The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 438
CH. 16 AN-NAHL PT. 14 وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا جَمَالٌ حِينَ تُرِيحُونَ And in them there is beauty. 7 وَحِينَ تَسْرَحُوْنَةٌ for you when you bring them home in the evening, and when you drive them forth to pasture in the morning. 1808 them to his service. Nay, he does not even hesitate to take their life, asserting that, as he is superior to all creation, it is permissible for him to slaughter animals for his own use. If it is true that lower life can be sacrificed for the higher one and if it is permissible for man to exact service from animals, then with what justification can he object to God's rule over him or to the authority of His Messenger? Why does he cavil and carp when he sees in his own case the same law enforced which he himself enforces in the case of others? The verse may have another interpretation. In the previous verse the objections of those who found fault with God for His sending down the angels with His word upon whomsoever of His servants He pleases were answered. Disbelievers objected to God's selection of a person of humble origin for His revelation. The answer given was that when God had bestowed His favours upon them, although they had been created from such humble and paltry matter as seminal fluid, they could not possibly object to His bestowing His favours upon a Prophet whom they regarded as humble. 1808. Commentary: Another benefit which man derives from cattle is that their possession redounds to his glory. Man takes pride in the abundance of his material possessions in the form of buffaloes, cows, horses, camels, sheep, etc. It is strange that while in his own case he regards the possession of things of which he is not the creator as a source of legitimate pride and glory, in the case of God he thinks that after having brought him into existence He should have left him to himself, so that, instead of glorifying Him and extolling His praise, he should find fault with His works and become a source of mischief in the world. Why should man not think that God, Who is the Creator of all, would also like His creatures to become a source of beauty and glory for Him? i. e. to become possessed of high morals and reflect in their Divine persons attributes so as to bring home to doubters and disbelievers the nobility and dignity of God's servants. 1646 It is noteworthy that cattle are spoken of as "being driven" to pasture in the morning, and "returning" (not "being driven") in the evening. The use of two different expressions viz. (you bring them home in the evening) and (you drive them forth to pasture in the morning) points to the fact that the young ones of the cattle are left behind when they are driven to pasture in the morning, and therefore the return of the cattle