the wording. It has also been said that the conclusion precedes the conditional clause, in His words: “Yet they disbelieve in the Most Merciful” [al-Ra'd: 30], followed by “If there were a Quran…” [al-Ra'd: 31]. The first interpretation is preferable: the conclusion is omitted, in keeping with the Arabs’ practice of omitting dispensable wording for brevity and concision.

Al-Farrā' said that “For those who swear to abstain from their wives” [al-Baqarah: 226] means “concerning their wives.” Likewise, in His words:

“And those who guard their private parts” [al-Ma'ārij: 29], “except with their spouses or those whom their right hands possess, for then they are free of blame” [al-Ma'ārij: 30],

the intended meaning is “from their spouses.” Thus, He uses the preposition ‘alā in place of min in one passage, and min in place of ‘alā in the other. The explanation I gave earlier is preferable: the words “to abstain” are implicit in the verse, as the wording indicates. Moreover, the circumstances in which the verse was revealed support this interpretation: men would swear to abstain from their wives in order to harm them.

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Fay' means returning. Of a person returning, one says fā'a, yafī'u, with the verbal nouns fay' and fay'ah, the latter patterned like jay'ah, meaning “coming.” Of a shadow returning, one says fā'a, yafī'u, with the verbal nouns fay' and fuyū'. Fuyū' is also reported for the first usage. Thus, His words, “If they return” [al-Baqarah: 226], mean: if they return to what they had sworn not to do—having intercourse with their wives—and do it.

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There is disagreement over whether His words, “If they return” [al-Baqarah: 226], refer to returning within the four months or after them. These two interpretations underlie the scholars’ disagreement concerning the ruling on a man who has sworn to abstain from his wife once the prescribed period has expired. According to the well-known position reported from Mālik, may Allah have mercy on him, he and all his companions held that divorce takes effect in his case, even if a year elapses before he is required to decide: he must either resume intercourse or divorce her.

[This position is also reported from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān, ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, Ibn ‘Umar, ‘Ā'ishah, and Abū al-Dardā'.] Suhayl ibn Abī Sālih reported that his father said: “I asked twelve of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about a man who swears to abstain from his wife, and they all said, ‘There is no