(1) See these views in al-Tabari, 16:171-172; al-Durr al-Manthur, 5:581-582. Al-Tabari, may Allah have mercy on him, preferred the interpretation: “Our Lord is He who gave everything its created counterpart in form and constitution.” Thus, for the males among the children of Adam, He provided female counterparts of their own kind as spouses; and for male animals, He provided female counterparts resembling them in form and constitution as mates. He did not give man a counterpart unlike his kind, such that he would marry female animals, nor did He give animals female jinn as mates. He then guided them to the place of intercourse, from which offspring and multiplication result, teaching them how to approach it, as well as to their other benefits, such as food, drink, and so forth. For He, glorified and exalted is He, does not give the recipient himself; rather, He gives something other than him, since a gift entails a giver, a gift, and a recipient. The gift cannot be the recipient himself. Since it is other than him, while the form of every creature is part of its own composition, it is clear that when it is said, “He gave man his form,” this can only mean that He gave him certain qualities by which he, together with others, is called “man.” Nevertheless, the interpretation preferred by al-Tabari, may Allah have mercy on him, does not exclude some of the other meanings indicated by the verse, as in the view of al-Dahhak. And Allah knows best.