Chapter 4: Flight to Midian and Marriage

“And when the turned his face towards Midian he said: May be my Lord guide me in the right path. And when he came to the water of Midian, he found on it a group of men watering and he found beside them two women keeping back their flocks. He said: What is the matter with you? They said: We cannot water until the shepherds take away their sheep from the water, and our father is a very old man. So he watered their sheep for them, then went back to the shade and said: My Lord! Surely I stand in need of whatever good Thou mayest send down to me. Then one of the two women came to him walking bashfully. She said: My father invites thee that he may give thee the reward of thy having watered for us. So when he came to him and gave to him the account, he said: Fear not. Thou art secure from the unjust people. Said one of them: O my father! Employ him, surely the best of those that thou canst employ is the strong man, the faithful one. He said: I desire to marry one of these two daughters of mine to thee on condition that you shouldst serve me for eight years, but if thou complete ten, it will be of thine own free will, and I do not wish to be hard to thee. If Allah please, thou wilt find me one of the good.² He said: This shall be an agreement between me and thee: whichever of the two terms I fulfill, there shall be no wrongdoing to me and Allah is a witness of what we say.” (28:22-28)