made for Him—a likeness resembling the daughters whose birth, when announced to one of them, causes his face to darken as he suppresses his grief.

He then explains the deficiency of women, saying:

“Or one brought up amid ornaments”

These are women, who are brought up amid ornaments:

“and unable to make herself clear in argument”

A woman can scarcely put forward an argument in her own favour without it turning against her. He thus explains that their deficiency is compensated for by ornaments that adorn them in men’s eyes, while a woman cannot express herself clearly in argument.

The inability to express oneself clearly is a deficiency, for Allah distinguished man through speech and clear expression, thereby favouring him over all other animals. As Allah Most High says:

“The Most Merciful taught the Quran, created man, and taught him clear expression.”

And He says:

“Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know.”

The logicians say: “Man is an animal endowed with speech.” Since this is his most evident characteristic, Allah Most High says:

“So by the Lord of heaven and earth, it is indeed true, as surely as you speak.”

Allah Most High also says:

“Have you considered al-Lāt and al-‘Uzzā, and Manāt, the third, the other?”

These were the principal idols in the towns of the Hijaz, for there was