SAYINGS OF THE PROPHET

specifically that of Eve. One of the relevant sayings is as follows: Treat women well, for they have been created from a rib.37 Now this cannot be taken to mean that women have actually been created from a rib, for this has no connection with the point conveyed in the rest of the sentence, which is that women should be treated well. A correct interpretation of the word ‘rib’ has to be one that fits in with the underlying purpose behind the Prophet’s statement. The statement, “women have been created from a rib,” should be taken metaphorically, not literally. What the Prophet wished to convey was this: “Women are akin to a rib and should be treated with due consideration.” There is another tradition which explains what this means. “A woman is like a rib,” said the Prophet, “if you try to straighten it, it will break.”38 This saying of the Prophet Muhammad, related in the Sahih of both Bukhari and Muslim — the most authentic collections of traditions — makes it clear that women are like ribs; they are not actually created from ribs. The allusion is figurative not literal. Light is also cast on the meaning of the metaphor. Ribs break when one tries to straighten them. So it is with women. Rather than try to straighten them, it is better to let them be. “Women have been created from ribs,” and “Women are like ribs,” are just two different ways of saying the same thing. There is a difference in the mode of expression of the two statements, but there is no difference in meaning. It is common in every language for metaphors to be expressed directly, without the use of the words “like” or “as.” For instance, if one wishes to pay tribute to a person’s bravery, one can say that he is like a lion. But there is not as much force in saying that a person is “like a lion” as there is in saying that he “is a lion.” Examples of such usage abound in every language, including English. A notable one is to be found in the poem, “Morte d’ Arthur,” by the celebrated poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson: …More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of, wherefore, let thy voice, Rise like a fountain for me night and day For what are men better than sheep or goats That nourish a blind life within the brain, If knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friend? For so the whole round earth is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of God. In this last line the poet does not mean that the world is physically tethered to the feet of God by chains, but merely wishes to indicate the unbreakable bonds that exist between God and this world. In referring to the chains as “golden,” he suggests the very great beauty and value of these bonds. By referring to the “feet” of God, rather than any other part of Him,