ولقد كانت قالت له ، حين أتته طالبة بحقها ومحتجة برهطها : من يرثك يا أبا بكر إذا مت ؟

And she had said to him, when she came to him seeking her right and arguing by her kin: Who inherits you, O Abu Bakr, when you die?

قال : أهلي وولدي ، قالت : فما بالنا لا نرث النبي صلى الله عليه وآله ، فلما منعها ميراثها وبخسها حقها واعتل عليها وخلج في أمرها ، وعاينت التهضم وأيست من النزوع ووجدت مس الضعف وقلة الناصر قالت والله لأدعون الله عليك ، قال : والله لأدعون الله لك قالت : والله لا أكلمك أبدا ، قال : والله لا أهجرك أبدا .

He said: My family and my children. She said: Then why is it that we do not inherit the Prophet, may God bless him and his Family? So when he barred her from her inheritance and diminished her right and made pretexts against her and wavered in her affair, and she saw the injustice and despaired of his relenting, and felt the touch of weakness and the fewness of the helper, she said: By God, I shall call upon God against you. He said: By God, I shall call upon God for you. She said: By God, I shall never speak to you. He said: By God, I shall never shun you.

فإن يكن ترك النكير على أبي بكر دليلا على صواب منعه كان في ترك النكير على فاطمة عليها السلام دليلا على صواب طلبها ، وأدنى ما كان يجب عليهم في ذلك تعريفها ما جهلت وتذكيرها ما نسيت وصرفها عن الخطاء ورفع قدرها عن البذاء وأن تقول هجرا أو تجور عادلا أو تقطع واصلا ، فإذا لم نجدهم أنكروا على الخصمين جميعا ، فقد تكافأت الأمور واستوت الأسباب ، والرجوع إلى أصل حكم الله في المواريث أولى بنا وبكم وأوجب علينا وعليكم .

So if the leaving off of condemnation of Abu Bakr is a proof of the rightness of his barring, then in the leaving off of condemnation of Fatima, peace be upon her, is a proof of the rightness of her demand. And the least that was obligatory upon them in that was to teach her what she did not know, and to remind her of what she had forgotten, and to turn her away from error, and to raise her worth above coarseness, and that she should not speak foully nor wrong one who was just nor cut off one who kept ties. So when we do not find that they condemned the two disputants alike, then the matters are equal and the grounds are even; and the return to the original ruling of God concerning inheritance is worthier for us and for you, and more binding upon us and upon you.

ثم قال : فإن قالوا كيف يظن بأبي بكر ظلمها والتعدي عليها ، وكلما ازداد فاطمة عليها السلام عليه غلظة ازداد لها لينا ورقة ، حيث تقول : والله لا أكلمك أبدا فيقول : والله لا أهجرك أبدا ثم تقول : والله لأدعون عليك ، فيقول : والله لأدعون الله لك .

Then he said: And if they say: How can Abu Bakr be supposed to have wronged her and transgressed against her, when the more harshness Fatima, peace be upon her, showed him the more gentleness and tenderness he showed her — where she says: By God, I shall never speak to you, and he says: By God, I shall never shun you; and then she says: By God, I shall call upon God against you, and he says: By God, I shall call upon God for you;

ثم يحتمل هذا الكلام الغليظ والقول الشديد في دار الخلافة وبحضرة قريش والصحابة ، مع حاجة الخلافة إلى البهاء والرفعة ، وما يجب لها من التنويه والهيبة ، ثم لم يمنعه ذلك أن قال متعذرا أو متقربا كلام المعظم لحقها المكبر لمقامها والصاين لوجهها والمتحنن عليها ، ما أحد أعز علي منك فقرا ولا أحب إلي منك غنا ، ولكن سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله يقول : إنا معشر الأنبياء لا نورث ، ما تركناه فهو صدقة .

and then he bears this harsh speech and these severe words in the house of the caliphate and in the presence of Quraysh and the companions, together with the caliphate's need of splendour and elevation and what is due to it of dignity and awe; and then that did not prevent him from saying, by way of excuse or of drawing near, the speech of one who magnifies her right and exalts her station and guards her face and is tender towards her: There is no one dearer to me than you in poverty, nor more beloved to me than you in wealth; but I heard the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his Family, say: We, the company of prophets, are not inherited from; what we leave is alms.

قيل لهم : أليس ذلك بدليل على البراءة من الظلم والسلامة من الجور ( العمد - خ م ) وقد يبلغ من مكر الظالم ودهاء الماكر إذا كان أريبا وللخصومة معتاد أن يظهر كلام لمظلوم وذلة المنتصف وجدة [ وحدب ] الوامق المحق ، إنتهى كلام الجاحظ 5

It is said to them: Is that a proof of clearance from wrongdoing and of soundness from injustice? For the guile of the wrongdoer and the cunning of the schemer may reach, when he is shrewd and practised in disputation, the point of making a show of the speech of the wronged and the abasement of the one who yields his due and the affection of the loving and truthful. End of the words of al-Jahiz. [5]