The commentators, in explaining ‘urub, described these women as deeply loving, affectionate, coquettish, charming, passionately devoted, ardent in desire, and winsome. All these are expressions they used. Al-Bukhārī said in his Sahīh: “‘Uruban is pronounced with a vowel on the rā'; its singular is ‘arūb, like sabūr and its plural subur. The people of Mecca call such a woman ‘aribah (affectionate); the people of Medina, ghanijah (coquettish); and the people of Iraq, shakilah (charming). The ‘urub are women who show affection to their husbands.” This is how he recorded it in the Book of the Beginning of Creation.

In the Book of Quranic Commentary, under Surah al-Wāqi‘ah, he said: “‘Uruban is pronounced with a vowel on the rā'—that is, with a dammah. Its singular is ‘arūb, like sabūr and its plural subur. The people of Mecca call such a woman ‘aribah; the people of Medina, ghanijah; and the people of Iraq, shakilah.”

I say: Thus, He, Glorified is He, combines beauty of appearance with sweetness of companionship. This is the utmost that is sought in women, and through it a man’s delight in them is complete.

His words, “Whom no human or jinn has touched before them,” convey the perfection of delight in them. For a man’s pleasure with a woman whom no one else has had intercourse with surpasses his pleasure with any other. The same is true of her as well.

[Surah al-Wāqi‘ah (56): verse 74]
“So glorify the name of your Lord, the Most Great.” (74)

The expression composed, for example, of the letters zāy, yā', and dāl has a distinct, definite reality. It therefore merits being assigned an expression that denotes it, since it is something that exists in speech and is heard by the ears. Thus, the expression composed of the elidable hamzah, sīn, and mīm denotes the expression composed, for example, of zāy, yā', and dāl.

The expression composed of zāy, yā', and dāl, in turn, denotes the person who exists in external reality and in the mind.