The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page ccxcv
GENERAL INTRODUCTION What I had feared had come to pass. Then I went to the house of my daughter Hafṣah and found her crying. I inquired of her what the matter was and whether the Prophet had divorced her. She said: 'I don't know about divorce, but the Prophet has decided to remain away from us for sometime. ' I said to her: 'Did I not often tell you not to take the same liberties with him as 'A'ishah does, for the Holy Prophet is particularly fond of 'Ã'ishah, but you seem to have brought upon yourself what I had feared. ' I then went to the Holy Prophet and found him lying down on a rough matting. He was at that time wearing no shirt and his body bore the marks of the pattern of the matting. I sat down near him and said: 'O Messenger of Allah! the Kaiser and the Chosroes do not deserve any of God's favours and yet they pass their lives in great comfort and you who are His Messenger pass your days in such discomfort. ' The Prophet replied: 'That is not so. The Messengers of Allah are not expected to spend their time in comfort. That kind of life befits only secular monarchs. ' I then related to the Prophet all that had passed between me and my wife and daughter. Hearing me, the Prophet laughed and said: 'It is not true that I have divorced my wives. I have merely thought it advisable to spend a little time away from them' " (Bukhārī, Kitābun-Nikāḥ). He was so careful concerning the sentiments of women that on one occasion when he was leading the prayers he heard the cry of a child and concluded the service quickly, explaining thereafter that as he had heard the cry of the child he imagined that the child's mother would be distressed at its cry and he had therefore concluded the service quickly so that the mother could go to the child and look after it. When during any of his journeys women were also among the party he always gave directions that the caravan should move slowly and by easy stages. On one such occasion when the men were eager to push forward, he said: "Take care of glass! Take care of glass!" meaning thereby that women were of the party and that if camels and horses were put to the gallop they would suffer from the joltings of the animals (Bukhārī, Kitābul-Adab). During a battle confusion arose among the ranks of the mounted soldiers and the animals became unmanageable. The Holy Prophet fell from his horse and some of the women also fell from their mounts. One of his Companions, who was riding a camel immediately behind the Prophet jumped down and ran towards him crying: "May I be your sacrifice, O Messenger of Allah. " The Prophet's foot was still in the stirrup. He released it hastily and said to his Companion: "Don't bother about me, go and help the women. " Just before his death one of the injunctions he addressed to Muslims and laid stress upon was that they should always treat women with kindness and consideration. It was an oft-repeated saying of his that if a man had daughters and he arranged to cclxix