An-Nahl (The Bee)

72. “And Allah has designated wives for you from among your own selves and has designated children and grandchildren for you from your wives and sustained you of clean means. Do they (still) believe in the falsehood and they disbelieve in the bounty of Allah?”

We read in Tafsir-i-Tabari that the Arabic term /hafadah/ refers to the son-in-law, child, grandchild and even the companions and servants, as well as the children who are born to the wife from a different husband. In Tafsir-i-Al-Mizan, it is cited that /hafadah/ is the plural form of /h afid/ and means ‘rapidity in action’ and as those near-of-kin are quicker in assisting the parents, they are called /hafadah/.

Anyway, this verse, which like the above two verses, begins with the term ‘Allah’ and discusses Allah’s blessings, makes allusions to the graces from the humanitarian point of view, the aids, as well as to the social workers and clean means of sustenance. This verse complements the three-fold circle of blessings which are mentioned in these three verses.

That is, it begins with the life and death system, then it explains the ‘variety in life style’ by referring to the differences in means of sustenance and their abilities. The verse in question, which superintends the reproductive system of mankind, ends with clean means of sustenance.

It says:

“And Allah has designated wives for you from among your own selves…”

He has designated for you such wives who are the sources of both comfort for your soul and body, and the survival of generations.

Therefore, He hastens to add:

“…and has designated children and grandchildren for you from your wives…”

Then the Qur’an says:

“…and sustained you of clean means…”

And at the end of the discussion, the Qur’an declares this as a general conclusion: Do they still call on the idols despite all the splendor and power which they observe and despite all these graces which have been made available to them by Allah? Do they embrace the wrong and believe in it, and neglect the blessings of Allah?

The verse says:

“…Do they (still) believe in the falsehood and they disbelieve in the bounty of Allah?”

What a judgment is it? And what a wrong and an untrue schedule this consists of that man has forgotten about the source of all blessings and has taken to those beings which lack even the least of all effects and which serve as an example of all the ‘untruth’ in all its dimensions.

Explanations

One’s spouse and children are all among the Divine blessings. One’s spouse is the source of comfort and one’s children are the sources of hope.

Matching between husband and wife is one of the favors of Allah and of the Divine wisdom, and marriage is a deliberate Divine program for man.

“And Allah has designated wives for you from your own selves…”

Allah makes provisions for both one’s spiritual needs and one’s material needs.

Separation of oneself from matrimonial links, preventing oneself from having children and abstaining oneself from what is allowed by Allah are all the examples of adhering to wrong principles and are signs of ingratitude for Allah’s blessings.

To fornicate or to commit adultery despite having wives and having allowed means of sustenance, present cases of disregarding Allah’s favours.

Tafsir-i-Safi and Jawami‘-ul-Jami‘ indicate that the objective of ‘Allah’s favours’, mentioned in the verse, is the blissful Prophet (S), the Qur’an, and Islam which the unbelievers used to reject.