Verse. 621

'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī

تفسير : (if a woman) i.e. 'umayrah (feareth) is aware of (ill treatment) i.e. refrains from having sex with her (from her husband) as'ad ibn al-rabi', (or desertion) not speaking or sitting with her, (it is no sin for them twain) the man and the woman (if they make terms of peace between themselves) between the husband and wife whereby both of them are made content. (peace) such that the wife is pleased (is better) than transgression and aversion. (but greed hath been made present in the minds) souls are naturally inclined to be parsimonious, such that the wife withholds the share of her husband; it is also said that this means: her greed drives her to be pleased. (if ye do good) if you are equal in your treatment of the young wife and the elderly wife in the estates and maintenance (and keep from evil) avoid transgression and aversion, (lo! allah is ever informed of what ye do) of transgression and aversion.

Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī

تفسير : and if a woman (wa-in imra’atun is in the nominative because of [it being the subject of] the explicative verb [that follows]) fears, anticipates, from her husband ill-treatment, if he looks down on her by refraining to sleep with her or by not maintaining her adequately, because he is averse to her and aspires to one more beautiful than her, or rejection, turning his face away from her, they are not at fault if they are reconciled through some agreement, in terms of shares and maintenance expenses, so that she concedes something to him in return for continuing companionship; if she agrees to this [then that is fine], but if [she does] not, then the husband must either give her all her due, or part with her (an yassālahā, ‘they reconcile’: the original tā’ [of yatasālahā] has been assimilated with the sād; a variant reading has an yuslihā, from [the fourth form] aslaha); reconciliation is better, than separation, ill-treatment or rejection. god, exalted be he, in explaining the natural disposition of man, says: but greed has been made present in the souls (al-shuhh is extreme niggardliness), meaning that they have a natural propensity for this, as if they [the souls] are ever in its presence, never absent from it. the meaning is: a woman would scarcely allow [another] to share her husband with her, and a man would scarcely allow her [to enjoy] him if he were to fall in love with another. if you are virtuous, in your conjugal life with women, and fear, being unjust to them, surely god is ever aware of what you do, and he will requite you for it.

Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi

تفسير : (if a woman feareth ill treatment…) [4:128]. ahmad ibn muhammad ibn ahmad ibn al-harith informed us> 'abd allah ibn muhammad ibn ja'far> abu yahya> sahl> 'abd al-rahim ibn sulayman> hisham> 'urwah> 'a'ishah who said concerning the words of allah, exalted is he, (if a woman feareth ill treatment from her husband…): “this was revealed regarding the case of a woman who does not bear children for her husband and, because of this, he wants to divorce her; or it could be about a women who has friends and children whom she does not like to be separated from and so she tells her husband who intends to divorce her: 'do not divorce me; keep me with you and, in exchange, i forgo all the rights due to me'. and so this verse was revealed”. this was narrated by bukhari> muhammad ibn muqatil> ibn al-mubarak, and also by muslim from abu kurayb> abu usamah, and both ibn al-mubarak and abu usamah related it from hisham. abu bakr al-hiri informed us> muhammad ibn ya'qub>> al-rabi'> al-shafi'i> ibn 'uyaynah> al-zuhri> ibn al-musayyab who related that the daughter of muhammad ibn maslamah was married to rafi' ibn khadij but he wanted to divorce her because of something he disliked in her, it was either arrogance or something else. she said to him: “do not divorce me, and you are free to apportion for me whatever you like”. and so allah, exalted is he, revealed this verse (if a woman feareth ill treatment from her husband…).