Sahih Muslim, 6305

Rapporté par Aïcha رضي الله عنها : Un jour, onze femmes se sont réunies et se sont promis de tout dire sur leurs maris, sans rien cacher. La première a dit : « Mon mari est comme la viande d’un chameau maigre posée en haut d’une colline difficile à gravir : ni assez bonne pour qu’on veuille la prendre, ni facile d’accès. » La deuxième a dit : « Mon mari est tellement mauvais que j’ai peur de ne pas réussir à décrire tous ses défauts, visibles ou cachés. » La troisième a dit : « Mon mari est très grand, mais sans intelligence. Si je parle, il me divorce ; si je me tais, il me laisse dans l’incertitude, ni vraiment abandonnée, ni vraiment épouse. » La quatrième a dit : « Mon mari est comme une nuit à Tihama : ni trop froide, ni trop chaude, il ne fait ni peur ni peine. » La cinquième a dit : « Mon mari est comme un léopard quand il rentre à la maison, et comme un lion quand il sort. Il ne demande jamais ce qu’il a laissé à la maison. » La sixième a dit : « Mon mari mange tout sans rien laisser, boit tout sans rien laisser, et quand il se couche, il s’enroule dans sa couverture et ne me touche pas, sans se soucier de ma tristesse. » La septième a dit : « Mon mari est lourd, sans éclat, impuissant, malade de toutes sortes de maux, et si brutal qu’il peut me casser la tête ou me blesser, voire les deux. » La huitième a dit : « Mon mari est doux comme une plante parfumée et aussi tendre qu’un lièvre. » La neuvième a dit : « Mon mari est le maître d’une grande maison, très grand, avec des tas de cendres devant sa porte, et sa maison est près du lieu de rassemblement et de l’auberge. » La dixième a dit : « Mon mari s’appelle Malik, et quel homme remarquable ! Il possède plus de troupeaux de chameaux que de pâturages pour eux. Quand ils entendent la musique, ils savent qu’ils vont être abattus. » La onzième a dit : « Mon mari est Abou Zara’. Quel homme merveilleux ! Il m’a offert de lourds bijoux et m’a tellement nourrie que je suis devenue bien portante. Il m’a trouvée parmi des bergers au flanc de la montagne et il a fait de moi la propriétaire de chevaux, de chameaux, de terres et de réserves de grains. Il ne me reproche rien. Je dors et me lève quand je veux, et je bois à ma soif. La mère d’Abou Zara’, quelle femme formidable ! Sa maison est pleine de provisions et très spacieuse. Le fils d’Abou Zara’, son lit est aussi doux qu’une jeune branche de palmier ou qu’une épée sortie de son fourreau, et il se contente d’un petit morceau de viande. La fille d’Abou Zara’, quelle fille exemplaire ! Obéissante à son père et à sa mère, bien portante, et source de jalousie pour la coépouse. La servante d’Abou Zara’, quelle bonne servante ! Elle ne révèle rien de nos affaires, ne gaspille pas nos provisions et garde tout précieusement. Elle ne laisse pas la maison se remplir de déchets. Un jour, Abou Zara’ est sorti alors que le lait était en train d’être baratté. Il a rencontré une femme avec deux enfants, aussi vifs que des léopards, jouant avec sa poitrine sous sa tunique. Il m’a alors divorcée et a épousé cette femme. Plus tard, j’ai épousé un autre homme, un chef, bon cavalier et archer, qui m’a couverte de cadeaux et m’a dit : “Oumm Zara’, profite de tout et envoie-en à tes parents.” Mais même si je réunissais tous ses cadeaux, ils ne vaudraient pas le plus petit cadeau d’Abou Zara’. » Aïcha a rapporté que le Messager d’Allah ﷺ lui a dit : « Je suis pour toi comme Abou Zara’ l’était pour Oumm Zara’. »

A'isha reported that (one day) there sat together eleven women making an explicit promise amongst themselves that they would conceal nothing about their spouses. The first one said:My husband is a sort of the meat of a lean camel placed at the top of a hill, which it is difficult to climb up, nor (the meat) is good enough that one finds in oneself the urge to take it away (from the top of that mountain). The second one said: My husband (is so bad) that I am afraid I would not be able to describe his faults-both visible and invisible completely. The third one said: My husband is a long-statured fellow (i. e. he lacks intelligence). If I give vent to my feelings about him, he would divorce me, and if I keep quiet I would be made to live in a state of suspense (neither completely abandoned by him nor entertained as wife). The fourth one said: My husband is like the night of Tihama (the night of Hijaz and Mecca), neither too cold nor hot, neither there is any fear of him nor grief. The fifth one said: My husband is (like) a leopard as he enters the house, and behaves like a lion when he gets out, and he does not ask about that which he leaves in the house. The sixth one said: So far as my husband is concerned, he eats so much that nothing is left back and when he drinks he drinks that no drop is left behind. And when he lies down he wraps his body and does not touch me so that he may know my grief. The seventh one said: My husband is heavy in spirit, having no brightness in him, impotent, suffering from all kinds of conceivable diseases, heaving such rough manners that he may break my head or wound my body, or may do both. The eighth one said: My husband is as sweet as the sweet-smelling plant, and as soft as the softness of the hare. The ninth one said: My husband is the master of a lofty building, long-statured, having heaps of ashes (at his door) and his house is near the meeting place and the inn. The tenth one said: My husband is Malik, and how fine Malik is, much above appreciation and praise (of mine). He has many folds of his camel, more in number than the pastures for them. When they (the camels) hear the sound of music they become sure that they are going to be slaughtered. The eleventh one said: My husband is Abu Zara'. How fine Abu Zara' is! He has suspended in my ears heavy ornaments and (fed me liberally) that my sinews and bones are covered with fat. So he made me happy. He found me among the shepherds living in the side of the mountain, and he made me the owner of the horses, camels and lands and heaps of grain and he finds no fault with me. I sleep and get up in the morning (at my own sweet will) and drink to my heart's content. The mother of Abu Zara', how fine is the mother of Abu Zara'! Her bundles are heavily packed (or receptacles in her house are filled to the brim) and the house quite spacious. So far as the son of Abu Zara' is concerned, his bed is as soft as a green palm-stick drawn forth from its bark, or like a sword drawn forth from its scabbard, and whom just an arm of a lamb is enough to satiate. So far as the daughter of Abu Zara' is concerned, how fine is the daughter of Abu Zara', obedient to her father, obedient to her mother, wearing sufficient flesh and a source of jealousy for her co-wife. As for the slave-girl of Abu Zara', how fine is she; she does not disclose our affairs to others (outside the four walls of the house). She does not remove our wheat, or provision, or take it forth, or squander it, but she preserves it faithfully (as a sacred trust). And she does not let the house fill with rubbish. One day Abu Zara' went out (of his house) when the milk was churned in the vessels, that he met a woman, having two children like leopards playing with her pomegranates (chest) under her vest. He divorced me (Umm Zara') and married that woman (whom Abu Zara') met on the way. I (Umm Zara') later on married another person, a chief, who was an expert rider, and a fine archer: he bestowed upon me many gifts and gave me one pair of every kind of animal and said: Umm Zara', make use of everything (you need) and send forth to your parents (but the fact) is that even if I combine all the gifts that he bestowed upon me, they stand no comparison to the least gift of Abu Zara'. 'A'isha reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to me: I am for you as Abu Zara' was for Umm Zara