ABSTRACT
THE title of this chapter is taken from the statement of the first verse. According to Sale, who writes on the authority of Baidhawi, JalaIuddin, and Yahya, the occasion of this chapter was as follows: "Muhammad having lain with a slave of his, named Mary, of Coptic extract (who had been sent him as a present byal Muqauqas, governor of Egypt), on the day which was due to Ayesba or to Hafsa, and, as some say, on Hafsa's own bed, while she was absent; and this coming to Hafsa's knowledge, she took it extremely ill, and reproached her husband so sharply, that, to pacify her, he promised, with an oath, never to touch the maid again; and to free him from the obligation of this promise was the design of the chapter."
