And when the expiation is a degree, and the one who has made the declaration is as if he has killed himself by killing the one he has declared about as previously mentioned, he is in need of what revives his soul. Therefore, the freeing of a slave, which is like reviving, was legislated for him. When he is unable to do so, what kills his soul, the killing of which for him is its revival, was prescribed. The two months are half of the period in which the spirit is breathed into it. Thus, fasting them is like half of the killing of the soul that he has killed by reviving the spirit and refreshing the mind. It is as if he has killed it. So, glorified is He, He made it a substitute for the killing which is like reviving. He said: 'So whoever does not find' meaning the slave that is commanded to be freed, if he is poor. If he is rich and his wealth is absent, then he is considered to have found it. 'Then fasting' meaning he must fast 'two months.' And since the intention is to break the soul as previously mentioned, and the continuity is more severe, for this reason Ramadan is called the month of patience. He restricted it by saying: 'consecutively' meaning in the most complete forms of continuity according to what is possible as indicated by the manifestation. If he breaks the continuity with anything, even if it is by forgetting the intention, he must start over. And fainting does not break the continuity because it is not within his capacity. Likewise, breaking the fast due to menstruation, postpartum bleeding, or insanity is different from breaking the fast due to travel, illness, or fear for a pregnant woman or nursing child. This is because menstruation is known, so it is legally exempted, while the others are obscuring [to the mind] and remove the obligation. As for illness and similar matters, it involves deliberately breaking the fast while having the mind.

And when the abstention from touching may be longer than two months, the neighbor was included, and he said: "from before". And the source was made clear for those who are after the [first] declaration, as he said: "that they may touch". If he has relations at night, he has sinned, and the continuity is not broken. And when feeding a person is equivalent to killing oneself by fasting for a day, Allah, the Exalted, said: "So whoever cannot" meaning is not able to fast with complete ability - as indicated by the appearance of the 'ta' for old age, illness, or excessive desire that fasting provokes - "then feeding" meaning he must feed "sixty poor people". For each poor person, what sustains him for half a day, which is a mud according to the measure of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him), and that is about half a cup in the Egyptian measure, which is the amount of two handfuls with the hands of a person of average build from the common food of the land, and it is the same as in the fitrah. And he omitted the condition of touching due to its mention in the first two. And perhaps the wisdom in specifying this is that its mention in the first of the conditions is necessary, and its repetition in the second is due to its long duration, for abstaining from it during that time is a hardship. And this can be done in a brief moment without hardship for the patience in abstaining from touching. This is if he returns; if he connects the declaration with divorce or one of them dies before the possibility of divorce, then there is no expiation. Al-Baghawi said: Because returning in the saying is the contradiction. And Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) interpreted returning as regret, saying: They regret and return to the familiarity. And this indicates what Al-Shafi'i (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If he declares [about] the one he can return to, his declaration is valid, and if he reconciles with her, the expiation is obligatory upon him because returning is a return.

And when he mentioned the ruling, he clarified its reason to encourage it, saying: "That" meaning this great concession for you and the kindness towards you and the clear explanation from the command of Allah, which is in accordance with the lenient Hanifiyah, the religion of your father Ibrahim (peace be upon him). It was "so that you may believe" [meaning] this great and difficult action is so that your faith may be renewed and its existence may be realized "in Allah" meaning the King, with whom no one has authority, so you obey Him by detaching from the actions of ignorance, "and His Messenger" whose veneration is part of venerating Him, and he was sent with the religion of [his] father Ibrahim (peace be upon them). So if he had abandoned this severe ruling as it was in ignorance, it would have cast doubt on the resurrection with that lenient religion.

And when he encouraged this ruling, he warned against being negligent with it, saying: "And those" meaning these purifying actions and all that has preceded of similar ones in this greatest book, "are the limits of Allah" meaning the commands of the greatest King and His prohibitions and the rulings that must be obeyed and adhered to, so that their rights are truly upheld. Therefore, adhere to them and stop at them and do not transgress them, for His vengeance cannot be endured if His covenant is violated or broken. And when the decree was: "So for the believers in it are gardens of bliss," he added to it his saying: "And for the disbelievers" meaning those deeply entrenched in disbelief [in it] or in some of its laws, "is a painful punishment" for what they have caused the believers to suffer from transgression.