It is narrated from Thawr bin Zayd Daili that in earlier times people used to divorce their wives and then take them back, but they did not intend to keep them, so that their waiting period ('iddah) would be prolonged and they would be harmed. Then Allah the Exalted revealed this verse: "Do not retain women to harm them; whoever does so has wronged his own soul." Allah the Exalted admonishes people with this.