562 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I am ruined!’ He asked, ‘What has ruined you?’ The man replied, ‘I had intercourse with my wife during (the fast of) Ramadan.’ He said, ‘Can you find a slave to set free?’ He answered, ‘No.’ He asked, ‘Are you able to fast two consecutive months?’ He answered, ‘No.’ He asked, ‘Can you afford to feed sixty needy people?’ He replied, ‘No.’ He then sat down.

Thereafter, a large basket (ʿirq) filled with dates was brought to the Prophet ﷺ. He said, ‘Give this in charity.’ The man said, ‘Is there anyone poorer than us? By Allah, there is no household between its two lava fields that is more in need of it than we are.’ The Prophet ﷺ laughed until his molars became visible and then said, ‘Go and feed it to your family.’”

Narrated by the Seven compilers, and the wording is Muslim’s (1).

Vocabulary of the ḥadith:
• “a man”: he is Salamah ibn Ṣakhar al-Bayāḍī.
• “I am ruined”: ruin here means punishment; that is, I have done something that may cause my destruction.
• “I had intercourse with my wife”: i.e., he knowingly and willingly had marital relations while fasting; in another narration, “I had intercourse with my wife while I was fasting.”
• “to set free a slave”: ʿitq (manumission) is the act of liberating a neck from bondage. “Neck” here refers to a male or female slave. The neck is singled out because servitude is like a shackle placed upon it, preventing independent action; once the person is manumitted, it is as though the shackle has been removed.
• “to set free a slave”: what is meant is an entire human being; the part (the neck) is mentioned while the whole is intended, for—