ولكم نصف ما ترك أزواجكم إن لم يكن لهن ولد … وإن كان رجل يورث كلالة أو امرأة وله أخ أو أخت فلكل واحد منهما السدس
Wa lakum niṣfu mā taraka azwājukum in lam yakun lahunna walad, fa-in kāna lahunna waladun fa-lakumu'l-rubuʿu mimmā tarakna min baʿdi waṣiyyatin yūṣīna bihā aw dayn, wa lahunna'l-rubuʿu mimmā taraktum in lam yakun lakum walad, fa-in kāna lakum waladun fa-lahunna'l-thumunu mimmā taraktum min baʿdi waṣiyyatin tūṣūna bihā aw dayn, wa in kāna rajulun yūrathu kalālatan awi'mraʾatun wa lahū akhun aw ukhtun fa-li-kulli wāḥidin minhuma'l-sudus, fa-in kānū akthara min dhālika fa-hum shurakāʾu fi'l-thuluthi min baʿdi waṣiyyatin yūṣā bihā aw daynin ghayra muḍārr, waṣiyyatan mina'llāh, wa'llāhu ʿAlīmun Ḥalīm
"Half of what your wives leave is yours — if they have no child. If they have a child, a quarter of it is yours; after any bequest they have made and after any debt. A quarter of what you leave is theirs — if you have no child. If you have a child, an eighth of it is theirs; after any bequest you have made and after any debt. If a man or a woman leaves an estate as kalāla and has a brother or a sister, a sixth falls to each of them. If they are more than that, they are partners in a third; after any bequest made without causing harm and after any debt. This is a charge from God. God is Knowing, Forbearing."
The note on method above holds here too: this table does no more than arrange the wording of the verse; it is not a table for practice.
| Who | Case | The proportion the verse gives |
|---|---|---|
| The husband | If his wife has no child | A half (niṣf) |
| The husband | If his wife has a child | A quarter (rubuʿ) |
| The wife (or wives) | If the husband has no child | A quarter (rubuʿ) |
| The wife (or wives) | If the husband has a child | An eighth (thumun) |
| A sibling (in the case of kalāla) | If there is one brother or one sister | A sixth to each (sudus) |
| Siblings (in the case of kalāla) | If they are more than one | Partners in a third (shurakāʾu fi'l-thuluth) |
The verse gives the share of the wife and of the husband in the same structure, one after the other, and with the same qualifications.
| The husband | The wife | |
|---|---|---|
| If there is no child | 1/2 | 1/4 |
| If there is a child | 1/4 | 1/8 |
| Qualification | min baʿdi waṣiyyatin yūṣīna bihā aw dayn | min baʿdi waṣiyyatin tūṣūna bihā aw dayn |
The structure is identical, and the share of each side falls by half according to whether there is a child. This is a countable fact.
I record this as an observation about word order: the pattern of the sentence does not change for either side; only the proportions change. And on both sides the same cause yields the same effect: if there is a child, the share falls by half.
This is the most technical and most disputed term in the sūra. It occurs in the twelfth verse, it occurs once more in the hundred and seventy-sixth, and the sūra closes with it.
| Word | Sense |
|---|---|
| كَلَّ (kalla) | To grow weary, to have one's strength fail; to grow blunt (a knife ceasing to cut) |
| كَلَال (kalāl) | Weariness |
| إِكْلِيل (iklīl) | A crown — what encircles the head |
| كُلّ (kull) | All, the whole — that which encompasses |
| تَكَلَّلَ | To encompass, to surround |
There are two clusters of sense: to grow weary/blunt, and to encompass. And the lexicographers explain the term kalāla by both of them.
| View | Who or what kalāla is |
|---|---|
| 1 | The deceased — one who has neither child nor father |
| 2 | The heirs — relatives who come from the side, not bound to the deceased directly (as ascendants or descendants) |
| 3 | The relationship itself — the indirect, collateral tie |
And the term's link with the language is explained as follows, which I relate as it is transmitted: the estate arrives "wearily" — since it does not come along the direct line, it comes round about, encircling. Like the iklīl (the crown), it is arranged not at the centre but around the edge.
It is plainly recorded in the sources that the definition of the word was disputed in the classical period, and it is transmitted that this disagreement has persisted from the earliest times. No preference is adopted in this section and no legal ruling is issued.
What follows from the wording of the verse and is not in dispute is this: in the twelfth verse the share of the siblings named in the case of kalāla is a sixth and a third; in the hundred and seventy-sixth the share of the siblings named is a half, two-thirds, and li'l-dhakari mithlu ḥaẓẓi'l-unthayayn. The proportions the two verses give are different, and the explanation of that difference is a discussion in classical jurisprudence. It is not entered into here.
The root ش-ر-ك: partnership. The word generally occurs in the Qurʾān in a negative context (shirk). Here it is used in its technical and neutral sense: to be a partner in a share.
I record this as an observation about a word: the root itself is not evil; what is evil is where the partnership is set up. The same record was entered in the treatment of Luqmān 31/13 as well.
This was treated above (in the discussion of 4/11). I record it once more here, because the qualification occurs only in this verse.
And its position needs to be recorded: the qualification comes after the case of kalāla. That is, in the case where the estate passes in the most indirect way, the possibility of the bequest turning into an instrument of dispossession is named expressly.
Both words point to the same place, but from different sides: farīḍa — a notched measure; waṣiyya — a charge that has been attached. And both with the same qualification: mina'llāh.
The verse-ending changes too: the eleventh verse ends with ʿAlīman Ḥakīmā, the twelfth with ʿAlīmun Ḥalīm.
حَلِيم — root ح-ل-م: one who does not hurry, who is not carried away by his anger, who is grave. The opposite of the word is safah (lightness), which occurred in the fifth verse.
I record this as a weave of words: the block opened in the fifth verse with the word sufahāʾ (the light ones); the twelfth verse closes with the name Ḥalīm (the grave one). The two words are the two ends of the same measure, and both stand in the dictionary.
And the placing of the name Ḥalīm here must be recorded separately: the division of an estate is one of the places where people lose their temper most quickly. The verse sets the ruling beneath a name that does not hurry. I give this as my own reading.