(189–193) “He is the One who created you from a single soul and made from it its mate, so that he might find tranquility in her. When he covered her, she conceived a light burden and carried it with ease. Then, when it grew heavy, they both prayed to Allah, their Lord, ‘If You grant us a sound child, we will surely be among the grateful.’ But when He granted them a sound child, they ascribed partners to Him concerning what He had given them. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him! Do they associate with Him those who create nothing and are themselves created? They cannot help them, nor can they help themselves. If you call them to guidance, they will not follow you. It is all the same whether you call them or remain silent.”
That is: “He is the One who created you,” men and women, despite your great numbers and your dispersal throughout the earth, “from a single soul”—Adam, the father of humanity, peace and blessings be upon him.
“And made from it its mate”—that is, He created Adam’s wife, Eve, from him so that he might find tranquility in her. Because she was from him, there was a natural affinity and harmony between them that led each to find tranquility in the other, and each was drawn to the other by the reins of desire.
“When he covered her”—that is, when he had intercourse with her—the Creator decreed that offspring should result from that desire and intercourse. “[At that point] (1) she conceived a light burden.” This refers to the beginning of pregnancy, when the woman does not feel it and is not weighed down by it.
“Then,” as she continued carrying it and “it grew heavy” as it became larger in her womb, concern arose in both their hearts for the child and for it to emerge alive, healthy, sound, and free of any defect. “[Thus] (2) they prayed to Allah, their Lord, ‘If You grant us’ a ‘sound’ child”—that is, one sound and complete in form, ⦗312⦘ without any deficiency—“we will surely be among the grateful.”
“But when He granted them a sound child,” just as they had asked, and thereby perfected His blessing upon them, “they ascribed partners to Him concerning what He had given them.” That is, they ascribed partners to Allah regarding the child whom Allah alone had brought into existence and bestowed upon them, and through whom He had delighted the parents’ eyes. They devoted the child to other than Allah: either by giving him a name denoting servitude to other than Allah, such as Abd al-Hārith, Abd al-Azīz (3), Abd al-Kaba, or the like; or by associating partners with Allah in worship after He had bestowed upon them blessings that none of His servants could ever enumerate.
Here the discourse shifts from the individual case to the general class. It begins by speaking of Adam and Eve, then moves to humanity in general. There is no doubt that this occurs frequently among their descendants. Allah therefore demonstrated to them the falsity of associating partners with Him and that, by doing so, they commit the gravest injustice, whether that association occurs in words or deeds.
He created them from a single soul, created its mate from it, and made mates for them from among themselves. He then placed affection and mercy between them, so that each would find tranquility in the other, feel close to and take pleasure in the other. He then guided them to the means by which desire, pleasure, children, and progeny are attained.
He then brought their offspring into existence in their mothers’ wombs for an appointed term. Their hearts eagerly anticipate the child, and they pray to Allah to bring it forth whole and healthy. Allah then perfects His blessing upon them and grants them what they sought.
Does He not therefore deserve that they worship Him, associate no one with Him in worship, and devote their religion sincerely to Him?
Yet the very opposite occurred: they associated with Allah those who “create nothing and are themselves created.”
“They cannot help them”—that is, their worshippers—“nor can they help themselves.”
Since they create nothing—not even an atom’s weight—but are themselves created, and cannot repel harm from those who worship them, or even from themselves, how can they be taken as gods alongside Allah? This is nothing but the gravest injustice and the most foolish folly.
If you polytheists call these idols that you worship besides Allah “to guidance, they will not follow you. It is all the same whether you call them or remain silent.”
A human being is therefore in a better state than they are, for they neither hear nor see, neither guide nor can be guided. If a discerning and rational person considers all this impartially, he will be certain of the falsity of their divinity and the foolishness of those who worship them.