And when the verse regarding orphans and the great sin in consuming their wealth was revealed, the guardians feared. [Mahamud said: "When the verse about orphans was revealed, the guardians feared..." Ahmad said: "It has been established that the principle of the Qadarites and their belief is that a single major sin necessitates the eternal punishment of the servant, even if he is a believer, unless he repents from it. Therefore, they say that repentance does not benefit for some sins while persisting in others, because with one of the major sins, he equates the disbeliever in eternal punishment, and his monotheism and none of his deeds benefit him. This is their corrupt belief which Al-Zamakhshari seeks to interpret the verse upon, so beware of it. As for the people of the Sunnah, they say: If the servant repents from some sins, then the address regarding the existence of repentance from the rest is directed at him, as if he has fulfilled some of the obligations and neglected some of them. Thus, repentance benefits him by erasing what he has repented from, by the permission of Allah and His promise, and he is responsible for what he has not repented from. If the interpretation of the verse is that they were addressed with caution in the rights of women and repentance from injustice towards them just as they repented from injustice towards the orphans, then the matter in that is based on what we have explained from the principles of the Sunnah, and Allah is the Guardian of success."] They feared the sin of neglecting justice in the rights of the orphans, and they began to be cautious in their guardianship. A man among them might have ten wives or eight or six, and he does not fulfill their rights nor does he act justly among them. It was said to them: If you fear neglecting justice in the rights of the orphans and you are cautious about it, then also fear neglecting justice among the women. They mentioned the number of wives, because whoever is cautious about a sin or repents from it while committing a similar one is neither cautious nor repentant, because it is only necessary to be cautious about the sin and repent from it due to its ugliness, and ugliness exists in every sin. It was said: They were not cautious about adultery. [He returned to his speech. Mahamud said: "It was said they were not cautious about adultery while they were cautious about the guardianship of orphans..." Ahmad said: "This interpretation that has been presented is worthy of precedence and is the most apparent, and the verse with it is to clarify the ruling regarding orphans, warning against falling into injustice towards them, and commanding caution. And in other than them, there is allowance for four, and the most truthful evidence that this is what is meant."] They were cautious about the guardianship of orphans, so it was said: If you fear injustice in the rights of the orphans, then fear adultery, so marry what is lawful for you from women, and do not approach the prohibited. It was said: A man finds an orphan girl who has wealth and beauty or is her guardian, and he marries her to protect her from others. He might gather ten of them, and he fears - due to their weakness and the absence of someone to defend them - that he will wrong them in their rights and neglect what is due to them. It was said to them: If you fear that you will not be just with the orphan women, then marry from among others what pleases you. And it is said to the female orphans as it is said to the males, and it is the plural of yatima in a different form, as it is said.

My days, and the origin is: ayā'im and yatā'im. Al-Nakha'i read (تُقْسِطُوا) with a فتح on the تاء on the basis that there is no extra letter like it in (لِئَلَّا يَعْلَمَ). He means by saying: And if you fear that you will be unjust, what is lawful for you from the women is good, because among them are those who are forbidden, like those mentioned in the verse of prohibition. It is said that (ما) refers to the description. And because the females among the rational beings are treated like the non-rational beings: and from it is His saying, the Most High: (أَوْ ما مَلَكَتْ أَيْمانُكُمْ). مثنى and ثلاث and رباع are adjusted from repeated numbers, and it is prevented from being declined due to the two adjustments in it: its adjustment from its forms and its adjustment from its repetition, and they are indefinite nouns that are defined by the definite article. You say: So-and-so marries the two, the three, and the four, and their place is in the accusative case as a condition of what is good, its estimation being: then marry the good ones for you counted by this number, two by two, three by three, and four by four. If you say: What was allowed for the one marrying in gathering is to gather between two, three, or four, what is the meaning of the repetition in مثنى and ثلاث and رباع? (I say): The address is to all, so the repetition is necessary to encompass every person marrying who wants to gather what he wants from the number that was allowed for him, just as you say to the group: Divide this wealth - and it is a thousand dirhams - two by two, three by three, four by four. If you had made it singular, it would have no meaning. If you say: Why was the conjunction with و and not أو? I say: Just as it came with و in the example I have given you. If you were to say: Divide this wealth two by two, or three by three, or four by four: you would have informed that it is not permissible for them to divide it except in one of these types of division, and they are not allowed to combine them, making some of the shares in pairs, some in threes, and some in fours. The meaning of permitting the combination of types of division indicated by the و is gone. Its clarification is that the و indicates the permission for the marrying men to take from whom they want to marry from the women in a manner of gathering, if they wish to differ in those numbers, and if they wish to agree in them, what is beyond that is prohibited for them. And Ibrahim read: وثلث وربع, in the short form of ثلاث and رباع. If you fear that you will not be just between these numbers as you feared leaving justice in what is above them, then choose one and leave the gathering altogether. For the matter revolves entirely around justice; wherever you find justice, you should adhere to it. And (فَواحِدَةً) was read in the nominative as: then the sufficient one is one, or then one is enough for you, or then one is sufficient for you. Or what your right hands possess, it equates in ease and convenience between the free woman and the maidens, without restriction or specification of number. By my life, they are less burdensome, shorter in quarrels, and lighter in maintenance than the wives; it does not matter whether you have many of them or few, whether you are just among them in division or not, whether you isolate them or not. And Ibn Abi Abla read: من ملكت. That refers to the choice of one and concubinage. أَدْنى أَلَّا تَعُولُوا is closer to not leaning, from their saying:

The scale is high when it tilts. And the scale of so-and-so is a burden, and the ruler is high in his judgment when he is unjust. It is narrated that a Bedouin was judged by a ruler who said to him: Do you rely on me? Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, "Do not rely: that you do not act unjustly." [Narrated by Ibn Hibban, Ibrahim al-Harbi, al-Tabari, Ibn Abi Hatim, and others from the narration of Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Zayd from Hisham from his father from her. Ibn Abi Hatim said: The correct view is that it is a stopped narration.] And it is reported about al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, that he interpreted (أَلَّا تَعُولُوا) as not to increase your dependents. His reasoning is that it is like saying: a man supports his dependents, as they say: he provides for them when he spends on them. Because whoever has many dependents is obliged to support them, and in that, it is difficult for him to maintain the limits of earning, the limits of piety, the state of earning, and good sustenance. And similar words from the scholars and imams of the Shari'ah and the heads of the mujtahids are truly worthy of being accepted as correct and sound, and it should not be thought that there is a distortion from تَعِيلُوا to تَعُولُوا. It has been narrated from Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him: Do not think ill of a word that has come from your brother's mouth while you find for it a good interpretation. [Narrated by al-Muhamili. We were told by Ziyad ibn Ayub. We were told by Muhammad ibn Yazid from Nafi' from Ibn Umar from Sulayman that Abda said: Umar mentioned it. Its chain is disconnected, and al-Jahri narrated it in his sheikh and al-Asbahani in al-Targhib in a long story, the beginning of which is from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib who said: "Umar ibn al-Khattab established for the people eighteen words, all of which are wisdom," and he mentioned that in it, and the chain is weak. Al-Bayhaqi narrated in al-Shu'ab from another source from him who said: "He wrote to some of my brothers from the Companions that you should consider your brother's matter in the best way - the narration." It is also a stopped narration.] And it is enough for our book translated as "The Healing of Stuttering, from the words of al-Shafi'i" as a witness that he was higher in rank and longer in reach in the knowledge of the words of the Arabs, so that such a thing would not be hidden from him. However, scholars have different perspectives and methods, so he took an indirect approach in interpreting this word. If you say: How can the dependents be reduced by taking a concubine, while in marriage there is something similar to what is in marriage? I say: It is not so, because the purpose of marriage is procreation and reproduction, unlike taking a concubine. Therefore, it is permissible to practice coitus interruptus with concubines without their permission, so taking a concubine is a presumption of fewer children compared to marriage, like marrying one compared to marrying four. And Tawus read: that you do not support, from the meaning of a man when he has many dependents. This reading supports the interpretation of al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, in terms of the meaning he intended.