In their bellies is the fullness of their bellies. It is said: So-and-so ate in his belly, and he ate in part of his belly except the Fire, because when he eats what is mixed with the Fire due to it being a punishment upon him, it is as if he ate the Fire. From this is their saying: So-and-so ate blood, if he ate the blood money which is a substitute for it. He said: I have eaten blood if I do not frighten you with a co-wife. [Damascus, take it and know that the night... passes with my return, her bier is the Night of Decree.] I have eaten blood if I do not frighten you with a co-wife... far from the place of the earring, good in scent. This was said by a Bedouin who married a woman but she did not please him. It was said to him: The fever of Damascus is swift in the death of women, so he took her to it and said that to her, and he settled in Damascus - which is a city in the Levant - in the place of the wise and called out to her. The apparent meaning of this is that this description is of the kind of metaphorical borrowing, and the calling out is imaginative. Similarly, the matter of knowledge, and passing by is walking, so attributing it to the night is a mental metaphor from attributing it to time, and it is in reality for the bearers of the bier, or in the sense of proceeding, so it is true and the 'ba' indicates connection, and it is a metaphor for her death. The two ends: the sides of the bier. He made that night like the Night of Decree for him due to the intensity of his anticipation and desire for it, then he turned to addressing her and cursed himself by saying: I have eaten blood, meaning blood money, because it is a substitute for blood and taking it is a disgrace among the Arabs, as it indicates cowardice and love of wealth over revenge. And if I do not frighten you: from ra'ah, to frighten him if he scared her. The intended meaning is that he angers her by marrying a beautiful co-wife over her, tall of neck. So 'far from the place of the earring' is a metaphor for that. And the earring: the adornment of the ear. And its place: its drop from the shoulder. And the scent: the good smell. It is possible that he cursed himself with drought until he needs to bleed the she-camels and eat their blood, and likewise, this was done in ignorance during drought. And it is possible that the intended meaning is: I have drunk blood, so it is a comment on what is impossible for him, indicating the realization of marriage, because it returns to the fact that not marrying is impossible just as drinking blood is impossible. An example of this is what Abu Iyās recited: 'Is it not for you, O Umar, you are but a snake... if it does not kill, it lives the rest of its life. Thirty years, I do not see comfort from you... for your sake in this world is the remaining life. Damascus, take it, do not be stingy... it passes with my return, her bier is the Night of Decree. If you escape from a difficult Umar safe... you will be among the women of people, for me the egg of the cock.' And perhaps 'Umar' in the first rhyme means time. And 'for your sake' is a substitute for the hamza of 'if' according to the Basri scholars, and according to others, its origin is: 'For Allah, indeed you.' And the egg of the cock: they claim it is the egg of the rooster that does not lay any other in its lifetime. And it is said: it is a metaphor for something that has no existence at all. So the meaning is that he marries a beautiful woman and does not marry anyone else, or that he does not marry at all. And 'difficult' is his wife.

He intended the price of the ikaf, so he named it ikaf due to its being a price for it. And Allah will not speak to them, indicating their deprivation, as the people of Paradise are honored by Allah speaking to them and praising them. It is said: The negation of speech is an expression of His anger towards them, like someone who is angry with his companion and cuts off his speech. It is said: He will not speak to them with what they desire, but in a manner like His saying: (Be cast into it and do not speak to Me). So how patient they are in the Fire! This is astonishment at their state, as they are entangled in the causes of the Fire without concern from them, as you would say to someone who exposes himself to what would provoke the anger of the ruler: How patient you are with chains and imprisonment, meaning that only someone who is very patient with punishment would expose himself to that. It is said: So how patient they are! What has made them patient? It is said: He made him patient regarding such and such, and he was patient in meaning. This is the root meaning of the act of astonishment. It was narrated from Al-Kisai that he said: A judge from Yemen said to me in Mecca. Two men from the Arabs disputed before me, and one of them swore on the right of his companion, so he said to him: How patient you are with Allah! Its meaning is: How patient you are with the punishment of Allah. That is because Allah sent down that punishment due to the fact that Allah sent down what was sent down from the Books with the truth. And indeed, those who differed in the Books of Allah, saying some of it is true and some of it is false, they are the people of the Book, are indeed in a distant dispute, far from the truth, and the Book refers to the genre. Or their disbelief is due to the fact that Allah sent down the Qur'an with the truth as they know. And indeed, those who differed in it from the polytheists - some said: It is magic, some said: It is poetry, and some said: It is legends - are indeed in a distant dispute. This means that if those had not differed and opposed, these would not have dared to disbelieve.