And whoever has not the means wherewith to be able to marry believing women in wedlock let him take believing maids whom your right hands own. God knows very well your faith; the one of you is as the other. So marry them with the permission of their folk and give them their wages honorably as women in wedlock not illicitly or taking lovers. But when they are given in wedlock if they commit lewdness they shall be liable to half the chastisement of married women. That is for those of you who fear the distress of sin yet it is better for you to be patient. God is Forgiving Merciful. Concessions have been granted for the weak. As for the strong He bids them to serious endeavor and the adoption of what is most comprehen- sive and restrictive in the law since there is no work for them except to uphold the right of the Real ḥaqq al-ḥaqq. When an external matter distracts them from their attention to the heart so that they adopt what is easier and less this takes them farther away from their attention to the innermost self for it is an abandonment of the most important and sublime matters. Whoever descends in degree from adopting that which is strongest and most comprehensive-[this decline] to what is permissible for him [is actually] a decline into the state of indulgence. Then He said at the end of the verse yet it is better for you to be patient. This means [patient] in enduring what is difficult in [your situation]. This is a soothing way [of speaking] to the servant since He did not say “Be patient” but rather yet it is better for you to be patient.
