16. An-Nahl

And to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth as possessions creatures and servants. And to Him belongs the religion the obedience that endures the one everlasting wāsiban is a circumstantial qualifier referring to al-dīn ‘the religion’ and is operated by the sense of the adverbial clause. Will you then fear any other than God? when He is the True God other than Whom there is no god the interrogative is a statement of rejection and rebuke.

Whatever grace you have it is from God none but He brings it mā ‘whatever’ is either a conditional or relative particle. Then when misfortune poverty or illness befalls you to Him you cry for help to Him you raise your voices with pleas for help and supplications and you do not call upon any other than Him.

Then when He has rid you of the misfortune behold a group of you attribute partners to their Lord

in order to deny that grace which We have given them. So enjoy that consent of yours to worship idols an imperative meant as a threat for soon you shall know the consequence of this.

And they that is the idolaters assign to what they do not know that they cause harm and cannot benefit them — namely the idols — a portion of that which We have provided them with of crops and cattle saying that ‘this is for God and this is for our partners’. By God you will indeed be questioned a questioning of rebuke; there is a shift herein from the third to the second person about what you used to fabricate against God such as claiming that He commanded you to do this.

And they assign to God daughters by claiming that the angels are the daughters of God — Be He glorified! — a declaration that He is exalted above that which they claim — while they will have what they desire namely sons the status of this sentence is either independent nominative or that of an accusative object of the verb yaj‘alūna ‘they assign’. The meaning is that to Him they assign daughters to whom they are averse when in any case He is exalted beyond having offspring while to themselves they assign sons of their own choosing so that the best is theirs exclusively — like where God says Now ask them are daughters to be for your Lord while sons are to be for them? Q. 37149.

And when one of them is given the tidings of a girl that will be born to him his face becomes darkened transformed like that of one suddenly struck by grief and he chokes inwardly filled with anguish so how is it that daughters are attributed to Him exalted be He?

He hides disappearing from people that is from his people out of distress at the tidings given to him fearing mockery unsure what to do with it the newborn shall he retain it — refrain from killing it — in humiliation enduring shame and disgrace or trample into the dust by burying it alive. Verily wretched is what they judge evil is this judgement of theirs in which they ascribe to their Creator that His are the daughters who have such a lowly status in their eyes.

For those who do not believe in the Hereafter namely for the disbelievers there is an evil description in other words theirs is the most evil attribute meaning the most vile which is their burying alive of newborn girls despite the fact that they are needed for the purposes of marriage; and the loftiest description belongs to God His is the attribute most sublime namely that there is no god except Him. And He is the Mighty in His kingdom the Wise in His creation.