness of heart, and injury strike sparks against one another. More is spoiled than put right. The two recoil from each other and never find reconciliation. This is not the character of sensible people.

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤١١

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 411

Volume Two, page 411

وَأَسْتَحِبُّ لِلرَّجُلِ إِذَا أَرَادَ التَّزْوِيجَ أَنْ يَشْرَحَ حَالَهُ وَيُبَيِّنَ أَخْلَاقَهُ لِلْمَرْأَةِ، حَتَّى تَكُونَ عَلَى بَصِيرَةٍ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ وَيَقِينٍ مِنْ حَالِهِ، وَيَدْخُلَ عَلَى اخْتِيَارٍ مِنْهَا، فَذَلِكَ مِنَ الْوَرَعِ وَقَدْ فَعَلَهُ بَعْضُ السَّلَفِ.

waʾastaḥibbu li-l-rajuli ʾidhā ʾarāda al-tazwīja ʾan yashraḥa ḥālahu wayubayyina ʾakhlāqahu li-l-marʾati, ḥattā takūna ʿalā baṣīratin min ʾamrihi wayaqīnin min ḥālihi, wayadkhula ʿalā ikhtiyārin minhā, fa-dhālika mina al-waraʿi waqad faʿalahu baʿḍu al-salafi.

I recommend that a man intending marriage explain his circumstances and character to the woman, so that she understands his affairs and knows his condition clearly, and he enters marriage by her informed choice. This belongs to scrupulousness, and some of the early Muslims practiced it.

وَقَدْ تَزَوَّجَ رَجُلٌ عَلَى عَهْدِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ، وَكَانَ يَخْضِبُ بِالسَّوَادِ فَلَمَّا دَخَلَ بِامْرَأَتِهِ نَصَلَ خِضَابُهُ فَظَهَرَتْ شَيْبَتُهُ، فَاسْتَعْدَى أَهْلُ الْمَرْأَةِ وَقَالُوا: نَحْنُ حَسِبْنَاهُ شَابًّا فَأَوْجَعَهُ ضَرْبًا وَقَالَ: غَرَرْتَ الْقَوْمَ وَفَرَّقَ بَيْنَهُمَا.

waqad tazawwaja rajulun ʿalā ʿahdi ʿumara raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu, wakāna yakhḍibu bi-al-sawādi falammā dakhala bi-imraʾatihi naṣala khiḍābuhu faẓaharat shaybatuhu, fa-istaʿdā ʾahlu al-marʾati waqālū: naḥnu ḥasibnāhu shābban faʾawjaʿahu ḍarban waqāla: ghararta al-qawma wafarraqa baynahumā.

A man married during the time of ʿUmar, may God be pleased with him, having dyed his hair black. After he entered upon his wife, the dye faded and his gray hair appeared. Her family sought redress, saying: “We thought he was young.” ʿUmar gave him a painful beating, said, “You deceived these people,” and separated the couple.

وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ شُعَيْبِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ، لَمَّا أَرَادَ أَنْ يَتَزَوَّجَ قَالَ لِلْمَرْأَةِ: إِنِّي سَيِّئُ الْخُلُقِ فَقَالَتْ: يَا هَذَا، أَسْوَأُ خُلُقًا مِنْكَ مَنْ يُحْوِجُكَ إِلَى سُوءِ الْخُلُقِ. وَرُوِيَ ضِدُّ هَذَا أَنَّ رَجُلًا أَرَادَ أَنْ يَتَزَوَّجَ فَقَالَ لِلْمَرْأَةِ: إِنَّ لِي أَخْلَاقًا أُوقِفُكِ عَلَيْهَا فَإِنْ رَضِيتِ بِهَا تَزَوَّجْتُكِ فَقَالَتْ: افْعَلْ.

warawaynā ʿan shuʿaybi bni ḥarbin, lammā ʾarāda ʾan yatazawwaja qāla li-l-marʾati: ʾinnī sayyiʾu al-khuluqi faqālat: yā hādhā, ʾaswaʾu khuluqan minka man yuḥwijuka ʾilā sūʾi al-khuluqi. waruwiya ḍiddu hādhā ʾanna rajulan ʾarāda ʾan yatazawwaja faqāla li-l-marʾati: ʾinna lī ʾakhlāqan ʾūqifuki ʿalayhā faʾin raḍīti bihā tazawwajtuki faqālat: ifʿal.

We have related that when Shuʿayb ibn Ḥarb wished to marry, he told the woman: “I have a bad temper.” She replied: “A person who drives you to bad temper has a worse temper than yours.” The opposite is related of a man who wished to marry and told the woman: “I have traits I will explain to you. If you accept them, I will marry you.” She said: “Go ahead.”

فَقَالَ: أَنَا رَجُلٌ مَلُولٌ حَقُودٌ، سَيِّئُ الظَّنِّ غَيُورٌ، ضَيِّقُ الصَّدْرِ وَاسِعُ الضَّرْبِ، إِنْ كَثُرْتِ عِنْدِي مَلِلْتُ، وَإِنْ أَبْعَدْتِ قَلِقْتُ، وَإِنْ تَكَلَّمْتِ أَوْغَرْتِ صَدْرِي، وَإِنْ سَكَتِّ أَشْغَلْتِ قَلْبِي.

faqāla: ʾanā rajulun malūlun ḥaqūdun, sayyiʾu al-ẓanni ghayūrun, ḍayyiqu al-ṣadri wāsiʿu al-ḍarbi, ʾin kathurti ʿindī maliltu, waʾin ʾabʿadti qaliqtu, waʾin takallamti ʾawgharti ṣadrī, waʾin sakatti ʾashghalti qalbī.

He said: “I am easily bored and bear grudges, suspicious and jealous, narrow-hearted and free with blows. If you spend much time with me, I grow bored; if you stay away, I become anxious. If you speak, you inflame my breast; if you remain silent, you preoccupy my heart.”

فَقَالَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ: أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَقَدْ ذَكَرْتَ مِنْ نَفْسِكَ أَخْلَاقًا مَا كُنَّا نَرْضَاهَا لِبَنَاتِ إِبْلِيسَ فَكَيْفَ نَرْضَاهَا لِبَنَاتِ آدَمَ، انْصَرِفْ رَاشِدًا لَا حَاجَةَ لَنَا بِكَ، وَمَنْ خَشِيَ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ الْآفَاتِ وَوُفِّقَ لَهُ امْرَأَةٌ فِيهَا بَعْضُ الْخِصَالِ الْمَحْمُودَةِ، فَالتَّزْوِيجُ لَهُ أَفْضَلُ.

faqālati al-marʾatu: ʾammā baʿdu faqad dhakarta min nafsika ʾakhlāqan mā kunnā narḍāhā libanāti ʾiblīsa fakayfa narḍāhā libanāti ʾādama, inṣarif rāshidan lā ḥājata lanā bika, waman khashiya ʿalā nafsihi al-ʾāfāti wawuffiqa lahu imraʾatun fīhā baʿḍu al-khiṣāli al-maḥmūdati, fa-al-tazwīju lahu ʾafḍalu.

The woman answered: “You have described traits in yourself that we would not accept for the daughters of Iblīs; how could we accept them for the daughters of Adam? Go on your way; we have no need of you.” For someone who fears harm to himself and is granted a woman with some praiseworthy qualities, marriage is better.

فَلْيَكُنْ لَهُ حِينَئِذٍ فِي التَّزْوِيجِ نِيَّاتٌ، لِأَنَّهُ مِنْ أَكْبَرِ الْأَعْمَالِ وَلَا يَكُونُ نِكَاحُهُ لِأَجْلِ هَوَاهُ مُجَرَّدًا فَقَدْ قَالَ عُمَرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ: إِذَا وَافَقَ الْحَقُّ الْهَوَى فَذَلِكَ الزُّبْدُ بِالْبَرْسِيَانِ، فَلْتَكُنْ نِيَّتُهُ إِقَامَةَ سُنَّةٍ وَصَلَاحَ قَلْبٍ، وَسَلَامَةَ دِينِهِ وَغَضَّ بَصَرِهِ، وَتَحْصِينَ فَرْجِهِ فَقَدْ أُمِرَ بِذَلِكَ.

falyakun lahu ḥīnaʾidhin fī al-tazwīji niyyātun, liʾannahu min ʾakbari al-ʾaʿmāli walā yakūnu nikāḥuhu liʾajli hawāhu mujarradan faqad qāla ʿumaru bnu ʿabdi al-ʿazīzi raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu: ʾidhā wāfaqa al-ḥaqqu al-hawā fa-dhālika al-zubdu bi-al-barsiyāni, faltakun niyyatuhu ʾiqāmata sunnatin waṣalāḥa qalbin, wasalāmata dīnihi waghaḍḍa baṣarihi, wataḥṣīna farjihi faqad ʾumira bi-dhālika.

Let him then bring several intentions to marriage, for it is among the greatest acts; he should not marry merely for desire. ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, may God be pleased with him, said: “When truth accords with desire, that is butter with barsiyān dates.” Let his intention be to establish a sunna, set his heart right, preserve his religion, lower his gaze, and guard his chastity, as he has been commanded.

وَيَحْتَسِبُ فِي الْكَسْبِ عَلَى الْعِيَالِ التَّوْبَةَ مِنَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، وَيَحْتَسِبُ مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ فِي نُصْحِهِ لَهَا فِي أَمْرِ الْآخِرَةِ كَمَا يُحِبُّهُ لِنَفْسِهِ، حَتَّى يُؤْجَرَ بِسَبَبِهَا مِثْلَ مَا يُثَابُ لِنَفْسِهِ، فَهُوَ مِنَ النَّصِيحَةِ لَهَا وَالْإِشْفَاقِ عَلَيْهَا، وَلْيَجْعَلْ ذَلِكَ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ سُبْحَانَهُ.

wayaḥtasibu fī al-kasbi ʿalā al-ʿiyāli al-tawbata mina Allāhi ʿazza wajalla, wayaḥtasibu mithla dhālika fī nuṣḥihi lahā fī ʾamri al-ʾākhirati kamā yuḥibbuhu linafsihi, ḥattā yuʾjara bisababihā mithla mā yuthābu linafsihi, fahuwa mina al-naṣīḥati lahā wa-al-ʾishfāqi ʿalayhā, walyajʿal dhālika liwajhi Allāhi subḥānahu.

Through earning for his dependants, let him seek acceptance of repentance from God, mighty and majestic. Let him seek the same through advising his wife about the hereafter as he wishes for himself, so that he is rewarded on her account as he is for himself. This is sincere counsel and compassion toward her; let him do it for the sake of God, glorified is He.

فَقَدْ رُوِيَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَا أَنْفَقَ الرَّجُلُ عَلَى أَهْلِهِ فَهُوَ لَهُ صَدَقَةٌ، وَإِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيُؤْجَرُ فِي رَفْعِ اللُّقْمَةِ إِلَى فِي امْرَأَتِهِ، وَمِنْهَا أَنَّهُ كَالْمُجَاهِدِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ.

faqad ruwiya ʿani al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: mā ʾanfaqa al-rajulu ʿalā ʾahlihi fahuwa lahu ṣadaqatun, waʾinna al-rajula layuʾjaru fī rafʿi al-luqmati ʾilā fī imraʾatihi, waminhā ʾannahu ka-al-mujāhidi fī sabīli Allāhi.

It is related from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Whatever a man spends on his family is charity credited to him. A man is rewarded even for raising a morsel to his wife’s mouth.” Another benefit is that he is like one who strives in God’s path.

وَقَالَ رَجُلٌ لِبَعْضِ الْعُلَمَاءِ وَهُوَ يُعَدِّدُ نِعَمَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَلَيْهِ: مِنْ كُلِّ عَمَلٍ قَدْ أَعْطَانِي اللَّهُ تَعَالَى نَصِيبًا، حَتَّى ذَكَرَ الْحَجَّ وَالْجِهَادَ وَصُنُوفَ الْعِبَادَاتِ فَقَالَ لَهُ الْعَالِمُ: فَأَيْنَ أَنْتَ مِنْ عَمَلِ الْأَبْدَالِ؟ قَالَ: وَمَا هُوَ؟ قَالَ: كَسْبُ الْحَلَالِ وَالنَّفَقَةُ عَلَى الْعِيَالِ.

waqāla rajulun libaʿḍi al-ʿulamāʾi wahuwa yuʿaddidu niʿama Allāhi ʿazza wajalla ʿalayhi: min kulli ʿamalin qad ʾaʿṭānī Allāhu taʿālā naṣīban, ḥattā dhakara al-ḥajja wa-al-jihāda waṣunūfa al-ʿibādāti faqāla lahu al-ʿālimu: faʾayna ʾanta min ʿamali al-ʾabdāli? qāla: wamā huwa? qāla: kasbu al-ḥalāli wa-al-nafaqatu ʿalā al-ʿiyāli.

A man, listing the blessings of God, mighty and majestic, upon him, told a scholar: “God, exalted is He, has given me a share in every kind of deed.” He mentioned pilgrimage, striving in battle, and the various forms of worship. The scholar asked: “Where do you stand with the work of the substitutes?” He asked: “What is that?” He answered: “Lawful earning and spending on dependants.”

وَقَالَ ابْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ لِإِخْوَانِهِ وَهُمْ فِي الْجِهَادِ: تَعْلَمُونَ عَمَلًا أَفْضَلَ مِمَّا نَحْنُ فِيهِ؟ قَالُوا: مَا نَعْلَمُ، ذَاكَ جِهَادٌ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَقِتَالٌ لِأَعْدَائِهِ، أَيُّ شَيْءٍ أَفْضَلُ مِنْهُ؟ قَالَ: لَكِنِّي أَعْلَمُ قَالُوا: مَا هُوَ؟

waqāla ibnu al-mubāraki liʾikhwānihi wahum fī al-jihādi: taʿlamūna ʿamalan ʾafḍala mimmā naḥnu fīhi? qālū: mā naʿlamu, dhāka jihādun fī sabīli Allāhi waqitālun liʾaʿdāʾihi, ʾayyu shayʾin ʾafḍalu minhu? qāla: lākinnī ʾaʿlamu qālū: mā huwa?

While on campaign, Ibn al-Mubārak asked his brothers: “Do you know of a deed better than what we are doing?” They answered: “We know of none. This is striving in God’s path and fighting His enemies; what could be better?” He said: “But I know one.” They asked: “What is it?”

قَالَ: رَجُلٌ مُتَعَفِّفٌ ذُو عَيْلَةٍ، قَامَ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَنَظَرَ إِلَى صِبْيَانِهِ نِيَامًا مُتَكَشِّفِينَ فَسَتَرَهُمْ وَغَطَّاهُمْ بِثَوْبِهِ، فَعَمَلُهُ هَذَا أَفْضَلُ مِنْ جِهَادِنَا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَقَالَ رَجُلٌ لِبِشْرٍ: قَدْ أَضَرَّنِي الْفَقْرُ وَالْعِيَالُ فَادْعُ اللَّهَ لِي.

qāla: rajulun mutaʿaffifun dhū ʿaylatin, qāma mina al-layli fanaẓara ʾilā ṣibyānihi niyāman mutakashshifīna fasatarahum waghaṭṭāhum bithawbihi, faʿamaluhu hādhā ʾafḍalu min jihādinā fī sabīli Allāhi ʿazza wajalla waqāla rajulun libishrin: qad ʾaḍarranī al-faqru wa-al-ʿiyālu fa-udʿu Allāha lī.

He said: “A self-restrained man with dependants rises at night, sees his children sleeping uncovered, and covers them with his garment. This deed of his is better than our striving in the path of God, mighty and majestic.” A man told Bishr: “Poverty and dependants have worn me down; pray to God for me.”

فَقَالَ لَهُ بِشْرٌ: إِذَا قَالَ لَكَ عِيَالُكَ: لَيْسَ عِنْدَنَا خُبْزٌ وَلَا دَقِيقٌ وَنَحْنُ جِيَاعٌ فَادْعُ اللَّهَ لِي أَنْتَ ذَلِكَ الْوَقْتَ، فَإِنَّ دُعَاءَكَ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ دُعَائِي.

faqāla lahu bishrun: ʾidhā qāla laka ʿiyāluka: laysa ʿindanā khubzun walā daqīqun wanaḥnu jiyāʿun fa-udʿu Allāha lī ʾanta dhālika al-waqta, faʾinna duʿāʾaka ʾafḍalu min duʿāʾī.

Bishr answered: “When your dependants tell you, ‘We have neither bread nor flour, and we are hungry,’ you pray to God for me at that moment, for your prayer is better than mine.”

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤١٢

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 412

Volume Two, page 412

وَقَدْ رُوِيَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَنْ حَسُنَتْ صَلَاتُهُ وَكَثُرَ عِيَالُهُ، وَقَلَّ مَالُهُ وَلَمْ يَغْتَبِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ، فَهُوَ مَعِي فِي الْجَنَّةِ كَهَاتَيْنِ. وَفِي حَدِيثٍ آخَرَ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى يُحِبُّ الْفَقِيرَ الْمُتَعَفِّفَ، أَبَا الْعِيَالِ.

waqad ruwiya ʿani al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: man ḥasunat ṣalātuhu wakathura ʿiyāluhu, waqalla māluhu walam yaghtabi al-muslimīna, fahuwa maʿī fī al-jannati kahātayni. wafī ḥadīthin ʾākhara: ʾinna Allāha taʿālā yuḥibbu al-faqīra al-mutaʿaffifa, ʾabā al-ʿiyāli.

It is related from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Whoever prays well, has many dependants and little wealth, and does not backbite Muslims will be with me in the Garden like these two.” Another tradition says: “God, exalted is He, loves the poor, self-restrained father of dependants.”

وَمِنَ النِّيَّةِ فِي ذَلِكَ أَنَّ الِاهْتِمَامَ بِمَصْلَحَتِهِمْ، وَالْغَمَّ عَلَى نَوَائِبِهِمْ زِيَادَةٌ فِي حَسَنَاتِهِمْ، لِأَنَّهُ عَمَلٌ مِنْ أَعْمَالِهِ، وَفِي الْخَبَرِ: إِذَا كَثُرَتْ ذُنُوبُ الْعَبْدِ ابْتَلَاهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بِالْهَمِّ لِيُكَفِّرَهَا، وَقَالَ بَعْضُ السَّلَفِ: مِنَ الذُّنُوبِ ذُنُوبٌ لَا يُكَفِّرُهَا إِلَّا الْغَمُّ بِالْعِيَالِ.

wamina al-niyyati fī dhālika ʾanna al-ihtimāma bimaṣlaḥatihim, wa-al-ghamma ʿalā nawāʾibihim ziyādatun fī ḥasanātihim, liʾannahu ʿamalun min ʾaʿmālihi, wafī al-khabari: ʾidhā kathurat dhunūbu al-ʿabdi ibtalāhu Allāhu taʿālā bi-al-hammi liyukaffirahā, waqāla baʿḍu al-salafi: mina al-dhunūbi dhunūbun lā yukaffiruhā ʾillā al-ghammu bi-al-ʿiyāli.

Another intention is that concern for their welfare and grief over their troubles increase their good deeds, for this is one of his acts. A report says: “When a servant’s sins become numerous, God, exalted is He, afflicts him with worry to expiate them.” One of the early Muslims said: “Some sins are expiated only by anxiety over dependants.”

وَقَدْ رَوَيْنَا: أَنَّ مِنَ الذُّنُوبِ ذُنُوبًا لَا يُكَفِّرُهَا إِلَّا الْهَمُّ بِطَلَبِ الْمَعَاشِ، وَلَهُ فِي الصَّبْرِ عَلَيْهِنَّ وَجَمِيلِ الِاحْتِمَالِ لِأَذَاهُنَّ، وَفِي حُسْنِ الْعِشْرَةِ لَهُنَّ مَثُوبَاتٌ وَأَعْمَالُ الصَّالِحَاتِ، وَرُبَّمَا كَانَ مَوْتُ الْعِيَالِ عُقُوبَةً لِلْعَبْدِ وَنُقْصَانَ حَظٍّ.

waqad rawaynā: ʾanna mina al-dhunūbi dhunūban lā yukaffiruhā ʾillā al-hammu biṭalabi al-maʿāshi, walahu fī al-ṣabri ʿalayhinna wajamīli al-iḥtimāli liʾadhāhunna, wafī ḥusni al-ʿishrati lahunna mathūbātun waʾaʿmālu al-ṣāliḥāti, warubbamā kāna mawtu al-ʿiyāli ʿuqūbatan li-l-ʿabdi wanuqṣāna ḥaẓẓin.

We have related that some sins are expiated only by worry over seeking a livelihood. A man gains rewards and righteous deeds through patience with his wives, graciously bearing their hurts, and treating them well. Sometimes the death of dependants is a punishment for the servant and a diminishment of his allotted good.

إِذَا كَانَ الصَّبْرُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَالْإِنْفَاقُ مَقَامًا لَهُ كَانَ عَدَمُ ذَلِكَ مُفَارَقَةً لِحَالِهِ نَقَصَ بِهِ، وَحَدَّثَنَا بَعْضُ الْعُلَمَاءِ: أَنَّ بَعْضَ الْمُتَعَبِّدِينَ كَانَ لَهُ زَوْجَةٌ، وَكَانَ حَسَنَ الْقِيَامِ عَلَيْهَا إِلَى أَنْ تُوُفِّيَتْ، فَعَرَضَ عَلَيْهِ إِخْوَانُهُ التَّزْوِيجَ فَامْتَنَعَ وَقَالَ: إِنَّ الْوَحْدَةَ أَرْوَحُ لِقَلْبِي وَأَجْمَعُ لِهَمِّي.

ʾidhā kāna al-ṣabru ʿalayhim wa-al-ʾinfāqu maqāman lahu kāna ʿadamu dhālika mufāraqatan liḥālihi naqaṣa bihi, waḥaddathanā baʿḍu al-ʿulamāʾi: ʾanna baʿḍa al-mutaʿabbidīna kāna lahu zawjatun, wakāna ḥasana al-qiyāmi ʿalayhā ʾilā ʾan tuwuffiyat, faʿaraḍa ʿalayhi ʾikhwānuhu al-tazwīja fa-imtanaʿa waqāla: ʾinna al-waḥdata ʾarwaḥu liqalbī waʾajmaʿu lihammī.

If patiently bearing them and providing for them constituted his spiritual station, losing this means departing from his condition and being diminished by it. A scholar told us that a devout man had a wife whom he cared for well until she died. His brothers offered to arrange another marriage, but he refused, saying: “Solitude gives my heart more rest and gathers my concentration.”

قَالَ: فَرَأَيْتُ فِي الْمَنَامِ بَعْدَ جُمْعَةٍ مِنْ وَفَاتِهَا، كَأَنَّ أَبْوَابَ السَّمَاءِ قَدْ فُتِحَتْ، وَكَأَنَّ رِجَالًا يَنْزِلُونَ وَيَسِيرُونَ فِي الْهَوَاءِ يَتْبَعُ بَعْضُهُمْ بَعْضًا، وَكُلَّمَا نَزَلَ وَاحِدٌ نَظَرَ إِلَيَّ فَقَالَ لِمَنْ وَرَاءَهُ هَذَا هُوَ الْمَشْؤُومُ فَيَقُولُ: نَعَمْ وَيَقُولُ الثَّالِثُ لِمَنْ وَرَاءَهُ هَذَا هُوَ الْمَشْؤُومُ فَيَقُولُ الرَّابِعُ: نَعَمْ.

qāla: faraʾaytu fī al-manāmi baʿda jumʿatin min wafātihā, kaʾanna ʾabwāba al-samāʾi qad futiḥat, wakaʾanna rijālan yanzilūna wayasīrūna fī al-hawāʾi yatbaʿu baʿḍuhum baʿḍan, wakullamā nazala wāḥidun naẓara ʾilayya faqāla liman warāʾahu hādhā huwa al-mashʾūmu fayaqūlu: naʿam wayaqūlu al-thālithu liman warāʾahu hādhā huwa al-mashʾūmu fayaqūlu al-rābiʿu: naʿam.

He said: “A week after her death, I dreamed that heaven’s gates opened and men descended, traveling through the air one after another. Each, on descending, looked at me and said to the one behind him: ‘This is the ill-fated man.’ He answered: ‘Yes.’ The third said to the one behind him: ‘This is the ill-fated man,’ and the fourth answered: ‘Yes.’”

قَالَ: فَرَاعَنِي ذَلِكَ وَعَظُمَ عَلَيَّ، وَهِبْتُهُمْ أَنْ أَسْأَلَهُمْ إِلَى أَنْ مَرَّ بِي آخِرُهُمْ وَكَانَ غُلَامًا فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: يَا هَذَا، مَنِ الْمَشْؤُومُ الَّذِي تُومِئُونَ إِلَيْهِ؟ قَالَ: أَنْتَ قُلْتُ: وَلِمَ ذَلِكَ؟ قَالَ: كُنَّا نَرْفَعُ أَعْمَالَكَ فِي أَعْمَالِ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى.

qāla: farāʿanī dhālika waʿaẓuma ʿalayya, wahibtuhum ʾan ʾasʾalahum ʾilā ʾan marra bī ʾākhiruhum wakāna ghulāman faqultu lahu: yā hādhā, mani al-mashʾūmu alladhī tūmiʾūna ʾilayhi? qāla: ʾanta qultu: walima dhālika? qāla: kunnā narfaʿu ʾaʿmālaka fī ʾaʿmāli al-mujāhidīna fī sabīli Allāhi taʿālā.

“This frightened and distressed me, but I was too awed to question them until the last passed by, a young man. I asked: ‘Who is this ill-fated man to whom you point?’ He answered: ‘You.’ I asked: ‘Why?’ He said: ‘We used to raise your deeds among those of the people striving in the path of God, exalted is He.’”

فَمُنْذُ جُمْعَةٍ أُمِرْنَا أَنْ نَضَعَهَا فِي أَعْمَالِ الْمُخَالِفِينَ، فَمَا أَدْرِي مَاذَا أَحْدَثْتَ فَقَالَ لِإِخْوَانِهِ: زَوِّجُونِي، زَوِّجُونِي فَلَمْ يَكُنْ يُفَارِقُهُ زَوْجَةٌ أَوْ زَوْجَتَانِ أَوْ ثَلَاثٌ، وَرُبَّمَا كَانَتِ النَّفْسُ الْأَمَّارَةُ أَضَرَّ عَلَى الْعَبْدِ مِنْ أَرْبَعِ نِسْوَةٍ.

famundhu jumʿatin ʾumirnā ʾan naḍaʿahā fī ʾaʿmāli al-mukhālifīna, famā ʾadrī mādhā ʾaḥdathta faqāla liʾikhwānihi: zawwijūnī, zawwijūnī falam yakun yufāriquhu zawjatun ʾaw zawjatāni ʾaw thalāthun, warubbamā kānati al-nafsu al-ʾammāratu ʾaḍarra ʿalā al-ʿabdi min ʾarbaʿi niswatin.

“‘But for a week we have been ordered to place them among the deeds of those who act contrary to obedience. I do not know what you have done.’” He told his brothers: “Find me a wife, find me a wife!” Thereafter he was never without one, two, or three wives. The commanding soul may be more harmful to the servant than four women.

وَإِنَّمَا كَرِهَ مَنْ كَرِهَ الْأَهْلَ وَالْوَلَدَ لِأَجْلِ الشُّغْلِ بِهِمْ عَنِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهِ، فَإِذَا كَانَ مَنْ لَا أَهْلَ لَهُ وَلَا وَلَدَ مَشْغُولًا بِبَطَالَتِهِ عَنِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، مُنْهَمِكًا فِي شَهَوَاتِهِ عَنْ سَبِيلِ هَؤُلَاءِ، كَانَ أَسْوَأَ حَالًا مِنْ ذِي الْأَهْلِ وَالْوَلَدِ وَقَدْ جُعِلَ مَنْ لَا يَطْلُبُ الْأَهْلَ وَالْمَالَ لِلْكَفَافِ بِهِ وَالْإِفْضَالِ فِي الْمَنْزِلِ الْمَكْرُوهِ.

waʾinnamā kariha man kariha al-ʾahla wa-al-walada liʾajli al-shughli bihim ʿani Allāhi taʿālā wamā qarraba ʾilayhi, faʾidhā kāna man lā ʾahla lahu walā walada mashghūlan bibaṭālatihi ʿani Allāhi ʿazza wajalla, munhamikan fī shahawātihi ʿan sabīli hāʾulāʾi, kāna ʾaswaʾa ḥālan min dhī al-ʾahli wa-al-waladi waqad juʿila man lā yaṭlubu al-ʾahla wa-al-māla li-l-kafāfi bihi wa-al-ʾifḍāli fī al-manzili al-makrūhi.

Those who disliked having a wife and children did so only because they distract from God, exalted is He, and from what brings one near Him. If someone without wife or child is distracted from God, mighty and majestic, by idleness, and engrossed in desires instead of following these people’s path, his condition is worse than that of a family man. One who does not seek family and wealth for sufficiency and generosity has been assigned a disapproved position.

وَقَدْ رُوِيَ فِي الْخَبَرِ: أَنَّ مِنْ أَهْلِ النَّارِ الضَّعِيفَ الَّذِي لَا دِينَ لَهُ، هُوَ فِيكُمْ تَبَعٌ، لَا يَبْغُونَ أَهْلًا وَلَا مَالًا، قِيلَ: هُمُ السُّؤَّالُ الْمَنْهُومُونَ فِي الْمَسْأَلَةِ، الَّذِي هَمُّهُ بَطْنُهُ لَا يُبَالِي كَيْفَ طَلَبَ وَلَا عَلَى أَيِّ حَالٍ مِنَ الْفُحْشِ تَقَلَّبَ.

waqad ruwiya fī al-khabari: ʾanna min ʾahli al-nāri al-ḍaʿīfa alladhī lā dīna lahu, huwa fīkum tabaʿun, lā yabghūna ʾahlan walā mālan, qīla: humu al-suʾʾālu al-manhūmūna fī al-masʾalati, alladhī hammuhu baṭnuhu lā yubālī kayfa ṭalaba walā ʿalā ʾayyi ḥālin mina al-fuḥshi taqallaba.

A report says that among the people of the Fire is the weak man with no religion, who lives among you as a dependent follower; they seek neither family nor wealth. This is explained as the beggars insatiable in asking, whose only concern is the belly, caring neither how they seek provision nor what shameful condition they move through.

فَمَنْ لَمْ يَشْغَلْهُ أَهْلُهُ وَمَالُهُ عَنِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ كَانَ أَفْضَلَ مِمَّنْ لَا أَهْلَ لَهُ وَلَا وَلَدَ، فَهُوَ عَبْدُ بَطْنِهِ وَفَرْجِهِ، أَسِيرُ هَوَاهُ وَشَهْوَتِهِ، وَقَدْ أَخْبَرَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى أَنَّ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَمْوَالًا وَأَوْلَادًا، ثُمَّ أَمَرَهُمْ أَنْ لَا يَشْغَلَهُمْ ذَلِكَ عَنِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ.

faman lam yashghalhu ʾahluhu wamāluhu ʿani Allāhi ʿazza wajalla kāna ʾafḍala mimman lā ʾahla lahu walā walada, fahuwa ʿabdu baṭnihi wafarjihi, ʾasīru hawāhu washahwatihi, waqad ʾakhbara Allāhu taʿālā ʾanna li-l-muʾminīna ʾamwālan waʾawlādan, thumma ʾamarahum ʾan lā yashghalahum dhālika ʿani Allāhi ʿazza wajalla.

Someone whose family and wealth do not distract him from God, mighty and majestic, is therefore better than an unmarried, childless man who is a slave to his belly and sexual organs, a captive of his whims and desire. God, exalted is He, has stated that believers have wealth and children, then commanded that these should not distract them from God, mighty and majestic.

وَقَدْ وَصَفَ أَقْوَامًا بِأَنَّ بَيْعَهُمْ وَتِجَارَتَهُمْ لَا تَشْغَلُهُمْ عَنْ عِبَادَتِهِ، وَأَنَّهُمْ أَهْلُ خَوْفٍ مِنْ يَوْمٍ تَنْقَلِبُ فِيهِ الْقُلُوبُ وَالْأَبْصَارُ، وَقَدْ مَدَحَ قَوْمًا فَسَأَلُوهُ الْأَزْوَاجَ وَالذُّرِّيَّةَ.

waqad waṣafa ʾaqwāman biʾanna bayʿahum watijāratahum lā tashghaluhum ʿan ʿibādatihi, waʾannahum ʾahlu khawfin min yawmin tanqalibu fīhi al-qulūbu wa-al-ʾabṣāru, waqad madaḥa qawman fasaʾalūhu al-ʾazwāja wa-al-dhurriyyata.

He described people whose selling and trade do not distract them from worshipping Him and who fear a day when hearts and eyes will turn about. He also praised people who asked Him for spouses and offspring.

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤١٣

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 413

Volume Two, page 413

وَجَعَلَ ذَلِكَ فِي وَصْفِهِمْ فِي قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّاتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ)، وَقُرَّةُ أَعْيُنٍ لَا يَشْغَلُ وَلَا يَحْجُبُ عَنْ قُرَّةِ الْعَيْنِ بَلْ يَكْشِفُ عَنْهُ وَيُقَرِّبُ مِنْهُ، كَمَا قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: حُبِّبَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ دُنْيَاكُمْ ثَلَاثٌ، الطِّيبُ، وَالنِّسَاءُ، وَجُعِلَ قُرَّةُ عَيْنِي فِي الصَّلَاةِ.

wajaʿala dhālika fī waṣfihim fī qawlihi ʿazza wajalla: (yaqūlūna rabbanā hab lanā min ʾazwājinā wadhurriyyātinā qurrata ʾaʿyunin), waqurratu ʾaʿyunin lā yashghalu walā yaḥjubu ʿan qurrati al-ʿayni bal yakshifu ʿanhu wayuqarribu minhu, kamā qāla al-nabiyyu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ḥubbiba ʾilayya min dunyākum thalāthun, al-ṭību, wa-al-nisāʾu, wajuʿila qurratu ʿaynī fī al-ṣalāti.

He included this in their description, saying, mighty and majestic: “They say: ‘Our Lord, grant us in our spouses and offspring a delight to our eyes.’” Such delight neither distracts nor veils one from the true delight of the eyes; it reveals it and brings one closer. The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Three things of your world have been made dear to me: perfume, women, and the delight of my eyes has been placed in prayer.”

وَقَدْ كَانَ أَبُو سُلَيْمَانَ يَقُولُ: إِنَّمَا تَرَكُوا التَّزْوِيجَ لِتَتَفَرَّغَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِهِ، وَرَوَيْنَا عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي الْحَوَارِيِّ الْحَدِيثَ الَّذِي رَوَاهُ عَنْ حُبَيْشٍ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ: إِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِعَبْدٍ خَيْرًا لَمْ يَشْغَلْهُ بِأَهْلٍ وَلَا مَالٍ.

waqad kāna ʾabū sulaymāna yaqūlu: ʾinnamā tarakū al-tazwīja litatafarragha qulūbuhum lidhikrihi, warawaynā ʿani ibni ʾabī al-ḥawāriyyi al-ḥadītha alladhī rawāhu ʿan ḥubayshin ʿani al-ḥasani: ʾidhā ʾarāda Allāhu biʿabdin khayran lam yashghalhu biʾahlin walā mālin.

Abū Sulaymān used to say: “They abandoned marriage only so that their hearts might be free for His remembrance.” We have related from Ibn Abī al-Ḥawārī the tradition he transmitted from Ḥubaysh, from al-Ḥasan: “When God wishes good for a servant, He does not distract him with family or wealth.”

قَالَ أَحْمَدُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ: فَنَاظَرْنَا فِي الْحَدِيثِ جَمَاعَةً مِنَ الْعُلَمَاءِ، وَإِذَا لَيْسَ مَعْنَاهُ أَنَّهُ لَا يَكُونُ لَهُ امْرَأَةٌ وَلَا وَلَدٌ وَلَكِنْ يَكُونُونَ لَهُ وَلَا يَشْغَلُونَهُ، وَإِنَّمَا يَحْسُنُ تَرْكُ النِّكَاحِ لِمَشْغُولِ الْهَمِّ عَنِ الْفِكْرِ فِيهِ ذِي نَفْسٍ مُطْمَئِنَّةٍ وَعَيْنٍ خَاشِعَةٍ لِرَبٍّ ذِي سَكِينَةٍ وَقَلْبٍ ذِي خَشْيَةٍ.

qāla ʾaḥmadu raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu: fanāẓarnā fī al-ḥadīthi jamāʿatan mina al-ʿulamāʾi, waʾidhā laysa maʿnāhu ʾannahu lā yakūnu lahu imraʾatun walā waladun wa-lākin yakūnūna lahu walā yashghalūnahu, waʾinnamā yaḥsunu tarku al-nikāḥi limashghūli al-hammi ʿani al-fikri fīhi dhī nafsin muṭmaʾinnatin waʿaynin khāshiʿatin lirabbin dhī sakīnatin waqalbin dhī khashyatin.

Aḥmad, may God be pleased with him, said: “We discussed this tradition with a group of scholars. Its meaning is not that he has no wife or child, but that he has them without their distracting him.” Forgoing marriage is fitting only for someone whose concern is occupied away from thoughts of it, with a tranquil soul, an eye humbled before the Lord, serenity, and a heart full of reverent fear.

كَمَا حَدَّثُونَا عَنْ دَاوُدَ الطَّائِيِّ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: مُنْذُ خَمْسِينَ سَنَةً مَا خَالَطَ ذَكَرِي رِيحٌ، وَقِيلَ لِبَعْضِهِمْ: هَلْ دَخَلَ ذَكَرَكَ رِيحٌ بِشَهْوَةٍ؟ فَقَالَ: أَمَّا مُنْذُ قَرَأْتُ الْقُرْآنَ فَلَا، وَقَالَ بَعْضُ الْعُلَمَاءِ: مُنْذُ عِشْرِينَ سَنَةً مَا وَقَعَ نَظَرِي عَلَى فَرْجِي.

kamā ḥaddathūnā ʿan dāwūda al-ṭāʾiyyi ʾannahu qāla: mundhu khamsīna sanatan mā khālaṭa dhakarī rīḥun, waqīla libaʿḍihim: hal dakhala dhakaraka rīḥun bishahwatin? faqāla: ʾammā mundhu qaraʾtu al-qurʾāna falā, waqāla baʿḍu al-ʿulamāʾi: mundhu ʿishrīna sanatan mā waqaʿa naẓarī ʿalā farjī.

They told us that Dāwūd al-Ṭāʾī said: “For fifty years no stirring has touched my sexual organ.” Someone else was asked: “Has any stirring of desire entered your sexual organ?” He answered: “Not since I recited the Qurʾan.” A scholar said: “For twenty years my gaze has not fallen upon my sexual organ.”

فَأَمَّا بَطَّالٌ ذُو نَفْسٍ أَمَّارَةٍ وَنَظْرَةٍ ثَاقِبَةٍ وَشَهْوَةٍ قَوِيَّةٍ، فَالنِّكَاحُ مِنْ أَحْسَنِ أَعْمَالِهِ وَأَرْفَعِ أَحْوَالِهِ، لِأَنَّ الْمُبَاحَ مَقَامُ مَنْ لَا مَقَامَ لَهُ، فَإِنْ عَزَمَ الْعَبْدُ عَلَى النِّكَاحِ فَلَا يَكُونُ هَمُّهُ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ إِلَّا ذَاتَ دِينٍ وَصَلَاحٍ، وَالْعَقْلِ وَالْقَنَاعَةِ فَلَيْسَ تَخْلُصُ لَهُ النِّيَّاتُ الَّتِي ذَكَرْنَاهَا آنِفًا إِلَّا عَلَى هَذِهِ الْقَوَاعِدِ.

faʾammā baṭṭālun dhū nafsin ʾammāratin wanaẓratin thāqibatin washahwatin qawiyyatin, fa-al-nikāḥu min ʾaḥsani ʾaʿmālihi waʾarfaʿi ʾaḥwālihi, liʾanna al-mubāḥa maqāmu man lā maqāma lahu, faʾin ʿazama al-ʿabdu ʿalā al-nikāḥi falā yakūnu hammuhu mina al-nisāʾi ʾillā dhāta dīnin waṣalāḥin, wa-al-ʿaqli wa-al-qanāʿati falaysa takhluṣu lahu al-niyyātu allatī dhakarnāhā ʾānifan ʾillā ʿalā hādhihi al-qawāʿidi.

As for an idle man with a commanding soul, a penetrating gaze, and strong desire, marriage is among his finest deeds and highest conditions, for the permitted is the station of one who has no station. If the servant resolves to marry, let him seek only a woman of religion, righteousness, intelligence, and contentment. The intentions we have just mentioned can be pure for him only upon these foundations.

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: تُنْكَحُ الْمَرْأَةُ لِمَالِهَا وَجَمَالِهَا وَحُسْنِهَا وَدِينِهَا فَعَلَيْكَ بِذَاتِ الدِّينِ، وَفِي لَفْظٍ آخَرَ: مَنْ نَكَحَ الْمَرْأَةَ لِمَالِهَا وَجَمَالِهَا حُرِمَ مَالَهَا وَجَمَالَهَا، وَمَنْ نَكَحَهَا لِدِينِهَا رَزَقَهُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مَالَهَا وَجَمَالَهَا.

qāla rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: tunkaḥu al-marʾatu limālihā wajamālihā waḥusnihā wadīnihā faʿalayka bidhāti al-dīni, wafī lafẓin ʾākhara: man nakaḥa al-marʾata limālihā wajamālihā ḥurima mālahā wajamālahā, waman nakaḥahā lidīnihā razaqahu Allāhu ʿazza wajalla mālahā wajamālahā.

God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “A woman is married for her wealth, beauty, attractiveness, and religion; choose the woman of religion.” Another wording says: “Whoever marries a woman for her wealth and beauty is deprived of her wealth and beauty; whoever marries her for her religion, God, mighty and majestic, grants him her wealth and beauty.”

وَرَوَيْنَا أَيْضًا: لَا تَنْكِحُوا الْمَرْأَةَ لِجَمَالِهَا فَلَعَلَّ جَمَالَهَا يُرْدِيهَا، وَلَا لِمَالِهَا فَلَعَلَّ مَالَهَا يُطْغِيهَا، وَانْكِحُوا الْمَرْأَةَ لِدِينِهَا فَنِكَاحُ الْمَرْأَةِ لِلدِّينِ وَالصَّلَاحِ طَرِيقٌ مِنَ الْآخِرَةِ، وَالرَّغْبَةُ فِي الْمَرْأَةِ النَّاقِصَةِ الْخَلْقِ الدَّنِيئَةِ الصُّورَةِ الْكَبِيرَةِ السِّنِّ، السِّنُّ بَابٌ مِنَ الزُّهْدِ.

warawaynā ʾayḍan: lā tankiḥū al-marʾata lijamālihā falaʿalla jamālahā yurdīhā, walā limālihā falaʿalla mālahā yuṭghīhā, wa-inkiḥū al-marʾata lidīnihā fanikāḥu al-marʾati li-l-dīni wa-al-ṣalāḥi ṭarīqun mina al-ʾākhirati, wa-al-raghbatu fī al-marʾati al-nāqiṣati al-khalqi al-danīʾati al-ṣūrati al-kabīrati al-sinni, al-sinnu bābun mina al-zuhdi.

We have also related: “Do not marry a woman for her beauty, which may ruin her, or her wealth, which may make her transgress. Marry a woman for her religion.” Marrying for religion and righteousness is a path toward the hereafter. Desiring a woman imperfect in form, lowly in appearance, and advanced in age, age itself, is a door to renunciation.

وَقَدْ كَانَ أَبُو سُلَيْمَانَ يَقُولُ: الزُّهْدُ فِي كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَتَّى يَتَزَوَّجَ الرَّجُلُ الْعَجُوزَ أَوْ غَيْرَ ذَاتِ الْهَيْئَةِ إِيثَارًا لِلزُّهْدِ فِي الدُّنْيَا، وَكَانَ مَالِكُ بْنُ دِينَارٍ يَقُولُ: يَتْرُكُ أَحَدُهُمْ أَنْ يَتَزَوَّجَ يَتِيمَةً فَيُؤْجَرَ فِيهَا إِنْ أَطْعَمَهَا وَكَسَاهَا تَكُونُ خَفِيفَةَ الْمَؤُونَةِ تَرْضَى بِالْيَسِيرِ.

waqad kāna ʾabū sulaymāna yaqūlu: al-zuhdu fī kulli shayʾin ḥattā yatazawwaja al-rajulu al-ʿajūza ʾaw ghayra dhāti al-hayʾati ʾīthāran li-l-zuhdi fī al-dunyā, wakāna māliku bnu dīnārin yaqūlu: yatruku ʾaḥaduhum ʾan yatazawwaja yatīmatan fayuʾjara fīhā ʾin ʾaṭʿamahā wakasāhā takūnu khafīfata al-maʾūnati tarḍā bi-al-yasīri.

Abū Sulaymān used to say: “Renunciation extends to everything, even a man’s marrying an old woman or one without pleasing appearance, preferring renunciation of this world.” Mālik ibn Dīnār used to say: “A man passes over marrying an orphan woman, for whom he would be rewarded by feeding and clothing her, whose upkeep would be light and who would be content with little.”

وَيَتَزَوَّجُ بِنْتَ فُلَانٍ وَفُلَانٍ، يَعْنِي أَبْنَاءَ الدُّنْيَا، فَتَشْتَهِي الشَّهَوَاتِ عَلَيْهِ وَتَقُولُ: اكْسُنِي ثَوْبَ كَذَا وَاشْتَرِ لِي مِرْطَ حَرِيرٍ فَيَتَمَرَّطُ دِينُهُ. وَقَدِ اخْتَارَ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ حَنْبَلٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ امْرَأَةً عَوْرَاءَ عَلَى أُخْتِهَا صَحِيحَةً جَمِيلَةً، فَسَأَلَ مَنْ أَعْقَلُهُمَا؟ قِيلَ: الْعَوْرَاءُ، فَقَالَ: زَوِّجُونِي إِيَّاهَا.

wayatazawwaju binta fulānin wafulānin, yaʿnī ʾabnāʾa al-dunyā, fatashtahī al-shahawāti ʿalayhi wataqūlu: uksunī thawba kadhā wa-ishtari lī mirṭa ḥarīrin fayatamarraṭu dīnuhu. waqadi ikhtāra ʾaḥmadu bnu ḥanbalin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu imraʾatan ʿawrāʾa ʿalā ʾukhtihā ṣaḥīḥatan jamīlatan, fasaʾala man ʾaʿqaluhumā? qīla: al-ʿawrāʾu, faqāla: zawwijūnī ʾiyyāhā.

“Instead he marries the daughter of so-and-so,” meaning worldly people, “and she demands indulgences, saying: ‘Clothe me in such-and-such a garment and buy me a silk wrap,’ until his religion is stripped away.” Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, may God be pleased with him, chose a one-eyed woman over her healthy, beautiful sister. He asked: “Which is more sensible?” Told, “The one-eyed woman,” he said: “Marry her to me.”

وَقَدْ يَكُونُ فِي تَزْوِيجِ الْمَرْذُولَةِ الْمَجْذُوعَةِ فِيهِ بِأَنْ يَرْفَعَ قَلْبَهَا إِذْ لَا يُرْغَبُ فِي مِثْلِهَا، وَاسْتُحِبَّ لَهُ أَنْ يَنْظُرَ إِلَى وَجْهِهَا قَبْلَ التَّزْوِيجِ بِهَا وَإِلَى مَا يَدْعُوهُ إِلَيْهَا، فَإِنْ ضَمَّ إِلَى الْوَجْهِ الْكَفَّيْنِ فَلَا بَأْسَ بِذَلِكَ عِنْدَ عُلَمَاءِ الْحِجَازِ.

waqad yakūnu fī tazwīji al-mardhūlati al-majdhūʿati fīhi biʾan yarfaʿa qalbahā ʾidh lā yurghabu fī mithlihā, wa-ustuḥibba lahu ʾan yanẓura ʾilā wajhihā qabla al-tazwīji bihā waʾilā mā yadʿūhu ʾilayhā, faʾin ḍamma ʾilā al-wajhi al-kaffayni falā baʾsa bi-dhālika ʿinda ʿulamāʾi al-ḥijāzi.

Marrying a disregarded woman whose nose is mutilated may bring benefit in lifting her heart, since women like her are not sought. It is recommended that he look at her face before marrying her and at what draws him to her. If he includes the hands with the face, the scholars of the Hijaz see no harm in that.

فَفِي النَّظَرِ إِلَى الْوَجْهِ أَحَادِيثُ مَأْثُورَةٌ، مِنْهَا حَدِيثُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مَسْلَمَةَ قَالَ: رَأَيْتُهُ يَتْبَعُ النَّظْرَةَ فَتَاةً فِي الْحَيِّ حَتَّى تَوَارَتْ بِالنَّخْلِ.

fafī al-naẓari ʾilā al-wajhi ʾaḥādīthu maʾthūratun, minhā ḥadīthu muḥammadi bni maslamata qāla: raʾaytuhu yatbaʿu al-naẓrata fatātan fī al-ḥayyi ḥattā tawārat bi-al-nakhli.

There are transmitted traditions concerning looking at the face, including the report of Muḥammad ibn Maslama: the narrator said, “I saw him following with his gaze a young woman in the neighborhood until she disappeared among the date palms.”

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤١٤

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 414

Volume Two, page 414

فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: تَفْعَلُ هَذَا وَأَنْتَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ؟ فَقَالَ: رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَمَرَنَا بِهَذَا، قَالَ: إِذَا أَوْقَعَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي قَلْبِ أَحَدِكُمْ خِطْبَةَ امْرَأَةٍ فَلْيَنْظُرْ إِلَيْهَا لِيَرَى مِنْهَا مَا يَدْعُوهُ إِلَيْهَا.

faqultu lahu: tafʿalu hādhā waʾanta min ʾaṣḥābi rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama? faqāla: rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama ʾamaranā bi-hādhā, qāla: ʾidhā ʾawqaʿa Allāhu ʿazza wajalla fī qalbi ʾaḥadikum khiṭbata imraʾatin falyanẓur ʾilayhā liyarā minhā mā yadʿūhu ʾilayhā.

“I asked him: ‘Do you do this when you are one of the companions of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace?’ He answered: ‘God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, commanded us to do it. He said: When God, mighty and majestic, places in one of your hearts the intention to propose to a woman, let him look at her to see what draws him to her.’”

وَفِي الْحَدِيثِ الْآخَرِ إِنَّ فِي أَعْيُنِ الْأَنْصَارِ شَيْئًا، فَإِذَا أَرَادَ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يَتَزَوَّجَ مِنْهُنَّ فَلْيَنْظُرْ إِلَيْهِنَّ، فِي لَفْظٍ آخَرَ: إِذَا أَوْقَعَ فِي نَفْسِ أَحَدِكُمْ مِنِ امْرَأَةٍ شَيْءٌ فَلْيَنْظُرْ إِلَيْهَا فَإِنَّهُ أَحْرَى أَنْ يُؤْدَمَ بَيْنَهُمَا.

wafī al-ḥadīthi al-ʾākhari ʾinna fī ʾaʿyuni al-ʾanṣāri shayʾan, faʾidhā ʾarāda ʾaḥadukum ʾan yatazawwaja minhunna falyanẓur ʾilayhinna, fī lafẓin ʾākhara: ʾidhā ʾawqaʿa fī nafsi ʾaḥadikum mini imraʾatin shayʾun falyanẓur ʾilayhā faʾinnahu ʾaḥrā ʾan yuʾdama baynahumā.

Another tradition says: “There is something about the eyes of the Anṣār; when one of you wishes to marry one of their women, let him look at her.” Another wording says: “If something concerning a woman settles in one of your souls, let him look at her, for that is likelier to bring harmony between them.”

يَعْنِي يُؤْدَمُ وُقُوعَ الْأَدَمَةِ عَلَى الْأَدَمَةِ، وَهُوَ أَبْلَغُ مِنَ الْبَشَرَةِ لِأَنَّ الْبَشَرَةَ ظَاهِرُ الْجِلْدِ وَالْأَدَمَةَ بَاطِنُهُ، جَاءَ هَذَا فِي الْمُبَالَغَةِ عَلَى ضَرْبِ الْمَثَلِ، وَقَدْ كَانَ الْأَعْمَشُ يَقُولُ: كُلُّ تَزْوِيجٍ يَقَعُ عَنْ غَيْرِ نَظَرٍ يَكُونُ آخِرُهُ غَمًّا وَهَمًّا.

yaʿnī yuʾdamu wuqūʿa al-ʾadamati ʿalā al-ʾadamati, wahuwa ʾablaghu mina al-basharati liʾanna al-basharata ẓāhiru al-jildi wa-al-ʾadamata bāṭinuhu, jāʾa hādhā fī al-mubālaghati ʿalā ḍarbi al-mathali, waqad kāna al-ʾaʿmashu yaqūlu: kullu tazwījin yaqaʿu ʿan ghayri naẓarin yakūnu ʾākhiruhu ghamman wahamman.

“Bring harmony,” yuʾdamu, is explained through one inner layer of skin meeting another, a stronger expression than the outer skin, since bashara is the skin’s exterior and adama its interior. This is an emphatic comparison. Al-Aʿmash used to say: “Every marriage contracted without a prior look ends in grief and worry.”

وَلَا يُغَالِي فِي الْمَهْرِ، فَقَدْ تَزَوَّجَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بَعْضَ نِسَائِهِ عَلَى عَشَرَةِ دَرَاهِمَ وَأَثَاثِ الْبَيْتِ، وَكَانَ رَحَى يَدٍ، وَجَرَّةً، وَوِسَادَةً مِنْ أَدَمٍ وَحَشْوُهَا لِيفٌ، وَأَوْلَمَ عَلَى إِحْدَى نِسَائِهِ بِمُدَّيْنِ مِنْ شَعِيرٍ، وَعَلَى أُخْرَى بِمُدَّيْ تَمْرٍ، فَالْوَلِيمَةُ سُنَّةٌ وَتَرْكُ الْإِجَابَةِ إِلَيْهَا مَعْصِيَةٌ.

walā yughālī fī al-mahri, faqad tazawwaja rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama baʿḍa nisāʾihi ʿalā ʿasharati darāhima waʾathāthi al-bayti, wakāna raḥā yadin, wajarratan, wawisādatan min ʾadamin waḥashwuhā līfun, waʾawlama ʿalā ʾiḥdā nisāʾihi bimuddayni min shaʿīrin, waʿalā ʾukhrā bimudday tamrin, fa-al-walīmatu sunnatun watarku al-ʾijābati ʾilayhā maʿṣiyatun.

He should not make the dowry excessive. God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, married one of his wives for ten dirhams and household furnishings: a hand mill, a jar, and a leather cushion stuffed with palm fiber. He held a wedding feast for one wife with two mudds of barley and for another with two mudds of dates. The wedding feast is a sunna, and refusing its invitation is disobedience.

وَقَدْ كَانَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ يَنْهَى عَنِ الْمُغَالَاةِ بِمُهُورِ النِّسَاءِ وَيَقُولُ: مَا تَزَوَّجَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ امْرَأَةً مِنْ نِسَائِهِ وَلَا زَوَّجَ عَلَى أَكْثَرَ مِنْ أَرْبَعِمِائَةِ دِرْهَمٍ. وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا: كَانَتْ مُهُورُ أَزْوَاجِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ اثْنَيْ عَشْرَةَ أُوقِيَّةً وَنِصْفًا.

waqad kāna ʿumaru bnu al-khaṭṭābi raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu yanhā ʿani al-mughālāti bimuhūri al-nisāʾi wayaqūlu: mā tazawwaja rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama imraʾatan min nisāʾihi walā zawwaja ʿalā ʾakthara min ʾarbaʿimiʾati dirhamin. warawaynā ʿan ʿāʾishata raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā: kānat muhūru ʾazwāji rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama ithnay ʿashrata ʾūqiyyatan waniṣfan.

ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may God be pleased with him, forbade excessive dowries and said: “God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, neither married one of his wives nor arranged a marriage for more than four hundred dirhams.” We have related from ʿĀʾisha, may God be pleased with her: “The dowries of the wives of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, were twelve and a half ūqiyyas.”

وَقَدْ كَانَ يُزَوِّجُ أَصْحَابَهُ عَلَى وَزْنِ نَوَاةٍ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ، وَالنَّوَاةُ صَغِيرَةٌ وَهِيَ نَوَاةُ التَّمْرِ الصَّيْحَانِيِّ، يُقَالُ: قِيمَتُهَا خَمْسَةُ دَرَاهِمَ، وَفِي خَبَرٍ: زَوَّجَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بَعْضَ أَصْحَابِهِ عَلَى نَوَاةٍ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ قُوِّمَتْ ثَلَاثَةَ دَرَاهِمَ وَثُلُثًا.

waqad kāna yuzawwiju ʾaṣḥābahu ʿalā wazni nawātin min dhahabin, wa-al-nawātu ṣaghīratun wahiya nawātu al-tamri al-ṣayḥāniyyi, yuqālu: qīmatuhā khamsatu darāhima, wafī khabarin: zawwaja rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama baʿḍa ʾaṣḥābihi ʿalā nawātin min dhahabin quwwimat thalāthata darāhima wathuluthan.

He used to arrange marriages for his companions for a date-stone’s weight of gold. The stone is small, that of the ṣayḥānī date, and its value is said to be five dirhams. A report says that God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, arranged the marriage of one of his companions for a date-stone’s weight of gold valued at three and one-third dirhams.

وَقَدْ زَوَّجَ سَعِيدُ بْنُ الْمُسَيِّبِ، وَهُوَ مِنْ خِيَارِ التَّابِعِينَ وَعُلَمَائِهِمْ، ابْنَتَهُ مِنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ عَلَى دِرْهَمَيْنِ، ثُمَّ حَمَلَهَا هُوَ إِلَيْهِ لَيْلًا، وَلَا أَكْرَهُ التَّزْوِيجَ عَلَى عَشَرَةِ دَرَاهِمَ، وَهُوَ أَكْثَرُ الِاسْتِحْبَابِ فِي الْقِلَّةِ لِيَخْرُجَ مِنِ اخْتِلَافِ الْعُلَمَاءِ.

waqad zawwaja saʿīdu bnu al-musayyibi, wahuwa min khiyāri al-tābiʿīna waʿulamāʾihim, ibnatahu min ʾabī hurayrata ʿalā dirhamayni, thumma ḥamalahā huwa ʾilayhi laylan, walā ʾakrahu al-tazwīja ʿalā ʿasharati darāhima, wahuwa ʾaktharu al-istiḥbābi fī al-qillati liyakhruja mini ikhtilāfi al-ʿulamāʾi.

Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, one of the finest and most learned Successors, married his daughter from Abū Hurayra’s family for two dirhams, then personally brought her to her husband at night. I do not disapprove of marriage for ten dirhams; among low amounts, this is the most recommended, to avoid the scholars’ disagreement.

وَلَا أَسْتَحِبُّ أَنْ يَنْقُصَ الْمَهْرُ عَنْ ثَلَاثَةِ دَرَاهِمَ، وَهَذَا هُوَ الْقَوْلُ الْأَوْسَطُ مِنْ مَذَاهِبِ الْفُقَهَاءِ وَفِي هَذِهِ الْقِيمَةِ تُقْطَعُ يَدُ السَّارِقِ، وَهَذَا مَذْهَبُ بَعْضِ أَهْلِ الْحِجَازِ. وَقَدْ رَوَيْنَا: أَبْرَكُهُنَّ أَقَلُّهُنَّ مَهْرًا.

walā ʾastaḥibbu ʾan yanquṣa al-mahru ʿan thalāthati darāhima, wa-hādhā huwa al-qawlu al-ʾawsaṭu min madhāhibi al-fuqahāʾi wafī hādhihi al-qīmati tuqṭaʿu yadu al-sāriqi, wa-hādhā madhhabu baʿḍi ʾahli al-ḥijāzi. waqad rawaynā: ʾabrakuhunna ʾaqalluhunna mahran.

I do not recommend that the dowry fall below three dirhams. This is the middle position among the jurists’ schools, and this is the value at which a thief’s hand is amputated, according to certain scholars of the Hijaz. We have related: “The most blessed women are those with the smallest dowries.”

وَرَوَيْنَا أَيْضًا مِنْ بَرَكَةِ الْمَرْأَةِ سُرْعَةُ تَزْوِيجِهَا وَسُرْعَةُ رَحِمِهَا، يَعْنِي الْوِلَادَةَ وَيُسْرُ مَهْرِهَا، قَالَ عُرْوَةُ: وَأَقُولُ فَإِنَّ مِنْ شُؤْمِهَا كَثْرَةَ صَدَاقِهَا، وَلَا يَصْلُحُ لِلْمُتَزَوِّجِ أَنْ يَسْأَلَهُ أَيُّ شَيْءٍ لِلْمَرْأَةِ وَلَا يَحِلُّ لَهُ أَنْ يَدْفَعَ شَيْئًا لِيَأْخُذَ أَكْثَرَ مِنْهُ.

warawaynā ʾayḍan min barakati al-marʾati surʿatu tazwījihā wasurʿatu raḥimihā, yaʿnī al-wilādata wayusru mahrihā, qāla ʿurwatu: waʾaqūlu faʾinna min shuʾmihā kathrata ṣadāqihā, walā yaṣluḥu li-l-mutazawwiji ʾan yasʾalahu ʾayyu shayʾin li-l-marʾati walā yaḥillu lahu ʾan yadfaʿa shayʾan liyaʾkhudha ʾakthara minhu.

We have also related: “Among a woman’s blessings are the promptness of her marriage, the promptness of her womb,” meaning childbirth, “and the ease of her dowry.” ʿUrwa said: “I add that a large bridal payment is among her ill omens.” It is not proper for a prospective husband to ask what property the woman has, nor lawful for him to give something in order to receive more in return.

وَلَا يَحِلُّ لَهُمْ أَنْ يُهْدُوا إِلَيْهِ شَيْئًا لِيَضْطَرُّوهُ أَنْ يُكَافِئَ بِأَكْثَرَ مِنْهُ، وَلَيْسَ عَلَيْهِ أَنْ يَزِيدَ بِأَكْثَرَ مِنْ قِيمَتِهِ إِنْ كَافَأَ، وَلَهُ أَنْ لَا يَقْبَلَ هَدِيَّتَهُمْ إِنْ عَلِمَ ذَلِكَ مِنْهُمْ، وَهَذَا كُلُّهُ بِدْعَةٌ فِي النِّكَاحِ، وَهُوَ كَالتِّجَارَةِ فِي التَّزْوِيجِ، وَهُوَ دَاخِلٌ فِي الرِّبَا، وَهُوَ يُشْبِهُ الْقِمَارَ.

walā yaḥillu lahum ʾan yuhdū ʾilayhi shayʾan liyaḍṭarrūhu ʾan yukāfiʾa biʾakthara minhu, walaysa ʿalayhi ʾan yazīda biʾakthara min qīmatihi ʾin kāfaʾa, walahu ʾan lā yaqbala hadiyyatahum ʾin ʿalima dhālika minhum, wa-hādhā kulluhu bidʿatun fī al-nikāḥi, wahuwa ka-al-tijārati fī al-tazwīji, wahuwa dākhilun fī al-ribā, wahuwa yushbihu al-qimāra.

Nor may her people give him something to force him to reciprocate with more. If he reciprocates, he need not exceed its value; if he knows their intention, he may refuse their gift. All this is an innovation in marriage, like trading through marriage. It falls within usury and resembles gambling.

وَمَنْ زَوَّجَ أَوْ تَزَوَّجَ عَلَى هَذَا بِهَذِهِ النِّيَّةِ فَهِيَ نِيَّةٌ فَاسِدَةٌ وَلَيْسَ نِكَاحُهُ هَذَا لِلدِّينِ وَلَا لِلْآخِرَةِ، وَكَانَ الثَّوْرِيُّ يَقُولُ: إِذَا تَزَوَّجَ الرَّجُلُ وَقَالَ: أَيُّ شَيْءٍ لِلْمَرْأَةِ فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لِصٌّ، فَلَا تُزَوِّجُوهُ.

waman zawwaja ʾaw tazawwaja ʿalā hādhā bi-hādhihi al-niyyati fahiya niyyatun fāsidatun walaysa nikāḥuhu hādhā li-l-dīni walā li-l-ʾākhirati, wakāna al-thawriyyu yaqūlu: ʾidhā tazawwaja al-rajulu waqāla: ʾayyu shayʾin li-l-marʾati fa-iʿlam ʾannahu liṣṣun, falā tuzawwijūhu.

Whoever arranges or contracts a marriage on this basis has a corrupt intention; such a marriage is neither for religion nor for the hereafter. Al-Thawrī used to say: “If a man seeks marriage and asks, ‘What does the woman possess?’ know that he is a thief, and do not marry her to him.”

وَلَا يُنْكَحُ إِلَى مُبْتَدِعٍ، وَلَا فَاسِقٍ، وَلَا ظَالِمٍ، وَلَا شَارِبِ خَمْرٍ، وَلَا آكِلِ الرِّبَا، فَمَنْ فَعَلَ ذَلِكَ فَقَدْ ثَلَمَ دِينَهُ، وَقَطَعَ رَحِمَهُ، وَلَمْ يُحْسِنِ الْوِلَايَةَ لِكَرِيمَتِهِ، لِأَنَّهُ تَرَكَ الْإِحْسَانَ، وَلَيْسَ هَؤُلَاءِ أَكْفَاءَ لِلْحُرَّةِ الْمُسْلِمَةِ الْعَفِيفَةِ.

walā yunkaḥu ʾilā mubtadiʿin, walā fāsiqin, walā ẓālimin, walā shāribi khamrin, walā ʾākili al-ribā, faman faʿala dhālika faqad thalama dīnahu, waqaṭaʿa raḥimahu, walam yuḥsini al-wilāyata likarīmatihi, liʾannahu taraka al-ʾiḥsāna, walaysa hāʾulāʾi ʾakfāʾa li-l-ḥurrati al-muslimati al-ʿafīfati.

A woman should not be married to an innovator, a flagrantly sinful man, an oppressor, a wine drinker, or one who consumes usury. Whoever does so has breached his religion, severed his kinship, and failed in his guardianship of the woman entrusted to him, because he has abandoned good treatment. Such men are not suitable matches for a free, chaste Muslim woman.

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤١٥

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 415

Volume Two, page 415

وَقَدْ قَالَ بَعْضُ السَّلَفِ: النِّكَاحُ رِقٌّ فَلْيَنْظُرْ أَحَدُكُمْ عِنْدَ مَنْ يُرِقُّ كَرِيمَتَهُ، وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: لَا تُنْكِحْ إِلَّا الْأَتْقِيَاءَ فَإِنَّهُ إِنْ أَحَبَّهَا أَكْرَمَهَا، وَإِنْ أَبْغَضَهَا أَنْصَفَهَا، وَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: تَخَيَّرُوا لِنُطَفِكُمْ وَأَنْكِحُوا الْأَكْفَاءَ، وَأَنْكِحُوا إِلَيْهِمْ.

waqad qāla baʿḍu al-salafi: al-nikāḥu riqqun falyanẓur ʾaḥadukum ʿinda man yuriqqu karīmatahu, waqāla baʿḍuhum: lā tunkiḥ ʾillā al-ʾatqiyāʾa faʾinnahu ʾin ʾaḥabbahā ʾakramahā, waʾin ʾabghaḍahā ʾanṣafahā, waqāla rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: takhayyarū linuṭafikum waʾankiḥū al-ʾakfāʾa, waʾankiḥū ʾilayhim.

One of the early Muslims said: “Marriage is a form of bondage; let each of you consider to whom he entrusts his honored woman in bondage.” Another said: “Marry her only to the God-fearing: if he loves her, he honors her, and if he dislikes her, he treats her fairly.” God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Choose carefully for your offspring; marry suitable matches and marry into their families.”

وَلَا نِكَاحَ إِلَّا بِوَلِيٍّ وَشَاهِدَيْ عَدْلٍ، وَإِنْ كَانَتْ ثَيِّبًا فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ وَلِيٌّ فَالسُّلْطَانُ وَلِيُّ مَنْ لَا وَلِيَّ لَهُ أَوْ مَنْ وَلَّاهُ الْحُكْمَ كَذَلِكَ السُّنَّةُ، وَلْيَتَعَلَّمِ الْمُتَزَوِّجُ عِلْمَ الْحَيْضِ وَاخْتِلَافِ أَوْقَاتِهِ وَزِيَادَتِهِ وَنُقْصَانِهِ وَأَحْكَامَ الِاسْتِحَاضَةِ مِنْ ذَلِكَ، وَعِلْمَ وَقْتِ الْأَطْهَارِ.

walā nikāḥa ʾillā biwaliyyin washāhiday ʿadlin, waʾin kānat thayyiban faʾin lam yakun waliyyun fa-al-sulṭānu waliyyu man lā waliyya lahu ʾaw man wallāhu al-ḥukma kadhālika al-sunnatu, walyataʿallami al-mutazawwiju ʿilma al-ḥayḍi wa-ikhtilāfi ʾawqātihi waziyādatihi wanuqṣānihi waʾaḥkāma al-istiḥāḍati min dhālika, waʿilma waqti al-ʾaṭhāri.

There is no marriage without a guardian and two upright witnesses, even if the woman has been previously married. If there is no guardian, the ruler is guardian for one who has none, or the person to whom he delegates judicial authority; such is the sunna. The prospective husband should learn about menstruation, its varying times, increase and decrease, the rulings concerning irregular bleeding, and the times of purity.

لِيُعَلِّمَهَا ذَلِكَ وَلِيُغْنِيَهَا بِذَلِكَ عَنِ السُّؤَالِ وَالظُّهُورِ إِلَى الرِّجَالِ، ثُمَّ لِيُعَلِّمْ أَهْلَهُ عِلْمَ مَا لَا يَسَعُهُمْ جَهْلُهُ مِنَ الْفَرَائِضِ وَأَحْكَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَشَرَائِعِ الْإِسْلَامِ وَاعْتِقَادَاتِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنَ السُّنَّةِ وَمَا عَلَيْهِ مِنْ مَذْهَبِ الْجَمَاعَةِ، فَإِذَا فَعَلَ ذَلِكَ لَمْ يَكُنْ عَلَيْهَا أَنْ تَخْرُجَ إِلَى الْعُلَمَاءِ.

liyuʿallimahā dhālika waliyughniyahā bi-dhālika ʿani al-suʾāli wa-al-ẓuhūri ʾilā al-rijāli, thumma liyuʿallim ʾahlahu ʿilma mā lā yasaʿuhum jahluhu mina al-farāʾiḍi waʾaḥkāmi al-ṣalāti washarāʾiʿi al-ʾislāmi wa-iʿtiqādāti al-muʾminīna mina al-sunnati wamā ʿalayhi min madhhabi al-jamāʿati, faʾidhā faʿala dhālika lam yakun ʿalayhā ʾan takhruja ʾilā al-ʿulamāʾi.

He should teach her these things, sparing her the need to ask questions and appear before men. He should then teach his household what they may not remain ignorant of: obligations, the rules of prayer, the ordinances of Islam, the believers’ convictions according to the sunna, and the community’s doctrine he follows. If he does this, she need not go out to scholars.

وَإِنْ قَصَّرَ عَنْ عِلْمِهَا عِلْمَ التَّوْحِيدِ وَمَبَانِيَ الْإِسْلَامِ وَعُقُودَ الْإِيمَانِ وَمَذْهَبَ أَهْلِ السُّنَّةِ فَلَهَا أَنْ تَخْرُجَ إِلَى السُّؤَالِ عَمَّا لَا يَسَعُهَا جَهْلُهُ وَلَيْسَ لَهَا أَنْ تَخْرُجَ بِغَيْرِ إِذْنِهِ لِطَلَبِ عِلْمٍ يُرْجَى فَضْلُهُ، وَلَيْسَ لِلْمَرْأَةِ أَنْ تَحْمِلَ زَوْجَهَا عَلَى الْمَكَاسِبِ الْحَرَامِ وَلَا تُكَلِّفَهُ مَا يَقْتَرِفُ بِهِ الْآثَامَ.

waʾin qaṣṣara ʿan ʿilmihā ʿilma al-tawḥīdi wamabāniya al-ʾislāmi waʿuqūda al-ʾīmāni wamadhhaba ʾahli al-sunnati falahā ʾan takhruja ʾilā al-suʾāli ʿammā lā yasaʿuhā jahluhu walaysa lahā ʾan takhruja bighayri ʾidhnihi liṭalabi ʿilmin yurjā faḍluhu, walaysa li-l-marʾati ʾan taḥmila zawjahā ʿalā al-makāsibi al-ḥarāmi walā tukallifahu mā yaqtarifu bihi al-ʾāthāma.

If he falls short in giving her knowledge of divine oneness, Islam’s foundations, the articles of faith, and the doctrine of the people of the sunna, she may go out to ask about what she may not remain ignorant of. She may not go without his permission merely to seek knowledge whose additional merit is hoped for. A woman must not drive her husband toward forbidden earnings or burden him with demands that cause him to incur sins.

وَلَا لِلرَّجُلِ أَنْ يَدْخُلَ فِي مَدَاخِلِ السُّوءِ وَلَا يَبِيعَ آخِرَتَهُ بِدُنْيَاهُ، فَإِنْ صَبَرَتْ مَعَهُ عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى أَمْسَكَهَا، وَإِنْ حَمَلَتْهُ عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ فَارَقَهَا، وَإِنْ يَتَفَرَّقَا يُغْنِ اللَّهُ كُلًّا مِنْ سَعَتِهِ.

walā li-l-rajuli ʾan yadkhula fī madākhili al-sūʾi walā yabīʿa ʾākhiratahu bidunyāhu, faʾin ṣabarat maʿahu ʿalā al-birri wa-al-taqwā ʾamsakahā, waʾin ḥamalat-hu ʿalā al-ʾithmi wa-al-ʿudwāni fāraqahā, waʾin yatafarraqā yughni Allāhu kullan min saʿatihi.

Nor may the man enter evil pursuits or sell his hereafter for his worldly life. If she patiently shares righteousness and God-fearing conduct with him, he should keep her; if she drives him toward sin and aggression, he should leave her. “If they separate, God will enrich each from His abundance.”

وَيُقَالُ: أَوَّلُ مَنْ يَتَعَلَّقُ بِالرَّجُلِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ زَوْجَتُهُ وَوَلَدُهُ، فَيُوقِفُونَهُ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فَيَقُولُونَ: يَا رَبَّنَا خُذْ لَنَا حَقًّا مِنْ هَذَا، فَإِنَّهُ مَا عَلَّمَنَا مَا نَجْهَلُ، وَكَانَ يُطْعِمُنَا الْحَرَامَ وَنَحْنُ لَا نَعْلَمُ. قَالَ: فَيُقْتَصُّ لَهُمْ مِنْهُ.

wayuqālu: ʾawwalu man yataʿallaqu bi-al-rajuli yawma al-qiyāmati zawjatuhu wawaladuhu, fayūqifūnahu bayna yadayi Allāhi ʿazza wajalla fayaqūlūna: yā rabbanā khudh lanā ḥaqqan min hādhā, faʾinnahu mā ʿallamanā mā najhalu, wakāna yuṭʿimunā al-ḥarāma wanaḥnu lā naʿlamu. qāla: fayuqtaṣṣu lahum minhu.

It is said that the first to lay hold of a man on the Day of Resurrection are his wife and child. They make him stand before God, mighty and majestic, saying: “Our Lord, obtain our right from this man. He did not teach us what we did not know, and he fed us unlawful food without our knowing.” Then redress is taken from him for them.

وَفِي خَبَرٍ: إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ لَيُوقَفُ لِلْمِيزَانِ وَلَهُ مِنَ الْحَسَنَاتِ أَمْثَالُ الْجِبَالِ، فَيَسْأَلُهُ عَنْ رِعَايَةِ عِيَالِهِ وَالْقِيَامِ بِهِمْ، وَعَنْ مَالِهِ مِنْ أَيْنَ اكْتَسَبَهُ وَفِيمَ أَنْفَقَهُ، حَتَّى تَسْتَفْرِغَ تِلْكَ الْمُطَالَبَاتُ جَمِيعَ أَعْمَالِهِ، فَلَا يَبْقَى لَهُ حَسَنَةٌ.

wafī khabarin: ʾinna al-ʿabda layūqafu li-l-mīzāni walahu mina al-ḥasanāti ʾamthālu al-jibāli, fayasʾaluhu ʿan riʿāyati ʿiyālihi wa-al-qiyāmi bihim, waʿan mālihi min ʾayna iktasabahu wafīma ʾanfaqahu, ḥattā tastafrigha tilka al-muṭālabātu jamīʿa ʾaʿmālihi, falā yabqā lahu ḥasanatun.

A report says: “A servant is made to stand at the Balance with good deeds like mountains. He is questioned about caring for his dependants and providing for them, and about his wealth, where he acquired it and how he spent it, until these claims exhaust all his deeds and not one good deed remains.”

فَيُنَادِي الْمَلَائِكَةُ: هَذَا الَّذِي أَكَلَ عِيَالُهُ حَسَنَاتِهِ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَارْتُهِنَ الْيَوْمَ بِأَعْمَالِهِ، فَلِهَذَا قَالَ بَعْضُ السَّلَفِ: إِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِعَبْدٍ شَرًّا سَلَّطَ عَلَيْهِ فِي الدُّنْيَا أَنْيَابًا تَنْهَشُهُ، يَعْنِي الْعِيَالَ. وَرَوَيْنَا فِي الْخَبَرِ: لَا يَلْقَى اللَّهَ عَبْدٌ بِذَنْبٍ أَعْظَمَ مِنْ جَهَالَةِ أَهْلِهِ.

fayunādī al-malāʾikatu: hādhā alladhī ʾakala ʿiyāluhu ḥasanātihi fī al-dunyā wa-urtuhina al-yawma biʾaʿmālihi, fali-hādhā qāla baʿḍu al-salafi: ʾidhā ʾarāda Allāhu biʿabdin sharran sallaṭa ʿalayhi fī al-dunyā ʾanyāban tanhashuhu, yaʿnī al-ʿiyāla. warawaynā fī al-khabari: lā yalqā Allāha ʿabdun bidhanbin ʾaʿẓama min jahālati ʾahlihi.

“The angels call out: ‘This is the man whose dependants consumed his good deeds in the world, and who today is held in pledge for his deeds.’” For this reason one of the early Muslims said: “When God wishes evil for a servant, He sets fangs upon him in this world to tear at him,” meaning dependants. We have related a report: “No servant meets God with a sin greater than his household’s ignorance.”

وَالْخَبَرُ الْمَشْهُورُ: كَفَى بِالْمَرْءِ إِثْمًا أَنْ يُضَيِّعَ مَنْ يَعُولُ، وَرُوِيَ أَنَّ الْآبِقَ مِنْ عِيَالِهِ كَالْعَبْدِ الْآبِقِ مِنْ سَيِّدِهِ، لَا يُقْبَلُ لَهُ صَلَاةٌ وَلَا صِيَامٌ حَتَّى يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْهِمْ، وَقَدْ قَالَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا).

wa-al-khabaru al-mashhūru: kafā bi-al-marʾi ʾithman ʾan yuḍayyiʿa man yaʿūlu, waruwiya ʾanna al-ʾābiqa min ʿiyālihi ka-al-ʿabdi al-ʾābiqi min sayyidihi, lā yuqbalu lahu ṣalātun walā ṣiyāmun ḥattā yarjiʿa ʾilayhim, waqad qāla ʿazza wajalla: (yā ʾayyuhā alladhīna ʾāmanū qū ʾanfusakum waʾahlīkum nāran).

The well-known report says: “It is enough sin for a person to neglect those he supports.” It is related that one who runs away from his dependants is like a slave who runs away from his master: neither prayer nor fasting is accepted from him until he returns to them. He, mighty and majestic, said: “You who believe, protect yourselves and your families from a fire.”

فَأَضَافَ الْأَهْلَ إِلَى النَّفْسِ وَأَمَرَنَا أَنْ نَقِيَهُمُ النَّارَ بِتَعْلِيمِ الْأَمْرِ وَالنَّهْيِ كَمَا نَقِي أَنْفُسَنَا النَّارَ بِاجْتِنَابِ النَّهْيِ، وَجَاءَ فِي تَفْسِيرِ ذَلِكَ: عَلِّمُوهُنَّ وَأَدِّبُوهُنَّ، وَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْؤُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ، فَالْمَرْأَةُ رَاعِيَةٌ عَلَى مَالِ زَوْجِهَا وَهِيَ مَسْؤُولَةٌ عَنْهُ، وَالرَّجُلُ رَاعٍ عَلَى أَهْلِهِ وَهُوَ مَسْؤُولٌ عَنْهُمْ.

faʾaḍāfa al-ʾahla ʾilā al-nafsi waʾamaranā ʾan naqiyahumu al-nāra bitaʿlīmi al-ʾamri wa-al-nahyi kamā naqī ʾanfusanā al-nāra bi-ijtinābi al-nahyi, wajāʾa fī tafsīri dhālika: ʿallimūhunna waʾaddibūhunna, waqāla al-nabiyyu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: kullukum rāʿin wakullukum masʾūlun ʿan raʿiyyatihi, fa-al-marʾatu rāʿiyatun ʿalā māli zawjihā wahiya masʾūlatun ʿanhu, wa-al-rajulu rāʿin ʿalā ʾahlihi wahuwa masʾūlun ʿanhum.

He joined the family to oneself and commanded us to protect them from the Fire by teaching commands and prohibitions, just as we protect ourselves by avoiding what is forbidden. Its interpretation is: “Teach and discipline them.” The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Each of you is a shepherd, and each is responsible for his flock. The woman is guardian of her husband’s property and responsible for it; the man is guardian of his household and responsible for them.”

وَيُقَالُ: إِذَا أَنْفَقَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ مِنْ مَالِ زَوْجِهَا بِغَيْرِ إِذْنِهِ لَمْ تَزَلْ فِي سَخَطِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حَتَّى يَأْذَنَ لَهَا، وَلَا يَحِلُّ لَهَا أَنْ تُطْعِمَ مِنْ مَنْزِلِهِ إِلَّا الرَّطْبَ الَّذِي يُخَافُ فَسَادُهُ، فَإِنْ

wayuqālu: ʾidhā ʾanfaqati al-marʾatu min māli zawjihā bighayri ʾidhnihi lam tazal fī sakhaṭi Allāhi ʿazza wajalla ḥattā yaʾdhana lahā, walā yaḥillu lahā ʾan tuṭʿima min manzilihi ʾillā al-raṭba alladhī yukhāfu fasāduhu, faʾin

It is said: “If a woman spends her husband’s property without his permission, she remains under the displeasure of God, mighty and majestic, until he grants permission.” She may not give food from his house except fresh food whose spoilage is feared. If she

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤١٦

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 416

Volume Two, page 416

أَطْعَمَتْ وَأَنْفَقَتْ عَنْ إِذْنِهِ وَرِضَاهُ كَانَ لَهَا مِثْلُ أَجْرِهِ، وَإِنْ أَطْعَمَتْ بِغَيْرِ إِذْنِهِ كَانَ لَهُ الْأَجْرُ وَعَلَيْهَا الْوِزْرُ، وَيَنْبَغِي أَنْ يُعَرِّفَهَا أَعْظَمَ حَقِّهِ عَلَيْهَا فِي مَقَامِ الْوَالِدَةِ بِقَوْلِهِ لِلْمَرْأَةِ: عَلَيْكِ بِطَاعَةِ زَوْجِكِ، فَإِنَّهُ جَنَّتُكِ وَنَارُكِ.

ʾaṭʿamat waʾanfaqat ʿan ʾidhnihi wariḍāhu kāna lahā mithlu ʾajrihi, waʾin ʾaṭʿamat bighayri ʾidhnihi kāna lahu al-ʾajru waʿalayhā al-wizru, wayanbaghī ʾan yuʿarrifahā ʾaʿẓama ḥaqqihi ʿalayhā fī maqāmi al-wālidati biqawlihi li-l-marʾati: ʿalayki biṭāʿati zawjiki, faʾinnahu jannatuki wanāruki.

gives food and spends with his permission and approval, she receives a reward like his. If she gives food without his permission, the reward is his and the burden of sin hers. She should be made aware of his great right over her, in the position of a mother, through the words addressed to the woman: “You must obey your husband, for he is your Garden and your Fire.”

وَقَالَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَيُّمَا امْرَأَةٍ مَاتَتْ وَزَوْجُهَا عَنْهَا رَاضٍ دَخَلَتِ الْجَنَّةَ، وَكَانَ رَجُلٌ قَدْ خَرَجَ فِي سَفَرٍ وَعَهِدَ إِلَى امْرَأَتِهِ أَنْ لَا تَنْزِلَ مِنَ الْعُلْوِ إِلَى سُفْلِ الدَّارِ، وَكَانَ أَبُوهَا فِي السُّفْلِ، فَمَرِضَ أَبُوهَا فَأَرْسَلَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ تَسْتَأْذِنُ أَنْ تَنْزِلَ إِلَى أَبِيهَا.

waqāla ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾayyumā imraʾatin mātat wazawjuhā ʿanhā rāḍin dakhalati al-jannata, wakāna rajulun qad kharaja fī safarin waʿahida ʾilā imraʾatihi ʾan lā tanzila mina al-ʿulwi ʾilā sufli al-dāri, wakāna ʾabūhā fī al-sufli, famariḍa ʾabūhā faʾarsalati al-marʾatu tastaʾdhinu ʾan tanzila ʾilā ʾabīhā.

He, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Any woman who dies while her husband is pleased with her enters the Garden.” A man went on a journey and instructed his wife not to descend from the upper floor to the lower part of the house, where her father lived. Her father became ill, and she sent to ask permission to go down to him.

فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَطِيعِي زَوْجَكِ، فَمَاتَ أَبُوهَا فَاسْتَأْذَنَتْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنْ تَنْزِلَ إِلَيْهِ فَقَالَ: أَطِيعِي زَوْجَكِ، فَدُفِنَ أَبُوهَا. قَالَ: فَأَرْسَلَ إِلَيْهَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يُخْبِرُهَا أَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ غَفَرَ لِأَبِيهَا بِطَاعَتِهَا زَوْجَهَا.

faqāla rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾaṭīʿī zawjaki, famāta ʾabūhā fa-istaʾdhanat rasūla Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama ʾan tanzila ʾilayhi faqāla: ʾaṭīʿī zawjaki, fadufina ʾabūhā. qāla: faʾarsala ʾilayhā rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama yukhbiruhā ʾanna Allāha qad ghafara liʾabīhā biṭāʿatihā zawjahā.

God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Obey your husband.” Her father died, and she asked God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, for permission to go down to him. He said: “Obey your husband.” Her father was buried. Then God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, sent word that God had forgiven her father because she had obeyed her husband.

وَقَالَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: إِذَا صَلَّتِ الْمَرْأَةُ خَمْسَهَا وَصَامَتْ شَهْرَهَا وَحَفِظَتْ فَرْجَهَا وَأَطَاعَتْ زَوْجَهَا دَخَلَتْ جَنَّةَ رَبِّهَا، فَأَضَافَ طَاعَةَ الزَّوْجِ إِلَى أَبْنِيَةِ الْإِسْلَامِ الَّتِي لَا يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ إِلَّا بِهَا، وَاشْتَرَطَ طَاعَتَهُ لِدُخُولِهَا.

waqāla ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾidhā ṣallati al-marʾatu khamsahā waṣāmat shahrahā waḥafiẓat farjahā waʾaṭāʿat zawjahā dakhalat jannata rabbihā, faʾaḍāfa ṭāʿata al-zawji ʾilā ʾabniyati al-ʾislāmi allatī lā yadkhulu al-jannata ʾillā bihā, wa-ishtaraṭa ṭāʿatahu lidukhūlihā.

He, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “If a woman performs her five prayers, fasts her month, guards her chastity, and obeys her husband, she enters her Lord’s Garden.” He thus added obedience to the husband to the foundations of Islam without which one does not enter the Garden, making obedience to him a condition of her entry.

وَذَكَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ النِّسَاءَ فَقَالَ: حَامِلَاتٌ وَالِدَاتٌ مُرْضِعَاتٌ رَحِيمَاتٌ بِأَوْلَادِهِنَّ، لَوْلَا مَا تَأْتِينَ إِلَى أَزْوَاجِهِنَّ دَخَلَتْ مُصَلِّيَاتُهُنَّ الْجَنَّةَ وَقَالَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: اطَّلَعْتُ فِي النَّارِ فَرَأَيْتُ أَكْثَرَ أَهْلِهَا النِّسَاءَ، وَاطَّلَعْتُ فِي الْجَنَّةِ فَرَأَيْتُ أَقَلَّ أَهْلِهَا النِّسَاءَ.

wadhakara rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama al-nisāʾa faqāla: ḥāmilātun wālidātun murḍiʿātun raḥīmātun biʾawlādihinna, lawlā mā taʾtīna ʾilā ʾazwājihinna dakhalat muṣalliyātuhunna al-jannata waqāla ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: iṭṭalaʿtu fī al-nāri faraʾaytu ʾakthara ʾahlihā al-nisāʾa, wa-iṭṭalaʿtu fī al-jannati faraʾaytu ʾaqalla ʾahlihā al-nisāʾa.

God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, spoke of women: “They bear children, give birth, nurse, and show mercy to their children. Were it not for what you do toward their husbands, those among them who pray would enter the Garden.” He, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “I looked into the Fire and saw that most of its inhabitants were women; I looked into the Garden and saw that women were the fewest of its inhabitants.”

فَقُلْتُ: أَيْنَ النِّسَاءُ؟ فَقِيلَ: شَغَلَهُنَّ الْأَحْمَرَانِ الذَّهَبُ وَالزَّعْفَرَانُ يَعْنِي الْحُلِيَّ وَلُبْسَ الْمُصَبَّغَاتِ كَانَتِ الْعَرَبُ مُشْتَهِرَةً بِذَلِكَ وَقَالَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: تَصَدَّقْنَ مِنْ حُلِيِّكُنَّ فَإِنِّي رَأَيْتُكُنَّ أَكْثَرَ أَهْلِ النَّارِ.

faqultu: ʾayna al-nisāʾu? faqīla: shaghalahunna al-ʾaḥmarāni al-dhahabu wa-al-zaʿfarānu yaʿnī al-ḥuliyya walubsa al-muṣabbaghāti kānati al-ʿarabu mushtahiratan bi-dhālika waqāla ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: taṣaddaqna min ḥuliyyikunna faʾinnī raʾaytukunna ʾakthara ʾahli al-nāri.

“I asked: ‘Where are the women?’ It was said: ‘The two red things preoccupied them: gold and saffron,’” meaning jewelry and wearing dyed garments, for which Arab women were known. He, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Give charity from your jewelry, for I saw that you were most of the people of the Fire.”

قُلْنَ: لِمَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ؟ قَالَ: تُكْثِرْنَ اللَّعْنَ وَتَكْفُرْنَ الْعَشِيرَ يَعْنِي الزَّوْجَ الْمُعَاشِرَ، تَكْفُرْنَ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكُنَّ فَلِذَلِكَ قَالَتِ الْفَتَاةُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ فَلَا أَتَزَوَّجُ. رَوَيْنَا عَنْ أُمِّ عَبْدٍ الْمُغْنِيَةِ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا.

qulna: lima yā rasūla Allāhi? qāla: tukthirna al-laʿna watakfurna al-ʿashīra yaʿnī al-zawja al-muʿāshira, takfurna niʿmatahu ʿalaykunna fali-dhālika qālati al-fatātu: yā rasūla Allāhi falā ʾatazawwaju. rawaynā ʿan ʾummi ʿabdin al-mughniyati ʿan ʿāʾishata raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā.

They asked: “Why, Messenger of God?” He answered: “You curse often and are ungrateful to your intimate companion,” meaning the husband who lives with you; you deny his kindness to you. For that reason the young woman said: “Messenger of God, then I shall not marry.” We have related from Umm ʿAbd al-Mughniya, from ʿĀʾisha, may God be pleased with her.

قَالَتْ: أَتَتْ فَتَاةٌ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَتْ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، إِنِّي فَتَاةٌ أُخْطَبُ وَإِنِّي أَكْرَهُ التَّزْوِيجَ فَمَا حَقُّ الزَّوْجِ عَلَى الْمَرْأَةِ؟ فَقَالَ: لَوْ كَانَ مِنْ فَرْقِهِ إِلَى قَدَمِهِ صَدِيدًا فَلَحِسَتْهُ مَا أَدَّتْ شُكْرَهُ قَالَتْ: فَلَا أَتَزَوَّجُ قَالَ: بَلَى فَتَزَوَّجِي فَإِنَّهُ خَيْرٌ.

qālat: ʾatat fatātun ʾilā al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama faqālat: yā rasūla Allāhi, ʾinnī fatātun ʾukhṭabu waʾinnī ʾakrahu al-tazwīja famā ḥaqqu al-zawji ʿalā al-marʾati? faqāla: law kāna min farqihi ʾilā qadamihi ṣadīdan falaḥisat-hu mā ʾaddat shukrahu qālat: falā ʾatazawwaju qāla: balā fatazawwajī faʾinnahu khayrun.

She said: “A young woman came to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and said: ‘Messenger of God, I receive proposals but dislike marriage. What right does a husband have over a woman?’ He answered: ‘If he were covered in pus from the crown of his head to his foot and she licked it off, she would not have repaid his due gratitude.’ She said: ‘Then I shall not marry.’ He said: ‘Do marry; it is better.’”

فَهَذَا مُجْمَلُ خَبَرِ الْخَثْعَمِيَّةِ وَقَدْ فُسِّرَ حَقُّهُ فِي حَدِيثِهَا، وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ أَنَّ امْرَأَةً مِنْ خَثْعَمَ أَتَتِ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَتْ: إِنِّي امْرَأَةٌ أَيِّمٌ، وَإِنِّي أُرِيدُ أَنْ أَتَزَوَّجَ فَمَا حَقُّ الزَّوْجِ؟

fa-hādhā mujmalu khabari al-khathʿamiyyati waqad fussira ḥaqquhu fī ḥadīthihā, warawaynā ʿan ʿikrimata ʿani ibni ʿabbāsin ʾanna imraʾatan min khathʿama ʾatati al-nabiyya ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama faqālat: ʾinnī imraʾatun ʾayyimun, waʾinnī ʾurīdu ʾan ʾatazawwaja famā ḥaqqu al-zawji?

This is the general account of the Khathʿamī woman’s report; his rights are explained in her tradition. We have related from ʿIkrima, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that a woman of Khathʿam came to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and said: “I am an unmarried woman and wish to marry. What is the husband’s right?”

فَقَالَ: إِنَّ مِنْ حَقِّ الزَّوْجِ عَلَى الزَّوْجَةِ إِذَا أَرَادَهَا عَلَى نَفْسِهَا وَهِيَ عَلَى ظَهْرِ بَعِيرٍ أَنْ لَا تَمْنَعَهُ، وَفِي الْخَبَرِ الْجَامِعِ لِفَضَائِلِ الزَّوْجِ: أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: لَوْ أَمَرْتُ أَحَدًا أَنْ يَسْجُدَ لِشَيْءٍ سِوَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى لَأَمَرْتُ الْمَرْأَةَ تَسْجُدُ لِزَوْجِهَا مِنْ عِظَمِ حَقِّهِ عَلَيْهَا.

faqāla: ʾinna min ḥaqqi al-zawji ʿalā al-zawjati ʾidhā ʾarādahā ʿalā nafsihā wahiya ʿalā ẓahri baʿīrin ʾan lā tamnaʿahu, wafī al-khabari al-jāmiʿi lifaḍāʾili al-zawji: ʾanna al-nabiyya ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama qāla: law ʾamartu ʾaḥadan ʾan yasjuda lishayʾin siwā Allāhi taʿālā laʾamartu al-marʾata tasjudu lizawjihā min ʿiẓami ḥaqqihi ʿalayhā.

He answered: “Among the husband’s rights over his wife is that, if he desires her sexually while she is on a camel’s back, she should not refuse him.” In the report gathering the husband’s privileges, the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “If I commanded anyone to prostrate to anything besides God, exalted is He, I would command the woman to prostrate to her husband, because of the greatness of his right over her.”

وَمِنْ حَقِّهِ أَنْ لَا تُعْطِيَ شَيْئًا مِنْ بَيْتِهِ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ فَإِنْ فَعَلَتْ ذَلِكَ كَانَ الْإِثْمُ عَلَيْهَا وَالْأَجْرُ لَهُ، وَمِنْ حَقِّهِ أَنَّهَا لَا تَصُومُ تَطَوُّعًا إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ فَإِنْ فَعَلَتْ جَاعَتْ وَعَطِشَتْ

wamin ḥaqqihi ʾan lā tuʿṭiya shayʾan min baytihi ʾillā biʾidhnihi faʾin faʿalat dhālika kāna al-ʾithmu ʿalayhā wa-al-ʾajru lahu, wamin ḥaqqihi ʾannahā lā taṣūmu taṭawwuʿan ʾillā biʾidhnihi faʾin faʿalat jāʿat waʿaṭishat

Among his rights is that she give nothing from his house without his permission; if she does, the sin is hers and the reward his. Another is that she not fast voluntarily without his permission. If she does, she goes hungry and thirsty

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤١٧

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 417

Volume Two, page 417

وَلَمْ يُقْبَلْ مِنْهَا، وَمِنْ حَقِّهِ أَنْ لَا تَخْرُجَ مِنْ بَيْتِهَا إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ فَإِنْ فَعَلَتْ لَعَنَتْهَا الْمَلَائِكَةُ حَتَّى تَرْجِعَ إِلَى بَيْتِهَا أَوْ تَتُوبَ، وَيَنْبَغِي أَنْ تَعْرِضَ نَفْسَهَا عَلَيْهِ فِي كُلِّ لَيْلَةٍ.

walam yuqbal minhā, wamin ḥaqqihi ʾan lā takhruja min baytihā ʾillā biʾidhnihi faʾin faʿalat laʿanat-hā al-malāʾikatu ḥattā tarjiʿa ʾilā baytihā ʾaw tatūba, wayanbaghī ʾan taʿriḍa nafsahā ʿalayhi fī kulli laylatin.

and it is not accepted from her. Among his rights is that she not leave her house without his permission; if she does, the angels curse her until she returns home or repents. She should offer herself to him every night.

وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَقْرَبُ مَا تَكُونُ الْمَرْأَةُ مِنْ وَجْهِ رَبِّهَا عَزَّ وَجَلَّ إِذَا كَانَتْ فِي قَعْرِ بَيْتِهَا، وَإِنَّ صَلَاتَهَا فِي صَحْنِ دَارِهَا أَفْضَلُ مِنْ صَلَاتِهَا فِي الْمَسْجِدِ، وَصَلَاتَهَا فِي بَيْتِهَا أَفْضَلُ مِنْ صَلَاتِهَا فِي صَحْنِ دَارِهَا، وَصَلَاتَهَا فِي مِخْدَعِهَا أَفْضَلُ مِنْ صَلَاتِهَا فِي بَيْتِهَا.

warawaynā ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾaqrabu mā takūnu al-marʾatu min wajhi rabbihā ʿazza wajalla ʾidhā kānat fī qaʿri baytihā, waʾinna ṣalātahā fī ṣaḥni dārihā ʾafḍalu min ṣalātihā fī al-masjidi, waṣalātahā fī baytihā ʾafḍalu min ṣalātihā fī ṣaḥni dārihā, waṣalātahā fī mikhdaʿihā ʾafḍalu min ṣalātihā fī baytihā.

We have related from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “A woman is closest to the face of her Lord, mighty and majestic, when she is in the innermost part of her house. Her prayer in her courtyard is better than her prayer in the mosque; her prayer in her room is better than in her courtyard; and her prayer in her inner chamber is better than in her room.”

وَالْمِخْدَعُ بَيْتٌ فِي بَيْتٍ وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهَا عَوْرَةٌ فَمَا كَانَ أَسْتَرَ لَهَا فَهُوَ أَسْلَمُ، وَالْأَسْلَمُ هُوَ الْأَفْضَلُ كَيْفَ وَقَدْ رُوِيَ أَنَّ الْمَرْأَةَ عَوْرَةٌ فَإِذَا خَرَجَتِ اسْتَشْرَفَهَا الشَّيْطَانُ، وَفِي حَدِيثٍ غَرِيبٍ أَنَّ لِلْمَرْأَةِ عَشْرَ عَوْرَاتٍ، فَإِذَا تَزَوَّجَتْ سَتَرَ الزَّوْجُ عَوْرَةً وَاحِدَةً، فَإِذَا مَاتَتْ سَتَرَ الْقَبْرُ عَشْرَ عَوْرَاتٍ.

wa-al-mikhdaʿu baytun fī baytin wa-dhālika ʾannahā ʿawratun famā kāna ʾastara lahā fahuwa ʾaslamu, wa-al-ʾaslamu huwa al-ʾafḍalu kayfa waqad ruwiya ʾanna al-marʾata ʿawratun faʾidhā kharajati istashrafahā al-shayṭānu, wafī ḥadīthin gharībin ʾanna li-l-marʾati ʿashra ʿawrātin, faʾidhā tazawwajat satara al-zawju ʿawratan wāḥidatan, faʾidhā mātat satara al-qabru ʿashra ʿawrātin.

The inner chamber is a room within a room. This is because she is something to be kept covered: greater concealment is safer, and what is safer is better. Indeed, it is related that a woman is something to be kept covered, and when she goes out Satan raises his gaze toward her. An unusual tradition says that a woman has ten vulnerabilities: when she marries, her husband covers one vulnerability, and when she dies, the grave covers all ten.

فَإِنْ أَمَرَهَا بِمَا يُصْلِحُهَا مِمَّا أُبِيحَ لَهُمَا فَخَالَفَتْهُ وَعَظَهَا وَزَجَرَهَا، فَإِنْ عَادَتْ لِخِلَافِهِ هَجَرَهَا فِي الْمَضْجَعِ فَبَعْضُ الْعُلَمَاءِ يَقُولُ: يُوَلِّيهَا ظَهْرَهُ وَبَعْضُهُمْ يَقُولُ: يَعْتَزِلُ فِرَاشَهَا فِي لَيْلَةٍ إِلَى ثَلَاثٍ إِلَى سَبْعِ لَيَالٍ.

faʾin ʾamarahā bimā yuṣliḥuhā mimmā ʾubīḥa lahumā fakhālafat-hu waʿaẓahā wazajarahā, faʾin ʿādat likhilāfihi hajarahā fī al-maḍjaʿi fabaʿḍu al-ʿulamāʾi yaqūlu: yuwallīhā ẓahrahu wabaʿḍuhum yaqūlu: yaʿtazilu firāshahā fī laylatin ʾilā thalāthin ʾilā sabʿi layālin.

If he commands what will improve her in matters permitted to them both and she disobeys, he admonishes and rebukes her. If she repeats her opposition, he forsakes her in the bed. Some scholars say that he turns his back to her; others, that he stays away from her bed for one night, up to three, up to seven nights.

فَإِنْ لَمْ يَنْجَحْ فِيهَا ذَلِكَ وَلَمْ تُبَالِ بِهِ ضَرَبَهَا وَالْعُلَمَاءُ يَقُولُونَ: ضَرْبًا غَيْرَ مُبَرِّحٍ وَتَفْسِيرُهُ أَنْ لَا يَكْسِرَ لَهَا عَظْمًا وَلَا يُدْمِيَ لَهَا جِسْمًا، وَلَهُ أَنْ يَغْضَبَ عَلَيْهَا فِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْ أُمُورِ الدِّينِ مِنْ عَشَرَةِ أَيَّامٍ إِلَى شَهْرٍ.

faʾin lam yanjaḥ fīhā dhālika walam tubāli bihi ḍarabahā wa-al-ʿulamāʾu yaqūlūna: ḍarban ghayra mubarriḥin watafsīruhu ʾan lā yaksira lahā ʿaẓman walā yudmiya lahā jisman, walahu ʾan yaghḍaba ʿalayhā fī al-ʾamri min ʾumūri al-dīni min ʿasharati ʾayyāmin ʾilā shahrin.

If this has no effect and she pays it no heed, he strikes her. The scholars say: “A beating that does not cause severe injury,” explained as not breaking a bone or making her body bleed. He may remain angry with her over a religious matter for ten days to a month.

فَقَدْ غَضِبَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ شَهْرًا فِي كَلَامٍ كَلَّمَهُ بَعْضُ أَزْوَاجِهِ، فَأَرْسَلَ بِهَدِيَّةٍ إِلَى بَيْتِ زَيْنَبَ فَرَدَّتْهَا عَلَيْهِ فَقَالَتْ لَهُ الَّتِي هُوَ فِي بَيْتِهَا: لَقَدْ أَقْمَتْكَ إِذْ رَدَّتْ عَلَيْكَ هَدِيَّتَكَ فَقَالَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَنْتُنَّ أَهْوَنُ عَلَى اللَّهِ أَنْ تُقْمِينَنِي، ثُمَّ غَضِبَ عَلَيْهِنَّ كُلِّهِنَّ شَهْرًا.

faqad ghaḍiba rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama shahran fī kalāmin kallamahu baʿḍu ʾazwājihi, faʾarsala bihadiyyatin ʾilā bayti zaynaba faraddat-hā ʿalayhi faqālat lahu allatī huwa fī baytihā: laqad ʾaqmatka ʾidh raddat ʿalayka hadiyyataka faqāla ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾantunna ʾahwanu ʿalā Allāhi ʾan tuqmīnanī, thumma ghaḍiba ʿalayhinna kullihinna shahran.

God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, remained angry for a month over words spoken by one of his wives. He sent a gift to Zaynab’s house, and she returned it. The wife in whose house he was staying said: “She has humiliated you by returning your gift.” He, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “You are too insignificant before God to humiliate me.” Then he remained angry with all of them for a month.

وَمَعْنَى أَقْمَتْكَ اسْتَصْغَرَتْكَ وَأَذَلَّتْكَ فَهَذِهِ كَلِمَةٌ مِنَ الْإِتْبَاعِ، تَقُولُ الْعَرَبُ: أَذْلَلْتُهُ وَأَقْمَيْتُهُ وَيَقُولُونَ: لَتَفْعَلَنَّ كَذَا صَاغِرًا قَمِيًّا، وَمَا زَالَ كَذَلِكَ حَتَّى ذَلَّ وَقَمِيَ فَيَبْتَغُونَ بِهَذِهِ الْكَلِمَةِ السَّبَّ بِالتَّصْغِيرِ وَالتَّذَلُّلِ، لِلْمُبَالَغَةِ فِي الْوَصْفِ وَلَا يَنْبَغِي أَنْ يَقْتُرَ عَلَى أَهْلِهِ مِنَ الْإِنْفَاقِ.

wamaʿnā ʾaqmatka istaṣgharatka waʾadhallatka fa-hādhihi kalimatun mina al-ʾitbāʿi, taqūlu al-ʿarabu: ʾadhlaltuhu waʾaqmaytuhu wayaqūlūna: latafʿalanna kadhā ṣāghiran qamiyyan, wamā zāla kadhālika ḥattā dhalla waqamiya fayabtaghūna bi-hādhihi al-kalimati al-sabba bi-al-taṣghīri wa-al-tadhalluli, li-l-mubālaghati fī al-waṣfi walā yanbaghī ʾan yaqtura ʿalā ʾahlihi mina al-ʾinfāqi.

Aqmatka means “she belittled and humiliated you.” This is an emphatic companion-word construction: the Arabs say, “I abased him and humbled him,” and, “You shall do this, lowly and abject,” or, “He remained thus until he became lowly and abject.” With this expression they intend disparagement through belittlement and abasement, intensifying the description. A man should not be stingy in spending on his household.

وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: خَيْرُكُمْ خَيْرُكُمْ لِأَهْلِهِ، وَكَانَ لِعَلِيٍّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ أَرْبَعُ نِسْوَةٍ، وَكَانَ يَشْتَرِي لِكُلِّ وَاحِدَةٍ فِي كُلِّ أَرْبَعَةِ أَيَّامٍ بِدِرْهَمٍ لَحْمًا وَقَالَ الْحَسَنُ: كَانُوا فِي الرِّحَالِ مَخَاصِيبَ، وَفِي الْأَثَاثِ وَالثِّيَابِ تَقَارُبٌ.

warawaynā ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: khayrukum khayrukum liʾahlihi, wakāna liʿaliyyin ʿalayhi al-salāmu ʾarbaʿu niswatin, wakāna yashtarī likulli wāḥidatin fī kulli ʾarbaʿati ʾayyāmin bidirhamin laḥman waqāla al-ḥasanu: kānū fī al-riḥāli makhāṣība, wafī al-ʾathāthi wa-al-thiyābi taqārubun.

We have related from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “The best of you is the best to his household.” ʿAlī, peace be upon him, had four wives and bought each a dirham’s worth of meat every four days. Al-Ḥasan said: “They lived generously in their households, while remaining moderate in furnishings and clothing.”

وَقَالَ ابْنُ سِيرِينَ: أَسْتَحِبُّ لِلرَّجُلِ أَنْ يَعْمَلَ لِأَهْلِهِ فِي كُلِّ شَهْرٍ فَالُوذَجَةً وَإِنْ كَانَتْ مِنْ أَهْلِهِ زَلَّةٌ أَوْ هَفْوَةٌ احْتَمَلَ ذَلِكَ وَرَفَقَ بِهَا وَلَمْ يَعْسِفْهَا، وَفِي الْحَدِيثِ: خُلِقَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ مِنْ ضِلَعٍ أَعْوَجَ إِنْ قَوَّمْتَهُ كَسَرْتَهُ وَإِنْ تَرَكْتَهَا اسْتَمْتَعْتَ بِهَا عَلَى عِوَجٍ، وَفِي لَفْظٍ حَسَنٍ: وَكَسْرُهَا طَلَاقُهَا.

waqāla ibnu sīrīna: ʾastaḥibbu li-l-rajuli ʾan yaʿmala liʾahlihi fī kulli shahrin fālūdhajatan waʾin kānat min ʾahlihi zallatun ʾaw hafwatun iḥtamala dhālika warafaqa bihā walam yaʿsifhā, wafī al-ḥadīthi: khuliqati al-marʾatu min ḍilaʿin ʾaʿwaja ʾin qawwamtahu kasartahu waʾin taraktahā istamtaʿta bihā ʿalā ʿiwajin, wafī lafẓin ḥasanin: wakasruhā ṭalāquhā.

Ibn Sīrīn said: “I like a man to make his household a sweet pudding every month.” If his wife slips or errs, he should bear it, treat her gently, and not handle her harshly. A tradition says: “Woman was created from a crooked rib. If you straighten it, you break it; if you leave her, you enjoy her company despite the crookedness.” A fine wording adds: “Breaking her means divorcing her.”

وَقَدْ كَانَ أَزْوَاجُ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يُرَاجِعْنَهُ الْقَوْلَ وَتَهْجُرُهُ إِحْدَاهُنَّ يَوْمًا إِلَى اللَّيْلِ، وَدَفَعَتْ إِحْدَاهُنَّ فِي صَدْرِهِ فَزَجَرَتْهَا أُمُّهَا فَقَالَ: دَعِيهَا، فَإِنَّهُنَّ يَصْنَعْنَ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ هَذَا.

waqad kāna ʾazwāju al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama yurājiʿnahu al-qawla watahjuruhu ʾiḥdāhunna yawman ʾilā al-layli, wadafaʿat ʾiḥdāhunna fī ṣadrihi fazajarat-hā ʾummuhā faqāla: daʿīhā, faʾinnahunna yaṣnaʿna ʾakthara min hādhā.

The wives of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to answer him back, and one might refuse to speak to him from morning until night. One pushed him in the chest, and her mother rebuked her. He said: “Leave her; they do more than this.”

وَجَرَى بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا كَلَامٌ حَتَّى أَدْخَلَ أَبَا بَكْرٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ بَيْنَهُمَا حَكَمًا وَاسْتَشْهَدَ فَقَالَ لَهَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: تَكَلَّمِينَ أَوْ أَتَكَلَّمُ؟ قَالَتْ: بَلْ تَكَلَّمْ أَنْتَ وَلَكِنْ لَا تَقُلْ إِلَّا حَقًّا.

wajarā baynahu wabayna ʿāʾishata raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā kalāmun ḥattā ʾadkhala ʾabā bakrin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu baynahumā ḥakaman wa-istashhada faqāla lahā rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: takallamīna ʾaw ʾatakallamu? qālat: bal takallam ʾanta wa-lākin lā taqul ʾillā ḥaqqan.

Words passed between him and ʿĀʾisha, may God be pleased with her, until he brought Abū Bakr, may God be pleased with him, between them as an arbiter and called him as a witness. God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, asked her: “Will you speak, or shall I?” She answered: “You speak, but say only the truth.”

فَلَطَمَهَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ حَتَّى دَمِيَ فُوهَا وَقَالَ: أَيْ عَدُوَّةَ نَفْسِهَا، أَوَيَقُولُ غَيْرَ

falaṭamahā ʾabū bakrin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu ḥattā damiya fūhā waqāla: ʾay ʿaduwwata nafsihā, ʾawayaqūlu ghayra

Abū Bakr, may God be pleased with him, slapped her until her mouth bled and said: “You enemy of yourself! Does he say anything other than

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤١٨

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 418

Volume Two, page 418

الْحَقِّ؟ بَلْ أَنْتِ وَأَبُوكِ تَقُولَانِ الْبَاطِلَ وَلَا يَقُولُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِلَّا حَقًّا، نُصْرَةً لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَغَضَبًا لَهُ حَتَّى اسْتَجَارَتْ بِالنَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَقَعَدَتْ خَلْفَ ظَهْرِهِ فَقَالَ لَهُ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: لَمْ نَدْعُكَ لِهَذَا وَلَمْ نُرِدْ هَذَا مِنْكَ.

al-ḥaqqi? bal ʾanti waʾabūki taqūlāni al-bāṭila walā yaqūlu rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama ʾillā ḥaqqan, nuṣratan lirasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama waghaḍaban lahu ḥattā istajārat bi-al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama waqaʿadat khalfa ẓahrihi faqāla lahu al-nabiyyu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: lam nadʿuka li-hādhā walam nurid hādhā minka.

the truth? Rather, you and your father speak falsehood; God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, speaks only truth.” He said this in support of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, and out of anger on his behalf, until she sought refuge with the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and sat behind his back. The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, told him: “We did not call you for this, nor did we want this from you.”

وَقَالَتْ لَهُ مَرَّةً فِي كَلَامٍ غَضِبَتْ عِنْدَهُ: أَنْتَ الَّذِي تَزْعُمُ أَنَّكَ نَبِيٌّ؟ فَتَبَسَّمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ حِلْمًا وَكَرَمًا، وَكَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ لِعَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا: إِنِّي لَأَعْرِفُ غَضَبَكِ مِنْ رِضَاكِ قَالَتْ: وَكَيْفَ تَعْرِفُ ذَلِكَ؟

waqālat lahu marratan fī kalāmin ghaḍibat ʿindahu: ʾanta alladhī tazʿumu ʾannaka nabiyyun? fatabassama rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama ḥilman wakaraman, wakāna rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama yaqūlu liʿāʾishata raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā: ʾinnī laʾaʿrifu ghaḍabaki min riḍāki qālat: wakayfa taʿrifu dhālika?

Once, in an exchange that angered her, she said to him: “Are you the one who claims to be a prophet?” God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, smiled with forbearance and generosity. God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to tell ʿĀʾisha, may God be pleased with her: “I can distinguish your anger from your contentment.” She asked: “How do you know?”

قَالَ: إِنْ رَضِيتِ قُلْتِ: لَا وَإِلَهِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَإِذَا غَضِبْتِ قُلْتِ: لَا وَإِلَهِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ قَالَتْ: صَدَقْتَ إِنَّمَا أَهْجُرُ اسْمَكَ وَقَدْ كَانَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَمْزَحُ مَعَ أَزْوَاجِهِ وَيُقَارِبُهُنَّ فِي عُقُولِهِنَّ فِي الْمُعَامَلَةِ وَالْأَخْلَاقِ.

qāla: ʾin raḍīti qulti: lā wa-ʾilāhi muḥammadin waʾidhā ghaḍibti qulti: lā wa-ʾilāhi ʾibrāhīma qālat: ṣadaqta ʾinnamā ʾahjuru ismaka waqad kāna ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama yamzaḥu maʿa ʾazwājihi wayuqāribuhunna fī ʿuqūlihinna fī al-muʿāmalati wa-al-ʾakhlāqi.

He said: “When you are content, you say, ‘No, by the God of Muḥammad.’ When you are angry, you say, ‘No, by the God of Abraham.’” She replied: “You are right; it is only your name that I forsake.” He, may God bless him and grant him peace, would joke with his wives and meet them at the level of their understanding in his dealings and manners.

وَفِي الْخَبَرِ: كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مِنْ أَفْكَهِ النَّاسِ مَعَ نِسَائِهِ، وَقَدْ كَانَ لُقْمَانُ الْحَكِيمُ يَقُولُ: الْعَاقِلُ فِي بَيْتِهِ وَمَعَ أَهْلِهِ كَالصَّبِيِّ فَإِذَا كَانَ فِي الْقَوْمِ وُجِدَ رَجُلًا، وَفِي تَفْسِيرِ الْخَبَرِ الْمَرْوِيِّ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُبْغِضُ الْجَعْظَرِيَّ الْجَوَّاظَ قِيلَ: هُوَ الشَّدِيدُ عَلَى أَهْلِهِ الْمُتَكَبِّرُ فِي نَفْسِهِ.

wafī al-khabari: kāna rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama min ʾafkahi al-nāsi maʿa nisāʾihi, waqad kāna luqmānu al-ḥakīmu yaqūlu: al-ʿāqilu fī baytihi wamaʿa ʾahlihi ka-al-ṣabiyyi faʾidhā kāna fī al-qawmi wujida rajulan, wafī tafsīri al-khabari al-marwiyyi ʾanna Allāha yubghiḍu al-jaʿẓariyya al-jawwāẓa qīla: huwa al-shadīdu ʿalā ʾahlihi al-mutakabbiru fī nafsihi.

A report says that God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, was among the most playful people with his wives. Luqmān the Wise used to say: “The sensible man is like a child at home with his family; among people, he is found to be a man.” The transmitted report that God hates the coarse, swaggering man is explained as one who is harsh with his household and conceited within himself.

وَفِي أَحَدِ الْمَعَانِي فِي قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (عُتُلٍّ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ زَنِيمٍ)، قِيلَ: الْفَظُّ اللِّسَانِ الْغَلِيظُ الْقَلْبِ عَلَى أَهْلِهِ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ يَمِينُهُ، وَرَوَيْنَا فِي الْخَبَرِ: غَيْرَةٌ يُبْغِضُهَا اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، غَيْرَةُ الرَّجُلِ عَلَى أَهْلِهِ فِي غَيْرِ رِيبَةٍ كَأَنَّهُ يَكُونُ مِنْ سُوءِ الظَّنِّ الَّذِي نَهَى اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَرَسُولُهُ عَنْهُ.

wafī ʾaḥadi al-maʿānī fī qawlihi ʿazza wajalla: (ʿutullin baʿda dhālika zanīmin), qīla: al-faẓẓu al-lisāni al-ghalīẓu al-qalbi ʿalā ʾahlihi wamā malakat yamīnuhu, warawaynā fī al-khabari: ghayratun yubghiḍuhā Allāhu ʿazza wajalla, ghayratu al-rajuli ʿalā ʾahlihi fī ghayri rībatin kaʾannahu yakūnu min sūʾi al-ẓanni alladhī nahā Allāhu ʿazza wajalla warasūluhu ʿanhu.

One interpretation of the saying of God, mighty and majestic, “Brutish, and moreover base-born,” is: harsh-tongued and hard-hearted toward his household and those he owns. We have related: “A jealousy that God, mighty and majestic, hates is a man’s jealousy over his wife without grounds for suspicion.” It is as though this belongs to the ill suspicion that God, mighty and majestic, and His Messenger forbade.

وَرَوَيْنَا عَنْ عَلِيٍّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ: لَا تُكْثِرِ الْغَيْرَةَ عَلَى أَهْلِكَ فَتُرْمَى بِالسُّوءِ مِنْ أَجْلِكَ وَلَعَمْرِي إِنَّ الْغَيْرَةَ لَهَا حَدٌّ فَإِذَا جَاوَزَهَا الرَّجُلُ قَصَّرَ عَنِ الْوَاجِبِ وَزَادَ عَلَى الْحَقِّ، وَقَدْ كَانَ الْحَسَنُ يَقُولُ: أَتَدَعُونَ نِسَاءَكُمْ يُزَاحِمْنَ الْعُلُوجَ فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ قَبَّحَ اللَّهُ مَنْ لَا يَغَارُ.

warawaynā ʿan ʿaliyyin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu: lā tukthiri al-ghayrata ʿalā ʾahlika faturmā bi-al-sūʾi min ʾajlika walaʿamrī ʾinna al-ghayrata lahā ḥaddun faʾidhā jāwazahā al-rajulu qaṣṣara ʿani al-wājibi wazāda ʿalā al-ḥaqqi, waqad kāna al-ḥasanu yaqūlu: ʾatadaʿūna nisāʾakum yuzāḥimna al-ʿulūja fī al-ʾaswāqi qabbaḥa Allāhu man lā yaghāru.

We have related from ʿAlī, may God be pleased with him: “Do not be excessively jealous over your wife, lest she be accused of evil because of you.” By my life, jealousy has a limit; when a man passes it, he falls short of duty and exceeds what is right. Al-Ḥasan used to say: “Do you let your women jostle with foreign men in the markets? May God disgrace a man without jealousy.”

وَقَدْ قَالَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: لَا تَمْنَعُوا إِمَاءَ اللَّهِ مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ فَقَالَ بَعْضُ وَلَدِهِ: بَلَى وَاللَّهِ نَمْنَعُهُنَّ فَضَرَبَهُ وَغَضِبَ عَلَيْهِ وَقَالَ: تَسْمَعُنِي أَقُولُ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: لَا تَمْنَعُوهُنَّ وَتَقُولُ: بَلَى تَمْنَعُهُنَّ؟

waqad qāla ibnu ʿumara raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhumā ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: lā tamnaʿū ʾimāʾa Allāhi masājida Allāhi faqāla baʿḍu waladihi: balā wa-Allāhi namnaʿuhunna faḍarabahu waghaḍiba ʿalayhi waqāla: tasmaʿunī ʾaqūlu: qāla rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: lā tamnaʿūhunna wataqūlu: balā tamnaʿuhunna?

Ibn ʿUmar, may God be pleased with them both, related from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Do not prevent God’s female servants from God’s mosques.” One of his sons said: “By God, we shall prevent them!” He struck him and became angry, saying: “You hear me say that God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Do not prevent them,’ and you say, ‘Yes, you will prevent them’?”

وَقَدْ قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (قَدْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدْرًا)، وَقَالَ بَعْضُ الْحُكَمَاءِ: مَنْ جَاوَزَ الشَّيْءَ فَمَذْمُومٌ كَمَنْ قَصَّرَ عَنْهُ، فَلَا بَأْسَ بِالْحُرَّةِ الْعَفِيفَةِ أَنْ تَخْرُجَ لِشَيْءٍ لَا بُدَّ لَهَا مِنْهُ مِنْ قَضَاءِ حَوَائِجِهَا.

waqad qāla Allāhu ʿazza wajalla: (qad jaʿala Allāhu likulli shayʾin qadran), waqāla baʿḍu al-ḥukamāʾi: man jāwaza al-shayʾa famadhmūmun kaman qaṣṣara ʿanhu, falā baʾsa bi-al-ḥurrati al-ʿafīfati ʾan takhruja lishayʾin lā budda lahā minhu min qaḍāʾi ḥawāʾijihā.

God, mighty and majestic, said: “God has appointed a measure for everything.” A sage said: “Whoever goes beyond a thing is blameworthy like one who falls short of it.” There is no harm, then, in a free, chaste woman going out to attend to a necessary need.

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أُذِنَ لَكُنَّ أَنْ تَخْرُجْنَ فِي حَوَائِجِكُنَّ كَذَلِكَ تَخْرُجْنَ فِي الْأَعْيَادِ خَاصَّةً، أَطْلَقَ ذَلِكَ لَهُنَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَلَكِنْ لَا يَخْرُجْنَ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ أَزْوَاجِهِنَّ وَعَنْ رِضَاهُمْ، وَلَا يَخْرُجْنَ أَيْضًا إِلَّا فِيمَا يَعْنِي مِمَّا لَا بُدَّ مِنْهُ.

qāla rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾudhina lakunna ʾan takhrujna fī ḥawāʾijikunna kadhālika takhrujna fī al-ʾaʿyādi khāṣṣatan, ʾaṭlaqa dhālika lahunna rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama wa-lākin lā yakhrujna ʾillā biʾidhni ʾazwājihinna waʿan riḍāhum, walā yakhrujna ʾayḍan ʾillā fīmā yaʿnī mimmā lā budda minhu.

God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “You have been permitted to go out for your needs.” They also go out especially on feast days; God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, allowed them this. They should nevertheless go only with their husbands’ permission and approval, and only for relevant, necessary matters.

وَمَهْمَا اسْتَغْنَيْنَ عَنِ الْخُرُوجِ، وَأَنْ لَا يَرَاهُنَّ رَجُلٌ فَهُوَ أَفْضَلُ لَهُنَّ وَأَصْلَحُ لِقُلُوبِهِنَّ، وَرَوَيْنَا أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ لِابْنَتِهِ فَاطِمَةَ عَلَيْهَا السَّلَامُ: يَا بُنَيَّةُ، أَيُّ شَيْءٍ خَيْرٌ لِلْمَرْأَةِ؟ فَقَالَتْ: أَنْ لَا تَرَى رَجُلًا وَلَا يَرَاهَا رَجُلٌ، فَضَمَّهَا إِلَيْهِ وَقَالَ: ذُرِّيَّةٌ بَعْضُهَا مِنْ بَعْضٍ.

wamahmā istaghnayna ʿani al-khurūji, waʾan lā yarāhunna rajulun fahuwa ʾafḍalu lahunna waʾaṣlaḥu liqulūbihinna, warawaynā ʾanna rasūla Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama qāla li-ibnatihi fāṭimata ʿalayhā al-salāmu: yā bunayyatu, ʾayyu shayʾin khayrun li-l-marʾati? faqālat: ʾan lā tarā rajulan walā yarāhā rajulun, faḍammahā ʾilayhi waqāla: dhurriyyatun baʿḍuhā min baʿḍin.

Whenever they can dispense with going out and with being seen by a man, that is better for them and sounder for their hearts. We have related that God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, asked his daughter Fāṭima, peace be upon her: “My dear daughter, what is best for a woman?” She answered: “That she see no man and no man see her.” He drew her close and said: “Offspring, one from another.”

وَكَانَ أَصْحَابُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَسُدُّونَ الثُّقَبَ وَالْكُوَى فِي الْحِيطَانِ لِئَلَّا يَطَّلِعَ النِّسْوَانُ، وَرَوَيْنَا أَنَّ مُعَاذًا رَأَى امْرَأَةً تَطَّلِعُ مِنْ كُوَّةٍ فِي الْجِدَارِ فَضَرَبَهَا، وَأَنَّ امْرَأَتَهُ دَفَعَتْ

wakāna ʾaṣḥābu rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama yasuddūna al-thuqaba wa-al-kuwā fī al-ḥīṭāni liʾallā yaṭṭaliʿa al-niswānu, warawaynā ʾanna muʿādhan raʾā imraʾatan taṭṭaliʿu min kuwwatin fī al-jidāri faḍarabahā, waʾanna imraʾatahu dafaʿat

The companions of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, used to block holes and openings in walls so that women would not look out. We have related that Muʿādh saw a woman looking through an opening in a wall and struck her, and that his wife handed

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤١٩

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 419

Volume Two, page 419

إِلَى غُلَامٍ لَهَا تُفَّاحَةً قَدْ أَكَلَتْ بَعْضَهَا فَضَرَبَهَا. وَقَدْ كَانَ عُمَرُ يَقُولُ: أَعْرُوا النِّسَاءَ يَلْزَمْنَ الْحِجَالَ وَقَالَ أَيْضًا: عَوِّدُوا نِسَاءَكُمْ لَا، وَتَكَلَّمَ مَرَّةً فِي شَيْءٍ مِنَ الْأَمْرِ فَأَخَذَتِ امْرَأَتُهُ تُرَاجِعُهُ فِي الْقَوْلِ فَزَبَرَهَا.

ʾilā ghulāmin lahā tuffāḥatan qad ʾakalat baʿḍahā faḍarabahā. waqad kāna ʿumaru yaqūlu: ʾaʿrū al-nisāʾa yalzamna al-ḥijāla waqāla ʾayḍan: ʿawwidū nisāʾakum lā, watakallama marratan fī shayʾin mina al-ʾamri faʾakhadhati imraʾatuhu turājiʿuhu fī al-qawli fazabarahā.

an apple of which she had eaten part to a servant of hers, and he struck her. ʿUmar used to say: “Keep women scantily clothed, and they will remain behind their curtains.” He also said: “Accustom your women to ‘No.’” Once he spoke about a matter, and his wife began answering him back, so he rebuked her.

وَقَالَ: مَا أَنْتِ لِهَذَا إِنَّمَا أَنْتِ لُعْبَةٌ فِي جَانِبِ الْبَيْتِ إِنْ كَانَتْ لَنَا إِلَيْكِ حَاجَةٌ وَإِلَّا جَلَسْتِ كَمَا أَنْتِ وَهُوَ مَأْجُورٌ عَلَى احْتِمَالِهِ هَفَوَاتِ أَهْلِهِ وَصَبْرِهِ عَلَى أَذَاهُنَّ وَمُثَابٌ عَلَى حُسْنِ عِشْرَتِهِنَّ.

waqāla: mā ʾanti li-hādhā ʾinnamā ʾanti luʿbatun fī jānibi al-bayti ʾin kānat lanā ʾilayki ḥājatun waʾillā jalasti kamā ʾanti wahuwa maʾjūrun ʿalā iḥtimālihi hafawāti ʾahlihi waṣabrihi ʿalā ʾadhāhunna wamuthābun ʿalā ḥusni ʿishratihinna.

He said: “This is not your concern. You are a plaything at the side of the house when we have need of you; otherwise, remain seated as you are.” A man is rewarded for bearing his wives’ slips and patiently enduring their hurts, and recompensed for treating them well.

وَقَدْ كَانَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْحَنَفِيَّةِ يَقُولُ: لَيْسَ بِحَكِيمٍ مَنْ لَمْ يُعَاشِرْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ مَنْ لَا يَجِدُ مِنْ مُعَاشَرَتِهِ بُدًّا، حَتَّى يَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ لَهُ مِنْهُ فَرَجًا وَمَخْرَجًا، فَإِنْ كَانَتْ بَذِيئَةَ اللِّسَانِ قَلِيلَةَ الْقَبُولِ عَظِيمَةَ الْجَهْلِ كَثِيرَةَ الْأَذَى، فَطَلَاقُهَا أَسْلَمُ لِدِينِهِمَا وَأَرْوَحُ لِقُلُوبِهِمَا فِي عَاجِلِ دُنْيَاهُ وَآجِلِ آخِرَتِهِ.

waqad kāna muḥammadu bnu al-ḥanafiyyati yaqūlu: laysa biḥakīmin man lam yuʿāshir bi-al-maʿrūfi man lā yajidu min muʿāsharatihi buddan, ḥattā yajʿala Allāhu lahu minhu farajan wamakhrajan, faʾin kānat badhīʾata al-lisāni qalīlata al-qabūli ʿaẓīmata al-jahli kathīrata al-ʾadhā, faṭalāquhā ʾaslamu lidīnihimā waʾarwaḥu liqulūbihimā fī ʿājili dunyāhu waʾājili ʾākhiratihi.

Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyya used to say: “A man is not wise if he fails to live kindly with someone whose company he cannot avoid, until God grants him relief and a way out.” If she is foul-tongued, unreceptive, deeply ignorant, and frequently hurtful, divorcing her better protects both their religion and rests both their hearts in his present worldly life and future hereafter.

وَقَدْ شَكَى رَجُلٌ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بَذَاءَ امْرَأَتِهِ فَقَالَ لَهُ: طَلِّقْهَا فَقَالَ: إِنِّي أُحِبُّهَا قَالَ: أَمْسِكْهَا إِذًا، فَخَشِيَ عَلَيْهِ تَشَتُّتَ هَمِّهِ بِفِرَاقِهَا مَعَ الْمَحَبَّةِ وَتَشَتُّتُ الْهَمِّ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ أَذَى الْجِسْمِ.

waqad shakā rajulun ʾilā rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama badhāʾa imraʾatihi faqāla lahu: ṭalliqhā faqāla: ʾinnī ʾuḥibbuhā qāla: ʾamsik-hā ʾidhan, fakhashiya ʿalayhi tashattuta hammihi bifirāqihā maʿa al-maḥabbati watashattutu al-hammi ʾaʿẓamu min ʾadhā al-jismi.

A man complained to God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, about his wife’s abusive speech. He told him: “Divorce her.” The man said: “I love her.” He replied: “Then keep her.” He feared that separation while love remained would scatter the man’s concentration, and such inward scattering is worse than bodily hurt.

وَفِي مَعْنَى قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (لَا تُخْرِجُوهُنَّ مِنْ بُيُوتِهِنَّ وَلَا يَخْرُجْنَ إِلَّا أَنْ يَأْتِينَ بِفَاحِشَةٍ مُبَيِّنَةٍ)، قَالَ ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ: إِذَا بَذَتْ عَلَى أَهْلِهَا وَآذَتْ زَوْجَهَا فَهُوَ فَاحِشَةٌ، وَهَذَا يَعْنِي بِهِ فِي الْعِدَّةِ لِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَقُولُ: (أَسْكِنُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ سَكَنْتُمْ مِنْ وُجْدِكُمْ).

wafī maʿnā qawlihi ʿazza wajalla: (lā tukhrijūhunna min buyūtihinna walā yakhrujna ʾillā ʾan yaʾtīna bifāḥishatin mubayyinatin), qāla ibnu masʿūdin: ʾidhā badhat ʿalā ʾahlihā waʾādhat zawjahā fahuwa fāḥishatun, wa-hādhā yaʿnī bihi fī al-ʿiddati liʾanna Allāha yaqūlu: (ʾaskinūhunna min ḥaythu sakantum min wujdikum).

Concerning the saying of God, mighty and majestic, “Do not expel them from their houses, nor should they leave, unless they commit manifest indecency,” Ibn Masʿūd said: “If she speaks abusively to her family and harms her husband, that is indecency.” This concerns the waiting period, for God says: “Lodge them where you dwell, according to your means.”

فَهُوَ مُتَّصِلٌ بِقَوْلِهِ: (وَأَحْصُوا الْعِدَّةَ وَلَا تُخْرِجُوهُنَّ مِنْ بُيُوتِهِنَّ)، أَيْ فِي الْعِدَّةِ، وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَظُنُّ أَنَّ الطَّلَاقَ مَحْظُورٌ يَتَأَوَّلُ هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ عَلَى غَيْرِ تَأْوِيلِهَا، فَالطَّلَاقُ مُبَاحٌ إِلَّا أَنَّهُ مَكْرُوهٌ بِغَيْرِ سَبَبٍ لِتَفْرِقَةِ الْأُلْفَةِ، وَقَدْ يُرْوَى فِي خَبَرٍ: مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ شَيْئًا أَبْغَضَ إِلَيْهِ مِنَ الطَّلَاقِ.

fahuwa muttaṣilun biqawlihi: (waʾaḥṣū al-ʿiddata walā tukhrijūhunna min buyūtihinna), ʾay fī al-ʿiddati, wamina al-nāsi man yaẓunnu ʾanna al-ṭalāqa maḥẓūrun yataʾawwalu hādhihi al-ʾāyata ʿalā ghayri taʾwīlihā, fa-al-ṭalāqu mubāḥun ʾillā ʾannahu makrūhun bighayri sababin litafriqati al-ʾulfati, waqad yurwā fī khabarin: mā ʾaḥalla Allāhu shayʾan ʾabghaḍa ʾilayhi mina al-ṭalāqi.

It is connected to His saying: “Count the waiting period, and do not expel them from their houses,” meaning during that period. Some people suppose divorce forbidden and interpret this verse incorrectly. Divorce is permitted, though disapproved without a cause because it breaks companionship. A report relates: “God has permitted nothing more hateful to Him than divorce.”

وَلَا بَأْسَ أَنْ تَفْتَدِيَ الْمَرْأَةُ مِنْ زَوْجِهَا إِذَا خَافَتْ أَنْ لَا تُقِيمَ حُدُودَ اللَّهِ فِيهِ وَلَا تَقُومَ بِوَاجِبِ حُقُوقِهِ عَلَيْهَا، وَأَكْرَهُ أَنْ يَأْخُذَ فِي الْفِدْيَةِ أَكْثَرَ مِمَّا أَعْطَاهَا، وَقَدْ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: (فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا يُقِيمَا حُدُودَ اللَّهِ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا فِيمَا افْتَدَتْ بِهِ).

walā baʾsa ʾan taftadiya al-marʾatu min zawjihā ʾidhā khāfat ʾan lā tuqīma ḥudūda Allāhi fīhi walā taqūma biwājibi ḥuqūqihi ʿalayhā, waʾakrahu ʾan yaʾkhudha fī al-fidyati ʾakthara mimmā ʾaʿṭāhā, waqad qāla Allāhu taʿālā: (faʾin khiftum ʾallā yuqīmā ḥudūda Allāhi falā junāḥa ʿalayhimā fīmā iftadat bihi).

There is no harm in a woman ransoming herself from her husband if she fears that she cannot observe God’s limits toward him or fulfill his due rights. I dislike his taking more in ransom than he gave her. God, exalted is He, said: “If you fear that they will not maintain God’s limits, there is no blame upon them for what she gives to ransom herself.”

وَهَذَا هُوَ الْخُلْعُ الْجَائِزُ عِنْدَ أَكْثَرِ الْعُلَمَاءِ، وَلَا يَحِلُّ لِامْرَأَةٍ أَنْ تَسْأَلَ زَوْجَهَا طَلَاقَهَا وَلَا أَنْ تَخْتَلِعَ مِنْهُ بِغَيْرِ رِضَاهُ، قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَيُّمَا امْرَأَةٍ سَأَلَتْ زَوْجَهَا طَلَاقَهَا مِنْ غَيْرِ بَأْسٍ لَمْ تَرَحْ رَائِحَةَ الْجَنَّةِ، وَقَالَ: الْمُخْتَلِعَاتُ هُنَّ الْمُنَافِقَاتُ.

wa-hādhā huwa al-khulʿu al-jāʾizu ʿinda ʾakthari al-ʿulamāʾi, walā yaḥillu li-imraʾatin ʾan tasʾala zawjahā ṭalāqahā walā ʾan takhtaliʿa minhu bighayri riḍāhu, qāla rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: ʾayyumā imraʾatin saʾalat zawjahā ṭalāqahā min ghayri baʾsin lam taraḥ rāʾiḥata al-jannati, waqāla: al-mukhtaliʿātu hunna al-munāfiqātu.

This is the compensated dissolution permitted by most scholars. A woman may not ask her husband to divorce her or obtain such a dissolution without his consent. God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Any woman who asks her husband for divorce without distress will not smell the fragrance of the Garden.” He also said: “The women who seek compensated dissolution are the hypocrites.”

وَالنُّشُوزُ قَدْ يَكُونُ مِنَ الزَّوْجَيْنِ مَعًا إِلَّا أَنَّهُ أُبِيحَ لِلزَّوْجِ ضَرْبُهَا فِي النُّشُوزِ وَأُبِيحَ لَهَا الصُّلْحُ فِي نُشُوزِ الزَّوْجِ قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَالصُّلْحُ خَيْرٌ)، وَأَصْلُ النُّشُوزِ أَنْ يَعْلُوَ أَحَدُهُمَا عَلَى صَاحِبِهِ وَيَرْتَفِعَ عَنْهُ، كَأَنْ يَجْفُوَ عَلَيْهِ وَيَجْتَنِبَهُ فَيَكُونَ فِي نَحْوٍ غَيْرِ نَحْوِهِ.

wa-al-nushūzu qad yakūnu mina al-zawjayni maʿan ʾillā ʾannahu ʾubīḥa li-l-zawji ḍarbuhā fī al-nushūzi waʾubīḥa lahā al-ṣulḥu fī nushūzi al-zawji qāla Allāhu ʿazza wajalla: (wa-al-ṣulḥu khayrun), waʾaṣlu al-nushūzi ʾan yaʿluwa ʾaḥaduhumā ʿalā ṣāḥibihi wayartafiʿa ʿanhu, kaʾan yajfuwa ʿalayhi wayajtanibahu fayakūna fī naḥwin ghayri naḥwihi.

Marital estrangement may arise from either spouse. The husband, however, was permitted to strike her for her recalcitrance, while she was permitted to seek a settlement for his estrangement. God, mighty and majestic, said: “Settlement is better.” The root meaning of nushūz is one spouse rising above the other and withdrawing, as by treating the other coldly and avoiding them, turning in a different direction.

فَيَكُونُ مِنْ هَذَا الْكَلَامُ الْفَاحِشُ وَيَكُونُ مِنْهُ الْأَذَى وَيَكُونُ مِنْهُ الْهَجْرُ وَالِانْفِرَادُ، وَيَحْكُمُ الْحَكَمَانِ فِي هَذَا أَحَدُهُمَا مِنْ أَهْلِهِ وَالْآخَرُ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا، يَعْدِلُونَ وَيَنْظُرُونَ فِيمَا بَيْنَهُمَا، وَقَدْ وَعَدَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ الْغِنَى مَعَ الْفُرْقَةِ كَمَا وَعَدَهُ مَعَ النِّكَاحِ.

fayakūnu min hādhā al-kalāmu al-fāḥishu wayakūnu minhu al-ʾadhā wayakūnu minhu al-hajru wa-al-infirādu, wayaḥkumu al-ḥakamāni fī hādhā ʾaḥaduhumā min ʾahlihi wa-al-ʾākharu min ʾahlihā, yaʿdilūna wayanẓurūna fīmā baynahumā, waqad waʿada Allāhu ʿazza wajalla al-ghinā maʿa al-furqati kamā waʿadahu maʿa al-nikāḥi.

From this come foul words, harm, abandonment, and separation. Two arbiters judge the matter, one from his family and one from hers, acting justly and examining what lies between them. God, mighty and majestic, has promised sufficiency with separation just as He promised it with marriage.

فَقَالَ: (وَإِنْ يَتَفَرَّقَا يُغْنِ اللَّهُ كُلًّا مِنْ سَعَتِهِ) كَمَا قَالَ: (وَأَنْكِحُوا الْأَيَامَى مِنْكُمْ

faqāla: (waʾin yatafarraqā yughni Allāhu kullan min saʿatihi) kamā qāla: (waʾankiḥū al-ʾayāmā minkum

He said: “If they separate, God will enrich each from His abundance,” just as He said: “Marry off the unmarried among you

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٢٠

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 420

Volume Two, page 420

وَالصَّالِحِينَ مِنْ عِبَادِكُمْ وَإِمَائِكُمْ إِنْ يَكُونُوا فُقَرَاءَ يُغْنِهِمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ)، فَقَدْ يَكُونُ الْغِنَى بِالْمَالِ وَيَكُونُ بِأَنْ يَسْتَغْنِيَ كُلُّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا عَنْ صَاحِبِهِ بِمَا خَصَّهُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مِنْ خَفِيِّ لُطْفِهِ.

wa-al-ṣāliḥīna min ʿibādikum waʾimāʾikum ʾin yakūnū fuqarāʾa yughnihimu Allāhu min faḍlihi), faqad yakūnu al-ghinā bi-al-māli wayakūnu biʾan yastaghniya kullu wāḥidin minhumā ʿan ṣāḥibihi bimā khaṣṣahu Allāhu ʿazza wajalla min khafiyyi luṭfihi.

and the righteous among your male and female slaves. If they are poor, God will enrich them from His bounty.” Sufficiency may come through wealth, or through each becoming independent of the other by the hidden kindness with which God, mighty and majestic, singles them out.

وَجَاءَ فِي خَبَرٍ: ثَلَاثٌ لَا يُسْتَجَابُ دَعْوَتُهُمْ: رَجُلٌ لَهُ امْرَأَةُ سُوءٍ يَقُولُ أَرَاحَنِيَ اللَّهُ مِنْكِ وَقَدْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ الطَّلَاقَ بِيَدِهِ إِنْ شَاءَ طَلَّقَ، وَالْآخَرُ فِي الْمَمْلُوكِ السُّوءِ، وَجَارِ السُّوءِ، وَلْيُحْسِنِ الرَّجُلُ عِشْرَةَ أَهْلِهِ وَالْقِيَامَ بِهِنَّ.

wajāʾa fī khabarin: thalāthun lā yustajābu daʿwatuhum: rajulun lahu imraʾatu sūʾin yaqūlu ʾarāḥaniya Allāhu minki waqad jaʿala Allāhu al-ṭalāqa biyadihi ʾin shāʾa ṭallaqa, wa-al-ʾākharu fī al-mamlūki al-sūʾi, wajāri al-sūʾi, walyuḥsini al-rajulu ʿishrata ʾahlihi wa-al-qiyāma bihinna.

A report says: “Three people’s prayers are not answered: a man with a bad wife who says, ‘May God relieve me of you,’ though God has placed divorce in his hand and he can divorce if he wishes; likewise with a bad slave, and a bad neighbor.” A man should live kindly with his wives and care for them well.

فَقَدْ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: (فَإِنْ أَطَعْنَكُمْ فَلَا تَبْغُوا عَلَيْهِنَّ سَبِيلًا)، أَيْ لَا تَطْلُبُوا طَرِيقًا إِلَى الْفُرْقَةِ وَلَا إِلَى خُصُومَةٍ وَمَكْرُوهٍ، وَهَذِهِ حِينَئِذٍ عَلَى صُورَةِ الْأَنْفُسِ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةِ إِذَا اسْتَجَابَتْ لِلْإِيمَانِ وَطَوَّعَتْ لَكَ إِلَى أَخْلَاقِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فَتَوَلَّهَا مِنَ الْإِرْفَاقِ وَارْفُقْ بِهَا فِي مَنَالِهَا مِنَ الْمُبَاحِ.

faqad qāla Allāhu taʿālā: (faʾin ʾaṭaʿnakum falā tabghū ʿalayhinna sabīlan), ʾay lā taṭlubū ṭarīqan ʾilā al-furqati walā ʾilā khuṣūmatin wamakrūhin, wa-hādhihi ḥīnaʾidhin ʿalā ṣūrati al-ʾanfusi al-muṭmaʾinnati ʾidhā istajābat li-l-ʾīmāni waṭawwaʿat laka ʾilā ʾakhlāqi al-muʾminīna fatawallahā mina al-ʾirfāqi wa-urfuq bihā fī manālihā mina al-mubāḥi.

God, exalted is He, said: “If they obey you, seek no way against them,” meaning do not seek a path to separation, conflict, or harm. Such a woman then resembles a tranquil soul that responds to faith and yields to you in the manners of believers. Attend to her with gentleness and be considerate in the permitted things she seeks.

وَقَدْ شَبَّهَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حُسْنَ الْقِيَامِ عَلَى الزَّوْجَةِ بِحُسْنِ الْقِيَامِ عَلَى الْوَالِدَيْنِ فَقَالَ فِيهِمَا: (وَصَاحِبْهُمَا فِي الدُّنْيَا مَعْرُوفًا)، وَقَالَ فِي أَمْرِ النِّسَاءِ: (وَعَاشِرُوهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ) ثُمَّ أَجْمَلَ فِي النِّسَاءِ مَا فَرَّقَهُ مِنْ حَقِّ الزَّوْجِ فِي كَلِمَةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ فَقَالَ: (وَلَهُنَّ مِثْلُ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ).

waqad shabbaha Allāhu ʿazza wajalla ḥusna al-qiyāmi ʿalā al-zawjati biḥusni al-qiyāmi ʿalā al-wālidayni faqāla fīhimā: (waṣāḥibhumā fī al-dunyā maʿrūfan), waqāla fī ʾamri al-nisāʾi: (waʿāshirūhunna bi-al-maʿrūfi) thumma ʾajmala fī al-nisāʾi mā farraqahu min ḥaqqi al-zawji fī kalimatin wāḥidatin faqāla: (walahunna mithlu alladhī ʿalayhinna bi-al-maʿrūfi).

God, mighty and majestic, compared good care of a wife to good care of parents. Of them He said: “Keep them company in this world with kindness.” Concerning women He said: “Live with them honorably.” Then, in a single phrase, He summarized for women what He had detailed of the husband’s rights: “They have rights comparable to their obligations, according to what is honorable.”

وَقَالَ فِي عَظِيمِ حَقِّهِنَّ: (وَأَخَذْنَ مِنْكُمْ مِيثَاقًا غَلِيظًا)، وَقَالَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَالصَّاحِبِ بِالْجَنْبِ)، قِيلَ: هِيَ الْمَرْأَةُ، وَآخِرُ مَا أَوْصَى بِهِ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ثَلَاثٌ كَانَ يَتَكَلَّمُ بِهِنَّ حَتَّى تَلَجْلَجَ لِسَانُهُ وَخَفِيَ كَلَامُهُ.

waqāla fī ʿaẓīmi ḥaqqihinna: (waʾakhadhna minkum mīthāqan ghalīẓan), waqāla ʿazza wajalla: (wa-al-ṣāḥibi bi-al-janbi), qīla: hiya al-marʾatu, waʾākhiru mā ʾawṣā bihi rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama thalāthun kāna yatakallamu bihinna ḥattā talajlaja lisānuhu wakhafiya kalāmuhu.

Of the greatness of their rights He said: “They have taken from you a solemn covenant.” He also said, mighty and majestic: “The companion at your side,” interpreted as the wife. The final counsels of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, were three things he kept uttering until his tongue faltered and his words grew faint.

جَعَلَ يَقُولُ: الصَّلَاةَ الصَّلَاةَ، وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ لَا تُكَلِّفُوهُمْ مَا لَا يُطِيقُونَ، وَاللَّهَ اللَّهَ فِي النِّسَاءِ فَإِنَّهُنَّ عَوَارٍ فِي أَيْدِيكُمْ يَعْنِي أَسْرَى أَخَذْتُمُوهُنَّ بِعَهْدِ اللَّهِ وَاسْتَحْلَلْتُمْ فُرُوجَهُنَّ بِكَلِمَةِ اللَّهِ.

jaʿala yaqūlu: al-ṣalāta al-ṣalāta, wamā malakat ʾaymānukum lā tukallifūhum mā lā yuṭīqūna, wa-Allāha Allāha fī al-nisāʾi faʾinnahunna ʿawārin fī ʾaydīkum yaʿnī ʾasrā ʾakhadhtumūhunna biʿahdi Allāhi wa-istaḥlaltum furūjahunna bikalimati Allāhi.

He kept saying: “The prayer, the prayer! And those whom your right hands possess: do not burden them beyond their capacity. God, God, concerning women! They are captives in your hands. You took them by God’s covenant and made their sexual intimacy lawful through God’s word.”

وَسُئِلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَا حَقُّ الْمَرْأَةِ عَلَى الرَّجُلِ؟ قَالَ: يُطْعِمُهَا إِذَا طَعِمَ وَيَكْسُوهَا إِذَا اكْتَسَى، وَلَا يُقَبِّحُ الْوَجْهَ وَلَا يَهْجُرُ إِلَّا فِي الْبَيْتِ وَيَنْبَغِي أَيْضًا إِذَا أَرَادَ النِّكَاحَ أَنْ يَتَعَلَّمَ مَا تَحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهِ الْمَرْأَةُ مِنْ حُسْنِ الْعِشْرَةِ وَالْقِيَامِ بِمَا لَهَا عَلَيْهِ وَجَمِيلِ الْمُدَارَاةِ وَلُطْفِ الْمُفَاوَضَةِ.

wasuʾila rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: mā ḥaqqu al-marʾati ʿalā al-rajuli? qāla: yuṭʿimuhā ʾidhā ṭaʿima wayaksūhā ʾidhā iktasā, walā yuqabbiḥu al-wajha walā yahjuru ʾillā fī al-bayti wayanbaghī ʾayḍan ʾidhā ʾarāda al-nikāḥa ʾan yataʿallama mā taḥtāju ʾilayhi al-marʾatu min ḥusni al-ʿishrati wa-al-qiyāmi bimā lahā ʿalayhi wajamīli al-mudārāti waluṭfi al-mufāwaḍati.

God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, was asked: “What right does a woman have over a man?” He answered: “He feeds her when he eats, clothes her when he clothes himself, does not insult her face, and forsakes her only within the house.” When intending marriage, a man should also learn what a woman needs: kind companionship, fulfillment of her rights, gracious tact, and gentle discussion.

وَيُعَلِّمُهَا حُسْنَ قِيَامِهَا بِمَا يَجِبُ لَهُ عَلَيْهَا وَيُعَرِّفُهَا مَا أَوْجَبَ اللَّهُ لَهُ عَلَيْهَا مِنْ ذَلِكَ، وَلَا تُمَلِّكِ الْمَرْأَةَ شَيْئًا مِنْ أَمْرِكَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ قَدْ مَلَّكَكَ إِيَّاهَا فَلَا تَقْلِبْ بِهَوَاكَ حِكْمَةَ اللَّهِ فَيَنْقَلِبَ الْأَمْرُ عَلَيْكَ، فَكَأَنَّكَ قَدْ أَطَعْتَ الْعَدُوَّ وَوَافَقْتَهُ فِي قَوْلِهِ: وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ اللَّهِ.

wayuʿallimuhā ḥusna qiyāmihā bimā yajibu lahu ʿalayhā wayuʿarrifuhā mā ʾawjaba Allāhu lahu ʿalayhā min dhālika, walā tumalliki al-marʾata shayʾan min ʾamrika faʾinna Allāha ʿazza wajalla qad mallakaka ʾiyyāhā falā taqlib bihawāka ḥikmata Allāhi fayanqaliba al-ʾamru ʿalayka, fakaʾannaka qad ʾaṭaʿta al-ʿaduwwa wawāfaqtahu fī qawlihi: walaʾāmurannahum falayughayyirunna khalqa Allāhi.

He should teach her to fulfill her obligations toward him well and explain what God has made due to him from her. Do not give a woman control of any of your affairs, for God, mighty and majestic, has given you authority over her. Do not overturn God’s wisdom through your desire, lest matters turn against you. It would be as though you obeyed the enemy and agreed with his saying: “I shall command them, and they will alter God’s creation.”

وَقَدْ قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَلَا تُؤْتُوا السُّفَهَاءَ أَمْوَالَكُمُ الَّتِي جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ قِيَامًا) يَعْنِي النِّسَاءَ وَالصِّبْيَانَ وَمِنْهُ قَوْلُ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: تَعِسَ عَبْدُ الزَّوْجَةِ لِأَنَّهُ إِذَا أَطَاعَهَا فِيمَا تَهْوَى دَخَلَ تَحْتَ التَّعَسِ، فَكَأَنَّهُ قَدْ بَدَّلَ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ كُفْرًا.

waqad qāla Allāhu ʿazza wajalla: (walā tuʾtū al-sufahāʾa ʾamwālakumu allatī jaʿala Allāhu lakum qiyāman) yaʿnī al-nisāʾa wa-al-ṣibyāna waminhu qawlu al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: taʿisa ʿabdu al-zawjati liʾannahu ʾidhā ʾaṭāʿahā fīmā tahwā dakhala taḥta al-taʿasi, fakaʾannahu qad baddala niʿmata Allāhi kufran.

God, mighty and majestic, said: “Do not give the foolish your wealth, which God has made your means of support,” meaning women and children. Related to this is the saying of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Wretched is the slave of his wife.” If he obeys her in whatever she desires, he falls under that wretchedness, as though he had exchanged God’s blessing for ingratitude.

لِأَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ جَعَلَهُ سَيِّدَهَا فِي قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَأَلْفَيَا سَيِّدَهَا لَدَى الْبَابِ)، يَعْنِي زَوْجَهَا، قَالَ الْحَسَنُ: مَا أَصْبَحَ الْيَوْمَ رَجُلٌ يُطِيعُ امْرَأَتَهُ فِيمَا تَهْوَى إِلَّا أَكَبَّهُ اللَّهُ فِي النَّارِ وَلَا يُعَوِّدُهَا عَادَةً فَتَجْتَرِئَ عَلَيْهِ وَتَطْلُبَ الْمُعْتَادَ مِنْكَ.

liʾanna Allāha ʿazza wajalla jaʿalahu sayyidahā fī qawlihi ʿazza wajalla: (waʾalfayā sayyidahā ladā al-bābi), yaʿnī zawjahā, qāla al-ḥasanu: mā ʾaṣbaḥa al-yawma rajulun yuṭīʿu imraʾatahu fīmā tahwā ʾillā ʾakabbahu Allāhu fī al-nāri walā yuʿawwiduhā ʿādatan fatajtariʾa ʿalayhi wataṭluba al-muʿtāda minka.

For God, mighty and majestic, made him her master in the saying of God, mighty and majestic: “They found her master at the door,” meaning her husband. Al-Ḥasan said: “No man today obeys his wife in whatever she desires without God casting him face down into the Fire.” He should not establish a habit with her that makes her bold toward him and demand from you what she has grown accustomed to.

فَهِيَ عَلَى مِثَالِ أَخْلَاقِ النَّفْسِ سَوَاءٌ إِنْ أَرْسَلْتَ عِنَانَهَا جَمَحَتْ بِكَ، وَإِنْ أَرْخَيْتَ عِنَانَهَا فِتْرًا جَذَبَتْكَ ذِرَاعًا، وَإِنْ شَدَدْتَ يَدَكَ

fahiya ʿalā mithāli ʾakhlāqi al-nafsi sawāʾun ʾin ʾarsalta ʿinānahā jamaḥat bika, waʾin ʾarkhayta ʿinānahā fitran jadhabatka dhirāʿan, waʾin shadadta yadaka

She corresponds exactly to the soul’s dispositions: if you release her rein, she bolts with you; if you loosen it a finger-span, she pulls you a cubit. But if you tighten your hand

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٢١

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 421

Volume Two, page 421

عَلَيْهَا وَكَبَحْتَهَا مَلَكْتَهَا فَلَعَلَّهَا أَنْ تَطُوعَ لَكَ. وَكَانَ الشَّافِعِيُّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ يَقُولُ: ثَلَاثَةٌ إِنْ أَكْرَمْتَهُمْ أَهَانُوكَ وَإِنْ أَهَنْتَهُمْ أَكْرَمُوكَ، الْمَرْأَةُ وَالْخَادِمُ وَالنَّبَطِيُّ.

ʿalayhā wakabaḥtahā malaktahā falaʿallahā ʾan taṭūʿa laka. wakāna al-shāfiʿiyyu raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu yaqūlu: thalāthatun ʾin ʾakramtahum ʾahānūka waʾin ʾahantahum ʾakramūka, al-marʾatu wa-al-khādimu wa-al-nabaṭiyyu.

upon her and curb her, you master her, and perhaps she will yield to you. Al-Shāfiʿī, may God be pleased with him, used to say: “Three people humiliate you if you honor them, and honor you if you humiliate them: a woman, a servant, and a Nabatean.”

وَكَانَ نِسَاءُ الْعَرَبِ يُعَلِّمْنَ أَوْلَادَهُنَّ اخْتِبَارَ أَزْوَاجِهِنَّ، كَانَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ إِنْ أَنْكَحَتِ ابْنَتَهَا قَالَتْ: يَا بُنَيَّةُ، اخْتَبِرِي حَلِيلَكِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تُقْدِمِي عَلَيْهِ، انْزِعِي زُجَّ رُمْحِهِ فَإِنْ سَكَتَ لِذَلِكَ فَقَطِّعِي اللَّحْمَ عَلَى تُرْسِهِ، فَإِنْ أَقَرَّ فَكَسِّرِي الْعِظَامَ بِسَيْفِهِ، فَإِنْ صَبَرَ فَاجْعَلِي الْإِكَافَ عَلَى ظَهْرِهِ وَامْتَطِيهِ فَإِنَّمَا هُوَ حِمَارٌ.

wakāna nisāʾu al-ʿarabi yuʿallimna ʾawlādahunna ikhtibāra ʾazwājihinna, kānati al-marʾatu ʾin ʾankaḥati ibnatahā qālat: yā bunayyatu, ikhtabirī ḥalīlaki qabla ʾan tuqdimī ʿalayhi, inziʿī zujja rumḥihi faʾin sakata li-dhālika faqaṭṭiʿī al-laḥma ʿalā tursihi, faʾin ʾaqarra fakassirī al-ʿiẓāma bisayfihi, faʾin ṣabara fa-ijʿalī al-ʾikāfa ʿalā ẓahrihi wa-imtaṭīhi faʾinnamā huwa ḥimārun.

Arab women used to teach their daughters to test their husbands. When a woman married off her daughter, she said: “My dear daughter, test your husband before acting boldly toward him. Pull off the butt-spike of his spear. If he says nothing, cut meat on his shield. If he accepts that, break bones with his sword. If he endures it, put a pack-saddle on his back and ride him, for he is only a donkey.”

وَأَوْصَى أَسْمَاءُ بْنُ خَارِجَةَ الْفَزَارِيُّ، وَكَانَ مِنْ حُكَمَاءِ الْعَرَبِ، ابْنَتَهُ لَيْلَةَ زِفَافِهَا فَقَالَ: يَا بُنَيَّةُ، قَدْ كَانَتْ وَالِدَتُكِ أَحَقَّ بِتَأْدِيبِكِ مِنِّي لَوْ كَانَتْ بَاقِيَةً، وَأَمَّا الْآنَ فَإِنِّي أَحَقُّ بِتَأْدِيبِكِ مِنْ غَيْرِي افْهَمِي عَنِّي مَا أَقُولُ.

waʾawṣā ʾasmāʾu bnu khārijata al-fazāriyyu, wakāna min ḥukamāʾi al-ʿarabi, ibnatahu laylata zifāfihā faqāla: yā bunayyatu, qad kānat wālidatuki ʾaḥaqqa bitaʾdībiki minnī law kānat bāqiyatan, waʾammā al-ʾāna faʾinnī ʾaḥaqqu bitaʾdībiki min ghayrī ifhamī ʿannī mā ʾaqūlu.

Asmāʾ ibn Khārija al-Fazārī, one of the Arab sages, counseled his daughter on her wedding night: “My dear daughter, your mother would have had a better claim than I to instruct you, had she lived. Now I have a better claim than anyone else. Understand what I tell you.”

إِنَّكِ قَدْ خَرَجْتِ مِنَ الْعُشِّ الَّذِي فِيهِ دَرَجْتِ وَصِرْتِ إِلَى فِرَاشٍ لَا تَعْرِفِينَهُ وَقَرِينٍ لَمْ تَأْلَفِيهِ، كُونِي لَهُ أَرْضًا يَكُونُ لَكِ سَمَاءً وَكُونِي لَهُ مِهَادًا يَكُونُ لَكِ عِمَادًا فَكُونِي لَهُ أَمَةً يَكُونُ لَكِ عَبْدًا، لَا تُلْحِفِي بِهِ فَيَقْلَاكِ وَلَا تَتَبَاعَدِي عَنْهُ فَيَنْسَاكِ.

ʾinnaki qad kharajti mina al-ʿushshi alladhī fīhi darajti waṣirti ʾilā firāshin lā taʿrifīnahu waqarīnin lam taʾlafīhi, kūnī lahu ʾarḍan yakūnu laki samāʾan wakūnī lahu mihādan yakūnu laki ʿimādan fakūnī lahu ʾamatan yakūnu laki ʿabdan, lā tulḥifī bihi fayaqlāki walā tatabāʿadī ʿanhu fayansāki.

“You have left the nest in which you grew and come to a bed you do not know and a companion unfamiliar to you. Be earth for him, and he will be heaven for you; be a resting place, and he will be your support. Be his maidservant, and he will be your servant. Do not press him insistently, lest he loathe you, nor withdraw far from him, lest he forget you.”

إِذَا دَنَا فَاقْرَبِي مِنْهُ وَإِنْ نَأَى فَابْعُدِي عَنْهُ، وَاحْفَظِي أَنْفَهُ وَسَمْعَهُ وَعَيْنَهُ، لَا يَشَمُّ مِنْكِ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا وَلَا يَسْمَعُ إِلَّا حَسَنًا وَلَا يَنْظُرُ إِلَّا جَمِيلًا وَأَنَا الَّذِي أَقُولُ لِأُمِّكِ لَيْلَةَ بِنَائِي بِهَا: خُذِي الْعِفَّةَ مِنِّي تَسْتَدِيمِي مَوَدَّتِي، وَلَا تَنْطِقِي فِي سَوْرَتِي حِينَ أَغْضَبُ.

ʾidhā danā fa-iqrabī minhu waʾin naʾā fa-ubʿudī ʿanhu, wa-iḥfaẓī ʾanfahu wasamʿahu waʿaynahu, lā yashammu minki ʾillā ṭayyiban walā yasmaʿu ʾillā ḥasanan walā yanẓuru ʾillā jamīlan waʾanā alladhī ʾaqūlu liʾummiki laylata bināʾī bihā: khudhī al-ʿiffata minnī tastadīmī mawaddatī, walā tanṭiqī fī sawratī ḥīna ʾaghḍabu.

“When he comes near, draw close; when he moves away, keep your distance. Guard his nose, ears, and eyes: let him smell only fragrance from you, hear only good, and see only beauty. I am the one who said to your mother on our wedding night: ‘Accept chastity from me, and keep my affection enduring; do not speak during my outburst when I am angry.’”

وَلَا تَنْقُرِينِي نَقْرَكِ الدُّفَّ مَرَّةً، فَإِنَّكِ لَا تَدْرِينَ مَاذَا الْمُغَيَّبُ، فَإِنِّي رَأَيْتُ الْحُبَّ فِي الْقَلْبِ وَالْأَذَى، إِذَا اجْتَمَعَا لَمْ يَلْبَثِ الْحُبُّ يَذْهَبُ.

walā tanqurīnī naqraki al-duffa marratan, faʾinnaki lā tadrīna mādhā al-mughayyabu, faʾinnī raʾaytu al-ḥubba fī al-qalbi wa-al-ʾadhā, ʾidhā ijtamaʿā lam yalbathi al-ḥubbu yadhhabu.

“Do not beat upon me even once as you beat a frame drum, for you do not know what lies concealed. I have seen that when love and hurt meet within the heart, love does not linger: it departs.”

وَأَوْصَى بَعْضُ الْعَرَبِ بَنِيهِ فَقَالَ: لَا تَنْكِحُوا مِنَ النِّسَاءِ سِتَّةً، أَنَّانَةً وَلَا مَنَّانَةً وَلَا حَنَّانَةً وَلَا حَدَّاقَةً وَلَا بَرَّاقَةً وَلَا شَدَّاقَةً، تَفْسِيرُ ذَلِكَ الْأَنَّانَةُ وَهِيَ الَّتِي تَعْصِبُ رَأْسَهَا كَثِيرًا وَتُكْثِرُ الْأَنِينَ وَالتَّوَجُّعَ وَالتَّشَكِّي.

waʾawṣā baʿḍu al-ʿarabi banīhi faqāla: lā tankiḥū mina al-nisāʾi sittatan, ʾannānatan walā mannānatan walā ḥannānatan walā ḥaddāqatan walā barrāqatan walā shaddāqatan, tafsīru dhālika al-ʾannānatu wahiya allatī taʿṣibu raʾsahā kathīran watukthiru al-ʾanīna wa-al-tawajjuʿa wa-al-tashakkī.

An Arab counseled his sons: “Do not marry six sorts of women: the incessant moaner, the reminder of favors, the one who longs for another, the roaming-eyed, the flashing, or the loud-mouthed.” The moaner is explained as one who frequently binds her head and continually moans, expresses pain, and complains.

وَالْمَنَّانَةُ الَّتِي تَمُنُّ عَلَى زَوْجِهَا تَقُولُ: فَعَلْتُ بِكَ وَفَعَلْتُ فَأَنَا أَفْعَلُ وَأَفْعَلُ وَالْحَنَّانَةُ تَكُونُ عَلَى وَجْهَيْنِ، تَكُونُ ذَاتَ وَلَدٍ مِنْ غَيْرِهِ فَهِيَ تَحِنُّ إِلَيْهِ وَقَدْ تَكُونُ ذَاتَ زَوْجٍ قَبْلَهُ فَيَحِنُّ قَلْبُهَا إِلَيْهِ.

wa-al-mannānatu allatī tamunnu ʿalā zawjihā taqūlu: faʿaltu bika wafaʿaltu faʾanā ʾafʿalu waʾafʿalu wa-al-ḥannānatu takūnu ʿalā wajhayni, takūnu dhāta waladin min ghayrihi fahiya taḥinnu ʾilayhi waqad takūnu dhāta zawjin qablahu fayaḥinnu qalbuhā ʾilayhi.

The reminder of favors keeps telling her husband: “I did this for you and that; I am the one who does this and that.” The one who longs has two forms: she may have a child by another man and yearn for that child, or she may have had a husband before him and her heart yearns for him.

وَقَوْلُهُ حَدَّاقَةٌ هِيَ الَّتِي تُومِئُ بِحَدَقَتِهَا فَتَشْتَرِي كُلَّ شَيْءٍ وَتُطَالِبُ زَوْجَهَا بِمَا تَشْتَهِيهِ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ، وَقَدْ تَلْحَظُ الرِّجَالَ كَثِيرًا كَمَا يُلَاحِظُ بَعْضُ الرِّجَالِ النِّسَاءَ، وَالْبَرَّاقَةُ تَحْتَمِلُ تَأْوِيلَيْنِ، أَحَدُهُمَا أَنْ تَكُونَ غَضُوبًا فِي الطَّعَامِ فَتَبْرُقَ لِقِلَّتِهِ أَوْ لِسُوءِ خُلُقِهَا.

waqawluhu ḥaddāqatun hiya allatī tūmiʾu biḥadaqatihā fatashtarī kulla shayʾin watuṭālibu zawjahā bimā tashtahīhi min kulli shayʾin, waqad talḥaẓu al-rijāla kathīran kamā yulāḥiẓu baʿḍu al-rijāli al-nisāʾa, wa-al-barrāqatu taḥtamilu taʾwīlayni, ʾaḥaduhumā ʾan takūna ghaḍūban fī al-ṭaʿāmi fatabruqa liqillatihi ʾaw lisūʾi khuluqihā.

The roaming-eyed woman gestures with her eyes, buys everything, and demands from her husband whatever she desires of every sort. She may also glance frequently at men, as some men look at women. The “flashing” woman admits two interpretations. One is that she becomes angry over food, flaring up because it is scarce or because of her bad temper.

وَلَا تَكَادُ الْبَرَّاقَةُ لِلْمَأْكُولِ أَنْ تَأْكُلَ إِلَّا وَحْدَهَا لِشَرَهِهَا، وَتَكُونُ أَيْضًا تَسْتَقِلُّ نَصِيبَهَا مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهَذِهِ لُغَةٌ يَمَانِيَةٌ نَعْرِفُهَا فَأَشْبَهَ عِنْدَهُمْ يُقَالُ: قَدْ بَرِقَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ وَبَرِقَ الصَّبِيُّ الطَّعَامَ إِذَا غَضِبَ عَلَيْهِ.

walā takādu al-barrāqatu li-l-maʾkūli ʾan taʾkula ʾillā waḥdahā lisharahihā, watakūnu ʾayḍan tastaqillu naṣībahā min kulli shayʾin wa-hādhihi lughatun yamāniyatun naʿrifuhā faʾashbaha ʿindahum yuqālu: qad bariqati al-marʾatu wabariqa al-ṣabiyyu al-ṭaʿāma ʾidhā ghaḍiba ʿalayhi.

A woman who flares up over food hardly eats except alone, because of her greed, and she considers her share of everything too small. This is a Yemeni usage we know, so it fits their expression. They say that a woman or child bariqa the food when angry over it.

وَالْوَجْهُ الثَّانِي مِنَ الْبَرَّاقَةِ أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْبَرِيقِ أَنْ تُكْثِرَ صِقَالَ وَجْهِهَا وَخِضَابَهُ فِي بُرُوقِهِ أَبَدًا، وَأَمَّا الشَّدَّاقَةُ فَهِيَ الَّتِي تَشَدَّقُ بِكَثْرَةِ الْكَلَامِ وَتَكُونُ ذَرِبَةَ اللِّسَانِ مُفَوَّهَةً فِي النُّطْقِ، وَمِنْ ذَلِكَ الْخَبَرُ الَّذِي جَاءَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يُبْغِضُ الثَّرْثَارِينَ مِنَ الْمُتَشَدِّقِينَ.

wa-al-wajhu al-thānī mina al-barrāqati ʾan takūna mina al-barīqi ʾan tukthira ṣiqāla wajhihā wakhiḍābahu fī burūqihi ʾabadan, waʾammā al-shaddāqatu fahiya allatī tashaddaqu bikathrati al-kalāmi watakūnu dharibata al-lisāni mufawwahatan fī al-nuṭqi, wamin dhālika al-khabaru alladhī jāʾa ʾanna Allāha ʿazza wajalla yubghiḍu al-tharthārīna mina al-mutashaddiqīna.

The second interpretation of “flashing” derives from shining: she constantly polishes and colors her face to keep it gleaming. The loud-mouthed woman speaks affectedly and excessively, with a sharp tongue and a fluent mouth. Related to this is the report that God, mighty and majestic, hates the chatterers among those who speak grandiloquently.

وَفِي قِصَّةِ الرَّجُلِ السَّائِحِ الْأَزْدِيِّ أَنَّهُ لَقِيَ إِلْيَاسَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ فِي سِيَاحَتِهِ، فَأَمَرَهُ بِالتَّزْوِيجِ وَقَالَ: هُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكَ، وَنَهَاهُ عَنِ التَّبَتُّلِ وَقَالَ: لَا تَنْكِحْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ أَرْبَعًا وَانْكِحْ مَنْ سِوَاهُنَّ.

wafī qiṣṣati al-rajuli al-sāʾiḥi al-ʾazdiyyi ʾannahu laqiya ʾilyāsa ʿalayhi al-salāmu fī siyāḥatihi, faʾamarahu bi-al-tazwīji waqāla: huwa khayrun laka, wanahāhu ʿani al-tabattuli waqāla: lā tankiḥ mina al-nisāʾi ʾarbaʿan wa-inkiḥ man siwāhunna.

In the story of the wandering Azdī man, he met Elijah, peace be upon him, on his travels. Elijah commanded him to marry, saying: “It is better for you,” forbade him celibacy, and said: “Do not marry four kinds of women; marry others besides them.”

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٢٢

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 422

Volume Two, page 422

الْمُخْتَلِعَةَ وَالْمُبَارِيَةَ وَالْعَاهِرَ وَالنَّاشِرَ، فَالْمُخْتَلِعَةُ هِيَ الَّتِي تَطْلُبُ الْخُلْعَ مِنْ زَوْجِهَا مِنْ غَيْرِ مَا بَأْسٍ وَهُوَ مَعَ ذَلِكَ يُحِبُّهَا، وَالْمُبَارِيَةُ الْمُبَاهِيَةُ لِغَيْرِهَا، الْمُفَاخِرَةُ بِأَسْبَابِ الدُّنْيَا الَّتِي تَطْلُبُ مِنْ زَوْجِهَا مَا تُبَاهِي بِهِ غَيْرَهَا وَتَفْتَخِرُ بِهِ فِي نَظَائِرِهَا.

al-mukhtaliʿata wa-al-mubāriyata wa-al-ʿāhira wa-al-nāshira, fa-al-mukhtaliʿatu hiya allatī taṭlubu al-khulʿa min zawjihā min ghayri mā baʾsin wahuwa maʿa dhālika yuḥibbuhā, wa-al-mubāriyatu al-mubāhiyatu lighayrihā, al-mufākhiratu biʾasbābi al-dunyā allatī taṭlubu min zawjihā mā tubāhī bihi ghayrahā wataftakhiru bihi fī naẓāʾirihā.

“The woman who seeks release, the rival in display, the unchaste woman, and the domineering woman.” The first seeks compensated dissolution from her husband without distress, although he loves her. The rival in display boasts before others of worldly possessions, demanding from her husband things with which to outshine other women and vaunt herself among her peers.

وَالْعَاهِرُ الْفَاجِرَةُ الَّتِي تُعْرَفُ بِحَلِيلٍ أَوْ خِدْنٍ وَهُوَ الَّذِي قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَلَا مُتَّخِذَاتِ أَخْدَانٍ)، وَالنَّاشِرُ الَّتِي تَعْلُو عَلَى زَوْجِهَا فِي الْفِعَالِ وَالْمَقَالِ، وَقَدْ كَانَ عَلِيٌّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ يَقُولُ: شِرَارُ خِصَالِ الرَّجُلِ خِيَارُ خِصَالِ النِّسَاءِ، الْبُخْلُ وَالزَّهْوُ وَالْجُبْنُ.

wa-al-ʿāhiru al-fājiratu allatī tuʿrafu biḥalīlin ʾaw khidnin wahuwa alladhī qāla Allāhu ʿazza wajalla: (walā muttakhidhāti ʾakhdānin), wa-al-nāshiru allatī taʿlū ʿalā zawjihā fī al-fiʿāli wa-al-maqāli, waqad kāna ʿaliyyun ʿalayhi al-salāmu yaqūlu: shirāru khiṣāli al-rajuli khiyāru khiṣāli al-nisāʾi, al-bukhlu wa-al-zahwu wa-al-jubnu.

The unchaste woman is the immoral woman known to have a consort or secret lover, concerning whom God, mighty and majestic, said: “Nor taking secret lovers.” The domineering woman rises above her husband in deed and speech. ʿAlī, peace be upon him, used to say: “The worst traits in a man are the best traits in women: miserliness, pride, and cowardice.”

فَإِنَّ الْمَرْأَةَ إِذَا كَانَتْ مَزْهُوَّةً أَيْ مُعْجَبَةً اسْتَنْكَفَتْ أَنْ تُكَلِّمَ الرِّجَالَ، وَإِذَا كَانَتْ جَبَانَةً فَرِقَتْ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ فَلَمْ تَخْرُجْ مِنْ بَيْتِهَا، وَأَكْرَهُ الْعَزْلَ كَرَاهِيَةً شَدِيدَةً فَإِنَّهُ دَقِيقَةٌ مِنَ الشِّرْكِ الْخَفِيِّ، وَفِيهِ نَهْيُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ.

faʾinna al-marʾata ʾidhā kānat mazhuwwatan ʾay muʿjabatan istankafat ʾan tukallima al-rijāla, waʾidhā kānat jabānatan fariqat min kulli shayʾin falam takhruj min baytihā, waʾakrahu al-ʿazla karāhiyatan shadīdatan faʾinnahu daqīqatun mina al-shirki al-khafiyyi, wafīhi nahyu rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama.

If a woman is proud, meaning self-admiring, she disdains speaking to men; if cowardly, she fears everything and does not leave her house. I strongly disapprove of withdrawal during intercourse, for it is a subtle form of hidden association with God, and there is a prohibition of it from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace.

وَكَرِهَهُ جَمَاعَةٌ مِنَ السَّلَفِ الصَّالِحِ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ خِيَارُ الْمُتَّقِينَ يَعْزِلُونَ، وَأَقَلُّ مَا فِيهِ الْخُرُوجُ مِنَ التَّوَكُّلِ عَلَى اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، وَقِلَّةُ الرِّضَا بِحُكْمِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى، وَكَانَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ يَقُولُ الْعَزْلُ هِيَ الْمَوْؤُودَةُ الصُّغْرَى فَلِقَوْلِهِ هَذَا اسْتِنْبَاطٌ حَسَنٌ مِنَ السُّنَّةِ.

wakarihahu jamāʿatun mina al-salafi al-ṣāliḥi, walam yakun khiyāru al-muttaqīna yaʿzilūna, waʾaqallu mā fīhi al-khurūju mina al-tawakkuli ʿalā Allāhi ʿazza wajalla, waqillatu al-riḍā biḥukmi Allāhi taʿālā, wakāna ibnu ʿabbāsin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu yaqūlu al-ʿazlu hiya al-mawʾūdatu al-ṣughrā faliqawlihi hādhā istinbāṭun ḥasanun mina al-sunnati.

A group of the righteous early Muslims disapproved of it, and the finest of the God-fearing did not practice withdrawal. Its least fault is departure from reliance on God, mighty and majestic, and diminished contentment with the judgment of God, exalted is He. Ibn ʿAbbās, may God be pleased with him, used to say: “Withdrawal is the lesser buried-alive child.” His saying rests on a sound inference from the sunna.

وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ رُوِيَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي فَضَائِلِ الْجِمَاعِ: إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيُجَامِعُ أَهْلَهُ فَيُكْتَبُ لَهُ مِنْ جِمَاعِهِ أَجْرُ وَلَدٍ ذَكَرٍ قَاتَلَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، فَقِيلَ لَهُ: وَكَيْفَ ذَلِكَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ؟

wa-dhālika ʾannahu ruwiya ʿani al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama fī faḍāʾili al-jimāʿi: ʾinna al-rajula layujāmiʿu ʾahlahu fayuktabu lahu min jimāʿihi ʾajru waladin dhakarin qātala fī sabīli Allāhi ʿazza wajalla, faqīla lahu: wakayfa dhālika yā rasūla Allāhi?

It is related from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, concerning the merits of intercourse: “A man has intercourse with his wife, and from that intercourse there is recorded for him the reward of a male child who fought in the path of God, mighty and majestic.” He was asked: “How is that, Messenger of God?”

فَقَالَ: أَنْتَ خَلَقْتَهُ، أَنْتَ رَزَقْتَهُ، أَنْتَ هَدَيْتَهُ، إِلَيْكَ مَحْيَاهُ إِلَيْكَ مَمَاتُهُ؟ قَالُوا: بَلِ اللَّهُ خَلَقَهُ، وَرَزَقَهُ، وَهَدَاهُ، وَأَحْيَاهُ، وَأَمَاتَهُ. قَالَ: فَأَنْتَ تَرَاهُ فِي هَذَا الْمَعْنَى فِي يَقُولُ: إِذَا جَامَعْتَ فَأَمْنَيْتَ فِي الْفَرْجِ.

faqāla: ʾanta khalaqtahu, ʾanta razaqtahu, ʾanta hadaytahu, ʾilayka maḥyāhu ʾilayka mamātuhu? qālū: bali Allāhu khalaqahu, warazaqahu, wahadāhu, waʾaḥyāhu, waʾamātahu. qāla: faʾanta tarāhu fī hādhā al-maʿnā fī yaqūlu: ʾidhā jāmaʿta faʾamnayta fī al-farji.

He said: “Did you create him, provide for him, guide him? Does his life belong to you, or his death?” They answered: “Rather, God created him, provided for him, guided him, gave him life, and caused him to die.” He said: “You see it in this sense”: it says, when you have intercourse and ejaculate into the vagina.

وَقَدْ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: (أَفَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا تُمْنُونَ أَأَنْتُمْ تَخْلُقُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْخَالِقُونَ)، فَإِذَا لَمْ يَخْلُقِ اللَّهُ مِنْ مَنِيِّكَ خَلْقًا حُسِبَ لَكَ كَأَنَّهُ قَدْ خَلَقَ مِنْهُ ذَكَرًا عَلَى أَتَمِّ أَحْوَالِهِ وَأَكْمَلِ أَوْصَافِهِ بِأَنْ يُقَاتِلَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَيُقْتَلَ.

waqad qāla Allāhu taʿālā: (ʾafaraʾaytum mā tumnūna ʾaʾantum takhluqūnahu ʾam naḥnu al-khāliqūna), faʾidhā lam yakhluqi Allāhu min maniyyika khalqan ḥusiba laka kaʾannahu qad khalaqa minhu dhakaran ʿalā ʾatammi ʾaḥwālihi waʾakmali ʾawṣāfihi biʾan yuqātila fī sabīli Allāhi fayuqtala.

God, exalted is He, said: “Have you considered what you emit? Do you create it, or are We the Creator?” If God creates no being from your semen, it is credited to you as though He had created a male in the fullest condition and with the most complete qualities, who fights in God’s path and is killed.

لِأَنَّكَ قَدْ جِئْتَ بِالسَّبَبِ الَّذِي عَلَيْكَ وَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكَ خَلْقُهُ وَلَا هِدَايَتُهُ، وَإِنَّمَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَهُوَ فِعْلُهُ مُجَرَّدًا فَكَانَ لَكَ أَجْرُ مَا لَوْ فَعَلَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى إِذَا قَدْ أَتَيْتَ بِمَا أَمْكَنَكَ عَمَلُهُ.

liʾannaka qad jiʾta bi-al-sababi alladhī ʿalayka walaysa ʿalayka khalquhu walā hidāyatuhu, waʾinnamā yaqdiru ʿalā dhālika Allāhu ʿazza wajalla wahuwa fiʿluhu mujarradan fakāna laka ʾajru mā law faʿalahu Allāhu taʿālā ʾidhā qad ʾatayta bimā ʾamkanaka ʿamaluhu.

You have supplied the means required of you; creating and guiding him are not your responsibility. Only God, mighty and majestic, has power over that, and it is His act alone. Thus you receive the reward for what God, exalted is He, would have done, when you have done what lay within your capacity.

فَلِذَلِكَ قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ: هُوَ الْمَوْؤُودَةُ الصُّغْرَى لِأَنَّهُ يُوجَدُ الْعَزْلُ بِعَدَمِ هَذَا الْفَضْلِ، إِذَا كَانَ الْعَبْدُ سَبَبَ عَدَمِهِ لِأَنَّهُ لَمْ يَفْعَلْ مَا يَتَأَتَّى مِنْهُ الْوَلَدُ، فَذَهَبَ فَضْلُهُ وَحُسِبَ عَلَيْهِ قَتْلُهُ.

fali-dhālika qāla ibnu ʿabbāsin: huwa al-mawʾūdatu al-ṣughrā liʾannahu yūjadu al-ʿazlu biʿadami hādhā al-faḍli, ʾidhā kāna al-ʿabdu sababa ʿadamihi liʾannahu lam yafʿal mā yataʾattā minhu al-waladu, fadhahaba faḍluhu waḥusiba ʿalayhi qatluhu.

For this reason Ibn ʿAbbās said: “It is the lesser buried-alive child,” because withdrawal brings the absence of this merit. This is when the servant causes that absence by not doing what would make a child possible; its merit is lost, and its killing is counted against him.

وَإِنَّمَا قُلْنَا إِنَّ الْعَزْلَ دَقِيقَةٌ مِنَ الشِّرْكِ لِأَنَّ أَهْلَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ كَانَ سَبَبُ قَتْلِهِمْ بَنَاتِهِمْ مَعَانِيَ أَحَدُهَا خَشْيَةُ الْعَارِ بِهِنَّ، وَمِنْهَا كَرَاهَةُ الْإِنْفَاقِ عَلَيْهِنَّ وَمِنْهَا الشُّحُّ وَخَوْفُ الْفَقْرِ وَالْإِمْلَاقِ، وَكَانَ الْعَرَبُ مَنْ وُلِدَ لَهُ بَنُونَ وَبَنَاتٌ فَمَاتَ الْبَنُونَ وَعَاشَ الْبَنَاتُ سَمَّوْهُ أَبْتَرَ وَذَمُّوهُ بِذَلِكَ.

waʾinnamā qulnā ʾinna al-ʿazla daqīqatun mina al-shirki liʾanna ʾahla al-jāhiliyyati kāna sababu qatlihim banātihim maʿāniya ʾaḥaduhā khashyatu al-ʿāri bihinna, waminhā karāhatu al-ʾinfāqi ʿalayhinna waminhā al-shuḥḥu wakhawfu al-faqri wa-al-ʾimlāqi, wakāna al-ʿarabu man wulida lahu banūna wabanātun famāta al-banūna waʿāsha al-banātu sammawhu ʾabtara wadhammūhu bi-dhālika.

We called withdrawal a subtle form of association because the people of the age of ignorance killed their daughters for several reasons: fear of disgrace through them, unwillingness to provide for them, miserliness, and fear of poverty and destitution. When an Arab had sons and daughters, and the sons died while the daughters lived, they called him “cut off” and disparaged him for it.

وَكَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِهَذَا الْوَصْفِ الَّذِي يَكْرَهُونَ مَاتَ وَلَدُهُ الذَّكَرُ وَعَاشَ الْبَنَاتُ، فَلِذَلِكَ كَانَ يُسَمُّونَهُ مُذَمَّمًا أَيْ مَذْمُومًا عِنْدَهُمْ، وَمِنْهُ سَبُّهُ الْعَاصُ بْنُ وَائِلٍ حَتَّى قَالَ: إِنَّكَ أَبْتَرُ فَرَدَّ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَلَيْهِ فَقَالَ تَعَالَى: (إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ).

wakāna rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama bi-hādhā al-waṣfi alladhī yakrahūna māta waladuhu al-dhakaru waʿāsha al-banātu, fali-dhālika kāna yusammūnahu mudhammaman ʾay madhmūman ʿindahum, waminhu sabbuhu al-ʿāṣu bnu wāʾilin ḥattā qāla: ʾinnaka ʾabtaru faradda Allāhu ʿazza wajalla ʿalayhi faqāla taʿālā: (ʾinna shāniʾaka huwa al-ʾabtaru).

God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, was in the condition they despised: his male child died and his daughters lived. They therefore called him Mudhammam, meaning blameworthy in their eyes. Al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil insulted him in this way, saying: “You are cut off.” God, mighty and majestic, answered him, saying, exalted is He: “It is your hater who is cut off.”

أَيْ لَا ذِكْرَ لَكَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِكَ قَدِ انْقَطَعَ ذِكْرُكَ بِمَوْتِ الذُّكُورِ مِنْ وَلَدِكَ فَقَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بَلْ:

ʾay lā dhikra laka baʿda mawtika qadi inqaṭaʿa dhikruka bimawti al-dhukūri min waladika faqāla Allāhu ʿazza wajalla bal:

That is: “You will have no remembrance after your death; your remembrance has ended with the death of your male children.” God, mighty and majestic, said instead:

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٢٣

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 423

Volume Two, page 423

(إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ)، الَّذِي يَنْقَطِعُ ذِكْرُهُ وَثَنَاؤُهُ فَلَا يُذْكَرُ بِخَيْرٍ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهِ، فَأَمَّا أَنْتَ فَقَدْ رَفَعْتُ لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ تُذْكَرُ مَعِي إِذَا ذُكِرْتُ، وَكَانَتِ الْعَرَبُ تَقُولُ: مَنْ كُنَّ لَهُ أَحَدَ الْحُوبَاتِ الثَّلَاثِ، لَمْ يَشْرُفْ عَشِيرَتَهُ وَلَمْ يَسُدْ قَوْمَهُ يَعْنُونَ بِالْحُوبِ الْأُمَّ وَالْأُخْتَ وَالْبِنْتَ.

(ʾinna shāniʾaka huwa al-ʾabtaru), alladhī yanqaṭiʿu dhikruhu wathanāʾuhu falā yudhkaru bikhayrin baʿda mawtihi, faʾammā ʾanta faqad rafaʿtu laka dhikraka tudhkaru maʿī ʾidhā dhukirtu, wakānati al-ʿarabu taqūlu: man kunna lahu ʾaḥada al-ḥūbāti al-thalāthi, lam yashruf ʿashīratahu walam yasud qawmahu yaʿnūna bi-al-ḥūbi al-ʾumma wa-al-ʾukhta wa-al-binta.

“It is your hater who is cut off,” whose remembrance and praise will cease, so that he is not remembered favorably after death. “As for you, I have raised your remembrance: you are mentioned with Me when I am mentioned.” The Arabs used to say: “Whoever has one of the three burdens will not surpass his clan in honor or lead his people,” meaning by these burdens a mother, sister, and daughter.

وَالْحُوبَاتُ جَمْعُ حُوبٍ وَهِيَ كَبِيرَةٌ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِي أَكْلِكُمْ (أَمْوَالَ الْيَتَامَى ظُلْمًا) (كَانَ حُوبًا كَبِيرًا)، عِنْدِي لَيْسَ هَذَا الَّذِي قُلْتُمْ عِنْدَكُمْ، وَكَانَ مِنْ خِيَارِ التَّابِعِينَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَنْ يَسْتَحِبُّ لَهُ الْجَمْعَ بَيْنَ هَؤُلَاءِ الثَّلَاثِ: الْأُمِّ وَالْأُخْتِ وَالْبِنْتِ.

wa-al-ḥūbātu jamʿu ḥūbin wahiya kabīratun qāla Allāhu taʿālā fī ʾaklikum (ʾamwāla al-yatāmā ẓulman) (kāna ḥūban kabīran), ʿindī laysa hādhā alladhī qultum ʿindakum, wakāna min khiyāri al-tābiʿīna al-muʾminīna man yastaḥibbu lahu al-jamʿa bayna hāʾulāʾi al-thalāthi: al-ʾummi wa-al-ʾukhti wa-al-binti.

Ḥūbāt is the plural of ḥūb, a grave sin. God, exalted is He, said concerning your consuming “the property of orphans wrongfully”: “It is a great sin.” “In My sight, it is not what you call such in your own estimation.” Among the finest believing Successors were those who preferred to have all three together: mother, sister, and daughter.

لِمَا فِيهِنَّ مِنْ عَظِيمِ الْمَثُوبَةِ وَالْفَضْلِ لِيُخَالِفَ بِذَلِكَ سُنَّةَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ، فَقَدْ تُوجَدُ هَذِهِ الْمَعَانِي أَوْ بَعْضُهَا فِي الْعَزْلِ فَلِذَلِكَ سَمَّيْنَاهُ شِرْكًا وَكَرِهْنَاهُ، وَهُوَ مَذْهَبُ الْخَوَارِجِ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ كَأَنَّ فِيهِنَّ تَقَزُّزًا وَتَعَمُّقًا مِنِ اسْتِعْمَالِ كَثْرَةِ الْمَاءِ لِلطَّهَارَةِ، وَدُخُولِ الْحَمَّامَاتِ وَمُجَاوَزَةِ الْحَدِّ فِي الطَّهُورِ.

limā fīhinna min ʿaẓīmi al-mathūbati wa-al-faḍli liyukhālifa bi-dhālika sunnata al-jāhiliyyati, faqad tūjadu hādhihi al-maʿānī ʾaw baʿḍuhā fī al-ʿazli fali-dhālika sammaynāhu shirkan wakarihnāhu, wahuwa madhhabu al-khawāriji mina al-nisāʾi kaʾanna fīhinna taqazzuzan wataʿammuqan mini istiʿmāli kathrati al-māʾi li-l-ṭahārati, wadukhūli al-ḥammāmāti wamujāwazati al-ḥaddi fī al-ṭahūri.

This was because of the great reward and excellence found in caring for them, thereby opposing the custom of the age of ignorance. These motives, or some of them, may also occur in withdrawal; that is why we called it association and disapproved of it. It is the practice of Kharijite women, among whom there appears to be fastidiousness and excessive rigor in using abundant water for purification, entering bathhouses, and exceeding proper limits in cleansing.

وَكُنَّ أَيْضًا يَقْضِينَ الصَّلَاةَ أَيَّامَ الْحَيْضِ وَيَصُمْنَ فِي حَيْضِهِنَّ، وَلَا يُصَلِّينَ فِي ثِيَابِ الْحَيْضِ حَتَّى يَغْسِلْنَهَا، وَلَا يَدْخُلْنَ الْخَلَاءَ إِلَّا عُرَاةً، وَكَانُوا يَكْرَهُونَ الْوِلَادَةَ طَلَبًا لِلنَّظَافَةِ وَالتَّقَزُّزِ خِلَافَ السُّنَّةِ. نِسَاءُ الْعَرَبِ ابْتَدَعُوا هَذِهِ الْبِدَعَ فَفَارَقُوا بِهَا سُنَّةَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَسُنَنَ نِسَائِهِ مِنْ أَنْبَاطِ الْعِرَاقِ وَأَهْلِ النَّهْرِ.

wakunna ʾayḍan yaqḍīna al-ṣalāta ʾayyāma al-ḥayḍi wayaṣumna fī ḥayḍihinna, walā yuṣallīna fī thiyābi al-ḥayḍi ḥattā yaghsilnahā, walā yadkhulna al-khalāʾa ʾillā ʿurātan, wakānū yakrahūna al-wilādata ṭalaban li-l-naẓāfati wa-al-taqazzuzi khilāfa al-sunnati. nisāʾu al-ʿarabi ibtadaʿū hādhihi al-bidaʿa fafāraqū bihā sunnata rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama wasunana nisāʾihi min ʾanbāṭi al-ʿirāqi waʾahli al-nahri.

They also made up the prayers of menstruation days, fasted during menstruation, refused to pray in menstruation clothes until washing them, and entered the privy only naked. They disliked childbirth out of concern for cleanliness and fastidiousness, contrary to the sunna. Arab women introduced these innovations and departed from the sunna of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the practices of his wives: women from the Nabateans of Iraq and the people of the River.

وَكَانَ بَعْضُهُنَّ دَخَلَ عَلَى عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا لَمَّا قَدِمَتِ الْبَصْرَةَ، فَلَمْ تَأْذَنْ لَهُنَّ فِي الدُّخُولِ عَلَيْهَا، وَأَيْضًا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ نَدَبَا إِلَى اتِّخَاذِ الْوِلَادَةِ بِقَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: (فَأْتُوا حَرْثَكُمْ أَنَّى شِئْتُمْ وَقَدِّمُوا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ)، قِيلَ: الْوَلَدُ.

wakāna baʿḍuhunna dakhala ʿalā ʿāʾishata raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā lammā qadimati al-baṣrata, falam taʾdhan lahunna fī al-dukhūli ʿalayhā, waʾayḍan faʾinna Allāha warasūlahu nadabā ʾilā ittikhādhi al-wilādati biqawlihi taʿālā: (faʾtū ḥarthakum ʾannā shiʾtum waqaddimū liʾanfusikum), qīla: al-waladu.

Some of them approached ʿĀʾisha, may God be pleased with her, when she came to Basra, but she did not permit them to enter. Moreover, God and His Messenger encouraged having children through the saying of God, exalted is He: “Come to your tilth however you wish, and send ahead for yourselves,” interpreted as children.

وَقَوْلِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: تَنَاكَحُوا تَنَاسَلُوا فَإِنِّي مُكَاثِرٌ بِكُمُ الْأُمَمَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَقَوْلِهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: خَيْرُ نِسَائِكُمُ الْوَدُودُ الْوَلُودُ وَقَوْلِهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: سَوْدَاءُ وَلُودٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ حَسْنَاءَ لَا تَلِدُ، وَحَصِيرٌ فِي الْبَيْتِ خَيْرٌ مِنِ امْرَأَةٍ لَا تَلِدُ.

waqawli rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: tanākaḥū tanāsalū faʾinnī mukāthirun bikumu al-ʾumama yawma al-qiyāmati, waqawlihi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: khayru nisāʾikumu al-wadūdu al-walūdu waqawlihi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: sawdāʾu walūdun khayrun min ḥasnāʾa lā talidu, waḥaṣīrun fī al-bayti khayrun mini imraʾatin lā talidu.

Also through the saying of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Marry and reproduce, for through you I shall outnumber the communities on the Day of Resurrection”; the saying of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, “The best of your women is the loving, fertile woman”; and the saying of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, “A black woman who bears children is better than a beautiful woman who does not, and a mat in the house is better than a woman who does not bear children.”

وَمِنْ بَرَكَةِ الْمَرْأَةِ أَنْ تُيَسَّرَ رَحِمُهَا أَحْوَجَ مَا يَكُونُ إِلَى الْجِمَاعِ إِذَا طَهُرَتْ مِنَ الْحَيْضِ، وَفِي هَذَا الْوَقْتِ أَكْثَرُ مَا يَعْبُرُ النِّسَاءَ بِالْحَمْلِ وَأَحْمَدُ مَا يَكُونُ الْمَوْلُودُ عَاقِبَةً إِذَا عَلِقَ بِهِ قَبْلَ الطُّهْرِ.

wamin barakati al-marʾati ʾan tuyassara raḥimuhā ʾaḥwaja mā yakūnu ʾilā al-jimāʿi ʾidhā ṭahurat mina al-ḥayḍi, wafī hādhā al-waqti ʾaktharu mā yaʿburu al-nisāʾa bi-al-ḥamli waʾaḥmadu mā yakūnu al-mawlūdu ʿāqibatan ʾidhā ʿaliqa bihi qabla al-ṭuhri.

Among a woman’s blessings is that her womb is made receptive, when she is most in need of intercourse after becoming pure from menstruation. At this time pregnancy most often comes upon women, and a child’s outcome is most commendable if it is conceived before purity.

فَلِهَذِهِ الْمَعَانِي عَقَّبَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ الْأَمْرَ بِالْجِمَاعِ وَالْوَلَدِ بَعْدَ الطُّهْرِ فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: (فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرْنَ فَأْتُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمُ اللَّهُ)، وَلِأَضْدَادِهَا فِي الْكَرَاهَةِ وَالذَّمِّ أَمَرَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بِاعْتِزَالِ النِّسَاءِ فِي الْحَيْضِ.

fali-hādhihi al-maʿānī ʿaqqaba Allāhu ʿazza wajalla al-ʾamra bi-al-jimāʿi wa-al-waladi baʿda al-ṭuhri fī qawlihi taʿālā: (faʾidhā taṭahharna faʾtūhunna min ḥaythu ʾamarakumu Allāhu), waliʾaḍdādihā fī al-karāhati wa-al-dhammi ʾamara Allāhu taʿālā bi-iʿtizāli al-nisāʾi fī al-ḥayḍi.

For these reasons God, mighty and majestic, placed the command concerning intercourse and children after purity in the saying of God, exalted is He: “When they have purified themselves, approach them from where God has commanded you.” Because the opposite conditions are disapproved and blameworthy, God, exalted is He, commanded abstaining from women during menstruation.

وَيُقَالُ إِنَّ كُلَّ مَبْذُولٍ كَانَ أَوْ مَجْنُونًا أَوْ مَجْذُوبًا أَوْ مُخْتَلًّا، أَوْ فِي حَالِهِ وَعُتُلًّا مُخَبَّلًا لِأَنَّهُ كَانَ غَرْسُهُ فِي سَبْخَةٍ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ فَلَمْ يُزْرَعْ وَلَمْ يَزْكُ، وَمَنْ زُرِعَ مِنْ حَرْثٍ طَيِّبٍ زَكَا زَرْعُهُ وَهُوَ الْغِشْيَانُ فِي الطُّهْرِ فَلِذَلِكَ قَالَ: مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمُ اللَّهُ.

wayuqālu ʾinna kulla mabdhūlin kāna ʾaw majnūnan ʾaw majdhūban ʾaw mukhtallan, ʾaw fī ḥālihi waʿutullan mukhabbalan liʾannahu kāna gharsuhu fī sabkhatin mina al-ʾarḍi falam yuzraʿ walam yazku, waman zuriʿa min ḥarthin ṭayyibin zakā zarʿuhu wahuwa al-ghishyānu fī al-ṭuhri fali-dhālika qāla: min ḥaythu ʾamarakumu Allāhu.

It is said that anyone cast aside, or mad, afflicted, disordered, or brutish and deranged in his condition, is so because his planting was in saline ground: it was neither properly sown nor fruitful. Whoever is sown in good tilth has flourishing growth, meaning intercourse during purity. Hence He said: “From where God has commanded you.”

وَقَدْ رَخَّصَ طَائِفَةٌ فِي الْعَزْلِ، رَوَيْنَا فِي ذَلِكَ رُخْصَةً عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَقَدْ كَانَ سَعْدٌ يَعْزِلُ وَقَدْ أَنْكَرَ عَلِيٌّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ عَلَى ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ فِي قَوْلِهِ: إِنَّ الْعَزْلَ هِيَ الْمَوْؤُودَةُ الصُّغْرَى وَقَالَ:

waqad rakhkhaṣa ṭāʾifatun fī al-ʿazli, rawaynā fī dhālika rukhṣatan ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama, waqad kāna saʿdun yaʿzilu waqad ʾankara ʿaliyyun ʿalayhi al-salāmu ʿalā ibni ʿabbāsin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhum fī qawlihi: ʾinna al-ʿazla hiya al-mawʾūdatu al-ṣughrā waqāla:

A group, however, permitted withdrawal, and we have related permission for it from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace. Saʿd practiced it. ʿAlī, peace be upon him, objected to the saying of Ibn ʿAbbās, may God be pleased with them, that withdrawal is the lesser buried-alive child, and said:

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٢٤

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 424

Volume Two, page 424

إِنَّهَا لَا تَكُونُ مَوْؤُودَةً إِلَّا بَعْدَ سَبْعٍ ثُمَّ تَلَا قَوْلَهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَإِذَا الْمَوْؤُودَةُ سُئِلَتْ)، أَنَّهَا ذُكِرَتْ بَعْدَ سَبْعٍ ثُمَّ تَلَا قَوْلَهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ آيَةَ تَنْقِيلِ الْخِلْقَةِ: (وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ سُلَالَةٍ مِنْ طِينٍ).

ʾinnahā lā takūnu mawʾūdatan ʾillā baʿda sabʿin thumma talā qawlahu ʿazza wajalla: (waʾidhā al-mawʾūdatu suʾilat), ʾannahā dhukirat baʿda sabʿin thumma talā qawlahu ʿazza wajalla ʾāyata tanqīli al-khilqati: (walaqad khalaqnā al-ʾinsāna min sulālatin min ṭīnin).

“It is not a buried-alive child until after seven.” He then recited the saying of God, mighty and majestic: “When the girl buried alive is asked,” noting that she is mentioned after seven things. Then he recited the saying of God, mighty and majestic, the verse about the successive transformations of creation: “We created the human being from an extract of clay.”

ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُطْفَةً إِلَى قَوْلِهِ ثُمَّ أَنْشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقًا آخَرَ أَيْ نَفَخَ الرُّوحَ فِيهِ قَالَ: فَلَا يَكُونُ مَوْؤُودَةً مَقْتُولَةً إِلَّا بَعْدَ هَذِهِ السَّبْعِ الْخِصَالِ، وَلِأَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ ذَكَرَهَا فِي كُوِّرَتْ بَعْدَ سَبْعِ مَعَانٍ ثُمَّ جَمَعَ بَيْنَهُمَا فِي الْفَهْمِ فَاسْتَنْبَطَ ذَلِكَ.

thumma jaʿalnāhu nuṭfatan ʾilā qawlihi thumma ʾanshaʾnāhu khalqan ʾākhara ʾay nafakha al-rūḥa fīhi qāla: falā yakūnu mawʾūdatan maqtūlatan ʾillā baʿda hādhihi al-sabʿi al-khiṣāli, waliʾanna Allāha ʿazza wajalla dhakarahā fī kuwwirat baʿda sabʿi maʿānin thumma jamaʿa baynahumā fī al-fahmi fa-istanbaṭa dhālika.

“Then We made him a drop,” through His words, “Then We brought him forth as another creation,” meaning He breathed the spirit into him. He said: “It is not a killed, buried-alive child until after these seven stages.” Since God, mighty and majestic, also mentions her in “When it is folded up” after seven matters, he brought the two passages together in understanding and drew this conclusion.

وَهَذَا مِنْ دَقِيقِ الْعِلْمِ وَغَامِضِ الْفَهْمِ وَلَطِيفِ الِاسْتِدْلَالِ الَّذِي تَفَرَّدَ بِهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ لِثُقُوبِ عِلْمِهِ وَنَفَاذِ فِطْنَتِهِ وَخَفِيِّ اسْتِدْلَالِهِ، فَلَا يُجَامِعُهُنَّ حَتَّى يَطْهُرْنَ، فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرْنَ يَعْنِي بِالْمَاءِ وَيُكْرَهُ الْجِمَاعُ مُسْتَقْبِلَ الْقِبْلَةِ لِحُرْمَةِ الْقِبْلَةِ.

wa-hādhā min daqīqi al-ʿilmi waghāmiḍi al-fahmi walaṭīfi al-istidlāli alladhī tafarrada bihi ʿalayhi al-salāmu lithuqūbi ʿilmihi wanafādhi fiṭnatihi wakhafiyyi istidlālihi, falā yujāmiʿuhunna ḥattā yaṭhurna, faʾidhā taṭahharna yaʿnī bi-al-māʾi wayukrahu al-jimāʿu mustaqbila al-qiblati liḥurmati al-qiblati.

This is among the subtle knowledge, profound understanding, and delicate reasoning in which he, peace be upon him, was singular, through the penetration of his knowledge, keenness of his insight, and hidden inference. A man should not have intercourse with women until they become pure; “when they have purified themselves” means with water. Intercourse facing the prayer-direction is disapproved out of respect for that direction.

وَفِي الْخَبَرِ: إِذَا جَامَعَ أَحَدُكُمْ أَهْلَهُ فَلَا يَتَجَرَّدَا تَجَرُّدَ الْعَيْرَيْنِ يَعْنِي الْحِمَارَيْنِ، وَرَوَيْنَا أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَانَ إِذَا جَامَعَ غَطَّى رَأْسَهُ وَخَفَضَ صَوْتَهُ وَقَالَ لِلْمَرْأَةِ: عَلَيْكِ السَّكِينَةَ، وَمَنْ جَامَعَ مَرَّةً وَأَرَادَ الْعَوْدَ فَلْيَغْسِلْ فَرْجَهُ قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ.

wafī al-khabari: ʾidhā jāmaʿa ʾaḥadukum ʾahlahu falā yatajarradā tajarruda al-ʿayrayni yaʿnī al-ḥimārayni, warawaynā ʾanna rasūla Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama kāna ʾidhā jāmaʿa ghaṭṭā raʾsahu wakhafaḍa ṣawtahu waqāla li-l-marʾati: ʿalayki al-sakīnata, waman jāmaʿa marratan waʾarāda al-ʿawda falyaghsil farjahu qabla dhālika.

A report says: “When one of you has intercourse with his wife, they should not strip naked like two asses,” meaning two donkeys. We have related that when God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, had intercourse, he covered his head, lowered his voice, and told the woman: “Be tranquil.” Anyone who has intercourse once and wishes to return to it should first wash his sexual organ.

فَإِنِ احْتَلَمَ فَلَا يُجَامِعْ حَتَّى يَغْسِلَ فَرْجَهُ أَوْ يَبُولَ، فَإِنْ جَامَعَ بَعْدَ الِاحْتِلَامِ مِنْ غَيْرِ غَسْلٍ خِيفَ عَلَى وَلَدِهِ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ جِمَاعِهِ أَنْ يُصِيبَهُ لَمَمٌ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ، وَيُكْرَهُ لَهُ الْجِمَاعُ فِي ثَلَاثِ لَيَالٍ مِنَ الشَّهْرِ: فِي أَوَّلِ لَيْلَةٍ وَفِي آخِرِ لَيْلَةٍ وَفِي لَيْلَةِ النِّصْفِ.

faʾini iḥtalama falā yujāmiʿ ḥattā yaghsila farjahu ʾaw yabūla, faʾin jāmaʿa baʿda al-iḥtilāmi min ghayri ghaslin khīfa ʿalā waladihi ʾin kāna min jimāʿihi ʾan yuṣībahu lamamun mina al-shayṭāni, wayukrahu lahu al-jimāʿu fī thalāthi layālin mina al-shahri: fī ʾawwali laylatin wafī ʾākhiri laylatin wafī laylati al-niṣfi.

If he has had a nocturnal emission, he should not have intercourse until washing his organ or urinating. If he has intercourse after an emission without washing, it is feared that a child conceived from it might be afflicted by Satan. Intercourse is disapproved on three nights of the month: the first, the last, and the middle night.

يُقَالُ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ يَحْضُرُ الْجِمَاعَ فِي هَذِهِ اللَّيَالِي وَقِيلَ إِنَّ الشَّيَاطِينَ يُجَامِعُونَ فِيهَا، وَرُوِيَ عَنْ عَلِيٍّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ كَرَاهَةُ ذَلِكَ وَأَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ وَمُعَاوِيَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا، وَمِنَ الْعُلَمَاءِ مَنْ كَانَ يَسْتَحِبُّ الْجِمَاعَ فِي يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ لِأَحَدِ التَّأْوِيلَيْنِ مِنْ قَوْلِهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَنْ غَسَّلَ وَاغْتَسَلَ أَيْ غَسَّلَ أَهْلَهُ.

yuqālu ʾinna al-shayṭāna yaḥḍuru al-jimāʿa fī hādhihi al-layālī waqīla ʾinna al-shayāṭīna yujāmiʿūna fīhā, waruwiya ʿan ʿaliyyin ʿalayhi al-salāmu karāhatu dhālika waʾabī hurayrata wamuʿāwiyata raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhumā, wamina al-ʿulamāʾi man kāna yastaḥibbu al-jimāʿa fī yawmi al-jumuʿati liʾaḥadi al-taʾwīlayni min qawlihi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: man ghassala wa-ightasala ʾay ghassala ʾahlahu.

It is said that Satan attends intercourse on these nights, or that devils themselves have intercourse then. Disapproval of this is related from ʿAlī, peace be upon him, and from Abū Hurayra and Muʿāwiya, may God be pleased with them both. Some scholars recommended intercourse on Friday according to one of two interpretations of the saying of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, “Whoever causes washing and bathes,” meaning causes his wife to bathe.

وَيُكْرَهُ الْجِمَاعُ فِي أَوَّلِ اللَّيْلِ لِئَلَّا يَنَامَ عَلَى غَيْرِ طَهَارَةٍ، فَإِنَّ الْأَرْوَاحَ تَعْرُجُ إِلَى الْعَرْشِ فَمَا كَانَ مِنْهَا طَاهِرًا أُذِنَ لَهُ فِي السُّجُودِ، وَمَا كَانَ جُنُبًا لَمْ يُؤْذَنْ لَهُ، وَالرُّؤْيَا أَيْضًا عَلَى طَهَارَةٍ مِنْ غَيْرِ جَنَابَةٍ، وَعَلَى وُضُوءٍ أَصَحُّ وَأَفْضَلُ إِلَّا أَنْ يَغْتَسِلَ ثُمَّ يَنَامَ.

wayukrahu al-jimāʿu fī ʾawwali al-layli liʾallā yanāma ʿalā ghayri ṭahāratin, faʾinna al-ʾarwāḥa taʿruju ʾilā al-ʿarshi famā kāna minhā ṭāhiran ʾudhina lahu fī al-sujūdi, wamā kāna junuban lam yuʾdhan lahu, wa-al-ruʾyā ʾayḍan ʿalā ṭahāratin min ghayri janābatin, waʿalā wuḍūʾin ʾaṣaḥḥu waʾafḍalu ʾillā ʾan yaghtasila thumma yanāma.

Intercourse early in the night is disapproved lest one sleep without purity. Spirits ascend to the Throne: a pure spirit is permitted to prostrate, while one in sexual impurity is not. Dreams experienced in purity, free of sexual impurity and with ablution, are also sounder and better, unless he bathes and then sleeps.

فَإِنْ لَمْ يَغْتَسِلْ وَجَامَعَ فَلَا يَنَامُ وَلَا يَطْعَمُ حَتَّى يَتَوَضَّأَ وُضُوءَهُ لِلصَّلَاةِ، وَقَدْ جَاءَ رُخْصَةٌ فِي النَّوْمِ بَعْدَ الْجِمَاعِ مِنْ غَيْرِ أَنْ يَمَسَّ مَاءً، فَعَلَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَأَنَا أَكْرَهُ أَنْ يَحْلِقَ الرَّجُلُ رَأْسَهُ أَوْ يُقَلِّمَ ظُفْرَهُ أَوْ يَسْتَحِدَّ أَوْ يَتَنَوَّرَ وَيُخْرِجَ دَمًا وَهُوَ جُنُبٌ.

faʾin lam yaghtasil wajāmaʿa falā yanāmu walā yaṭʿamu ḥattā yatawaḍḍaʾa wuḍūʾahu li-l-ṣalāti, waqad jāʾa rukhṣatun fī al-nawmi baʿda al-jimāʿi min ghayri ʾan yamassa māʾan, faʿalahu rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama waʾanā ʾakrahu ʾan yaḥliqa al-rajulu raʾsahu ʾaw yuqallima ẓufrahu ʾaw yastaḥidda ʾaw yatanawwara wayukhrija daman wahuwa junubun.

If he has intercourse and does not bathe, he should neither sleep nor eat until performing the ablution for prayer. Permission has nevertheless been transmitted to sleep after intercourse without touching water; God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, did so. I dislike a man’s shaving his head, clipping a nail, shaving pubic hair, using depilatory, or drawing blood while sexually impure.

فَإِنَّ الْعَبْدَ يُرَدُّ إِلَيْهِ جَمِيعُ شَعْرِهِ وَظُفْرِهِ وَدَمِهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، فَمَا سَقَطَ مِنْهُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ وَهُوَ جُنُبٌ رَجَعَ إِلَيْهِ جُنُبًا، وَقِيلَ: طَالَبَتْهُ كُلُّ شَعْرَةٍ بِجَنَابَتِهَا، وَقَدْ رَوَيْنَا مَعْنَى هَذَا فِي حَدِيثٍ مَقْطُوعٍ مَوْقُوفٍ عَنِ الْأَوْزَاعِيِّ وَيَحْيَى بْنِ كَثِيرٍ.

faʾinna al-ʿabda yuraddu ʾilayhi jamīʿu shaʿrihi waẓufrihi wadamihi yawma al-qiyāmati, famā saqaṭa minhu min dhālika wahuwa junubun rajaʿa ʾilayhi junuban, waqīla: ṭālabat-hu kullu shaʿratin bijanābatihā, waqad rawaynā maʿnā hādhā fī ḥadīthin maqṭūʿin mawqūfin ʿani al-ʾawzāʿiyyi wayaḥyā bni kathīrin.

All the servant’s hair, nails, and blood will be restored to him on the Day of Resurrection. Whatever fell from him while he was sexually impure returns to him impure. It is said that every hair will call him to account for its impurity. We have related this sense in a report stopping short of the Prophet, attributed to al-Awzāʿī and Yaḥyā ibn Kathīr.

قَالَ الْأَوْزَاعِيُّ: قَدْ كُنَّا نَقُولُ: لَا بَأْسَ أَنْ يَطَأَ الْجُنُبُ، حَتَّى سَمِعْنَا بِهَذَا الْحَدِيثِ وَالنَّصُّ فِيهِ عَلَى النَّهْيِ أَنْ يَطَأَ الرَّجُلُ جُنُبًا، وَلَا يَحِلُّ لِلرَّجُلِ مِنِ امْرَأَتِهِ إِلَّا الْفَرْجُ لَا غَيْرُ عَلَى أَيِّ حَالٍ شَاؤُوا.

qāla al-ʾawzāʿiyyu: qad kunnā naqūlu: lā baʾsa ʾan yaṭaʾa al-junubu, ḥattā samiʿnā bi-hādhā al-ḥadīthi wa-al-naṣṣu fīhi ʿalā al-nahyi ʾan yaṭaʾa al-rajulu junuban, walā yaḥillu li-l-rajuli mini imraʾatihi ʾillā al-farju lā ghayru ʿalā ʾayyi ḥālin shāʾū.

Al-Awzāʿī said: “We used to say that there was no harm in a sexually impure person having intercourse, until we heard this report.” Its explicit wording forbids a man to have intercourse while sexually impure. Of his wife, only vaginal intercourse is lawful to the man, and no other site, in whatever position they wish.

مَنْ جَامَعَ فَلْيَتَمَهَّلْ عَلَى أَهْلِهِ وَلْيَتَوَقَّفْ حَتَّى تَقْضِيَ هِيَ نَهْمَتَهَا كَمَا قَضَى هُوَ نَهْمَتَهُ، فَرُبَّمَا تَأَخَّرَ إِنْزَالُ الْمَرْأَةِ بَعْدَ الرَّجُلِ فَيَكُونُ ذَلِكَ كَرِيهًا إِلَيْهَا، فَإِنْ عَلِمَ أَنَّهَا قَدْ سَبَقَتْ

man jāmaʿa falyatamahhal ʿalā ʾahlihi walyatawaqqaf ḥattā taqḍiya hiya nahmatahā kamā qaḍā huwa nahmatahu, farubbamā taʾakhkhara ʾinzālu al-marʾati baʿda al-rajuli fayakūnu dhālika karīhan ʾilayhā, faʾin ʿalima ʾannahā qad sabaqat

A man having intercourse should take his time with his wife and wait until she has satisfied her desire as he has satisfied his. The woman’s climax may come later than the man’s, and otherwise the experience may be displeasing to her. If he knows that she has preceded him

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٢٥

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 425

Volume Two, page 425

بِالشَّهْوَةِ لَمْ يَحْتَجْ إِلَى تَوَقُّفٍ وَلَيْسَ يَخْفَى سَبْقُهَا بِالشَّهْوَةِ عَلَى فَطِنٍ، وَأَوْفَقُ مَا يَكُونُ الْجِمَاعُ بَيْنَهُمَا إِذَا اتَّفَقَتِ الشَّهْوَتَانِ مِنْهُمَا مَعًا، وَأَكْثَرُ مَا يَكُونُ التَّبَاغُضُ بَيْنَ الزَّوْجَيْنِ لِاخْتِلَافِهِمَا مِنْ طَبْعِ الْإِنْزَالِ أَنْ يَكُونَ طَبْعُهُ سَابِقًا لِطَبْعِهَا أَيْضًا.

bi-al-shahwati lam yaḥtaj ʾilā tawaqqufin walaysa yakhfā sabquhā bi-al-shahwati ʿalā faṭinin, waʾawfaqu mā yakūnu al-jimāʿu baynahumā ʾidhā ittafaqati al-shahwatāni minhumā maʿan, waʾaktharu mā yakūnu al-tabāghuḍu bayna al-zawjayni li-ikhtilāfihimā min ṭabʿi al-ʾinzāli ʾan yakūna ṭabʿuhu sābiqan liṭabʿihā ʾayḍan.

in fulfillment of desire, he need not wait; an attentive man will recognize that she has preceded him. Intercourse is most harmonious when their two desires are fulfilled together. Much mutual aversion between spouses arises from a difference in the natural timing of climax, when his nature precedes hers.

وَقَدْ كَانَ بَعْضُ الْعُلَمَاءِ مِنَ الْأُدَبَاءِ لَا يَتَأَخَّرُ عَنِ الْمَرْأَةِ حَتَّى يَسْتَأْمِرَهَا فِي ذَلِكَ، وَيَنْبَغِي أَنْ يُعَلِّمَهَا لِأَنَّ الْمَرْأَةَ إِذَا بَلَغَتْ وَاحْتَلَمَتْ يَجِبُ عَلَيْهَا الْغُسْلُ كَمَا يَجِبُ عَلَى الرَّجُلِ، فَإِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ سُنَّةً لِأَنَّ أُمَّ سُلَيْمٍ سَأَلَتْ عَنْ ذَلِكَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَأَمَرَ بِذَلِكَ.

waqad kāna baʿḍu al-ʿulamāʾi mina al-ʾudabāʾi lā yataʾakhkharu ʿani al-marʾati ḥattā yastaʾmirahā fī dhālika, wayanbaghī ʾan yuʿallimahā liʾanna al-marʾata ʾidhā balaghat wa-iḥtalamat yajibu ʿalayhā al-ghuslu kamā yajibu ʿalā al-rajuli, faʾinna fī dhālika sunnatan liʾanna ʾumma sulaymin saʾalat ʿan dhālika rasūla Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama faʾamara bi-dhālika.

Some well-mannered scholars would not withdraw from the woman until asking her permission. He should teach her, for when a woman reaches maturity and experiences a nocturnal emission, ritual bathing is obligatory for her as it is for a man. There is a sunna on this: Umm Sulaym asked God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, about it, and he commanded it.

قَالَ: نِعْمَ النِّسَاءُ نِسَاءُ الْأَنْصَارِ لَا يَمْنَعُهُنَّ الْحَيَاءُ أَنْ يَتَفَقَّهْنَ فِي الدِّينِ، وَإِذَا كَانَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ حَائِضًا ائْتَزَرَتْ بِمِئْزَرٍ صَغِيرٍ مِنْ حَقْوَيْهَا إِلَى أَنْصَافِ الْفَخِذَيْنِ وَكَانَ لَهُ الْمُتْعَةُ بِجَمِيعِ جَسَدِهَا كَيْفَ شَاءَ إِلَّا تَحْتَ الْمِئْزَرِ، وَهَذَا مَذْهَبُ فُقَهَاءِ الْحِجَازِ وَهُوَ أَحَبُّ الْوَجْهَيْنِ إِلَيَّ.

qāla: niʿma al-nisāʾu nisāʾu al-ʾanṣāri lā yamnaʿuhunna al-ḥayāʾu ʾan yatafaqqahna fī al-dīni, waʾidhā kānati al-marʾatu ḥāʾiḍan iʾtazarat bimiʾzarin ṣaghīrin min ḥaqwayhā ʾilā ʾanṣāfi al-fakhidhayni wakāna lahu al-mutʿatu bijamīʿi jasadihā kayfa shāʾa ʾillā taḥta al-miʾzari, wa-hādhā madhhabu fuqahāʾi al-ḥijāzi wahuwa ʾaḥabbu al-wajhayni ʾilayya.

He said: “How excellent are the women of the Anṣār! Modesty does not prevent them from gaining understanding in religion.” When a woman is menstruating, she wraps a small waistcloth from her hips to mid-thigh. He may enjoy the rest of her body as he wishes, except beneath the waistcloth. This is the position of the jurists of the Hijaz and the one of the two views I prefer.

وَبَعْضُ عُلَمَاءِ أَهْلِ الْعِرَاقِ يُجَوِّزُ مِنَ الْحَائِضِ الْمُبَاشَرَةَ لِمَا تَحْتَ خَلَا الْفَرْجَيْنِ، وَلَا يُعْجِبُنِي هَذَا وَلَا حَرَجَ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الِاسْتِمْتَاعِ بِبَدَنِهَا، وَأَسْتَحِبُّ لِلرَّجُلِ إِذَا دَخَلَ فِي لِحَافِهَا أَنْ يَأْتَزِرَ بِحَقْوٍ صَغِيرٍ يَكُونُ فِي وَسَطِهِ وَهُوَ الْمِئْزَرُ لِئَلَّا يَتَجَرَّدَ عُرْيَانًا، فَإِنَّ هَذَا مِنَ الْأَدَبِ.

wabaʿḍu ʿulamāʾi ʾahli al-ʿirāqi yujawwizu mina al-ḥāʾiḍi al-mubāsharata limā taḥta khalā al-farjayni, walā yuʿjibunī hādhā walā ḥaraja ʿalayhi mina al-istimtāʿi bibadanihā, waʾastaḥibbu li-l-rajuli ʾidhā dakhala fī liḥāfihā ʾan yaʾtazira biḥaqwin ṣaghīrin yakūnu fī wasaṭihi wahuwa al-miʾzaru liʾallā yatajarrada ʿuryānan, faʾinna hādhā mina al-ʾadabi.

Some Iraqi scholars permit intimate contact beneath it during menstruation, apart from the two private openings. I do not favor this view, though there is no blame in enjoying her body. I recommend that when a man enters her bedding, he wear a small cloth around his waist, the waistcloth, so that he is not completely naked; this is proper conduct.

وَيُضَاجِعُ الرَّجُلُ الْحَائِضَ كَيْفَ شَاءَ وَتُنَاوِلُهُ مَا شَاءَ، أَوْ يُؤَاكِلُهَا وَلَا يُجَانِبُهَا فِي شَيْءٍ مِنَ الْأَشْيَاءِ إِلَّا الْجِمَاعَ فِي الْفَرْجِ اتَّفَقُوا عَلَيْهِ وَاخْتَلَفُوا فِيمَا دُونَهُ، فَذَكَرَ أَهْلُ الْحِجَازِ كَمَا ذَكَرْنَاهُ آنِفًا وَهُوَ اسْتِحْبَابٌ، وَاتَّفَقُوا عَلَى تَجْوِيزِ مَا فَوْقَ الْمِئْزَرِ مِنَ السُّرَرِ إِلَى أَنْصَافِ الْفَخِذَيْنِ.

wayuḍājiʿu al-rajulu al-ḥāʾiḍa kayfa shāʾa watunāwiluhu mā shāʾa, ʾaw yuʾākiluhā walā yujānibuhā fī shayʾin mina al-ʾashyāʾi ʾillā al-jimāʿa fī al-farji ittafaqū ʿalayhi wa-ikhtalafū fīmā dūnahu, fadhakara ʾahlu al-ḥijāzi kamā dhakarnāhu ʾānifan wahuwa istiḥbābun, wa-ittafaqū ʿalā tajwīzi mā fawqa al-miʾzari mina al-surari ʾilā ʾanṣāfi al-fakhidhayni.

A man may lie beside a menstruating woman as he wishes; she may hand him whatever he wishes, and he may eat with her. He need not avoid her in anything except vaginal intercourse, on which they agreed while differing over lesser contact. The people of the Hijaz held what we mentioned above as a recommendation. They agreed that contact over the waistcloth, from the navel to mid-thigh, is permitted.

فَيَنْبَغِي لِلْمُتَزَوِّجِ أَنْ يَعْرِفَ حُكْمَ الطَّلَاقِ، فَإِنْ عَرَضَ عَلَيْهِ طَلَاقٌ طَلَّقَ وَاحِدَةً وَاحِدَةً فِي طُهْرٍ لَا جِمَاعَ فِيهِ، لِأَنَّ التَّطْلِيقَةَ الْوَاحِدَةَ إِذَا انْقَضَتْ عِدَّةُ الْمَرْأَةِ مِنْهَا بِحَيْضٍ أَوْ أَشْهُرٍ تَعْمَلُ عَمَلَ التَّحْرِيمِ بِالثَّلَاثِ سَوَاءً، إِلَّا أَنَّهُ يَرْبَحُ فِي التَّطْلِيقَةِ الْوَاحِدَةِ أَرْبَعَ خِصَالٍ.

fayanbaghī li-l-mutazawwiji ʾan yaʿrifa ḥukma al-ṭalāqi, faʾin ʿaraḍa ʿalayhi ṭalāqun ṭallaqa wāḥidatan wāḥidatan fī ṭuhrin lā jimāʿa fīhi, liʾanna al-taṭlīqata al-wāḥidata ʾidhā inqaḍat ʿiddatu al-marʾati minhā biḥayḍin ʾaw ʾashhurin taʿmalu ʿamala al-taḥrīmi bi-al-thalāthi sawāʾan, ʾillā ʾannahu yarbaḥu fī al-taṭlīqati al-wāḥidati ʾarbaʿa khiṣālin.

A married man should know the rules of divorce. If divorce becomes necessary, he should pronounce one divorce at a time during a period of purity in which there has been no intercourse. Once the woman’s waiting period, measured by menstrual cycles or months, has ended, a single divorce brings separation just as three do. Yet a single pronouncement gains him four advantages.

أَحَدُهَا مُوَافَقَةُ الْكِتَابِ وَالسُّنَّةِ مِنْ قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (فَطَلِّقُوهُنَّ لِعِدَّتِهِنَّ)، وَفِي قِرَاءَةِ عُمَرَ وَابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ بَيَانُ ذَلِكَ: فَطَلِّقُوهُنَّ لِقُبُلِ عِدَّتِهِنَّ فَقَدْ دَلَّ أَنَّ الْأَقْرَاءَ هِيَ الْأَطْهَارُ، وَكَذَلِكَ هُوَ عِنْدِي، وَإِنْ تَكَافَأَ ذَلِكَ فِي اللُّغَةِ وَتَسَاوَى فِي الْمَعَانِي بِأَنْ يَكُونَ الْحَيْضَ أَيْضًا.

ʾaḥaduhā muwāfaqatu al-kitābi wa-al-sunnati min qawlihi ʿazza wajalla: (faṭalliqūhunna liʿiddatihinna), wafī qirāʾati ʿumara wa-ibni ʿabbāsin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhum bayānu dhālika: faṭalliqūhunna liqubuli ʿiddatihinna faqad dalla ʾanna al-ʾaqrāʾa hiya al-ʾaṭhāru, wa-kadhālika huwa ʿindī, waʾin takāfaʾa dhālika fī al-lughati watasāwā fī al-maʿānī biʾan yakūna al-ḥayḍa ʾayḍan.

The first is agreement with the Book and sunna, through the saying of God, mighty and majestic: “Divorce them for their waiting period.” The reading of ʿUmar and Ibn ʿAbbās, may God be pleased with them, clarifies it: “Divorce them at the beginning of their waiting period.” This indicates that the aqrāʾ are periods of purity; that is also my view, although linguistically and semantically the term may equally mean menstruation.

وَالثَّانِيَةُ تَيْسِيرُ الْعِدَّةِ عَلَيْهَا وَسُرْعَةُ خُرُوجِهَا مِنْهَا، فَخُرُوجُهَا مِنَ الطَّلَاقِ مُحْتَسَبٌ مِنَ الطُّهْرِ الَّذِي طَلَّقَهَا فِيهِ مِنْ غَيْرِ جِمَاعٍ قُرْءًا، فَتَسْتَعْجِلُ الْخُرُوجَ مِنَ الْعِدَّةِ لِأَنَّهَا مِنْ حُدُودِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، وَيَرْبَحُ أَيْضًا هُوَ أَنَّهُ إِنْ نَدِمَ عَلَى طَلَاقِهَا كَانَ لَهُ رَجْعَتُهَا فِي الْعِدَّةِ مِنْ غَيْرِ إِحْدَاثِ عَقْدٍ ثَانٍ وَلَا مَهْرٍ آخَرَ.

wa-al-thāniyatu taysīru al-ʿiddati ʿalayhā wasurʿatu khurūjihā minhā, fakhurūjuhā mina al-ṭalāqi muḥtasabun mina al-ṭuhri alladhī ṭallaqahā fīhi min ghayri jimāʿin qurʾan, fatastaʿjilu al-khurūja mina al-ʿiddati liʾannahā min ḥudūdi Allāhi ʿazza wajalla, wayarbaḥu ʾayḍan huwa ʾannahu ʾin nadima ʿalā ṭalāqihā kāna lahu rajʿatuhā fī al-ʿiddati min ghayri ʾiḥdāthi ʿaqdin thānin walā mahrin ʾākhara.

The second is easing her waiting period and hastening its completion. The period of purity in which he divorced her without intercourse is counted as one qurʾ toward her release from the divorce’s waiting period. She thus completes it sooner, for it is among the limits of God, mighty and majestic. He also gains this: if he regrets the divorce, he may take her back during the waiting period without a new contract or another dowry.

وَإِنْ أَحَبَّ رَجْعَتَهَا بَعْدَ انْقِضَاءِ الْعِدَّةِ كَانَ لَهُ تَزْوِيجُهَا ثَانِيَةً مِنْ غَيْرِ زَوْجٍ ثَانٍ تُحْدِثُهُ، وَهَذَا كُلُّهُ مَعْدُومٌ مَعَ الثَّلَاثِ دَفْعَةً وَاحِدَةً وَمَوْجُودٌ فِيهِ التَّحْرِيمُ، وَإِنْ نَدِمَ لَمْ يَجْعَلِ اللَّهُ لَهُ مَخْرَجًا لِأَنَّهُ لَا تَحِلُّ لَهُ إِلَّا بَعْدَ زَوْجٍ.

waʾin ʾaḥabba rajʿatahā baʿda inqiḍāʾi al-ʿiddati kāna lahu tazwījuhā thāniyatan min ghayri zawjin thānin tuḥdithuhu, wa-hādhā kulluhu maʿdūmun maʿa al-thalāthi dafʿatan wāḥidatan wamawjūdun fīhi al-taḥrīmu, waʾin nadima lam yajʿali Allāhu lahu makhrajan liʾannahu lā taḥillu lahu ʾillā baʿda zawjin.

If he wishes to take her back after the waiting period, he may marry her again without her first marrying another husband. None of this is available with three pronouncements at once, which establish prohibition. Even if he regrets it, God has given him no way out, for she becomes lawful to him only after another husband.

وَيَخْسَرُ الْعَبْدُ خُرُوجَ الْمَرْأَةِ مِنْ يَدِهِ فَإِنِ ابْتُلِيَ بِهَوَاهَا يَحْتَاجُ أَنْ يَنْتَظِرَ فَرَاغَ الزَّوْجِ الثَّانِي أَوِ الْتَجَأَ أَنْ يَعْمَلَ فِي تَزْوِيجِهَا لِغَيْرِهِ، فَيَكُونَ مُحَلِّلًا لِنَفْسِهِ وَمُفْسِدَ النِّكَاحِ الثَّانِي بِالتَّحْلِيلِ فَيَقَعَ فِي ثَلَاثِ مَعَانٍ مِنَ الْمَعَاصِي.

wayakhsaru al-ʿabdu khurūja al-marʾati min yadihi faʾini ubtuliya bihawāhā yaḥtāju ʾan yantaẓira farāgha al-zawji al-thānī ʾawi iltajaʾa ʾan yaʿmala fī tazwījihā lighayrihi, fayakūna muḥallilan linafsihi wamufsida al-nikāḥi al-thānī bi-al-taḥlīli fayaqaʿa fī thalāthi maʿānin mina al-maʿāṣī.

The servant suffers the loss of the woman from his authority. If afflicted by desire for her, he must wait until the second husband is finished, or resort to arranging her marriage to another, thereby contriving to make her lawful to himself and corrupting the second marriage through that contrivance. He thus falls into three forms of disobedience.

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٢٦

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 426

Volume Two, page 426

وَقَدْ لَعَنَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْمُحَلِّلَ وَالْمُحَلَّلَ لَهُ، وَقَالَ بَعْضُ الْعُلَمَاءِ: إِنَّ نِكَاحَ الْأَوَّلِ بَعْدَهُ عَلَى التَّحْلِيلِ لَا يَجُوزُ أَيْضًا، وَهَذَا كُلُّهُ ثَمَرَةُ الْجَهْلِ وَمُخَالَفَةِ السُّنَّةِ.

waqad laʿana rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama al-muḥallila wa-al-muḥallala lahu, waqāla baʿḍu al-ʿulamāʾi: ʾinna nikāḥa al-ʾawwali baʿdahu ʿalā al-taḥlīli lā yajūzu ʾayḍan, wa-hādhā kulluhu thamaratu al-jahli wamukhālafati al-sunnati.

God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, cursed both the man who enters a marriage to make a woman lawful again for her former husband and the man for whom it is done. Some scholars said that the first husband’s subsequent marriage on that basis is also invalid. All this is the fruit of ignorance and opposing the sunna.

وَقَدْ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: (فَطَلِّقُوهُنَّ لِعِدَّتِهِنَّ)، ثُمَّ قَالَ: لَا تَدْرِي لَعَلَّ اللَّهَ يُحْدِثُ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ أَمْرًا يَعْنِي نَدَمًا مِنَ الْمُطَلِّقِ فَتُعْجِبُ الزَّوْجَةُ، فَإِذَا كَانَ قَدْ طَلَّقَ تَطْلِيقَةً وَاحِدَةً أَوِ اثْنَتَيْنِ حَلَّتْ لَهُ مِنَ الْعِدَّةِ مِنْ غَيْرِ عَقْدٍ وَبَعْدَ انْقِضَائِهَا بِغَيْرِ زَوْجٍ.

waqad qāla Allāhu taʿālā: (faṭalliqūhunna liʿiddatihinna), thumma qāla: lā tadrī laʿalla Allāha yuḥdithu baʿda dhālika ʾamran yaʿnī nadaman mina al-muṭalliqi fatuʿjibu al-zawjatu, faʾidhā kāna qad ṭallaqa taṭlīqatan wāḥidatan ʾawi ithnatayni ḥallat lahu mina al-ʿiddati min ghayri ʿaqdin wabaʿda inqiḍāʾihā bighayri zawjin.

God, exalted is He, said: “Divorce them for their waiting period,” then: “You do not know; perhaps God will bring about something afterward,” meaning regret in the divorcing man, so that the wife again pleases him. If he pronounced one divorce or two, she is lawful to him during the waiting period without a new contract, and after it without an intervening husband.

ثُمَّ قَالَ: (وَمَنْ يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ مَخْرَجًا) أَيْ يَتَّقِي اللَّهَ فَيُطَلِّقُ فِي الْعِدَّةِ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ مَخْرَجًا فِي جَوَازِ الرَّجْعَةِ كَمَا ذَكَرْنَاهُ وَمَنْ طَلَّقَ ثَلَاثًا مَرَّةً وَاحِدَةً أَوْ طَلَّقَ فِي الْحَيْضِ، وَقَعَ الطَّلَاقُ وَحَرُمَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ وَلَمْ تَحِلَّ لَهُ إِلَّا بَعْدَ زَوْجٍ إِنْ كَانَ قَدْ خَالَفَ السُّنَّةَ وَوَافَقَ كَرَاهَةَ الْأَئِمَّةِ.

thumma qāla: (waman yattaqi Allāha yajʿal lahu makhrajan) ʾay yattaqī Allāha fayuṭalliqu fī al-ʿiddati yajʿal lahu makhrajan fī jawāzi al-rajʿati kamā dhakarnāhu waman ṭallaqa thalāthan marratan wāḥidatan ʾaw ṭallaqa fī al-ḥayḍi, waqaʿa al-ṭalāqu waḥarumati al-marʾatu walam taḥilla lahu ʾillā baʿda zawjin ʾin kāna qad khālafa al-sunnata wawāfaqa karāhata al-ʾaʾimmati.

Then He said: “Whoever fears God, He makes a way out for him”: whoever fears God and divorces in accordance with the waiting period is given the way out of a permissible return, as explained. If someone pronounces three divorces at once or divorces during menstruation, the divorce takes effect, the woman becomes forbidden, and she is not lawful to him until after another husband, even though he has opposed the sunna and done what the imams disapprove of.

بِآثَارٍ قَدْ كَثُرَتْ فِي ذَلِكَ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَعَنْ عُمَرَ وَابْنِهِ وَأُبَيِّ بْنِ كَعْبٍ وَزَيْدِ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ وَابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ وَجُمْلَةٍ مِنَ الصَّحَابَةِ وَالتَّابِعِينَ، وَالْأَصْلُ فِيمَا ذَكَرْنَاهُ مِنَ الْعَزِيمَةِ وَالرُّخْصَةِ فِي فِعْلِ النِّكَاحِ وَتَرْكِهِ قَوْلُ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَأَنْكِحُوا الْأَيَامَى مِنْكُمْ).

biʾāthārin qad kathurat fī dhālika ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama waʿan ʿumara wa-ibnihi waʾubayyi bni kaʿbin wazaydi bni thābitin wa-ibni ʿabbāsin wajumlatin mina al-ṣaḥābati wa-al-tābiʿīna, wa-al-ʾaṣlu fīmā dhakarnāhu mina al-ʿazīmati wa-al-rukhṣati fī fiʿli al-nikāḥi watarkihi qawlu Allāhi ʿazza wajalla: (waʾankiḥū al-ʾayāmā minkum).

Numerous reports on this have come from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, from ʿUmar and his son, Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, Zayd ibn Thābit, Ibn ʿAbbās, and many companions and Successors. The foundation of what we have said about strict resolve and concession in marrying or foregoing marriage is the saying of God, mighty and majestic: “Marry off the unmarried among you.”

فَأَمَرَ بِالنِّكَاحِ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْخَيْرِ وَالصَّلَاحِ، وَالْأَيَامَى جَمْعُ أَيِّمٍ وَهِيَ الَّتِي لَا بَعْلَ لَهَا، وَقَدْ يُسَمَّى بِهِ الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي لَا زَوْجَةَ لَهُ أَيْضًا كَمَا يُقَالُ ثَيِّبًا وَبِكْرًا ثُمَّ قَالَ: (وَالصَّالِحِينَ مِنْ عِبَادِكُمْ)، فَلَوْلَا أَنَّ النِّكَاحَ فَاضِلٌ مَا خَصَّ بِهِ الصَّالِحِينَ وَضَمَّهُ إِلَى فَضْلِهِمْ.

faʾamara bi-al-nikāḥi wahuwa ʾaʿlamu bi-al-khayri wa-al-ṣalāḥi, wa-al-ʾayāmā jamʿu ʾayyimin wahiya allatī lā baʿla lahā, waqad yusammā bihi al-rajulu alladhī lā zawjata lahu ʾayḍan kamā yuqālu thayyiban wabikran thumma qāla: (wa-al-ṣāliḥīna min ʿibādikum), falawlā ʾanna al-nikāḥa fāḍilun mā khaṣṣa bihi al-ṣāliḥīna waḍammahu ʾilā faḍlihim.

He commanded marriage, knowing best what is good and sound. Ayāmā is the plural of ayyim, a woman without a husband; the term may also describe a man without a wife, just as “previously married” and “virgin” may. He then said: “And the righteous among your male slaves.” Were marriage not excellent, He would not have singled out the righteous for it and joined it to their excellence.

وَهُمْ أَهْلُ وِلَايَتِهِ لِقَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَهُوَ يَتَوَلَّى الصَّالِحِينَ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: (إِنْ يَكُونُوا فُقَرَاءَ يُغْنِهِمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ)، وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالْأَغْنِيَاءِ كَيْفَ هُمْ وَقَدْ يُغْنِيهِمْ بِالْأَشْيَاءِ كَقَوْلِهِ: (أَغْنَى وَأَقْنَى)، وَقَدْ يُغْنِيهِمْ عَنِ الْأَشْيَاءِ وَهِيَ الْقَنَاعَةُ وَالزُّهْدُ.

wahum ʾahlu wilāyatihi liqawlihi ʿazza wajalla wahuwa yatawallā al-ṣāliḥīna, thumma qāla: (ʾin yakūnū fuqarāʾa yughnihimu Allāhu min faḍlihi), wa-Allāhu ʾaʿlamu bi-al-ʾaghniyāʾi kayfa hum waqad yughnīhim bi-al-ʾashyāʾi kaqawlihi: (ʾaghnā waʾaqnā), waqad yughnīhim ʿani al-ʾashyāʾi wahiya al-qanāʿatu wa-al-zuhdu.

They are the people of His friendship, according to the saying of God, mighty and majestic: “He takes the righteous into His care.” He then said: “If they are poor, God will enrich them from His bounty.” God knows best the condition of the wealthy. He may enrich them with things, as in His saying, “He enriched and endowed”; or make them independent of things, through contentment and renunciation.

وَقَدْ يُغْنِي نُفُوسَهُمْ عَنِ الْأَعْرَاضِ لِقَوْلِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: لَيْسَ الْغِنَى بِكَثْرَةِ الْعَرَضِ إِنَّمَا الْغِنَى غِنَى النَّفْسِ، وَقَدْ يُغْنِيهِمْ بِالْيَقِينِ كَمَا قَالَ أَيْضًا: كَفَى بِالْيَقِينِ غِنًى، وَقَدْ يُغْنِيهِمْ بِغَضِّ الْبَصَرِ وَتَحْصِينِ الْفَرْجِ كَمَا قَالَ: مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ الْبَاءَةَ فَلْيَتَزَوَّجْ فَإِنَّهُ أَغَضُّ لِلْبَصَرِ وَأَحْصَنُ لِلْفَرْجِ.

waqad yughnī nufūsahum ʿani al-ʾaʿrāḍi liqawli rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: laysa al-ghinā bikathrati al-ʿaraḍi ʾinnamā al-ghinā ghinā al-nafsi, waqad yughnīhim bi-al-yaqīni kamā qāla ʾayḍan: kafā bi-al-yaqīni ghinan, waqad yughnīhim bighaḍḍi al-baṣari wataḥṣīni al-farji kamā qāla: mani istaṭāʿa al-bāʾata falyatazawwaj faʾinnahu ʾaghaḍḍu li-l-baṣari waʾaḥṣanu li-l-farji.

He may make their souls independent of possessions, according to the saying of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Wealth is not an abundance of goods; true wealth is the soul’s sufficiency.” He may enrich them through certainty, as he also said: “Certainty is sufficient wealth.” He may enrich them through lowering the gaze and guarding chastity, as he said: “Whoever is capable of sexual union should marry, for it better restrains the gaze and guards the sexual organs.”

ثُمَّ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ قَالَ فِي الْخَبَرِ الثَّانِي مِنْ وَعْدِ الْغِنَى فِي التَّفَرُّقِ وَذَلِكَ أَيْضًا فِي قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: (وَإِنْ يَتَفَرَّقَا يُغْنِ اللَّهُ كُلًّا مِنْ سَعَتِهِ)، فَقَدْ أَجْمَلَ وُجُوهَ الْإِغْنَاءِ كُلَّهَا فِي هَذَا الْمَعْنَى الْآخَرِ أَيْضًا.

thumma ʾinna Allāha ʿazza wajalla qāla fī al-khabari al-thānī min waʿdi al-ghinā fī al-tafarruqi wa-dhālika ʾayḍan fī qawlihi ʿazza wajalla: (waʾin yatafarraqā yughni Allāhu kullan min saʿatihi), faqad ʾajmala wujūha al-ʾighnāʾi kullahā fī hādhā al-maʿnā al-ʾākhari ʾayḍan.

Then God, mighty and majestic, spoke in the second statement promising sufficiency upon separation, in the saying of God, mighty and majestic: “If they separate, God will enrich each from His abundance.” In this other meaning too, He gathered together every form of enrichment.

وَيَزِيدُ عَلَيْهِ الْغُنْيَةَ بِالْعِصْمَةِ وَالِاسْتِغْنَاءَ عَنِ الْمَكَاسِبِ وَعَنِ السُّؤَالِ وَالْمُحَاسَبَةِ عَلَى الِاكْتِسَابِ، وَالْغُنْيَةَ عَنْ حَالِ النِّسَاءِ وَأَحْكَامِهِنَّ، ثُمَّ قَالَ فِي الْأَمْرِ الثَّانِي مِنَ الْبَيَانِ الثَّانِي: (فَانْكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ مَثْنَى وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ).

wayazīdu ʿalayhi al-ghunyata bi-al-ʿiṣmati wa-al-istighnāʾa ʿani al-makāsibi waʿani al-suʾāli wa-al-muḥāsabati ʿalā al-iktisābi, wa-al-ghunyata ʿan ḥāli al-nisāʾi waʾaḥkāmihinna, thumma qāla fī al-ʾamri al-thānī mina al-bayāni al-thānī: (fa-inkiḥū mā ṭāba lakum mina al-nisāʾi mathnā wathulātha warubāʿa).

He adds sufficiency through protection from sin, freedom from earning and from questioning and reckoning over earnings, and freedom from women’s circumstances and their associated obligations. Then, in the second command of the second explanation, He said: “Marry such women as please you, two, three, or four.”

فَهَذَا أَدْوَنُ مِنَ الْأَوَّلِ لِأَنَّهُ عَلَّقَهُ بِاخْتِيَارِنَا إِنْ طَابَ لَنَا، ثُمَّ رَفَعَ فِيهِ الْأَرْبَعَ تَوْسِعَةً مِنْهُ وَتَفْضِيلًا لِعِلْمِهِ بِعِلَاجِ الْقُلُوبِ وَطَبَائِعِ النُّفُوسِ وَتَفَاوُتِ سُكُونِهَا وَحَرَكَاتِهَا، وَوُجُودِ كِفَايَتِهَا وَمَصَالِحِهَا ثُمَّ رَحِمَنَا فَقَالَ: (فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَلَّا تَعُولُوا).

fa-hādhā ʾadwanu mina al-ʾawwali liʾannahu ʿallaqahu bi-ikhtiyārinā ʾin ṭāba lanā, thumma rafaʿa fīhi al-ʾarbaʿa tawsiʿatan minhu watafḍīlan liʿilmihi biʿilāji al-qulūbi waṭabāʾiʿi al-nufūsi watafāwuti sukūnihā waḥarakātihā, wawujūdi kifāyatihā wamaṣāliḥihā thumma raḥimanā faqāla: (faʾin khiftum ʾallā taʿdilū fawāḥidatan ʾaw mā malakat ʾaymānukum dhālika ʾadnā ʾallā taʿūlū).

This is a lesser degree than the first, because He made it depend on our choice, if it pleases us. He then raised the number to four as an allowance and favor, knowing the treatment of hearts, the temperaments of souls, their differing repose and movements, and what suffices and benefits them. Then He showed us mercy: “If you fear that you will not act justly, then one, or those your right hands possess. That is likelier to keep you from injustice.”

فَرَدَّ إِلَى الْوَاحِدَةِ وَهُوَ الْحَالُ الْأَوْسَطُ بَيْنَ الْأَرْبَعِ وَبَيْنَ التَّعَزُّبِ، وَخَيْرُ الْأُمُورِ

faradda ʾilā al-wāḥidati wahuwa al-ḥālu al-ʾawsaṭu bayna al-ʾarbaʿi wabayna al-taʿazzubi, wakhayru al-ʾumūri

He thus directed us back to one, the middle condition between four and remaining unmarried. The best of matters are

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٢٧

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 427

Volume Two, page 427

أَوْسَطُهَا وَفِي قَوْلِهِ: أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا ثَلَاثَةُ أَوْجُهٍ: تَعْدِلُوا تَجُورُوا وَهُوَ أَحْسَنُهَا وَأَحَبُّهَا إِلَيَّ لِأَنَّهُ يُوَاطِئُ قَوْلَهُ تَعَالَى: (فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَنْ لَا تَعْدِلُوا)، لِأَنَّ الْعَدْلَ ضِدُّ الْجَوْرِ فَعَطَفَ عَلَيْهِ فَقَالَ: (ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَلَّا تَعُولُوا)، أَيْ تَجُورُوا مِنَ الْعَدْلِ.

ʾawsaṭuhā wafī qawlihi: ʾallā taʿdilū thalāthatu ʾawjuhin: taʿdilū tajūrū wahuwa ʾaḥsanuhā waʾaḥabbuhā ʾilayya liʾannahu yuwāṭiʾu qawlahu taʿālā: (faʾin khiftum ʾan lā taʿdilū), liʾanna al-ʿadla ḍiddu al-jawri faʿaṭafa ʿalayhi faqāla: (dhālika ʾadnā ʾallā taʿūlū), ʾay tajūrū mina al-ʿadli.

the middle ones. His expression “that you not taʿdilū” has three interpretations: taʿdilū means “act unjustly.” This is the best and the one I prefer, because it corresponds to the saying of God, exalted is He, “If you fear that you will not act justly.” Justice is the opposite of injustice, so He joined to it: “That is likelier to keep you from taʿūlū,” meaning departing from justice into unfairness.

وَالْعَرَبُ تَقُولُ: عَالَ يَعُولُ عَوْلًا إِذَا جَارَ، وَالْوَجْهُ الثَّانِي: أَلَّا تَعُولُوا تَفْتَقِرُوا مِنَ الْعَيْلَةِ وَهِيَ الْفَقْرُ يُقَالُ: عَالَ يَعِيلُ عَيْلَةً وَأَعَالَهُ إِذَا افْتَقَرَ وَمِنْهُ قَوْلُهُ: (إِنْ خِفْتُمْ عَيْلَةً فَسَوْفَ يُغْنِيكُمُ اللَّهُ)، وَمَعَ الْعِيَالِ الْفَقْرُ لَا مَحَالَةَ.

wa-al-ʿarabu taqūlu: ʿāla yaʿūlu ʿawlan ʾidhā jāra, wa-al-wajhu al-thānī: ʾallā taʿūlū taftaqirū mina al-ʿaylati wahiya al-faqru yuqālu: ʿāla yaʿīlu ʿaylatan waʾaʿālahu ʾidhā iftaqara waminhu qawluhu: (ʾin khiftum ʿaylatan fasawfa yughnīkumu Allāhu), wamaʿa al-ʿiyāli al-faqru lā maḥālata.

The Arabs say ʿāla, yaʿūlu, ʿawlan when someone acts unjustly. The second interpretation of “that you not taʿūlū” is “become poor,” from ʿayla, poverty. They say ʿāla, yaʿīlu, ʿaylatan, and aʿālahu, when he becomes poor. This includes His saying: “If you fear poverty, God will enrich you.” With dependants, poverty is inevitable.

وَالْوَجْهُ الثَّالِثُ: تَعُولُوا تَكْثُرُ عِيَالُكُمْ فَيَكُونُ الْمَعْنَى لِذَلِكَ أَقْرَبَ أَنْ لَا يَكْثُرَ مَنْ تَعُولُونَهُ، وَحُذِفَتِ الْهَاءُ الَّتِي هِيَ اسْمُ الْعِيَالِ وَهَذَا مَذْهَبٌ لِبَعْضِ أَهْلِ الْحِجَازِ يَرْجِعُ إِلَى قَوْلِهِ: عَالَ الرَّجُلُ عِيَالَهُ، يَعُولُهُمْ مِثْلَ مَانَهُمْ يَمُونُهُمْ وَمَارَهُمْ يَمِيرُهُمْ وَصَانَهُمْ يَصُونُهُمْ، فَيَكُونُ مُشْتَقًّا مِنْ لَفْظِ الْعِيَالِ وَالْأَوَّلَانِ أَجْوَدُ وَأَشْهَرُ.

wa-al-wajhu al-thālithu: taʿūlū takthuru ʿiyālukum fayakūnu al-maʿnā li-dhālika ʾaqraba ʾan lā yakthura man taʿūlūnahu, waḥudhifati al-hāʾu allatī hiya ismu al-ʿiyāli wa-hādhā madhhabun libaʿḍi ʾahli al-ḥijāzi yarjiʿu ʾilā qawlihi: ʿāla al-rajulu ʿiyālahu, yaʿūluhum mithla mānahum yamūnuhum wamārahum yamīruhum waṣānahum yaṣūnuhum, fayakūnu mushtaqqan min lafẓi al-ʿiyāli wa-al-ʾawwalāni ʾajwadu waʾashharu.

The third interpretation is that your dependants become numerous. The meaning is then: that is nearer to keeping those you support from becoming numerous, with the object pronoun referring to dependants omitted. This is the view of some people of the Hijaz, based on saying that a man ʿāla, yaʿūluhum, supports his dependants, like mānahum, yamūnuhum, provisions them; mārahum, yamīruhum, supplies them; and ṣānahum, yaṣūnuhum, protects them. It would derive from the word ʿiyāl. The first two interpretations are better and more common.

وَاللَّهُ سُبْحَانَهُ مَا افْتَرَضَ النِّكَاحَ وَلَا الْعُزْبَةَ، كَمَا لَمْ يُوجِبِ الْأَرْبَعَ مِنَ النِّسْوَةِ وَافْتَرَضَ صَلَاحَ الْقَلْبِ وَسَلَامَةَ الدِّينِ وَسُكُونَ النَّفْسِ وَالدُّخُولَ فِي الْأَوَامِرِ عِنْدَ الْحَاجَةِ إِلَيْهَا، فَمَنْ كَانَ صَلَاحُهُ فِي التَّزْوِيجِ فَهُوَ أَفْضَلُ لَهُ.

wa-Allāhu subḥānahu mā iftaraḍa al-nikāḥa walā al-ʿuzbata, kamā lam yūjibi al-ʾarbaʿa mina al-niswati wa-iftaraḍa ṣalāḥa al-qalbi wasalāmata al-dīni wasukūna al-nafsi wa-al-dukhūla fī al-ʾawāmiri ʿinda al-ḥājati ʾilayhā, faman kāna ṣalāḥuhu fī al-tazwīji fahuwa ʾafḍalu lahu.

God, glorified is He, has made neither marriage nor celibacy obligatory, just as He has not made four wives obligatory. He has made obligatory the soundness of the heart, the safety of religion, the soul’s repose, and entering into His commands when the need for them arises. For someone whose soundness lies in marriage, marriage is better.

وَمَنْ كَانَ اسْتِقَامَتُهُ وَسُكُونُ نَفْسِهِ عِنْدَ الْأَرْبَعِ فَجَائِزٌ لَهُ طَلَبُ السُّكُونِ وَصِحَّةِ الْحَالِ مَعَ الْقِيَامِ بِالْأَحْكَامِ، وَمَنْ وَقَعَتْ كِفَايَتُهُ بِوَاحِدَةٍ فَالْوَاحِدَةُ أَصْلَحُ وَأَفْضَلُ لِأَنَّهَا إِلَى السَّلَامَةِ أَقْرَبُ، وَمَنْ كَانَ صَلَاحُ حَالِهِ وَاسْتِقَامَةُ قَلْبِهِ وَسُكُونُ نَفْسِهِ فِي الْعُزْبَةِ فَذَلِكَ لَهُ أَسْلَمُ.

waman kāna istiqāmatuhu wasukūnu nafsihi ʿinda al-ʾarbaʿi fajāʾizun lahu ṭalabu al-sukūni waṣiḥḥati al-ḥāli maʿa al-qiyāmi bi-al-ʾaḥkāmi, waman waqaʿat kifāyatuhu biwāḥidatin fa-al-wāḥidatu ʾaṣlaḥu waʾafḍalu liʾannahā ʾilā al-salāmati ʾaqrabu, waman kāna ṣalāḥu ḥālihi wa-istiqāmatu qalbihi wasukūnu nafsihi fī al-ʿuzbati fa-dhālika lahu ʾaslamu.

For someone whose uprightness and peace of soul lie with four, it is permissible to seek repose and a sound condition while fulfilling the obligations. If one wife suffices, one is more suitable and better, being nearer to safety. If a person’s sound condition, upright heart, and peaceful soul lie in celibacy, that is safer for him.

وَالْأَسْلَمُ لِمِثْلِهِ فِي زَمَانِنَا هَذَا أَفْضَلُ إِذْ لِهَذَا يُرَادُ النِّكَاحُ فَإِنْ وُجِدَ لَمْ يَضُرَّ فَقْدُهُ.

wa-al-ʾaslamu limithlihi fī zamāninā hādhā ʾafḍalu ʾidh li-hādhā yurādu al-nikāḥu faʾin wujida lam yaḍurra faqduhu.

For such a person in our time, the safer course is better. This is the purpose for which marriage is sought; if that purpose is found, marriage’s absence does no harm.

وَلَعَمْرِي أَنَّا إِذَا قُلْنَا إِنَّ فِي الدِّينِ طَرِيقَيْنِ: طَرِيقَ عَزِيمَةٍ وَطَرِيقَ رُخْصَةٍ، فَإِنَّهُ فِي النِّكَاحِ أَيْضًا لِأَنَّهُ مِنَ الدِّينِ، وَفِي تَرْكِهِ يَكُونُ لِأَجْلِ الدِّينِ طَرِيقَانِ: طَرِيقُ الْأَقْوِيَاءِ وَهُمْ أَهْلُ النِّكَاحِ، وَالصَّبْرِ عَلَى أَحْكَامِهِ، وَعَلَى مُعَاشَرَةِ النِّسَاءِ.

walaʿamrī ʾannā ʾidhā qulnā ʾinna fī al-dīni ṭarīqayni: ṭarīqa ʿazīmatin waṭarīqa rukhṣatin, faʾinnahu fī al-nikāḥi ʾayḍan liʾannahu mina al-dīni, wafī tarkihi yakūnu liʾajli al-dīni ṭarīqāni: ṭarīqu al-ʾaqwiyāʾi wahum ʾahlu al-nikāḥi, wa-al-ṣabri ʿalā ʾaḥkāmihi, waʿalā muʿāsharati al-nisāʾi.

By my life, when we say that religion has two paths, a path of firm resolve and a path of concession, this applies to marriage too, because it belongs to religion. In undertaking or foregoing it for religion there are two paths: the path of the strong who marry and patiently endure its obligations and life with women,

وَطَرِيقٌ آخَرُ لِلْأَقْوِيَاءِ بِالصَّبْرِ عَنْهُنَّ وَوُجُودِ الْعِصْمَةِ مِنْهُنَّ وَالتَّفَرُّغِ لِلْآخِرَةِ وَكَفَى بِهَا شُغْلًا، وَطَرِيقٌ آخَرُ مِنْ وُجُودِ الْوَسْوَسَةِ وَخَوْفِ الْعَنَتِ لِقُوَّةِ الطَّبْعِ وَضَعْفِ الْحَالِ بِوُجُودِ الِاخْتِلَاطِ، فَيُبْدَأُ بِالنِّكَاحِ طَلَبًا لِلِاسْتِقَامَةِ وَالصَّلَاحِ.

waṭarīqun ʾākharu li-l-ʾaqwiyāʾi bi-al-ṣabri ʿanhunna wawujūdi al-ʿiṣmati minhunna wa-al-tafarrughi li-l-ʾākhirati wakafā bihā shughlan, waṭarīqun ʾākharu min wujūdi al-waswasati wakhawfi al-ʿanati liquwwati al-ṭabʿi waḍaʿfi al-ḥāli biwujūdi al-ikhtilāṭi, fayubdaʾu bi-al-nikāḥi ṭalaban li-l-istiqāmati wa-al-ṣalāḥi.

and another path for the strong, who patiently refrain from women, find protection from temptation concerning them, and devote themselves to the hereafter, which is occupation enough. There is another path when intrusive thoughts and fear of sin arise from a strong temperament and a weak condition amid confusion: one begins with marriage, seeking uprightness and soundness.

وَقَدْ كَانَ الثَّوْرِيُّ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى يَقُولُ: يَا حَبَّذَا الْعُزْبَةُ وَالْمِفْتَاحُ، وَمَسْكَنٌ تَخْرِقُهُ الرِّيَاحُ، لَا صَخَبٌ فِيهِ وَلَا صِيَاحٌ وَلِلَّهِ الْأَمْرُ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَمِنْ بَعْدُ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَحْدَهُ.

waqad kāna al-thawriyyu raḥimahu Allāhu taʿālā yaqūlu: yā ḥabbadhā al-ʿuzbatu wa-al-miftāḥu, wamaskanun takhriquhu al-riyāḥu, lā ṣakhabun fīhi walā ṣiyāḥun wa-li-llāhi al-ʾamru min qablu wamin baʿdu wa-al-ḥamdu li-llāhi waḥdahu.

Al-Thawrī, may God, exalted is He, have mercy on him, used to say: “How lovely are celibacy and the key, and a dwelling through which the winds pass, with neither clamor nor shouting.” To God belongs the command before and after, and praise belongs to God alone.

الْفَصْلُ السَّادِسُ وَالْأَرْبَعُونَ فِيهِ كِتَابُ ذِكْرِ دُخُولِ الْحَمَّامِ

al-faṣlu al-sādisu wa-al-ʾarbaʿūna fīhi kitābu dhikri dukhūli al-ḥammāmi

Chapter Forty-Six: The Book of Entering the Bathhouse

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٢٨

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 428

Volume Two, page 428

الْأَفْضَلُ فِي وَقْتِنَا هَذَا تَرْكُ دُخُولِ الْحَمَّامِ لِكَثْرَةِ الْعُرَاةِ فِيهِ وَالْعَجْزِ عَنِ الْقِيَامِ بِأَحْكَامِهِ. إِلَّا أَنَّ دُخُولَهُ مُبَاحٌ، وَقَدِ اخْتَلَفَ مَوَاجِيدُ الصَّحَابَةِ فِي دُخُولِهِ وَكُلٌّ فِيهِ قُدْوَةٌ وَهُدًى، فَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: بِئْسَ الْبَيْتُ الْحَمَّامُ، يُبْدِي الْعَوْرَةَ وَيُذْهِبُ الْحَيَاءَ، وَرُوِيَ هَذَا عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ وَعَنْ عَلِيٍّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ مَعْنَاهُ. وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: نِعْمَ الْبَيْتُ يَنْفِي الدَّرَنَ وَيُذَكِّرُ النَّارَ، وَرُوِيَ هَذَا عَنْ أَبِي الدَّرْدَاءِ وَأَبِي أَيُّوبَ. وَدَخَلَ أَصْحَابُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِالشَّامِ الْحَمَّامَاتِ،

al-ʾafḍalu fī waqtinā hādhā tarku dukhūli al-ḥammāmi likathrati al-ʿurāti fīhi wa-al-ʿajzi ʿani al-qiyāmi biʾaḥkāmihi. ʾillā ʾanna dukhūlahu mubāḥun, waqadi ikhtalafa mawājīdu al-ṣaḥābati fī dukhūlihi wakullun fīhi qudwatun wahudan, faqāla baʿḍuhum: biʾsa al-baytu al-ḥammāmu, yubdī al-ʿawrata wayudhhibu al-ḥayāʾa, waruwiya hādhā ʿani ibni ʿumara raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu waʿan ʿaliyyin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu maʿnāhu. waqāla baʿḍuhum: niʿma al-baytu yanfī al-darana wayudhakkiru al-nāra, waruwiya hādhā ʿan ʾabī al-dardāʾi waʾabī ʾayyūba. wadakhala ʾaṣḥābu rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama bi-al-shāmi al-ḥammāmāti,

In our time it is better to avoid entering the bathhouse, because so many people there are naked and one cannot uphold the rules that govern it. Entering it is nevertheless permissible. The Companions responded differently to it, and each offers an example and guidance. Some said, ‘What a bad place the bathhouse is: it exposes the private parts and takes away modesty.’ This is related from Ibn ʿUmar, God be pleased with him, and something to the same effect from ʿAlī, God be pleased with him. Others said, ‘What a good place it is: it removes dirt and brings the Fire to mind.’ This is related from Abū al-Dardāʾ and Abū Ayyūb. The Companions of God’s Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, entered bathhouses in Syria.

فَمَنْ كَانَ دَاخِلًا إِلَى الْحَمَّامِ فَلَا يَدْخُلْهُ لِشَهْوَةٍ لِعَاجِلِ حَظِّ دُنْيَاهُ وَلَا عَابِثًا لِأَجْلِ الْهَوَى لِأَنَّهُ عَمَلٌ مِنْ أَعْمَالِ الْعَبْدِ، وَالْعَبْدُ مَسْؤُولٌ عَنْهُ إِنْ كَانَ مُحَاسَبًا عَلَى جُمَلِ أَعْمَالِهِ، فَيُقَالُ: لِمَ دَخَلْتَ؟ وَكَيْفَ دَخَلْتَ وَلِمَنْ دَخَلْتَ؟ كَمَا يُقَالُ لَهُ: فِي كُلِّ عَمَلٍ فَعَلَهُ، وَفِي دُخُولِ الْحَمَّامِ ثَمَانِيَةُ أَحْكَامٍ أَرْبَعَةُ فَرَائِضَ وَأَرْبَعَةُ نَوَافِلَ.

faman kāna dākhilan ʾilā al-ḥammāmi falā yadkhulhu lishahwatin liʿājili ḥaẓẓi dunyāhu walā ʿābithan liʾajli al-hawā liʾannahu ʿamalun min ʾaʿmāli al-ʿabdi, wa-al-ʿabdu masʾūlun ʿanhu ʾin kāna muḥāsaban ʿalā jumali ʾaʿmālihi, fayuqālu: lima dakhalta? wakayfa dakhalta waliman dakhalta? kamā yuqālu lahu: fī kulli ʿamalin faʿalahu, wafī dukhūli al-ḥammāmi thamāniyatu ʾaḥkāmin ʾarbaʿatu farāʾiḍa waʾarbaʿatu nawāfila.

Anyone who goes to the bathhouse should not enter to gratify a desire for immediate worldly pleasure, or idly indulge a whim. Entering it is one of a servant’s actions, and he is accountable for it if he is called to account for all his actions. He will be asked, ‘Why did you enter? How did you enter? For whose sake did you enter?’ These questions are asked about everything he does. Eight rules govern entering the bathhouse: four obligations and four recommended practices.

فَأَمَّا الْفَرَائِضُ فَسَتْرُ الْعَوْرَةِ وَغَضُّ الْبَصَرِ، وَأَنْ لَا يُبَاشِرَ جَسَدَهُ غَيْرُ يَدِهِ وَأَنْ يَأْمُرَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَهُوَ أَنْ يَرَى عُرْيَانًا فَيَقُولَ لَهُ: اسْتَتِرْ أَوْ هَذَا حَرَامٌ عَلَيْكَ وَهَذَا لَا يَحِلُّ لَكَ، أَوْ قَدْ نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَوْ حَرَّمَ دُخُولَ الْحَمَّامِ بِغَيْرِ إِزَارٍ، فَأَيَّ هَذِهِ الْأَلْفَاظِ قَالَهُ سَقَطَ عَنْهُ مَاوَرَاءَ ذَلِكَ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ يَرَاهُ مِنَ الْمُنْكَرِ، وَلَيْسَ عَلَيْهِ الْقَبُولُ وَلَا الْإِجْبَارُ عَلَى الْمَعْرُوفِ لِأَنَّ هَذَا عَلَى الْإِمَامِ الْقَائِمِ بِصَالِحِ الدِّينِ، وَالدَّاعِي لِرَغْبَةِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ بِالْبَطْشِ وَالْقُوَّةِ وَالتَّمْكِينِ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَالتَّسْلِيطِ، وَهُوَ سَاقِطٌ عَنِ الرَّعِيَّةِ بِحَمْدِ اللَّهِ وَمَنِّهِ،

faʾammā al-farāʾiḍu fasatru al-ʿawrati waghaḍḍu al-baṣari, waʾan lā yubāshira jasadahu ghayru yadihi waʾan yaʾmura bi-al-maʿrūfi wahuwa ʾan yarā ʿuryānan fayaqūla lahu: istatir ʾaw hādhā ḥarāmun ʿalayka wahādhā lā yaḥillu laka, ʾaw qad nahā rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama ʾaw ḥarrama dukhūla al-ḥammāmi bighayri ʾizārin, faʾayya hādhihi al-ʾalfāẓi qālahu saqaṭa ʿanhu māwarāʾa dhālika min kulli shayʾin yarāhu mina al-munkari, walaysa ʿalayhi al-qabūlu walā al-ʾijbāru ʿalā al-maʿrūfi liʾanna hādhā ʿalā al-ʾimāmi al-qāʾimi biṣāliḥi al-dīni, wa-al-dāʿī liraghbati al-muslimīna bi-al-baṭshi wa-al-quwwati wa-al-tamkīni fī al-ʾarḍi wa-al-taslīṭi, wahuwa sāqiṭun ʿani al-raʿiyyati biḥamdi Allāhi wamannihi,

The obligations are to cover the private parts, lower the gaze, allow no hand but one’s own to touch one’s body, and enjoin what is right. If one sees someone naked, one should say to him, ‘Cover yourself,’ or ‘This is forbidden to you; it is not lawful for you,’ or ‘God’s Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, prohibited, or declared unlawful, entering the bathhouse without a waist-wrapper.’ Whichever of these expressions one uses, one is relieved of any further duty concerning the wrongdoing one sees. It is not one’s responsibility to secure acceptance or enforce right conduct. That belongs to the ruler who upholds the welfare of religion and calls people to what Muslims seek, using coercive authority, force, established power in the land, and command. Praise be to God and His grace, ordinary subjects are exempt from this responsibility.

فَأَمَّا النَّوَافِلُ الْأَرْبَعُ، فَأَنْ يَرَى الطَّهَارَةَ لِأَجْلِ الدِّينِ وَالنَّظَافَةَ لِلْعِبَادَةِ لِأَنَّ الطَّهَارَةَ مِنْ أَفْضَلِ أُمُورِ الْآخِرَةِ وَالْحَمَّامُ غَايَةُ الطُّهْرِ، وَأَنْ يُعْطِيَ صَاحِبَ الْحَمَّامِ الْأُجْرَةَ قَبْلَ الدُّخُولِ، وَكَذَلِكَ يُسْتَحَبُّ فِي كُلِّ مَا يَشْتَرِيهِ أَوْ يَسْتَعْمِلُهُ خَاصَّةَ الشَّيْءِ الْمَجْهُولِ مِقْدَارُهُ مِنْ شُرْبِ الْمَاءِ وَأُجْرَةِ الْحَجَّامِ وَالَّذِي لَا يُتَقَاضَى عَلَيْهِ وَلَا يُشْتَرَطُ فِيهِ، فَكَأَنَّهُ يَكُونُ غَيْرَ مَعْلُومٍ. وَإِذَا نَظَرَ الْحَمَّامِيُّ إِلَيْهِ صَارَ مَعْلُومًا.

faʾammā al-nawāfilu al-ʾarbaʿu, faʾan yarā al-ṭahārata liʾajli al-dīni wa-al-naẓāfata li-al-ʿibādati liʾanna al-ṭahārata min ʾafḍali ʾumūri al-ʾākhirati wa-al-ḥammāmu ghāyatu al-ṭuhri, waʾan yuʿṭiya ṣāḥiba al-ḥammāmi al-ʾujrata qabla al-dukhūli, wakadhālika yustaḥabbu fī kulli mā yashtarīhi ʾaw yastaʿmiluhu khāṣṣata al-shayʾi al-majhūli miqdāruhu min shurbi al-māʾi waʾujrati al-ḥajjāmi wa-alladhī lā yutaqāḍā ʿalayhi walā yushtaraṭu fīhi, fakaʾannahu yakūnu ghayra maʿlūmin. waʾidhā naẓara al-ḥammāmiyyu ʾilayhi ṣāra maʿlūman.

As for the four recommended practices, the first is to regard purification as serving religion and cleanliness as serving worship: purification is among the finest pursuits of the life to come, and the bathhouse provides the fullest cleansing. The second is to pay the bathhouse owner before entering. The same is recommended for everything one purchases or uses, especially when its quantity or price is unspecified, such as drinking water or the cupper’s fee, and things for which payment is neither demanded nor stipulated. The amount is, as it were, unknown; once the bathhouse keeper sees it, it becomes known.

وَالثَّالِثَةُ أَنْ لَا يُكْثِرَ صَبَّ الْمَاءِ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ غَيْرِ حَاجَةٍ، وَلَا يَسْتَعْمِلَ مَا يَكْفِي رَجُلَيْنِ وَثَلَاثَةً سِيَّمَا مِنَ الْمَاءِ الْحَارِّ، فَإِنَّ لَهُ مُؤُونَةً، وَلَا يَسْتَعْمِلَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ إِلَّا مَا لَوْ رَآهُ الْحَمَّامِيُّ لَمْ يَكْرَهْ ذَلِكَ مِنْهُ وَلَمْ يَسُؤْهُ، وَمَا عَلِمَ أَنَّ الْحَمَّامِيَّ لَوْ رَآهُ يَسْتَعْمِلُهُ مِنَ الْمَاءِ الْكَثِيرِ لَشَقَّ عَلَيْهِ ذَلِكَ، فَإِنَّهُ مَكْرُوهٌ لَهُ فِي غَيْبِهِ.

wa-al-thālithatu ʾan lā yukthira ṣabba al-māʾi ʿalayhi min ghayri ḥājatin, walā yastaʿmila mā yakfī rajulayni wathalāthatan siyyamā mina al-māʾi al-ḥārri, faʾinna lahu muʾūnatan, walā yastaʿmila min dhālika ʾillā mā law raʾāhu al-ḥammāmiyyu lam yakrah dhālika minhu walam yasuʾhu, wamā ʿalima ʾanna al-ḥammāmiyya law raʾāhu yastaʿmiluhu mina al-māʾi al-kathīri lashaqqa ʿalayhi dhālika, faʾinnahu makrūhun lahu fī ghaybihi.

The third is not to pour excessive water over oneself without need, or use enough for two or three men, especially hot water, which costs something to provide. One should use only as much as the bathhouse keeper would not dislike or resent if he saw it. If one knows that the keeper would be troubled to see how much water one was using, using that amount in his absence is also objectionable.

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٢٩

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 429

Volume Two, page 429

وَالرَّابِعَةُ أَنْ يَتَذَكَّرَ النَّارَ بِحَرَارَةِ الْحَمَّامِ وَلَذْعِ مَسِّهِ وَغِشْيَانِ ظُلْمَتِهِ، لِأَنَّ الْحَمَّامَ فِي الظُّلْمَةِ أَشْبَهُ شَيْءٍ بِجَهَنَّمَ، الْحَرَارَةُ مِنْ تَحْتِكَ وَالظُّلْمَةُ مِنْ فَوْقِكَ، فَهَذَا وَصْفُ جَهَنَّمَ نَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْهَا، فَلْيَتَذَكَّرْ بِقِلَّةِ صَبْرِهِ عَلَى الْحَمَّامِ وَعِظَمِ كَرْبِهِ فِيهِ حَبْسَهُ فِي جَهَنَّمَ، وَإِنَّهُ لَوْ أَقَامَ فِي الْحَمَّامِ فَضْلَ سَاعَةٍ لَضَعُفَ رُوحُهُ حَتَّى يَخْرُجَ خُفُوقًا.

wa-al-rābiʿatu ʾan yatadhakkara al-nāra biḥarārati al-ḥammāmi waladhʿi massihi waghishyāni ẓulmatihi, liʾanna al-ḥammāma fī al-ẓulmati ʾashbahu shayʾin bijahannama, al-ḥarāratu min taḥtika wa-al-ẓulmatu min fawqika, fahādhā waṣfu jahannama naʿūdhu bi-Allāhi minhā, falyatadhakkar biqillati ṣabrihi ʿalā al-ḥammāmi waʿiẓami karbihi fīhi ḥabsahu fī jahannama, waʾinnahu law ʾaqāma fī al-ḥammāmi faḍla sāʿatin laḍaʿufa rūḥuhu ḥattā yakhruja khufūqan.

The fourth is to remember the Fire through the bathhouse’s heat, its stinging touch, and its enveloping darkness. A dark bathhouse resembles Hell more closely than anything else: heat beneath you and darkness above you. This is the description of Hell; we seek refuge in God from it. His scant endurance of the bathhouse and his great distress there should remind him of confinement in Hell. If he stayed in the bathhouse a little longer, his spirit would grow weak until it departed, fluttering.

وَيَكُونُ لَهُ فِي الْحَمَّامِ مَوْعِظَةٌ وَعِبْرَةٌ، إِذْ عِبَرُ أُولِي الْأَبْصَارِ وَمَوَاعِظُ أَهْلِ التَّقْوَى لَا تَنْقَضِي، وَلَهُمْ فِي كُلِّ شَيْءٍ عِبْرَةٌ وَمَوْعِظَةٌ وَبِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ تَذْكِرَةٌ، لِأَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ قَدْ أَحْيَاهُمْ حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً، وَهَذِهِ عَلَامَةُ مَنْ كَانَ لَهُ قَلْبٌ وَمَنْ مَقَامُهُ الْمَزِيدُ، وَلَا بَأْسَ أَنْ يُظْهِرَ ذِكْرَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بِالتَّسْمِيَةِ وَالِاسْتِغْفَارِ، وَمَكْرُوهٌ لَهُ قِرَاءَةُ الْقُرْآنِ إِلَّا فِي نَفْسِهِ سِرًّا وَلَا يُسَلِّمُ عَلَى أَحَدٍ فِيهِ بِلَفْظِ السَّلَامِ. وَرَوَيْنَا أَنَّ رَجُلًا سَلَّمَ عَلَى الْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا فِي الْحَمَّامِ فَقَالَ: لَيْسَ فِي الْحَمَّامِ سَلَامٌ، فَإِنِ احْتَاجَ أَنْ يَتَكَلَّمَ رَجُلٌ فِيهِ فَلَا بَأْسَ أَنْ يَأْخُذَ بِيَدِهِ اسْتِئْنَاسًا لِلْكَلَامِ أَوْ يَقُولَ لَهُ: عَافَاكَ اللَّهُ وَأَدَامَ سَلَامَتَكَ.

wayakūnu lahu fī al-ḥammāmi mawʿiẓatun waʿibratun, ʾidh ʿibaru ʾulī al-ʾabṣāri wamawāʿiẓu ʾahli al-taqwā lā tanqaḍī, walahum fī kulli shayʾin ʿibratun wamawʿiẓatun wabikulli shayʾin tadhkiratun, liʾanna Allāha ʿazza wajalla qad ʾaḥyāhum ḥayātan ṭayyibatan, wahādhihi ʿalāmatu man kāna lahu qalbun waman maqāmuhu al-mazīdu, walā baʾsa ʾan yuẓhira dhikra Allāhi ʿazza wajalla bi-al-tasmiyati wa-al-istighfāri, wamakrūhun lahu qirāʾatu al-qurʾāni ʾillā fī nafsihi sirran walā yusallimu ʿalā ʾaḥadin fīhi bilafẓi al-salāmi. warawaynā ʾanna rajulan sallama ʿalā al-ḥasani bni ʿaliyyin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhumā fī al-ḥammāmi faqāla: laysa fī al-ḥammāmi salāmun, faʾini iḥtāja ʾan yatakallama rajulun fīhi falā baʾsa ʾan yaʾkhudha biyadihi istiʾnāsan li-al-kalāmi ʾaw yaqūla lahu: ʿāfāka Allāhu waʾadāma salāmataka.

The bathhouse thus offers him admonition and a lesson, for the lessons perceived by people of insight and the admonitions available to the God-fearing never end. In everything they find instruction and admonition; everything calls them to remembrance. God, mighty and majestic, has brought them to a good life. This is the mark of someone who has a living heart and whose station is ever-increasing grace. There is no harm in remembering God, mighty and majestic, aloud in the bathhouse by invoking His name and asking His forgiveness. Reciting the Qur’an is objectionable there, except silently to oneself, and one should not greet anyone there with the word ‘peace.’ We have related that a man greeted al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, God be pleased with them both, in the bathhouse. He replied, ‘There is no greeting of peace in the bathhouse.’ If a man needs to speak there, there is no harm in taking the other person’s hand as a friendly way to begin, or saying, ‘May God grant you well-being and keep you safe.’

وَمَكْرُوهٌ لَهُ كَثْرَةُ الْكَلَامِ فِيهِ وَأَنْ يَتَكَلَّمَ رَجُلٌ بِمَا لَا يَعْنِيهِ، وَلَكِنْ يَقُولُ: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ، إِذَا دَخَلَهُ وَيَسْتَعِيذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الرِّجْسِ الْخَبِثِ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ. وَإِنْ أَعْطَى الْحَمَّامِيَّ أُجْرَةً لِيُخْلِيَهُ لَهُ أُجِرَ عَلَى ذَلِكَ. قَالَ بِشْرٌ: مَا أُعَنِّفُ رَجُلًا لَا يَمْلِكُ إِلَّا دِرْهَمًا أَنْ يُعْطِيَهُ لِخَلْوَةِ الْحَمَّامِيِّ. وَكَانَ بِشْرٌ يُعْطِي لِيُخْلِيَ لَهُ الْحَمَّامَ، فَكَانَ يُغْلِقُهُ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ دَاخِلٍ وَمِنْ خَارِجٍ، فَإِنْ وَلِيَتْهُ جَارِيَتُهُ لِلْإِطْلَاءِ فِي الْحَمَّامِ إِذَا كَانَ خَالِيًا سَتِيرًا فَلَا بَأْسَ،

wamakrūhun lahu kathratu al-kalāmi fīhi waʾan yatakallama rajulun bimā lā yaʿnīhi, walākin yaqūlu: bismi Allāhi, ʾidhā dakhalahu wayastaʿīdhu bi-Allāhi mina al-rijsi al-khabithi al-shayṭāni al-rajīmi. waʾin ʾaʿṭā al-ḥammāmiyya ʾujratan liyukhliyahu lahu ʾujira ʿalā dhālika. qāla bishrun: mā ʾuʿannifu rajulan lā yamliku ʾillā dirhaman ʾan yuʿṭiyahu likhalwati al-ḥammāmiyyi. wakāna bishrun yuʿṭī liyukhliya lahu al-ḥammāma, fakāna yughliquhu ʿalayhi min dākhilin wamin khārijin, faʾin waliyathu jāriyatuhu li-al-ʾiṭlāʾi fī al-ḥammāmi ʾidhā kāna khāliyan satīran falā baʾsa,

It is objectionable to talk excessively there, or to speak about what does not concern one. Instead, on entering, one says, ‘In God’s name,’ and seeks refuge in God from the impure, foul, accursed Satan. If one pays the bathhouse keeper to clear it for one’s private use, one is rewarded for doing so. Bishr said, ‘I would not blame a man who owned only a dirham for spending it on having the bathhouse to himself.’ Bishr used to pay to have the bathhouse cleared for him, and it would be locked for him from both inside and outside. There is no harm if his female slave attends to him there to apply depilatory, provided the place is empty and screened from view.

قَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: رَأَيْتُ ابْنَ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا فِي الْحَمَّامِ مُسْتَقْبِلًا بِوَجْهِهِ الْحَائِطَ، وَقَدْ عَصَبَ عَيْنَيْهِ بِعِصَابَةٍ وَمَدَّ يَدَهُ عَلَى الْحَائِطِ، وَقِيلَ لِإِبْرَاهِيمَ الْحَرْبِيِّ: تُصَلِّي خَلْفَ شَارِبِ النَّبِيذِ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ، قِيلَ: فَتُصَلِّي خَلْفَ مَنْ يَدْخُلُ الْحَمَّامَ بِلَا مِئْزَرٍ؟ قَالَ: لَا، وَيُكْرَهُ دُخُولُ الْحَمَّامِ عِنْدَ الْغُرُوبِ وَبَيْنَ الْعِشَاءَيْنِ، فَإِنَّ تِلْكَ السَّاعَتَيْنِ وَقْتُ انْتِشَارِ الشَّيَاطِينِ، وَلْيَعْرِفْ بِدُخُولِهِ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَتَسْخِيرَهُ لَهُ مَنْ شَاءَ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ بِالتَّعَبِ مِنْهُمْ وَالْكَدِّ فِيهِ، فَهَذَا مِنْ لَطِيفِ أَفْضَالِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَلَى الْمُتَنَعِّمِينَ بِهِ، وَمَنْ دَخَلَ الْحَمَّامَ وَقَامَ بِهَذِهِ الْأَحْكَامِ كَانَ دُخُولُهُ أَفْضَلَ لِأَنَّ لَهُ فِيهِ أَعْمَالًا كَثِيرَةً،

qāla baʿḍuhum: raʾaytu ibna ʿumara raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhumā fī al-ḥammāmi mustaqbilan biwajhihi al-ḥāʾiṭa, waqad ʿaṣaba ʿaynayhi biʿiṣābatin wamadda yadahu ʿalā al-ḥāʾiṭi, waqīla liʾibrāhīma al-ḥarbiyyi: tuṣallī khalfa shāribi al-nabīdhi? qāla: naʿam, qīla: fatuṣallī khalfa man yadkhulu al-ḥammāma bilā miʾzarin? qāla: lā, wayukrahu dukhūlu al-ḥammāmi ʿinda al-ghurūbi wabayna al-ʿishāʾayni, faʾinna tilka al-sāʿatayni waqtu intishāri al-shayāṭīni, walyaʿrif bidukhūlihi niʿmata Allāhi ʿazza wajalla wataskhīrahu lahu man shāʾa min khalqihi bi-al-taʿabi minhum wa-al-kaddi fīhi, fahādhā min laṭīfi ʾafḍāli Allāhi ʿazza wajalla ʿalā al-mutanaʿʿimīna bihi, waman dakhala al-ḥammāma waqāma bihādhihi al-ʾaḥkāmi kāna dukhūluhu ʾafḍala liʾanna lahu fīhi ʾaʿmālan kathīratan,

One of them said, ‘I saw Ibn ʿUmar, God be pleased with them both, in the bathhouse facing the wall, his eyes bound with a cloth and his hand stretched out against the wall.’ Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī was asked, ‘Would you pray behind someone who drinks nabīdh?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ He was asked, ‘Would you pray behind someone who enters the bathhouse without a waist-wrapper?’ He said, ‘No.’ Entering the bathhouse at sunset and between the two evening prayers is disapproved, for those are times when devils spread abroad. In entering it, one should recognize the favor of God, mighty and majestic: He has put whomever He wills of His creatures at one’s service, through their toil and hard work there. This is one of the subtle favors of God, mighty and majestic, to those who enjoy it. For someone who enters the bathhouse and observes these rules, entering is better, because it gives him many good actions to perform.

وَدَخَلَ الْأَعْمَشُ فَرَأَى عُرْيَانًا فَغَمَّضَ عَيْنَيْهِ وَجَعَلَ يَتَلَمَّسُ الْحِيطَانَ، فَقَالَ لَهُ الْعُرْيَانُ: مَتَى كُفَّ بَصَرُكَ يَا هَذَا؟ فَقَالَ الْأَعْمَشُ: مُنْذُ هُتِكَ سِتْرُكَ، وَحَكَى الشَّافِعِيُّ عَنْ مَالِكٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا ثَلَاثَةَ أَشْيَاءَ فِيهَا، ذِلَّةٌ: حُضُورُ الْمَجْلِسِ بِغَيْرِ مِحْبَرَةٍ وَلَا صَحِيفَةٍ، وَرُكُوبُ السَّفِينَةِ بِلَا زَادٍ، وَدُخُولُ الْحَمَّامِ بِغَيْرِ كَرْنِيبٍ، قَالَ: فَقُلْتُ لِلشَّافِعِيِّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ: لَمْ تَذْكُرِ الْمِئْزَرَ؟ فَقَالَ: قَدْ أَحْسَنَ، تَرْكُ الْمِئْزَرِ فُسُوقٌ، وَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: دُخُولُ الْحَمَّامِ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ حَرَامٌ وَعَلَى الرِّجَالِ إِلَّا بِمِئْزَرٍ، وَقَدْ كَانَ عُمَرُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ يَقُولُ: الْحَمَّامُ مِنَ النَّعِيمِ الَّذِي أَحْدَثُوهُ، وَفِي أَحَدِ الْوُجُوهِ مِنْ قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: ﴿ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ﴾ التَّكَاثُرُ: 8، قَالَ: الْمَاءُ الْحَارُّ فِي الشِّتَاءِ،

wadakhala al-ʾaʿmashu faraʾā ʿuryānan faghammaḍa ʿaynayhi wajaʿala yatalammasu al-ḥīṭāna, faqāla lahu al-ʿuryānu: matā kuffa baṣaruka yā hādhā? faqāla al-ʾaʿmashu: mundhu hutika sitruka, waḥakā al-shāfiʿiyyu ʿan mālikin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhumā thalāthata ʾashyāʾa fīhā, dhillatun: ḥuḍūru al-majlisi bighayri miḥbaratin walā ṣaḥīfatin, warukūbu al-safīnati bilā zādin, wadukhūlu al-ḥammāmi bighayri karnībin, qāla: faqultu li-al-shāfiʿiyyi raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu: lam tadhkuri al-miʾzara? faqāla: qad ʾaḥsana, tarku al-miʾzari fusūqun, waqāla al-nabiyyu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama: dukhūlu al-ḥammāmi ʿalā al-nisāʾi ḥarāmun waʿalā al-rijāli ʾillā bimiʾzarin, waqad kāna ʿumaru raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu yaqūlu: al-ḥammāmu mina al-naʿīmi alladhī ʾaḥdathūhu, wafī ʾaḥadi al-wujūhi min qawlihi taʿālā: thumma latusʾalunna yawmaʾidhin ʿani al-naʿīmi, al-takāthuru: 8, qāla: al-māʾu al-ḥārru fī al-shitāʾi,

Al-Aʿmash entered and saw a naked man, so he closed his eyes and began feeling his way along the walls. The naked man asked, ‘When did you lose your sight, man?’ Al-Aʿmash replied, ‘When you lost your covering.’ Al-Shāfiʿī related from Mālik, God be pleased with them both, ‘Three things bring humiliation: attending a teaching session without an inkwell or a sheet of paper, boarding a ship without provisions, and entering the bathhouse without an incense burner.’ The narrator said, ‘I asked al-Shāfiʿī, God be pleased with him, “You did not mention a waist-wrapper.” He replied, “He expressed it well. Leaving off a waist-wrapper is outright transgression.”’ The Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Entering the bathhouse is forbidden to women, and to men except with a waist-wrapper.’ ʿUmar, God be pleased with him, used to say, ‘The bathhouse is one of the luxuries they have introduced.’ In one interpretation of the words of God, exalted is He, ‘Then, on that day, you will surely be questioned about your pleasures’ (102:8), he said, ‘Hot water in winter.’

وَلَا بَأْسَ أَنْ يُبَاشِرَهُ رَجُلٌ بِالتَّدْلِيكِ خَلَا مَوْضِعَ الْعَوْرَةِ، حَدَّثَنِي بَعْضُ إِخْوَانِي عَنْ بَعْضِ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمِ أَنَّهُ دَخَلَ مَعَهُ الْحَمَّامَ، قَالَ: فَأَرَدْتُ أُدَلِّكَهُ

walā baʾsa ʾan yubāshirahu rajulun bi-al-tadlīki khalā mawḍiʿa al-ʿawrati, ḥaddathanī baʿḍu ʾikhwānī ʿan baʿḍi ʾahli al-ʿilmi ʾannahu dakhala maʿahu al-ḥammāma, qāla: faʾaradtu ʾudallikahu

There is no harm in having a man massage one’s body, apart from the private parts. One of my brothers told me that he had entered the bathhouse with a learned man. He said, ‘I wanted to massage him

الْجُزْءُ الثَّانِي، الصَّفْحَةُ ٤٣٠

al-juzʾu al-thānī, al-ṣafḥatu 430

Volume Two, page 430

فَامْتَنَعَ، قَالَ: ثُمَّ دَخَلْتُ مَعَهُ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَجَعَلْتُ أُدَلِّكُهُ فَلَمْ يَمْتَنِعْ، فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: قَدْ كُنْتَ امْتَنَعْتَ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ، قَالَ: كُنْتُ أَعْلَمُ فِيهِ أَثَرًا ثُمَّ وَجَدْتُ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ لِضَيْغَمٍ الرَّاشِنِيِّ أَنَّ رَجُلًا دَلَّكَهُ فِي الْحَمَّامِ فَرَأَى عَلَى فَخِذِهِ مَكْتُوبًا لِلَّهِ بِعِرْقٍ فِي جَسَدِهِ، فَقَالَ: أَمَا تَنْظُرُ؟ أَمَا إِنَّهُ مَا كَتَبَهُ إِنْسَانٌ،

famtanaʿa, qāla: thumma dakhaltu maʿahu baʿda dhālika fajaʿaltu ʾudallikuhu falam yamtaniʿ, faqultu lahu: qad kunta imtanaʿta ʾawwala marratin, qāla: kuntu ʾaʿlamu fīhi ʾatharan thumma wajadtu baʿda dhālika liḍayghamin al-rāshiniyyi ʾanna rajulan dallakahu fī al-ḥammāmi faraʾā ʿalā fakhidhihi maktūban li-llāhi biʿirqin fī jasadihi, faqāla: ʾamā tanẓuru? ʾamā ʾinnahu mā katabahu ʾinsānun,

but he declined. Later I entered with him again and began to massage him, and he did not object. I said, “You refused the first time.” He replied, “I knew a report about it, but later I found a report concerning Ḍaygham al-Rāshinī: a man massaged him in the bathhouse and saw the words ‘for God’ on his thigh, formed by a vein in his body. He said, ‘Do you see? No human being wrote that.’”’

وَفِي ذَلِكَ أَيْضًا أَثَرٌ عَنْ يُوسُفَ بْنِ أَسْبَاطٍ أَنَّهُ لَمَّا حَضَرَتْهُ الْوَفَاةُ أَوْصَى أَنْ يُغَسِّلَهُ فُلَانٌ إِنْسَانٌ لَمْ يَكُنْ مِنْ أَصْحَابِهِ وَلَا كَانَ مَعْرُوفًا بِفَضْلٍ، فَقِيلَ لَهُ فِي ذَلِكَ فَقَالَ: إِنَّهُ قَدْ كَانَ مَرَّةً دَلَّكَنِي فِي الْحَمَّامِ وَلَمْ أُكَافِئْهُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ وَأَنَا أَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُ يُحِبُّ أَنْ يُغَسِّلَنِي فَأَوْصَيْتُ إِلَيْهِ فَيَكُونُ ذَلِكَ مُكَافَأَةً مِنِّي لَهُ، وَيَصْلُحُ أَنْ يُسْتَدَلَّ عَلَى ذَلِكَ أَيْضًا بِتَجْوِيزِ الْغَمْزِ لِلْجَسَدِ وَالظَّهْرِ.

wafī dhālika ʾayḍan ʾatharun ʿan yūsufa bni ʾasbāṭin ʾannahu lammā ḥaḍarathu al-wafātu ʾawṣā ʾan yughassilahu fulānun ʾinsānun lam yakun min ʾaṣḥābihi walā kāna maʿrūfan bifaḍlin, faqīla lahu fī dhālika faqāla: ʾinnahu qad kāna marratan dallakanī fī al-ḥammāmi walam ʾukāfiʾhu ʿalā dhālika waʾanā ʾaʿlamu ʾannahu yuḥibbu ʾan yughassilanī faʾawṣaytu ʾilayhi fayakūnu dhālika mukāfaʾatan minnī lahu, wayaṣluḥu ʾan yustadalla ʿalā dhālika ʾayḍan bitajwīzi al-ghamzi li-al-jasadi wa-al-ẓahri.

There is also a report about Yūsuf ibn Asbāṭ. When death approached, he instructed that a certain man should wash his body, someone who was neither one of his companions nor known for special virtue. Asked about this, he said, ‘He once massaged me in the bathhouse, and I never repaid him for it. I know that he would like to wash my body, so I have entrusted this to him as my way of repaying him.’ The permissibility of kneading the body and back can also be cited in support of this.

فَقَدْ رَوَيْنَا عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ نَزَلَ مَنْزِلًا فِي بَعْضِ أَسْفَارِهِ، قَالَ بَعْضُ أَصْحَابِهِ: فَذَهَبْتُ أَمْشِي أَتَخَلَّلُ النَّخْلَ أَوْ قَالَ الشَّجَرَ، فَإِذَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ نَائِمٌ عَلَى بَطْنِهِ وَعَبْدٌ أَسْوَدُ يَغْمِزُ ظَهْرَهُ، فَقُلْتُ لَهُ: مَا هَذَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ؟ فَقَالَ: أَمَا إِنَّ النَّاقَةَ تَقَحَّمَتْ بِي، وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: لَا يَحِلُّ دُخُولُ الْحَمَّامِ إِلَّا بِمِئْزَرَيْنِ مِئْزَرٍ لِوَجْهِهِ وَمِئْزَرٍ لِعَوْرَتِهِ، وَرَأَى ابْنُ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ رَجُلًا عُرْيَانًا فَخَرَجَ وَهُوَ يَقُولُ: أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ رَأَيْتُ شَيْطَانًا، وَقَالَ مَالِكٌ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ: مَنْ دَخَلَ الْحَمَّامَ وَخَرَجَ عُرْيَانًا فَلَا شَهَادَةَ لَهُ، وَإِنْ كَانَ قَاعِدًا عِنْدَ الْحَوْضِ لِيَغْسِلَ فَلَا بَأْسَ،

faqad rawaynā ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama ʾannahu nazala manzilan fī baʿḍi ʾasfārihi, qāla baʿḍu ʾaṣḥābihi: fadhahabtu ʾamshī ʾatakhallalu al-nakhla ʾaw qāla al-shajara, faʾidhā rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama nāʾimun ʿalā baṭnihi waʿabdun ʾaswadu yaghmizu ẓahrahu, faqultu lahu: mā hādhā yā rasūla Allāhi? faqāla: ʾamā ʾinna al-nāqata taqaḥḥamat bī, waqāla baʿḍuhum: lā yaḥillu dukhūlu al-ḥammāmi ʾillā bimiʾzarayni miʾzarin liwajhihi wamiʾzarin liʿawratihi, waraʾā ibnu ʿumara raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu rajulan ʿuryānan fakharaja wahuwa yaqūlu: ʾaʿūdhu bi-Allāhi mina al-shayṭāni raʾaytu shayṭānan, waqāla mālikun raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu: man dakhala al-ḥammāma wakharaja ʿuryānan falā shahādata lahu, waʾin kāna qāʿidan ʿinda al-ḥawḍi liyaghsila falā baʾsa,

We have related that God’s Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, stopped at a place during one of his journeys. One of his Companions said, ‘I went walking among the date palms’, or he said, ‘the trees, and there was God’s Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, lying on his stomach while a Black slave kneaded his back. I asked him, “What is this, Messenger of God?” He replied, “The she-camel jolted me.”’ One of them said, ‘Entering the bathhouse is lawful only with two coverings: one for the face and one for the private parts.’ Ibn ʿUmar, God be pleased with him, saw a naked man and left, saying, ‘I seek refuge in God from Satan. I have seen a devil.’ Mālik, God be pleased with him, said, ‘A man who goes in and out of the bathhouse naked is not acceptable as a witness. But there is no harm if he is sitting at the pool to wash.’

وَغَسْلُ الرِّجْلَيْنِ بِالْمَاءِ الْبَارِدِ عِنْدَ الْخُرُوجِ مِنَ الْحَمَّامِ أَمَانٌ مِنَ النِّقْرِسِ، وَالتَّنَوُّرُ بَعْدَهُ قَبْلَ غَسْلِ الْوَجْهِ يُشَيِّبُ اللِّحْيَةَ وَالْحِنَّاءُ بَعْدُ، يُقَالُ: إِنَّهُ أَمَانٌ مِنَ الْجُذَامِ، وَيَسْتَحِبُّ أَهْلُ الطِّبِّ الْبَوْلَ قَائِمًا فِي الْحَمَّامِ بَعْدَ الْإِينَارِ وَقَبْلَ غَسْلِ النُّورَةِ، وَأَمَرَ بَعْضُ أَطِبَّاءِ الْعَرَبِ بِالنُّورَةِ فِي كُلِّ شَهْرٍ وَأَخْبَرَ أَنَّهُ يُطْفِئُ الْمَرَارَةَ وَيُنَقِّي اللَّوْنَ وَأَنَّهَا تَزِيدُ فِي الْجِمَاعِ وَفِي السُّنَّةِ الِاسْتِحْدَادُ فِي كُلِّ أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا لَا يُسْتَحَبُّ مُجَاوَزَةُ ذَلِكَ،

waghaslu al-rijlayni bi-al-māʾi al-bāridi ʿinda al-khurūji mina al-ḥammāmi ʾamānun mina al-niqrisi, wa-al-tanawwuru baʿdahu qabla ghasli al-wajhi yushayyibu al-liḥyata wa-al-ḥinnāʾu baʿdu, yuqālu: ʾinnahu ʾamānun mina al-judhāmi, wayastaḥibbu ʾahlu al-ṭibbi al-bawla qāʾiman fī al-ḥammāmi baʿda al-ʾīnāri waqabla ghasli al-nūrati, waʾamara baʿḍu ʾaṭibbāʾi al-ʿarabi bi-al-nūrati fī kulli shahrin waʾakhbara ʾannahu yuṭfiʾu al-marārata wayunaqqī al-lawna waʾannahā tazīdu fī al-jimāʿi wafī al-sunnati al-istiḥdādu fī kulli ʾarbaʿīna yawman lā yustaḥabbu mujāwazatu dhālika,

Washing the feet with cold water on leaving the bathhouse is a protection against gout. Using depilatory afterward, before washing the face, makes the beard turn gray; henna afterward is said to protect against leprosy. Physicians recommend urinating while standing in the bathhouse after applying the depilatory and before washing it off. Some Arab physicians prescribed depilatory every month, saying that it reduces bile, clears the complexion, and increases sexual capacity. The Sunna prescribes removing the pubic hair within every forty days; exceeding that interval is not recommended.

وَبَعْضُ أَهْلِ الطِّبِّ يَقُولُ: بَوْلَةٌ فِي الْحَمَّامِ فِي الشِّتَاءِ أَنْفَعُ مِنْ شَرْبَةِ دَوَاءٍ، وَالْبَوْلُ فِي الْمُسْتَحَمِّ مَكْرُوهٌ مِنْ جِهَةِ السُّنَّةِ، وَقِيلَ: إِنَّ الْبَوْلَ فِي الْمُسْتَحَمِّ يُورِثُ الْوَسْوَاسَ، وَبَعْضُ أَهْلِ الطِّبِّ يَقُولُ: نَوْمَةٌ فِي الصَّيْفِ بَعْدَ دُخُولِ الْحَمَّامِ تَعْدِلُ شَرْبَةَ دَوَاءٍ، وَيَسْتَحِبُّونَ أَيْضًا الْغَسْلَ بِمَاءٍ بَارِدٍ بَعْدَ نَوْمَةٍ فِي الصَّيْفِ، وَأَنَّهُ نَافِعٌ لِلْجَسَدِ، وَيُقَالُ: إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ إِذَا جَاوَزَ الْأَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً نَقَصَ فِي كُلِّ يَوْمٍ إِلَّا الْيَوْمَ الَّذِي يَدْخُلُ فِيهِ الْحَمَّامَ، وَإِنَّ الْحَمَّامَ عِنْدَهُمْ فِي الصَّيْفِ أَنْفَعُ مِنْهُ فِي الشِّتَاءِ، وَيُكْرَهُ شُرْبُ الْمَاءِ الْبَارِدِ عِنْدَ الْخُرُوجِ مِنَ الْحَمَّامِ،

wabaʿḍu ʾahli al-ṭibbi yaqūlu: bawlatun fī al-ḥammāmi fī al-shitāʾi ʾanfaʿu min sharbati dawāʾin, wa-al-bawlu fī al-mustaḥammi makrūhun min jihati al-sunnati, waqīla: ʾinna al-bawla fī al-mustaḥammi yūrithu al-waswāsa, wabaʿḍu ʾahli al-ṭibbi yaqūlu: nawmatun fī al-ṣayfi baʿda dukhūli al-ḥammāmi taʿdilu sharbata dawāʾin, wayastaḥibbūna ʾayḍan al-ghasla bimāʾin bāridin baʿda nawmatin fī al-ṣayfi, waʾannahu nāfiʿun li-al-jasadi, wayuqālu: ʾinna al-ʾinsāna ʾidhā jāwaza al-ʾarbaʿīna sanatan naqaṣa fī kulli yawmin ʾillā al-yawma alladhī yadkhulu fīhi al-ḥammāma, waʾinna al-ḥammāma ʿindahum fī al-ṣayfi ʾanfaʿu minhu fī al-shitāʾi, wayukrahu shurbu al-māʾi al-bāridi ʿinda al-khurūji mina al-ḥammāmi,

Some physicians say that urinating once in the bathhouse in winter is more beneficial than a dose of medicine. Yet urinating in the bathing place is disapproved according to the Sunna, and it has been said that doing so brings obsessive misgivings. Some physicians say that a nap after a summer bath is equivalent to a dose of medicine. They also recommend washing with cold water after a summer nap, saying that it benefits the body. It is said that, once a person passes forty, he declines each day except on the day he visits the bathhouse. In their view, bathing is more beneficial in summer than in winter. Drinking cold water on leaving the bathhouse is disapproved.

وَحَرَّمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ دُخُولَ الْحَمَّامِ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ، وَحَرَّمَهُ عَلَى الرِّجَالِ إِلَّا بِمِئْزَرٍ، فَإِنْ دَخَلَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ الْحَمَّامَ ضَرُورَةً مِنْ عِلَّةٍ أَوْ حَيْضٍ أَوْ نِفَاسٍ أَوْ فِي شِتَاءٍ فَلَا بَأْسَ، وَقَدْ دَخَلَتْ عَائِشَةُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا مِنْ سَقَمٍ كَانَ بِهَا وَلْيَنْهَ الرَّجُلُ امْرَأَتَهُ وَأَهْلَهُ عَنْ دُخُولِ الْحَمَّامِ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَقْبَلْنَ لَمْ يَحِلَّ لَهُ أَنْ يُعْطِيَهُنَّ أُجْرَةَ الْحَمَّامِ، وَكَانَ الْأَمْرُ عَلَيْهِنَّ، وَلَا يَحِلُّ لِمُسْلِمَةٍ فِي الْحَمَّامِ أَنْ تَلِيَهَا لِلْخِدْمَةِ ذِمِّيَّةٌ، فَقَدْ نَهَى عُمَرُ وَأَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا عَنْ ذَلِكَ وَأَكْرَهُ لِلرَّجُلِ أَنْ يُعْطِيَ امْرَأَتَهُ أُجْرَةَ الْحَمَّامِ فَيَكُونَ مُعِينًا لَهَا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ، فَإِنْ نَهَاهَا فَخَالَفَتْهُ كَانَ الْإِثْمُ عَلَيْهَا.

waḥarrama rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wasallama dukhūla al-ḥammāmi ʿalā al-nisāʾi, waḥarramahu ʿalā al-rijāli ʾillā bimiʾzarin, faʾin dakhalati al-marʾatu al-ḥammāma ḍarūratan min ʿillatin ʾaw ḥayḍin ʾaw nifāsin ʾaw fī shitāʾin falā baʾsa, waqad dakhalat ʿāʾishatu raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā min saqamin kāna bihā walyanha al-rajulu imraʾatahu waʾahlahu ʿan dukhūli al-ḥammāmi, faʾin lam yaqbalna lam yaḥilla lahu ʾan yuʿṭiyahunna ʾujrata al-ḥammāmi, wakāna al-ʾamru ʿalayhinna, walā yaḥillu limuslimatin fī al-ḥammāmi ʾan taliyahā li-al-khidmati dhimmiyyatun, faqad nahā ʿumaru waʾabū ʿubaydata raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhumā ʿan dhālika waʾakrahu li-al-rajuli ʾan yuʿṭiya imraʾatahu ʾujrata al-ḥammāmi fayakūna muʿīnan lahā ʿalā al-ʾithmi, faʾin nahāhā fakhālafathu kāna al-ʾithmu ʿalayhā.

God’s Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, forbade women to enter the bathhouse, and forbade men to enter without a waist-wrapper. But there is no harm if a woman enters out of necessity because of an illness, menstruation, childbirth, or winter conditions. ʿĀʾisha, God be pleased with her, entered because of an illness she had. A man should forbid his wife and the women of his household to enter the bathhouse. If they do not accept this, it is not lawful for him to give them the bathhouse fee, and responsibility rests with them. It is not lawful for a Muslim woman in the bathhouse to be attended by a non-Muslim woman of the protected communities: ʿUmar and Abū ʿUbayda, God be pleased with them both, forbade this. I disapprove of a man giving his wife the bathhouse fee, thereby helping her to sin. If he forbids her and she disobeys him, the sin rests with her.