The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 830
CH. 39 AZ-ZUMAR PT. 23 اَزْوَاجِ يَخْلُقُكُمْ فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَتِكُمْ for you of the cattle eight pairs He creates you in the wombs of creation, in threefold darkness. خَلْقَا مِنْ بَعْدِ خَلْقٍ فِي ظُلُمَةٍ ثَلَكٍ your mothers, creation after ذلِكُمُ اللهُ رَبُّكُمْ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا This is Allah, your Lord. His is هُوَ فَأَنَّى تُصْرَفُوْنَ the kingdom. There is no God but He. Whither then are you being turned away?3442 اِنْ تَكْفُرُوا فَإِنَّ اللهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنْكُمْ وَلَا If you are ungrateful, surely. 8 يَرْضُى لِعِبَادِهِ الْكُفْرَ ۚ وَ إِنْ تَشْكُرُوا independent of you. And He is يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ Allah is Self-Sufficient, being not pleased with ungratefulness in His servants. But if you are grateful, He likes it in you. design and order in the universe in support of the belief that there is One Intelligent Designing Mind behind all existence. See also 36:41. 3442. Commentary: The word (has sent down) which is transitive from has different significations when used with regard to different things. When used in connection with the Word of God, it means i. e. He revealed. And when used about things of constant daily use, it means i. e. he gave or bestowed. The word has been used in the latter sense in the present verse and in vv. 7:27 and 57:26. Special reference in the words "eight pairs of cattle" is to the pairs of goat, sheep, camel and the ox mentioned in 6:144-145, perhaps because they are animals of daily use for man. The expression "the threefold darkness," may refer to the three stages of development of the human child, viz. ab (sperm drop), al (clot) and (lump of flesh) or to the other three forms which are described in the following three verses: 2744 (1) He is created from a gushing fluid which issues forth from between the loins and the breast-bones (86:7-8). (2) He it is Who fashions you in the wombs as He wills (3:7). (3) Verily, God has brought you forth from the inside of your mothers (16:79). Or the words, "the threefold darkness" may refer to the three critical periods of pregnancy, when a little carelessness may cause miscarriage, i. e. (a) from the second to the third month of pregnancy; (b) from the third to the fifth month and (c) the beginning of the eighth month.