feels ashamed, hides himself from people, and does not wish them to see him. The second possible meaning is that she carried him and turned his head down toward the ground.

His statement, “or, ‘You have given him horns’”: this too is an allusive expression, for it may mean that she braided his hair and made it into horns and locks; but this is not what they intend. They say that “horns” is derived from qarn, meaning peers: a person who shares with another is called a qarn. Or it may mean horns, i.e., branches, as though—may Allah protect us—someone other than the husband had shared in her.

His statement, “If he explains it”: the pronoun refers to the allusive expression.

His statement, “with a meaning other than an accusation of fornication, it is accepted”: the apparent meaning of the author’s words is that his explanation is accepted without an oath, since, if he refuses to swear, no ruling is issued against him on account of his refusal. Thus, if he says, “I did not mean fornication; rather, by ‘prostitute’ I meant an old woman or someone who coughs frequently,” or if he says, “By ‘wicked woman’ I meant wicked in her conduct, or base,” or something similar; or if he says, “By ‘You have disgraced your husband,’ I meant that you disclosed his secret or divulged it”; or, by “You made him hang his head,” he means a physical lowering of the head, turning it downward; or, by “You gave him horns,” he means that she gave him horns of hair, or the like—then his explanation is accepted. Once it is accepted, the prescribed punishment for accusing someone of fornication is not carried out against him, though he is subject to discretionary punishment for having insulted the person addressed.

His statement, “If he accuses the people of a town, or a group among whom fornication is not ordinarily conceivable, he is subject to discretionary punishment”: such as a man who stands at the gate of a village and says, “All of you, people of this—”