223 Preface نِساؤُكُم حَرثٌ لَكُم فَأتوا حَرثَكُم أَنّىٰ شِئتُم ۖ وَقَدِّموا لِأَنفُسِكُم ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَاعلَموا أَنَّكُم مُلاقوهُ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ المُؤمِنينَYusuf AliYour wives are as a tilth1 unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will; but do some good act for your souls beforehand; and fear God. And know that ye are to meet Him (in the Hereafter), and give (these) good tidings2 to those who believe.Sex is not a thing to be ashamed of, or to be treated lightly, or to be indulged to excess. It is as solemn a fact as any in life. It is compared to a husbandman’s tilth; it is a serious affair to him; he sows the seed in order to reap the harvest. But he chooses his own time and mode of cultivation. He does not sow out of season nor cultivate in a manner which will injure or exhaust the soil. He is wise and considerate and does not run riot. Coming from the simile to human beings, every kind of mutual consideration is required, but above all, we must remember that even in these matters there is a spiritual aspect. We must never forget our souls, and that we are responsible to God. It was carnal-minded men who invented the doctrine of original sin: “Behold,” says the Psalmist, “I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalms 51:5). This is entirely repudiated by Islam, in which the office of father and mother is held in the highest veneration. Every child of pure love is born pure. Celibacy is not necessarily a virtue, and may be a vice.Our highest spiritual ambition should be the hope of meeting God, To uphold such a hope is to give glad tidings to people of faith. It would only be unrepentant sinners who would fear the meeting. Note how the most sensuous matters are discussed frankly, and immediately taken up into the loftiest regions of spiritual unliftment.