and we do not know of any dissenter from among the Companions regarding it. As for what they cited as evidence from the absolute in the speech of Allah the Almighty, what we have mentioned is its minimum, so it is applied to it; because it is the certainty.

Section: If he swears not to speak to him for a "huqb" (an epoch), that is eighty years. Malik said: Forty years; because that is narrated from Ibn Abbas. The Qadi and the companions of al-Shafi'i said: It is the shortest period of time; because no specification has been reported from the linguists regarding it. Our view is what has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, that he said in interpreting the saying of Allah the Almighty: "Remaining in it for epochs [ahqab]", the huqb is eighty years. What the Qadi and the companions of al-Shafi'i mentioned is not sound; because the statement of Ibn Abbas is a proof, and because what they mentioned leads to interpreting the speech of Allah the Almighty—"Remaining in it for epochs" and the saying of Moses: "Or I will spend an epoch [huqub]"—as being mere duration. Because he brought that forth in the context of intensification, so if that became the meaning of "remaining in it for" hours or moments, or "I will spend" moments and hours, the implication of that would be minimization, which is the opposite of what Allah the Almighty intended by His speech, and the opposite of what is understood from it. No exegete has mentioned this, to our knowledge, so it is not permissible to interpret the "huqb" with it.

Section: If he swears that he will not speak to him for a "zaman" (time), or "waqt" (a moment), or "dahr" (an age), or "umr" (a lifetime), or "maliyan" (a long while), or "tawilan" (long), or "ba'idan" (far), or "qariban" (near), he fulfills the oath by a little or a lot, according to the view of Abu al-Khattab and the school of al-Shafi'i; because these nouns have no limit in the language, and they apply to both the little and the much. Therefore, it is necessary to apply it to the least of what its name covers. A "near" [period] may be "far" relative to what is closer than it, and "near" relative to what is further than it. Specification by arbitrary opinion is not permissible; it can only be reached through textual authority, and there is no