al-Nisāʾ 4:25

Wa man lam yastaṭiʿ minkum ṭawlan an yankiḥa'l-muḥṣanāti'l-muʾmināti fa-min mā malakat aymānukum min fatayātikumu'l-muʾmināt, wa'llāhu aʿlamu bi-īmānikum, baʿḍukum min baʿḍ, fa'nkiḥūhunna bi-idhni ahlihinna wa ātūhunna ujūrahunna bi'l-maʿrūfi muḥṣanātin ghayra musāfiḥātin wa lā muttakhidhāti akhdān… dhālika li-man khashiya'l-ʿanata minkum, wa an taṣbirū khayrun lakum, wa'llāhu Ghafūrun Raḥīm

"Whoever among you cannot afford to marry free believing women, let him marry from among the believing young women your right hands possess. God knows your faith best. You are all of one another. Marry them with the permission of their people and give them their bridal gifts in the recognised manner… This is for those among you who fear falling into hardship. That you be patient is better for you. God is forgiving, merciful."

Into the middle of a long clause of ruling a sentence of four words has been set: baʿḍukum min baʿḍ — "you are, one of you, from another."

And this sentence ties back to the sūra's first verse: khalaqakum min nafsin wāḥida.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the shared logic of the two verses: the first verse said that humankind comes from a single root. The twenty-fifth verse, while giving a ruling about the section of society seen as lowest, says the same thing again.

The sentence, that is, is a reminder set into the middle of a ruling: the social difference between the parties is not a difference in respect of being human.

And immediately before it there is one more sentence: "God knows your faith best."

About the function of this sentence the following is widely transmitted in the classical commentaries: it is a qualification set in the path of people's ranking one another by faith.

I relate this explanation as it is transmitted. And the order of the verse supports it: the sentence comes immediately after the expression "believing young women".

The verse lays down two conditions:

The pronoun of the second qualification must be recorded: ātūhunna — "give them". The bridal gift is paid to the woman herself. This is the repetition here of the ruling in the fourth verse.

The root ع-ن-ت: to fall into hardship, to be hard pressed; and the re-breaking of a broken bone. The lexicographers record for the root the sense of "hardship, harm, a difficult position".

The word occurs at al-Baqara 2/220 as well (wa law shāʾa'llāhu la-aʿnatakum), and there it is in the context of the orphan's property. In both places the word concerns the qualification that a ruling should not press a person too hard.

The verse gives a permission, then says "that you be patient is better for you".

This structure recurs in the sūra, and I record it as my own reading:

In all three places a ruling is laid down and what is better is shown beside it. This is the same line recorded in the section on divorce in al-Baqara: "the rulings are laid down in detail, but beside every ruling a door of latitude is left open." I rely on that treatment.