And you will not be able, and it is impossible for you to be just between women and to equate them, so that no inclination occurs at all, nor increase or decrease in what is due to them. Therefore, the complete justice and its limit has been lifted from you. You are only tasked with what you can do, on the condition that you exert your utmost effort and capability in it. This is because the obligation of what cannot be done falls within the limits of injustice (and your Lord is not unjust to the servants). It is said: its meaning is that you should be just in love. And it was narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he would distribute among his wives justly and say, 'This is my division of what I own, so do not hold me accountable for what you own and I do not own [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-qalb].' This means love, because Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, was the most beloved to him. It is said that being just among them is a very difficult matter, to the extent that it seems impossible, because it is required to be equal among them in division, maintenance, care, attention, affection, conversation, companionship, and other matters that are hardly limited. It is as if it is beyond the limits of capability. This is if they are all beloved; how about if the heart inclines towards some of them? So do not incline completely, and do not be unjust to the one you are averse to in any way, preventing her from her share without her consent. This means that avoiding all inclination is within the limits of ease and capacity, so do not neglect it. If you fall short in all justice, there is a kind of reproach in it. So you leave her like one who is suspended, which is one who is neither married nor divorced. It was said: Is she not but a small share or a divorce... or a state of being suspended between that mentioned? [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: lil-bint al-hamars.] The question is one of denial, meaning the state of the wife with her husband is nothing but a small share based on the husband's favor towards her, or a divorce with the husband, or a lack of favor from the husband towards her. And 'salf' means a lack of favor from the husband. The women who are 'salf' or 'salif' are those whom the husband does not favor, or a suspension between the mentioned states. And the embellishment of the broken verse with an added consonant at its end, as here, is rare. And in the reading of Ubayy: 'So you leave her like one who is imprisoned.' And in the hadith: 'Whoever has two wives and inclines towards one of them will come on the Day of Resurrection with one side of him leaning.' [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: akhrajahu ashab al-sunan wa Ibn Hibban wa al-Hakim min riwayat Bashir ibn Nahik an Abi Huraira. Al-Tirmidhi said: It is not known as raised except from the hadith of Hammam.] It is narrated that Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, sent money to the wives of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: 'Did Umar send such to all the wives of the Messenger of Allah?' They said: 'No, he sent to the Quraysh women with such and to others with something else.' She said: 'Raise your head, for the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, used to be just among us in the distribution of his wealth and himself.' The messenger returned and informed him, and he gave them all equally. [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: lam ajidhu hakadha, wa fi Musnad Ahmad min riwayat Basira ibn Samin: I heard Umar ibn al-Khattab say while addressing the people on the day of al-Jabiyah: 'Indeed, Allah made me a treasurer of this wealth and a distributor of it.' Then he said: 'Rather, Allah distributes it, and I am the first of the people of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him.' He assigned ten thousand to his wives except for Juwayriyyah, Safiyyah, and Maymunah. Aisha said: 'Indeed, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, used to be just among us.' So Umar was just among them - the hadith.] And Muadh had two wives, and when he was with one of them, he would not perform ablution in the house of the other. They both died in the plague, and he buried them in one grave. [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: akhrajahu Abu Na'im fi al-Hilya fi tarjamati Muadh min riwayat al-Layth an Yahya ibn Sa'id that Muadh ibn Jabal - and he mentioned it - and added: 'And he divided between them which one preceded.' This is mursal.] And if you rectify what has passed of your inclination and make amends with repentance, and you fear Allah in what is to come, Allah will forgive you.