Is it permissible for a man who desires a woman and imagines having intercourse with her to marry her or speak to her? And is expiation obligatory upon him if marrying her is forbidden to him yet he desires to do so?

It is forbidden for a man to imagine having intercourse with a non-mahram woman or to fondle her. What was mentioned does not prohibit the woman to the man, so he may marry her and no expiation is required of him. If he commits adultery with her, she does not become forbidden to him by that, and he may marry her if they both repent. It is permissible to speak with her before marriage, with conditions: that it be for a need, without seclusion, that it not be with a soft voice, and that she be wearing the legal hijab.