| ۞ تُرْجِي مَنْ تَشَاءُ مِنْهُنَّ وَتُؤْوِي إِلَيْكَ مَنْ تَشَاءُ ۖ وَمَنِ ابْتَغَيْتَ مِمَّنْ عَزَلْتَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكَ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَدْنَىٰ أَنْ تَقَرَّ أَعْيُنُهُنَّ وَلَا يَحْزَنَّ وَيَرْضَيْنَ بِمَا آتَيْتَهُنَّ كُلُّهُنَّ ۚ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَلِيمًا |
| Asad | : | [know that] thou mayest put off for a time whichever of them thou pleases", and mayest take unto thee whichever thou pleases"; and [that,] if thou seek out any from whom thou hast kept away [for a time], thou wilt incur no sin [thereby]:62 this will make it more likely that their eyes are gladdened [whenever they see thee],63 and that they do not grieve [whenever they are overlooked], and that all of them may find contentment in whatever thou hast to give them: for God [alone] knows what is in your hearts - and God is indeed all-knowing, forbearing.64 |
| Khattab | : | It is up to you ˹O Prophet˺ to delay or receive whoever you please of your wives. There is no blame on you if you call back any of those you have set aside.1 That is more likely that they will be content, not grieved, and satisfied with what you offer them all. Allah ˹fully˺ knows what is in your hearts. And Allah is All-Knowing, Most Forbearing. |
| Malik | : | You may put off any of your wives you please and take to your bed any of them you please, and there is no blame on you if you call back any of them you had temporarily set aside. This is most proper, so that their eyes may be cooled and they may not grieve, and that they will remain satisfied with what you give them. O believers! Allah knows all that is in your hearts; for Allah is All-Knowing, Most Forbearing. |
| Pickthall | : | Thou canst defer whom thou wilt of them and receive unto thee whom thou wilt, and whomsoever thou desirest of those whom thou hast set aside (temporarily), it is no sin for thee (to receive her again); that is better; that they may be comforted and not grieve, and may all be pleased with what thou givest them. Allah knoweth what is in your hearts (O men) and Allah is Forgiving, Clement. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | Thou mayest defer (the turn of) any of them that thou pleasest and thou mayest receive any thou pleasest: and there is no blame on thee if thou invite one whose (turn) thou hadst set aside. This were nigher to the cooling of their eyes the prevention of their grief and their satisfaction--that of all of them--with that which thou hast to give them: and Allah knows (all) that is in your hearts: and Allah is All-Knowing Most Forbearing. 3749 3750 3751 3752 3753 |
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Thus, the Prophet was told that he need not observe a strict "rotation" in the conjugal attentions due to his wives, although he himself, impelled by an inborn sense of fairness, always endeavoured to give them a feeling of absolute equality. |
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I.e., by the inner certainty that whenever he turned to any of them, he did so on impulse, out of genuine affection, and not out of a sense of marital "obligation". |
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According to a hadith on the authority of A'ishah, recorded in the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal, the Prophet "used to divide his attentions equitably among his wives, and then would pray: 'O God! I am doing whatever is in my power: do not, then, blame me for [failing in] something which is in Thy power [alone], and not in mine!'- thus alluding to his heart, and to loving some [of his wives] more than others." |
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In iv. 3 it is laid down that more than one wife is not permissible "if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with them". In a Muslim household there is no room for a "favourite wife" in the sense that such a wife is recipient of favours denied to other wives. In the special circumstances of the Prophet there were more than one, and he usually observed the rule of equality with them, in other things as well as in the rotation of conjugal rights. But considering that his marriages after he was invested with the Prophetic office were mainly dictated by other than conjugal or personal considerations (see n. 3706. xxxiii. 28), the rotation could not always be observed, though he observed it as much as possible. This verse absolves him from absolute adherence to a fixed rotation. There are other interpretations, but I agree with most of the Commentators in the view I have explained. |
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Where the rotation was for some reason interfered with, it was permissible, by another interference with the usual rotation, to bring satisfaction to one who had been previously set aside. This was not only permitted, but commended, as tending to remove dissatisfaction and cheer and comfort the eyes and hearts of those who were disappointed in their turn. |
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Cooling the eyes: an Arabic idiom for cheering and comforting eyes which yearn to see those they love. A verse of Zeb-un-nisaa, daughter of the Mugal Emperor Aurangzeb, may be rendered thus: "My heart is glad whenever lover-wise I dwell upon thy beauties and thy grace! But how can I content my hungry eyes, That ask continually to see thy face?" |
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There was not much in the way of worldly goods or satisfaction that the Prophet could give them: see xxxiii. 28 above. But he was kind, just, and true;-the best of men to his family, and they all clung to him. |
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Our human hearts, however good on the whole, may yet, in their motives, have possibly some baser admixture. The feminine hearts are not more immune in this respect than the masculine. But everything is known and understood by Allah, Who will in His mercy make all allowance for our human weaknesses. His title of "Most Forbearing" (Halim) also gives His devoted worshippers the cue: why should we not also forbear with the faults and weaknesses of our neighbours and fellow-creatures? |
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The Prophet’s married life can be classified as follows:
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