The Meaning of "And the wives of the Prophet would go out at night to the open desert"

Question:
The meaning of "at night to the open desert..."?

Answer:
It means they did not go out during the day to relieve themselves; they went out to the open desert to relieve themselves at night. There were no latrines in the houses, no facilities for relieving oneself in the houses, no places for relieving oneself. This was among the customs of the ancient Arabs. Then they adopted latrines afterwards. And they did not eat except a little, a small amount, so that they would not need to relieve themselves during the day. They did not eat except a little. May Allah help us.