the Prophet - may Allah bless him and grant him peace - said: "I will help him with a basket (araq) of dates." I said: O Messenger of Allah, I will help him with another basket. He said: "You have done well; go and feed [with them on his behalf] (21) sixty poor persons, and return to your cousin" (22). Abu Dawud narrated with his chain of transmission from Abu Salamah ibn Abd al-Rahman that he said: "The 'araq is a zanbil (wicker basket) that holds fifteen sa's." Thus, two 'araqs would be thirty sa's, for every poor person half a sa' [is given]. This is because it is an expiation that includes both fasting and feeding, so for each poor person, it is half a sa' of dates or barley, like the fidyat al-adha (expiation for harm). As for the narration of Abu Dawud that "the 'araq is sixty sa's" (23), he weakened it and said: "Others are more authentic than it." The hadith itself indicates its weakness, for it is in the context of his statement: "I will help him with an 'araq." His wife said: "I will help him with another 'araq." He said: "Feed with them on his behalf sixty poor persons." If the 'araq were sixty sa's, the expiation would be one hundred and twenty sa's, and there is no one who holds this view. As for the hadith of the one who had intercourse (al-mujami') whom he gave fifteen sa's, he said: "Give it in charity" (24). It is possible that he limited it to that because (25) he found nothing else (26), and that is why when he informed him of his need for it, he commanded him to eat it. And in the agreed-upon hadith (27): "Near twenty sa's." This is not the position of anyone (28), so it indicates that he was limited to the portion for which he found nothing else.