“He hides himself from the people because of the evil news he has received: should he keep it despite the humiliation, or bury it in the ground? Truly, evil is what they judge. (59) Those who do not believe in the Hereafter have the evil attribute, while to Allah belongs the highest attribute. And He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. (60)”

“He hides himself,” that is, he conceals himself, “from the people because of the evil news he has received”: because of the grief and disgrace. Then he considers: “Should he keep it”—the masculine pronoun is used in reference to mā (what)—“despite the humiliation,” that is, in a state of humiliation, “or bury it in the ground?” 200/b That is, conceal it in the earth by burying it alive.

This was because Muḍar, Khuzā‘ah, and Tamīm used to bury their daughters alive, fearing poverty because of them and fearing that unsuitable men would seek them in marriage. When an Arab man had a daughter and wished to let her live, he would dress her in a woolen or hair garment and leave her to tend his camels and sheep in the desert. But if he wished to kill her, he would leave her until she reached the age of six. Then he would say to her mother, “Adorn her, so that I may take her to her prospective in-laws.” Meanwhile, he would have dug a well for her in the wilderness. When he brought her to the well, he would say to her, “Look into this well.” Then he would push her into it from behind and heap earth over her head until the well was level with the ground. This is the meaning of His saying, exalted is He: “Should he keep it despite the humiliation, or bury it in the ground?”

Whenever Ṣa‘ṣa‘ah, the uncle of al-Farazdaq, became aware of anything of this kind, he would send camels to the girl’s father, thereby saving her life. Al-Farazdaq said, boasting of him: (1)

“My uncle, who prevented those who buried daughters alive—
He gave life to the buried girl, and so she was not buried.”

“Truly, evil is what they judge”: How evil is their judgement in assigning daughters to Allah and sons to themselves. Its parallel is: “Is the male for you and the female for Him? That, then, is an unjust division” (al-Najm 22). It was also said: Their evil judgement was the burying of daughters alive.

“Those who do not believe in the Hereafter”—meaning, those who ascribe daughters to Allah and sons to themselves—“have the evil attribute”: the vile quality of needing offspring, disliking females, and killing them for fear of poverty. “While to Allah belongs the highest attribute”: the most exalted attribute, namely tawḥīd (affirming Allah’s oneness), and that there is no god but Him.

It was also said: It encompasses all attributes of majesty and perfection, such as knowledge, power, everlastingness, and the rest of the attributes.

Ibn ‘Abbās said: “The evil attribute” is the Fire, and “the highest attribute” is the testimony that there is no god but Allah.

“And He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.”