If someone were to ask: Does not the word “one who commits the act of the people of Lot” allow for the meaning, “You are from the people of Lot”? The answer is: No, it does not, because Allah destroyed the people of Lot.

His statement, “and the like”: such as saying, “O you who have unlawful intercourse,” “O you who have intercourse with women without a marriage contract,” and similar expressions that explicitly indicate fornication.

His statement, “Its allusive wording includes: ‘O prostitute’”: this is allusive, because qaḥbah may refer to an old woman, and it may refer to a cough; one says, “You have a qaḥbah,” meaning, a cough. It is from this that a fornicatress was called a qaḥbah, because she clears her throat to draw attention to herself—may Allah protect us. This is the reason she was given this name. In the terminology of the jurists, however, it is an allusive expression, though in our customary usage it is very explicit.

His statement, “O immoral woman”: or if he says to a man, “O immoral man,” or, “You are immoral,” and the like—this is allusive, because the original sense of fujr and fujūr is bursting forth. From it comes fajr (daybreak), and one says that water tafajjara when it bursts forth. Fujūr may also refer to disbelief: “No indeed! The record of the wicked is in Sijjīn.” [al-Muṭaffifīn 83:7]

His statement, “O wicked woman”: this too is allusive, because khubth may mean something vile, or one who is vile in conduct.

His statement, “You have disgraced your husband”: this is allusive, because the immediate understanding of “You have disgraced your husband” is that she has disclosed his secrets before people—unless he intends by it that she has been unchaste and has sullied his honour.

His statement, “or, ‘You have made him hang his head’”: because if the wife commits fornication—may Allah protect us—the husband