Takhrij Hadith 770: "Eleven women once sat together…"

Eleven women once sat together and pledged to one another that they would conceal nothing about their husbands. The first said: "My husband is like the lean flesh of a camel placed on the top of a rugged mountain: it is neither easy to climb up and reach, nor is the meat worth carrying away." The second said: "I shall not disclose my husband's story, for I fear I would never finish. If I were to describe him, I would mention all his faults, both the obvious and the hidden." The third said: "My husband is a tall, overbearing man. If I speak, he divorces me; if I remain silent, he leaves me hanging." The fourth said: "My husband is like the night of Tihamah: neither hot nor cold; there is neither fear with him nor weariness." The fifth said: "When my husband enters the house, he is like a leopard; when he goes out, he is like a lion. He does not question what he has entrusted to the household." The sixth said: "When my husband eats, he devours everything. When he drinks, he drains the cup completely. When he lies down, he wraps himself up alone. He does not even extend his hand to find out what grieves me." The seventh said: "My husband is foolish, incapable, and afflicted with every defect. He will either wound your head, bruise your body, or do both." The eighth said: "Touching my husband is like touching a rabbit, and his fragrance is like the sweet scent of zarnab (a fragrant herb)." The ninth said: "My husband is lofty in stature, his sword hangs from a long baldric, his hearth produces abundant ashes—a sign of great hospitality—and his home is near the gathering place of the people." The tenth said: "My husband is Malik—and what can tell you what Malik is? Malik is greater than all that! He owns many camels that usually remain near their resting places and are seldom driven out to pasture. Whenever they hear the sound of the lute, they know they are about to be slaughtered for guests." The eleventh said: "My husband was Abu Zar’. And what can tell you what Abu Zar’ was? He adorned my ears with jewelry, filled my arms with flesh, and made me feel proud and content with myself. He found me among a poor family who owned only a few sheep, then placed me among people with horses neighing, camels groaning, grain being threshed, and grain being winnowed. In his house I could speak without being reproached, sleep until morning, and drink my fill. And the mother of Abu Zar’—what can tell you what the mother of Abu Zar’ was? Her saddle-bags were always full, and her house was spacious. And the son of Abu Zar’—what can tell you what the son of Abu Zar’ was? His bed was as slender as the shaft of a palm branch, and the foreleg of a young goat was enough to satisfy him. And the daughter of Abu Zar’—what can tell you what the daughter of Abu Zar’ was? She was obedient to her father and her mother, well-built and healthy, and the envy of her female neighbors. And the servant girl of Abu Zar’—what can tell you what the servant girl of Abu Zar’ was? She did not spread our private affairs abroad, did not waste our provisions, and did not leave our house untidy. Then one day Abu Zar’ went out while the milk-skins were being churned. He met a woman with two children like two young leopards, playing beneath her waist with her breasts. He divorced me and married her. After him I married a noble man who rode a swift horse, carried an Indian spear, brought home abundant livestock, gave me a pair of every kind of animal, and said: “Eat, O Umm Zar’, and provide for your family.” Yet even if I gathered together everything he gave me, it would not equal the smallest vessel of Abu Zar’." ‘Aisha said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me: "I am to you as Abu Zar’ was to Umm Zar’."