'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿That is closer so that you do not act unjustly﴾ [An-Nisa: 3] ﴿And give the women their due dowries willingly. But if they give up willingly anything of it to you, then take it in satisfaction and ease﴾ ﴿And do not give your properties to those who are foolish, which Allah has made for you a means of support, and provide for them therein and clothe them and speak to them words of kindness﴾. "أدْنى" means closer, and it is from the root of دُنُوِّ. The grammatical position of أنَّ is accusative due to the dropping of the preposition, and the subject that is accusative is the verb that is in "أدْنى". The intended meaning is: That is closer to not acting unjustly. And "تَعُولُوا" means: to lean or incline. This was said by Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, Al-Rabi' ibn Anas, Abu Malik, As-Suddi, and others. It is said: A man acts unjustly when he leans or inclines. This is also reflected in the words of Abu Talib in his poetry about the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: 'With a scale of justice that does not diminish a grain, and with a scale of truth, its weight is not unjust.' He means not leaning. And from this is the saying of Uthman to the people of Kufa when he wrote to them: 'I am not a scale that acts unjustly.' And it is narrated in the verse of Abu Talib: 'He has a witness from himself that is not unjust.' And to act unjustly means: to become poor and thus become dependent. A group among them, including Zayd ibn Aslam, Ibn Zayd, and Ash-Shafi'i, said: Its meaning is: That is closer so that your dependents do not increase. Ibn Al-A'rabi narrated that the Arabs say: A man acts unjustly when his dependents increase. And this was criticized by Al-Zajjaj and others, stating that Allah has permitted the increase of concubines, and in that is an increase of dependents. So how can it be closer to not increasing? The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This criticism is not correct, for concubines are merely wealth that can be transacted through sale, while dependents are the free women who have obligatory rights. And His saying: ﴿And give the women their due dowries willingly﴾ Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, and Ibn Jurayj said: The address in this verse is to the husbands. Allah commanded them to voluntarily give the dowries as a gift to their wives. Abu Salih said: The address is to the guardians of the women, for it was the custom of some Arabs to take the dowry of the woman. Allah abolished that with Islam and commanded that it be given to them. And Al-Mu'tamir ibn Sulaiman reported from his father: A Hadhrami claimed that the intended meaning of the verse is those who were marrying one woman with another, and they were commanded to set the dowries. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The verse encompasses these three groups.

And the majority of people and the seven reciters read: "Sadaqatihinna" with a فتح on the صاد and a ضم on the دال. Musa ibn al-Zubair, Ibn Abi Abla, Fayyad ibn Ghazwan, and others read: "Sudaqatihinna" with a ضم on both the صاد and the دال. Qatadah and others read: "Sudqatihinna" with a ضم on the صاد and a سكون on the دال. Ibn Wathab and al-Nakha'i read: "Sudaqatuhunna" in the singular with a ضم on the صاد and a ضم on the دال. The singular form of all this is: Sadaqatin, and Suduqatin. And "Nihlah": its meaning is: a gift from you to them, that is: a gift. It is said: the estimation is: from Allah, the Exalted, for them. This is because Allah made the dowry upon the men and did not make anything upon the women. It is said: Nihlah means: a Shari'ah, taken from النحل, you say: so-and-so adopts such a religion. This is appropriate with the address being to the guardians, and it is also applicable with others. Its نصب is based on it being from the spouses by implying a فعل from its wording, the estimation being: give them a gift. It is permissible for the apparent فعل to be acted upon even if it is not from the wording because it is suitable for the meaning of nihlah. Its نصب is based on it being from Allah, the Exalted, by implying a تقدير فعل from the wording; nothing else is correct, and it is also a Shari'ah that is from Allah.

And His saying: "So if they give up willingly anything of it to you, then eat it in good health and well-being"; the address is according to what has preceded regarding the difference in spouses and guardians. The meaning is: if they give willingly, with their souls being content. The pronoun in: "of it" refers back to the dowry, and this is what Ikrimah and others said, or to the giving. Al-Hadrami said: The reason for the verse is that a group were hesitant to take back anything from what they had given to their wives. "Nafsan" is منصوب for تمييز, and it is not permissible for it to precede the عامل according to Sibawayh except in the necessity of poetry with the manipulation of the عامل, and the permissibility of others in speech. And from it is the saying of the poet:

.......................... ∗∗∗ And what was willingly by separation is pleasing.

And "min" here includes the type, and therefore it is permissible for her to give the entire dowry. If "min" were to be taken in the sense of part, that would not be permissible. And it was read "haniyyan mariyyan" without a همز, and this is the reading of Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan and al-Zuhri. Al-Tabari said: And from the happiness of the camel is to give the cure.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is weak; and the linguists said: The good food is that which is palatable, commendable, and has a good outcome. Likewise, the word 'marī' (pleasant) is used. The linguists said: They say 'hanāni al-ṭaʿām' (the food is good) and 'marānī ʿalā al-ittibāʿ' (I was pleased with the following). If they use it in the singular, they say: 'amrānī' (it made me pleased) in the form of 'afʿal'. Abu Ali said: This is as it came in the hadith: "Return as those who are visited, not as those who are compensated," for the 'waw' in 'maʾzūrāt' (those who are visited) is due to following the wording of 'maʾjūrāt' (those who are compensated). Likewise, 'marānī' follows 'hanāni'. A man entered upon Alqamah while he was eating something that his wife had given him as her dowry. He said to him: Eat from the good and pleasant food. Sibawayh said: 'Hanī'an marī'an' (good and pleasant) are two adjectives that they placed in the accusative as sources called upon by the action not commonly used in its appearance, condensed for the indication that is in the speech about it, as if they said: That is established, good and pleasant.

And His saying: "And do not give your property to the foolish..." The interpreters differed about the meaning of 'the foolish'; Ibn Masʿūd, Al-Suddi, Al-Dahhak, Al-Ḥasan, and others said: It was revealed concerning the small children of a man and his wife. Saʿid ibn Jubayr said: It was revealed concerning the foolish who are under guardianship. Mujahid said: It was revealed specifically concerning women. It was narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar that a woman with a mark passed by him, and he said to her: "And do not give your property to the foolish..." Abu Musa Al-Ashʿari, Al-Ṭabarī, and others said: It was revealed concerning anyone who meets the description that Allah conditioned regarding foolishness, whoever they may be. The statement of those who specified it to women is weakened by the aspect of plurality, for the Arabs only gather 'faʿīlah' on 'faʿā'il' or 'faʿīlāt'.

And His saying: "your property" refers to the property of the addressees; this is the saying of Abu Musa Al-Ashʿari, Ibn Abbas, Al-Ḥasan, and Qatadah. Saʿid ibn Jubayr said: It refers to the property of the foolish, and he attributed it to the addressees as a form of encouragement regarding wealth, meaning: it is for them if they need it, like your property for you that protects your honor, preserves you, and elevates your status. And of this kind is: "And do not kill yourselves" [An-Nisa: 29] and what is similar to it.

And Al-Ḥasan ibn Abi Al-Ḥasan and Al-Nakhaʿi read: "the ones". And 'the properties' is a plural for that which does not have intellect, so the correct reading is that of the majority.

And 'qiyāman' is the plural of 'qīmah' like 'dīmah' and 'diyam', but it is unusual in reverting to the 'yā' as their saying: 'jiyād' in the plural of 'jawd'. And as Banu Ḍabbah said: 'ṭawīl' and 'ṭiyāl', and similar to this, 'qiyām' and 'qiwām' and 'qiyām' means: stability in the state of affairs and continuity in that. Nafiʿ and Ibn ʿĀmir read: 'qiyām' without the 'alif'. It was narrated that Abu ʿAmr opened the 'qāf' in his saying: 'qawām' and 'qiyām'; its origin was 'qawām', so the kasrah of the 'qāf' reverted the 'wāw' to a 'yā' for the sake of harmony. Ibn Mujahid mentioned it but did not attribute it, and it is the reading of Abu ʿAmr and Al-Ḥasan. The others read: 'qiyām' and a group read: 'qawām'.

And His saying: ﴿And provide for them therein and clothe them﴾ It is said: Its meaning is: For whom a man is obligated to provide for and clothe, such as his wife and young children. It is also said: For those who are deprived of their wealth. And: "in a good manner" it is said: Its meaning is: Pray for them: May Allah bless you and protect you and do good for you. It is also said: Its meaning is: Promise them a good promise, meaning: If you guide them, we will return your wealth to you. And the meaning of the phrase: Every word that souls recognize and feel comfortable with, and that is required by the law.