Farewell Sermon: Difference between revisions

The versions collected by Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, like those of al-Tabari quoted above and Ibn Ishaq quoted below, include a description of women as  ʿawān, which the translator of al-Tabari quoted above rendered as "domestic animals", while in the hadiths and in the Sira by Ibn Ishaq quoted below it is instead translated as prisoners or captives, following the common traditional exegesis of the sermon. Lane's Lexicon defines ʿawān as animals, especially cows. It is from the same root as other words meaning to help or assist, which is probably why English texts of the sermon occasionally translate ʿawān here as "helpers".<ref>ʿawān عَوَانٌ - [Lane's Lexicon] p. 2204</ref> The translations of al-Tabari and Ibn Ishaq add that the women possess nothing for themselves or lack control over their persons, respectively.