'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, the Exalted: "And to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. And Allah is All-Encompassing of all things." "And they ask you about women. Say, 'Allah informs you about them and what is recited to you in the Book concerning the orphans of women to whom you do not give what is prescribed for them and you desire to marry them, and concerning the weak among children. And that you maintain for orphans with justice. And whatever good you do, indeed, Allah is Knowing of it." Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, mentioned the vastness of His dominion and His encompassing of all things, following the mention of religion and clarifying its path, encouraging obedience to Allah and turning to Him. And His saying, the Exalted: "And they ask you..." was revealed due to the question of a group from the Companions regarding the matter of women and their rulings in inheritance and other matters. So Allah commanded His Prophet to say to them: "Allah informs you about them," meaning He clarifies for you the ruling of what you have asked about. And His saying, the Exalted: "And what is recited to you..." can be understood as "what" being in the position of a genitive, connected to the pronoun in His saying: "in them;" meaning: and He informs you about what is recited to you. This was said by Muhammad ibn Abi Musa. He said: Allah informed them about what they asked about and about what they did not ask about. And this interpretation is weakened by the connection to the pronoun that is in the genitive without repeating the preposition. It is also possible that "what" is in the position of a nominative, connected to the name of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic; meaning: and He informs you about what is recited to you in the Book, meaning the Qur'an. This refers to what has preceded from the verses regarding women, which is His saying, the Exalted, at the beginning of the Surah: "And if you fear that you will not be just to the orphans, then marry those that please you of women..." [An-Nisa: 3]; the verse. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: This verse was revealed first, then some people asked the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, about the matter of women, so it was revealed: "And they ask you about women. Say, 'Allah informs you about them and what is recited to you...'" And His saying, the Exalted: "concerning the orphans of women to whom you do not give what is prescribed for them" means the prohibition of what the Arabs used to do of taking the beautiful, wealthy orphan without giving her what she deserves of the dowry, and of withholding the ugly, poor one forever, and the ugly, wealthy one until she dies, so that the one who withheld her inherits her. This is similar to what the guardian intends for his own benefit, not for the benefit of the orphan. And what Allah has prescribed for them is the fulfillment of what they deserve of dowry and associating them with their peers. Abu Abdullah Al-Madani read: "concerning the orphans of women" with two yā's. Abu Al-Fath said: The explanation of this reading is that he intended "orphaned" and the hamzah was turned into a yā, just as it was turned in their saying: "Bahlah ibn Ya'sur"; and it is actually "the son of A'sur" because he is named by saying:

O my son, indeed your father has changed his color As the nights turn and the ages differ.

And just as the letter yā' was changed to hamzah in their saying: "May Allah cut off his hand"; they mean: "his hand"; and "Ayyāmī": the plural of "Ayyim"; its origin is: "Ayyāyim"; the lām was changed to the place of the 'ayn; thus it came: "Ayyāmī"; then it was replaced from the kasrah with a fatḥah; and from the yā' an alif.

The judge Abū Muḥammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said:

"It seems that the reason for this is the difficulty of the dammah on the yā'"; Abū al-Faṭḥ said: And if someone were to say: "Ayyim" was broken to "Ayyāmī"; on the pattern of "Sakrā"; and "Qatlā"; in terms of the 'ayyūmah being a burden that enters with reluctance; then "Ayyāmī" was broken to "Ayyāmī"; it would be a good point.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And you desire to marry them﴾; if the female slave is wealthy and beautiful, then the desire is for marrying her; and if it is the opposite, then the desire is against marrying her; and 'Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb - may Allah be pleased with him - would take people to the highest degree in this meaning; so when he would ask the guardian about his ward and it was said: She is wealthy and beautiful; he would say to him: "Seek for her someone better than you and more beneficial to her"; and if it was said to him: She is ugly and poor; he would say to him: "You are more deserving of her; and of covering her; than others."

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And the weak among the children﴾; is an addition to: ﴿The orphans of women﴾; and what was recited in the weak among the children is His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Allah instructs you concerning your children﴾ [An-Nisā: 11]; and that is because the Arabs did not inherit the female child; nor the small boy; and the elder would take the wealth; and they would say: Only he who protects the stronghold inherits the wealth; and repels the spoils; and fights for the sacred; so Allah prescribed for each one his right.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And that you stand for orphans with justice﴾; is also an addition to what has preceded; and what was recited in this meaning is His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And do not consume their wealth along with your own﴾ [An-Nisā: 2]; in addition to other matters mentioned regarding the wealth of the orphan; and "al-qisṭ": is justice; and the remainder of the verse is a promise for doing good with a beautiful reward; it is clear.