and limited in all their affairs, for woman was created from a rib.

Adam (peace be upon him) was fashioned by Allah without father or mother; He created him from dust and said to him, “Be,” and he was. When Allah, exalted be He, wished to spread forth offspring from this human being, He created Adam’s wife from him, forming her from his curved rib. She was thus made from that very crooked rib. If you make use of a crooked rib, you benefit from it while it retains its curve; but if you try to straighten it, it breaks.

Likewise, when a man benefits from his wife, he must do so while accepting her crookedness and be content with what ease he can find. Should he insist that she become completely upright, she never will, and he will not be able to achieve it. Even if she is upright in her religion, she will still act in accordance with her natural disposition, and she will not meet her husband’s wishes in every matter; disagreement and shortcoming are inevitable along with the deficiency inherent in her.

By her very constitution and nature she is limited, and she will also fall short. If you attempt to straighten her, you break her—and her breaking is her divorce. That is, if you try to make her conform exactly to what you want, it cannot be done; you will grow weary of her and end up divorcing her—her breaking is her divorce.

In this narration the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) instructs a man on how to live with his family: he should accept what comes easily from them, as Allah the Exalted says, “Show forgiveness”—meaning overlook and accept what is easy of people’s manners—“enjoin what is right, and turn away from the ignorant” (Al-A‘rāf 7:199).

And you will never find a woman—no matter the circumstance—who is one hundred percent free of defects;