1/273 — Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Treat women well, for woman was created from a rib, and the most crooked part of a rib is its upper section. If you try to straighten it, you will break it; but if you leave it, it will remain crooked. Therefore, treat women well.” Agreed upon.

Another wording in the two Ṣaḥīḥs reads: “A woman is like a rib: if you attempt to straighten her you will break her, but if you benefit from her you benefit while she still has crookedness.”

Muslim records yet another version: “Woman was created from a rib; she will never be completely straight for you. If you enjoy her, you enjoy her with her crookedness; and if you try to straighten her you will break her—and breaking her is divorcing her.”

His statement ʿiwaj (crookedness) is pronounced with a fatḥah on both the ʿayn and the wāw.

[Explanation]
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—relates, through the report of Abu Hurayrah concerning the treatment of wives, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Treat women well,” meaning: accept this counsel I give you and act kindly toward women, for they are limited in intellect, deficient in religious observance, and constrained in their capacity for reflection,