If you fear that you will not act justly toward the orphans marry such women as seem good to you two or three or four but if you fear you will not be equitable then only one or what your right hands own; thus it is likelier that you will not be unjust. And give women their dowries as a free gift; God granted free men the right to marry four women at the same time. He mandated justice between [these wives] so the servant must respect what is obligatory. If he knows that he can uphold this obligation in a proper manner the choice is a permitted one. But if he knows that he will fall short in meeting this obligation he should not do it for he is accountable for what is obligatory. but if they are pleased to offer you any of it of their own accord consume it with wholesome appetite. This suggests that the food of the chivalrous fityān and generous askhiyāÌ is wholesome because they only feed others from good-hearted- ness. The food of the miserly is rotten because they look only to themselves and feed others out of obligation not good-heartedness. [The Prophet] ﷺ said “The food of the generous is a remedy while the food of the miser is a disease.”
