498 – Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Khayyāṭ narrated to me; Abū ʿUbaydah the Blacksmith narrated to us, from al-Mughīrah Abū Salamah, from al-Shaʿbī, that:

A woman came to ʿUmar—may Allah be pleased with him—and said, “Commander of the Believers, give me redress against my husband. He spends his nights in prayer and his days in fasting.”

He replied, “What do you want of me? Do you want me to keep a man from worshipping his Lord?”

She left, then returned and repeated the same words. He again said, “What do you want of me? Do you want me to keep a man from worshipping his Lord?”

Kaʿb ibn Suwar was present, and he said, “Commander of the Believers, she does have a right.”

ʿUmar asked, “And what is her right, Kaʿb?” He answered in verse:

⦗689⦘
O wise judge whose guidance is sound,
My husband’s mosque has my bed un-found;
His worship has chilled the warmth of our nest—
By night and by day he never will rest.
In women’s affairs he earns no praise;
So judge, O Kaʿb, without delays.

Her husband replied:

His zeal for worship turned me aside
From cushions of comfort and bridal pride.
What came in the Surah of Light so clear,
And in the Seven Lengthy chapters austere,
And in Allah’s Book of warning grave—
These made me wary of passions’ wave.

Kaʿb then declared:

The finest judge is the one who is just,
Who speaks the truth and decides with trust.
A right is hers, O man of sense:
One night in four is her recompense.
Grant her that due and drop pretence.

So ʿUmar ruled that she be entitled to one night out of every four, and he dispatched Kaʿb to serve as judge over Basra.