Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:57
And they attribute to Allah daughters - exalted is He - and for them is what they desire.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
وَيَجْعَلُونَ لِلَّهِ الْبَنَاتِ سُبْحَانَهُ (And they assign daughters to Allāh — glory be to Him) — Allāh, exalted is His mention, says: And these polytheists (mushrikīn) assign daughters to Allāh — glory be to Him above what the wrongdoers say, an exaltation of the highest order. وَلَهُمْ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ (And for themselves what they desire) — that is to say: they assign to themselves what they desire, namely sons, and they give to Allāh what they themselves despise, namely daughters. This is a reference to the Arabs who said: the angels are the daughters of Allāh, while they themselves preferred sons for themselves and buried their daughters alive.
And the ʿulamāʾ differed concerning the question of to whom the reference in وَلَهُمْ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ (And for themselves what they desire) refers back.
Some said: the "desired" thing is sons.
Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: وَلَهُمْ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ — that is to say: sons.
