{ Said, "That is between me and you." }

(Subject and predicate, meaning: That which I have said, the covenant I have made with you, and the condition I have laid upon you is established and constant between us both. Neither of us shall depart from it—not I from what you have stipulated upon me, nor you from what you have stipulated upon yourself.

His saying, Exalted is He: { Whichever of the two terms I fulfill }, meaning: whichever is longer or shorter, { there shall be no injustice upon me }, is an explicit declaration of the intended meaning and a confirmation of the matter of choice. That is, there shall be no injustice upon me by demanding an increase beyond whichever of the two terms I fulfill. Generalizing the negation of injustice to both terms while in the context of setting conditions—despite the reality that there is no injustice in the longer term at all—is for the sake of equating them in the negation. That is: just as I do not demand an increase beyond ten, I do not demand an increase beyond eight; or: whichever of the two terms I fulfill, there shall be no sin upon me, just as there is no sin upon me in fulfilling the longer, so too there is no sin upon me in fulfilling only the shorter.

Abdullah (ibn Masud) recited: { Whichever of the two terms I fulfill }, where "ma" (what) is an additional particle to emphasize the fulfillment—meaning: whichever of the two terms I have resolved to fulfill and have focused my determination upon. Just as it is, in the first reading, an addition to emphasize the ambiguity and generality of "any," making it a negative particle—the implication of which is not hidden.

Al-Hasan and Al-Abbas from Abu Amr recited { ayma } with a quiescent ya without tashdid (doubling), as in the saying of Al-Farazdaq: I watched for Nasr and the Twins (Gemini), which of them rose with rain on the clouds. Its origin is the ya with tashdid, and the ya was dropped for lightness. It is of the category whose third radical is waw and fourth is ya. Ibn Jinni established that it is of the category of awaytu (I sought shelter) in terms of analogy and derivation. The scholar Al-Tibi transmitted his statement regarding this in his commentary on Al-Kashshaf, so let him who wishes return to it.

Abu Haywah and Ibn Qutayb recited { fala udwan* } with a *kasra* on the *ayn. { And Allah is Witness over what we say }, meaning the conditions current between us. Regarding what is narrated from Ibn Abbas, Qatadah said: "Protector." In Al-Bahr, the "Wakeel" is the one to whom an affair is entrusted. Since it includes the meaning of "witness" and the like, it is connected with "over" (`ala). Hence it is said: Witness, Protector. The intent is to document the covenant, ensuring that neither of them has a way to depart from it at all. This is a clarification of what they resolved upon and agreed to establish in general, without exposing the details of the requirements of the marriage and service contracts in that law.

The statement of Shu'ayb (peace be upon him), { I wish to marry you [to one of these two daughters] } etc., is apparent in that he offered his opinion to Musa (peace be upon him) and solicited from him the contract, and realized it in action. Those who argue for the agreement of the two laws (Musa's and our own) in this matter did not definitively determine how it occurred. It has been said: Perhaps the marriage took place with a specified dowry other than the mentioned service, and the service was mentioned by way of covenant, not as the contract of dowry itself. It is as if he said: "I want to marry you to one of my daughters for a specified dowry, provided you serve me for eight years for a known wage. What do you say to that?" So he agreed, and he contracted with him for one of them. Thus, the objection of ambiguity in the woman married does not hold. And regarding the service and the benefits of a free man—which is with us also, especially when it is said that its duration is not specified—it is not for the wife, but for her father; so how is it valid as a dowry?

It is said: It is permissible that it took place with a specified woman for the mentioned service as a dowry. There is no corruption in making service a dowry; it is permissible according to Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him), and likewise according to the Hanafis, as understood from Al-Hidayah. It is narrated from the author of Al-Madarik that he said: "Marriage based on grazing sheep is permissible by consensus, because it is the undertaking of the affairs of the marital state, not mere service." If "consensus" here implies the consensus of the Imams absolutely, it is debatable. In Al-Muhit al-Burhani: "If he married her on the condition that he grazes her sheep for a year, it is not permissible according to the original narration." Ibn Sama'ah narrated from Muhammad that it is permissible in grazing. In Al-Intisaf: The school of Malik on this has three positions: prohibition, detestation, and permissibility. It is said, concerning the permissibility, that the sheep belonged to the woman, not her father, and there is no ambiguity in the period, for it is the eight years. The excess (two years) was promised by Musa (peace be upon him), and fulfilling it is if it becomes easy for him. Moreover, ambiguity in the dowry is permissible, as is explained in the Furu'.

Some said: It is permissible that laws differ in matters of marriage; perhaps marrying an unspecified woman is permissible in the law of Shu'ayb (peace be upon him), with the specification being left to the guardian or the husband. Likewise, making the guardian's service a dowry and similar things that are not permissible in our law. The objection that "what is related of previous laws without denial is a law for us" is not accepted absolutely.

In Al-Iklil, from Makki, it is said: "In the verse are peculiarities regarding marriage, among which: he did not specify the bride, he did not fix the beginning of the period, he made the dowry a wage, and he entered (the marriage) without finalizing anything." What the heart inclines toward is that the laws differ regarding the requirements of marriage. Perhaps this is supported by what is in the twenty-ninth chapter of the first book of the Torah: that Ya'qub (peace be upon him) went to the land of the people of the East... [A lengthy narrative regarding Jacob's service for Rachel and Leah follows].

Some of the People of the Book informed me that it is permissible for the service to the father to be a dowry for his daughter, and the father is bound to satisfy her with something if she is an adult; that what is committed of service need not be performed before consummation; that commitment and a pledge are sufficient; that a dowry according to them is everything that has value or is in the position of such; that the woman handing herself over to the husband, satisfied with what she receives from him in terms of the fulfillment of desire and benefit, may take the place of a dowry; and that the permissibility of gathering two sisters (in marriage) was for Ya'qub (peace be upon him) specifically. This last point is what the scholars of Islam have mentioned, and Allah knows best the correctness of the rest of what was mentioned of that speech.

Scholars have deductions regarding the verse. It is said in Al-Iklil: In it is the desirability of a man offering his female ward to people of goodness and virtue to marry them; the consideration of the guardian in marriage; that blindness does not preclude guardianship (for he (Shu'ayb) was blind); and the consideration of offer and acceptance in marriage. Ibn al-Gharas said: Malik's deduction from this verse on the father marrying off his virgin adult daughter without her consultation, because consultation was not mentioned in it. It is said: Some argued for the permissibility of writing in the dowry "I marry her to you," contrary to those who chose "I marry you to her," saying: "Because he only possesses the marriage over her, not over him."

Ibn al-Arabi said: The companions of Al-Shafi'i deduced from it that marriage is dependent upon the wording of marriage or wedlock. He said: A group deduced from it the permissibility of combining marriage and wages in one transaction, so they extended it to every transaction that combines two contracts, and argued for its validity. He said: Our scholars deduced from it that wealth is not considered in suitability (kafa'ah), for Musa (peace be upon him) was not wealthy at that time. He said: And in his saying: { And Allah is Witness over what we say }, there is sufficiency in the testimony of Allah Almighty, as he did not call any of creation to witness, which indicates that witnessing is not a condition for marriage. Al-Awza'i deduced from it the validity of sale when one says: "I sold it to you for a thousand cash or two thousand on credit."

The content of these deductions regarding opinions and disputes is not hidden. Furthermore, what preceded from Makki—that he entered and did not finalize anything—is what others have also said. It is also narrated through the path of the Imamiyyah from Abu Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him). It is said: He did not enter until he completed the term. It came in some reports that when they completed the contract, Shu'ayb said to Musa: "Enter that house and take a staff from the staffs that are in it." He had the staffs of the prophets (peace be upon them). He entered and took the staff with which Adam descended from Paradise, and the prophets (peace be upon them) continued to inherit it until it fell to Shu'ayb. Shu'ayb said to him: "Take another," but nothing fell into his hand except that one, seven times. So he knew it had a status.

From Ikrimah: Adam (peace be upon him) went out with the staff from Paradise; Jibril (peace be upon him) took it after his death and it remained with him until he met Musa at night and handed it to him. In Majma' al-Bayan from Abu Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him): It was a sprig of myrtle from Paradise, which Jibril (peace be upon him) brought him when he headed toward Madyan. Al-Suddi said: That staff had been entrusted to Shu'ayb by an angel in the form of a man... [The account of the staff, the dragon, and the varied births of the sheep is recounted].

The outward appearance of this report is that the gift was for his wife (peace be upon her), and that it happened when he wanted to depart from Shu'ayb (peace be upon them both), which is contrary to what the outward appearance of what preceded necessitates.