What they said about Arabic From the author's own Arabic
On Q 4:24, «those of them whom you have enjoyed»:
“This is a verse over which some people have made a very grave mistake through their ignorance of the language: they took «those of them whom you have enjoyed» to mean the temporary marriage that the jurists agree is forbidden, whereas it means «those whom you have married» on the condition set in the verse … In the language, mata‘ is anything from which benefit is drawn.”
Abu Ishaq al-Zajjaj
d. 311 AH / 923 CE
Basran grammarian, author of «Ma‘ani al-Qur’an wa-I‘rabuh».
The Arabic original
هَذِهِ آيَةٌ قَدْ غَلِطَ فِيها قَوْمٌ غَلَطاً عَظِيماً جِدّاً لِجَهْلِهِمْ بِاللُّغَةِ، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهُمْ ذَهَبُوا إِلَى أَنَّ قَوْلَهُ: ﴿فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهِ مِنْهُنَّ﴾ مِنَ المُتْعَةِ الَّتِي قَدْ أَجْمَعَ أَهْلُ الفِقْهِ أَنَّها حَرامٌ، وَإِنَّما مَعْنَى قَوْلِهِ: ﴿فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهِ مِنْهُنَّ﴾ أَيْ فَما نَكَحْتُمُوهُ عَلَى الشَّرِيطَةِ الَّتِي جَرَتْ فِي الآيَةِ… وَالمَتاعُ فِي اللُّغَةِ كُلُّ ما انْتُفِعَ بِهِ فَهُوَ مَتاعٌ.
Source
al-Zajjaj, Ma‘ani al-Qur’an wa-I‘rabuh, ed. ‘Abd al-Jalil Shalabi, Beirut 1988, vol. 2, p. 38 (Q 4:24)
The English translation is Voice of Arabic's, made from the original.
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