And when the Prophet is more worthy of the believers than themselves, and the greatest intended purpose in these verses is to clarify what Allah has honored him with from that, he followed what he clarified that there is no waiting period in the marriage of the believers [and what He has prohibited for them from restricting the divorced wives]. This is part of what Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has honored him with and specified regarding [the expansion in] marriage, and he concluded with the fact that his wives are not permissible after him. They are like those whose waiting period is established and never ends, or like one who married her while he is absent from her and he is alive, because he, blessings and peace be upon him, is alive in his grave: ﴿O Prophet﴾, mentioning, glorified and exalted is He, the description that is the beginning of closeness, its intended purpose, the source of perfection, and its center.

And when those in whose hearts is a disease deny the specific characteristics of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, he affirmed his saying: ﴿Indeed, We have made lawful for you your wives﴾, meaning their marriage. Al-Hirali said in his book on the principles of jurisprudence: The attachment of the ruling to specific entities is exclusive to a specific meaning, such as I have prohibited or made lawful the woman, meaning her marriage, the horse, meaning riding it, the wine, meaning drinking it, the pig, meaning eating it, the sea, meaning riding it, and the ox, meaning plowing with it. Likewise, everything that is specific to its particular meaning does not divert from it except by indication, and there is no ambiguity in it due to the predominance of specificity. It has ended.

And when the intended purpose of this surah is to clarify his virtues, blessings and peace be upon him, and what Allah has specified for him from what the hypocrites may criticize regarding his being more worthy than anyone else of himself and his wealth, it clarified that despite this, he does not accept anything but the most complete. It clarified that he would hasten the dowries and fulfill the wages, so he said: ﴿Those whom you have given﴾, meaning by the giving which is the reality, and he is, blessings and peace be upon him, more worthy of it or by the naming in the contract. Al-Kashaf said: And hastening was the practice of the predecessors and their tradition, and what is not known among them is other than it. ﴿Their wages﴾, meaning their dowries, because it is compensation for the benefit of the sexual intercourse, and the origin of wage is the reward for the action. ﴿And what your right hand possesses﴾.

And when a person possesses what he has captured, it is more pleasing to his soul and higher in his status and more permissible than what he has purchased, he said: ﴿From what Allah has given back﴾ meaning Allah has returned to you, the One to Whom belongs all command, ﴿to you﴾ like Safiyyah bint Huyayy al-Nadriyah and Rayhanah al-Quraziyyah and Juwayriyyah bint al-Harith al-Khuzaiyyah, may Allah be pleased with them, from what was in the hands of the disbelievers. He attributed it to Him, glorified and exalted is He, to indicate that it is a bounty in its essence which Allah has made lawful, and there is no betrayal in it. He expressed it with the term bounty, which means return, to indicate that what is in the hands of the disbeliever does not belong to him; rather, it belongs to whoever takes it from him among the believers by force or to whoever the disbeliever gives it to willingly. From this, the Prophet ﷺ would give what he requested from the lands of the disbelievers or their women, and he did not give anyone anything except that it was conveyed to him like Tamim al-Dari and Shuwayl, may Allah be pleased with them both. He restricted this as a reminder of his virtue ﷺ and his superiority over everything as has been previously indicated, and it indicates that it was decreed in the knowledge of Allah that nothing from the ownership of the right hand would reach him except by this means. Included in this is what was gifted to him from the disbelievers, like Mariyah the Copt, the mother of his son Ibrahim, peace be upon him. In this, there is also an indication of what was specifically made lawful for him from what was dangerous for those who came before him from the spoils of war. ﴿And the daughters of your paternal uncle﴾ and others from the same category, for indeed, the further the lineage is, the more deserving it is of permissibility.

And when he specified the paternal uncle because one male relative gathers from others due to his honor and strength and being the origin from which this type branches out, he made it known with all the females that the intended meaning is the gender so that it would not be assumed that the intention is the permissibility of the sisters collectively. He said: ﴿And the daughters of your paternal aunts﴾ from the women of Banu Abd al-Muttalib.

And when he began with the generality for its honor, he followed it with his saying: ﴿And the daughters of your maternal uncle﴾ also following the same pattern in singular and plural. ﴿And the daughters of your maternal aunts﴾ meaning from the women of Banu Zuhrah. [And it is possible that there is a remarkable overlap in this: the daughters of your paternal uncle and the daughters of your paternal aunts, and the daughters of your maternal uncle and the daughters of your maternal aunts, and the daughters of your maternal aunts and the daughters of your maternal aunt, and its secret is what has been indicated].

And when he clarified the nobility of his wives in terms of lineage, as it was known and famous that his lineage, blessings and peace be upon him, from both men and women is the noblest of lineages, such that there was no disagreement among two Arabs regarding that, he clarified their nobility in terms of deeds by saying: (p-381) ﴿those who migrated﴾ and by his saying: ﴿with you﴾ he indicated that the migration before the conquest ﴿those are greater in rank than those who spent afterwards and fought﴾ [Al-Hadid: 10]. He did not mean by this to restrict but to indicate the nobility. This also points to the fact that it was known in His knowledge, glorified and exalted is He, that it would not be possible for him to marry someone who is outside of these attributes. It has been reported that this is in the context of restriction; Al-Tirmidhi, Al-Hakim, Ibn Abi Shaiba, Ishaq Ibn Rahawaih, Al-Tabarani, Al-Tabari, and Ibn Abi Hatim all narrated from the narration of Al-Suddi from Abu Salih from Umm Hani, daughter of Abu Talib, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, proposed to me, and I excused myself [to him], so he excused me. Then Allah, the Exalted, revealed ﴿Indeed, We have made lawful for you your wives﴾ the verse, so I could not make it lawful for him because I had not migrated. I was one of the freed ones." Al-Tirmidhi said this is a good hadith, we do not know it except from this source from the narration of Al-Suddi.

And when he clarified what is the noblest of marriages due to its origin, [and] followed it with what Allah, glorified and exalted is He, specified in His legislation, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding the spoils of war that He, glorified and exalted is He, permitted, He followed it with what has been permitted regarding the one who permits, indicating that it is not of the type of charity from which He has purified His status. He said: ﴿and a woman﴾ meaning, and We have made lawful for you a woman ﴿believing﴾ meaning, this type is free or a concubine ﴿if she offers herself to the Prophet﴾.

And when he mentioned the description of prophethood because it is the basis of honor from the Creator and love from the creatures, elevating him by it and linking the ruling to the description, for if he had said "to you" it might have led to some misconceptions - as Al-Zajjaj said - that it is not specific to him, blessings and peace be upon him. He repeated it to clarify his greater nobility in a context that raises what might be assumed that he must accept. He said: ﴿If the Prophet intends﴾ meaning, the one whose rank we have elevated by what we have specified for him from informing of the great matters of the unseen and the witnessed ﴿to marry her﴾ meaning, to establish his marriage to her, making her one of his wives by contract or by possession of the right hand, so she becomes merely that for him without a dowry, guardian, or witnesses.

And when it was understood that another might share in this meaning, he clarified his specificity, describing the source of it with 'We have made lawful' emphasizing the matter with the letter of exaggeration, turning to the address because it specifies the intended meaning and removes doubt: 'exclusively for you.' He further clarified the meaning by saying: 'from among the believers,' meaning from the prophets and others. He generalized the description that implies steadfastness, thus including those who are bound by goodness and certainty, and others of various kinds. Those who have descended from their ranks among those who believe and those who have believed, and all people are included in the first understanding of agreement. And the women who offered themselves were many, and he had nothing from them. Al-Bukhari narrated from Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said: 'I used to feel jealous of those women who offered themselves to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and I would say: Does a woman not feel shy to offer herself? When the verse 'You may defer whom you will of them' was revealed, I said: O Messenger of Allah, I do not see your Lord except that He hastens to fulfill your desires.'

And when the specification cannot be validly conceived except from the realm of knowledge that this matter is not for anyone other than the specified one with complete ability, to prevent others from that, he justified it by saying: 'Indeed,' meaning we have informed you that this matter is specific to you alone because we have 'known what We have ordained,' meaning we have decreed by Our greatness.

And when what He has decreed for mankind is a gift and a prohibition that he must have, He expressed it with the tool of elevation, saying: 'Upon them,' meaning the believers, 'in their spouses,' meaning that it is not lawful for them to have a woman by the term of her offering herself to him without a dowry or without a guardian and witnesses. This is general for all believers, both those who came before and those who came after. And when this is general for the free woman and the slave woman, He said: 'And what their right hands possess,' meaning that no one other than you can own a slave woman by her offering herself to him, thus making her more deserving than her master.

And when He concluded the justification for the inferiority, He justified the specification in a convoluted and confusing manner by saying: 'So that there will be no hardship upon you,' meaning no difficulty in any matter concerning women, where We have made lawful for you types of marriages and increased you with the one who offers herself. And when He mentioned, glorified and exalted is He, what He has ordained in the spouses and the slave women, which includes justice in their companionship, and the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was the most understanding of people and the most fearful of Allah, and he would be just among them, and he would still excuse himself for the inclination of the heart that is beyond the capacity of mankind by saying: 'O Allah, this is my division in what I possess, so do not blame me for what I do not possess.' He alleviated for him, glorified and exalted is He, by saying: 'And Allah was,' meaning the one characterized by the attributes of perfection, such as forbearance, deliberation, and ability, and others, eternally and forever, 'Forgiving and Merciful,' meaning one who is profound in concealment, so if He wills, He may leave the accountability for what He has the right to hold one accountable for, and instead make the place of accountability great honor, characterized by that eternally and forever.