Get the app

Fatir 35:11

The verse sets up a creation of the person + a structure of the population: first the **individual** (dust → seed-fluid), then the **pair** (azwājan).

وَٱللَّهُ خَلَقَكُم مِّن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًا ۚ وَمَا تَحْمِلُ مِنْ أُنثَىٰ وَلَا تَضَعُ إِلَّا بِعِلْمِهِۦ ۚ وَمَا يُعَمَّرُ مِن مُّعَمَّرٍ وَلَا يُنقَصُ مِنْ عُمُرِهِۦٓ إِلَّا فِى كِتَـٰبٍ ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ

God created you from dust, then from a small drop; then He made you pairs. No female conceives, or delivers, except with His knowledge. No living thing advances in years, or its life is shortened, except it be in a Record. That is surely easy for God

Fatir 35:11 · Translation: talal-itani

Image

"Creation" includes not only the body but also pairing in relationship. Then a list of knowledge: the female conceives and gives birth; lifespan is lengthened or shortened — none of it occurs "without God's knowledge" and is done "in accordance with a record." At the end "yasīr" (easy) — the same sound as in al-Taghābun 64:7.

Observation

In mammals, pregnancy begins with the fertilisation of the female's egg by a male sperm cell and continues with the implantation of the embryo in the uterus; in humans this period averages 38–40 weeks. Lifespan varies greatly from species to species; in biology this variability is associated with cell division rate, genetic factors, and environmental conditions.

Exegesis

Al-Rāzī (Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb) holds that "kitāb" (record) here means a determined registry — neither a closed conception of fate nor entirely unbound. Al-Qurṭubī (al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān) notes that "azwājan" indicates that the natural structure of populations operates through the two sexes.

Sources

Tafsīr: al-Rāzī · Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb; al-Qurṭubī · al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān.

← SabaRead the Quran →Fatir →

Get it on your phone

Scan the code for your phone with its camera to open HUSHU in the store.

QR code linking to HUSHU on Google Play
Android
QR code linking to HUSHU on the App Store
iPhone
Open Google Play on this computerOpen the App Store on this computer