“He created you from a single soul, then made from it its mate. He sent down for you eight pairs of livestock. He creates you in your mothers’ wombs, one stage of creation after another, in three layers of darkness. That is Allah, your Lord. To Him belongs all dominion. There is no deity except Him. How, then, are you turned away? * If you disbelieve, Allah has no need of you, and He does not approve disbelief for His servants. But if you are grateful, He approves it for you. No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return, and He will inform you of what you used to do. Indeed, He knows what is within the breasts.”
Another manifestation of His might is that “He created you from a single soul,” despite your great numbers and your dispersal throughout the earth, “then made from it its mate,” so that he might find repose in her and she in him, thereby completing the blessing.
“He sent down for you livestock”—that is, He created them by a decree sent down from Him, as a mercy to you—“eight pairs.” These are those mentioned in Sūrat al-An‘ām: “Eight pairs: two of sheep and two of goats,” and “two of camels and two of cattle.”
He singled them out for mention, although He created other beasts for the benefit of His servants, because of their abundant benefits, their wide-ranging uses, and their special status. They are also uniquely suited to matters for which other animals are not valid, such as the Festival sacrifice, the pilgrimage offering, the sacrifice for a newborn, the obligation of zakāt upon them, and their use as blood money.
After mentioning the creation of our father and mother, He mentioned the beginning of our own creation, saying: “He creates you in your mothers’ wombs, one stage of creation after another”—that is, one phase after another—while you are in a state in which no creature’s hand touches you and no eye sees you. Yet He nurtures you in that confined place, “in three layers of darkness”: the darkness of the abdomen, then the darkness of the womb, and then the darkness of the placenta.
“That”—the One who created the heavens and the earth, subjected the sun and moon, created you, and created livestock and blessings for you—is “Allah, your Lord”; that is, the One worshipped, who nurtures you and governs your affairs. Just as He alone creates and nurtures, without any partner in that, so too He alone is entitled to worship, without any partner. Therefore, He says: “There is no deity except Him. How, then, are you turned away?” After this clear demonstration that He alone deserves sincere worship, how can you turn to worshipping idols that govern nothing and possess no authority whatsoever?
“If you disbelieve, Allah has no need of you.” Your disbelief does not harm Him, just as your obedience does not benefit Him. Rather, His commands and prohibitions are purely an expression of His grace and kindness toward you.
“And He does not approve disbelief for His servants,” because of His perfect kindness toward them, ⦗720⦘ and because He knows that disbelief will condemn them to a misery after which they will never attain happiness. Moreover, He created them to worship Him, and this is the purpose for which creation was brought into being. He therefore does not approve of their abandoning the purpose for which He created them.
“But if you are grateful” to Allah Most High by affirming His oneness and devoting worship sincerely to Him, “He approves it for you,” because of His mercy toward you, His love of bestowing kindness upon you, and your fulfillment of the purpose for which He created you.
Just as He suffers no harm from your associating partners with Him and gains no benefit from your deeds or your affirmation of His oneness, so too each one of you is accountable for his own deeds, whether good or evil. “No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return” on the Day of Resurrection, “and He will inform you of what you used to do.” He will give an account encompassed by His knowledge, recorded by His Pen, written against you by the noble guardian angels, and attested against you by your limbs. He will then repay each of you with what he deserves.
“Indeed, He knows what is within the breasts.” That is, He knows the breasts themselves and whatever qualities of righteousness or wickedness they contain. The purpose of this is to affirm that recompense will be administered with perfect justice.