Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:189
It is He who created you from one soul and created from it its mate that he might dwell in security with her. And when he covers her, she carries a light burden and continues therein. And when it becomes heavy, they both invoke Allah, their Lord, "If You should give us a good [child], we will surely be among the grateful."
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.
The explanation of His word: هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَجَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا لِيَسْكُنَ إِلَيْهَا فَلَمَّا تَغَشَّاهَا حَمَلَتْ حَمْلا خَفِيفًا فَمَرَّتْ بِهِ فَلَمَّا أَثْقَلَتْ دَعَوَا اللَّهَ رَبَّهُمَا لَئِنْ آتَيْتَنَا صَالِحًا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ (189) ("He it is who created you from a single soul, and made from it its mate, so that he might find rest with her. And when he covered her, she bore a light burden and carried it about; and when she grew heavy, they both called upon Allah, their Lord: 'If You grant us a sound child, we shall surely be among the thankful.'")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His mention, says: (He it is who created you from a single soul), by which He means by the single soul Ādam, as in: -
15497 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid: (He created you from a single soul), he said: Ādam, peace be upon him.
15498 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (He it is who created you from a single soul), from Ādam.
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And by His word (and made from it its mate) He means: and He made from the single soul, that is Ādam, his wife Ḥawwāʾ (Eve), as in: -
15499 - Bishr related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda. (and from it he carried his mate): Ḥawwāʾ, she was made from one of his ribs, so that he might find rest with her.
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And by His word (so that he might find rest with her) He means: so that he might take refuge in her to fulfill his need and his enjoyment.
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And by His word (and when he covered her) He means: when he stretched himself over her to fulfill his need of her, and so he fulfilled his need of her = (she bore a light burden), and in the statement something is omitted, whose mention has been left out because what is visible suffices to indicate what has been omitted; that is His word: (and when he covered her, she bore). For the statement reads: when he covered her = and fulfilled his need of her = she bore.
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And His word (she bore a light burden), by which He means by "the lightness of the burden": the fluid that Ḥawwāʾ carried from Ādam in her womb, that it was a light burden; and likewise the burden of the woman who carries the fluid of the man is light for her.
* * *
As for His word (and carried it about), He means by it: she persevered with the fluid: she stood up with it and sat down with it, and she completed the pregnancy, as in: -
15500 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Abū ʿUmayr, on the authority of Ayyūb, he said: I asked al-Ḥasan about His word: (she bore a light burden and carried it about), he said: if you were an Arab, you would know what it means; it means only: she persevered with it.
15501 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (and when he covered her, she bore a light burden and carried it about), her pregnancy became evident.
15502 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: (and carried it about) he said: her pregnancy continued.
15503 - Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His word: (she bore a light burden) he said: that is the drop (semen) = and His word: (and carried it about), he says: she persevered with it.
* * *
And others said: its meaning is: and she doubted concerning it.
* Mention of those who said that:
15504 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (and carried it about) he said: she doubted: am I pregnant or not?
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And by His word (and when she grew heavy) He means: when the burden that was in her belly, which had been light, grew heavy and her delivery drew near.
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One says of that: "athqalat fulāna" (so-and-so grew heavy) when she became heavy of burden through her pregnancy, as one says: "atmara fulān" (so-and-so got dates): when he got dates. As in: -
15505 - Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (and when she grew heavy): the child grew large in her belly.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: (they both called upon Allah, their Lord), He says: Ādam and Ḥawwāʾ called upon their Lord and said: O our Lord, "if You grant us a sound child, we shall surely be among the thankful".
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And the exegetes differed concerning the meaning of "soundness" (al-ṣalāḥ) upon which Ādam and Ḥawwāʾ, peace be upon them both, swore that, if He were to grant them a sound child in the pregnancy of Ḥawwāʾ: we would surely be among the thankful.
Some of them said: that is, that the child would be a boy.
* Mention of those who said that:
15506 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, he said: al-Ḥasan said concerning His word: (if You grant us a sound child) he said: a boy.
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And others said: no, it is that the child would be a fully formed human being like the two of them, and not an animal.
* Mention of those who said that:
15507 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Zayd ibn Jubayr al-Jushamī, on the authority of Abū al-Bakhtarī, concerning His word: (if You grant us a sound child, we shall surely be among the thankful) he said: they feared that it would be something less than a human being.
15508 - ... he said: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Zayd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Abū al-Bakhtarī, he said: they feared that it would not be a human being.
15509 - ... he said: Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, he said: when the wife of Ādam became pregnant and grew heavy, they both feared that it would be an animal, and so they called upon their Lord: (if You grant us a sound child), the āyah.
15510 - ... he said: Jābir ibn Nūḥ related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: they feared that it would be an animal.
15511 - Al-Qāsim related to me, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr said: when Ādam and Ḥawwāʾ descended, desire was cast into his soul and he had intercourse with her, and as soon as he had intercourse with her, she became pregnant, and as soon as she became pregnant, her child moved in her belly. She said: what is this? Then Iblīs came to her and said [to her: you are pregnant and will give birth! She said: what shall I give birth to? He said]: do you see on the earth anything other than a camel, a cow, a sheep, or a goat, or the like of that! [and it will come out of your nose, or out of your ear, or out of your eye]. She said: by Allah, there is nothing of me that is not too narrow for all that! He said: then obey me and name it "ʿAbd al-Ḥārith" (servant of al-Ḥārith) = [and his name among the angels was al-Ḥārith] = then you will give birth to something that is like the two of you, your likeness! He said: she mentioned that to Ādam, peace be upon him, and he said: he is our companion whom I know! Then it died. Afterwards she became pregnant with another, and he came to her and said: obey me and name it ʿAbd al-Ḥārith - and his name among the angels was al-Ḥārith - otherwise you will give birth to a camel or a cow or a sheep or a goat, or I will kill it, for I killed the first! He said: she mentioned that to Ādam, and it was as though he did not disapprove of it, and so she named it "ʿAbd al-Ḥārith". That is His word: (if You grant us a sound child), He says: our likeness, our equal = فَلَمَّا آتَاهُمَا صَالِحًا (And when He granted them a sound child) he said: their likeness, their equal.
15512 - Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (and when she grew heavy), the child grew large in her belly, Iblīs came to her and instilled fear in her and said to her: what do you know of what is in your belly? Perhaps it is a dog, or a pig, or a donkey! And what do you know from where it will come out? Out of your behind, so that it kills you, or out of your front, or will it rip open your belly so that it kills you? That is the moment at which they both (called upon Allah, their Lord: if You grant us a sound child), He says: our likeness = (we shall surely be among the thankful).
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct judgment concerning this is that one says: indeed, Allah reported about Ādam and Ḥawwāʾ that they both called upon Allah, their Lord, on account of the pregnancy of Ḥawwāʾ, and swore that, if He were to grant them what was in the belly of Ḥawwāʾ as sound, they would both be among those thankful to Allah.
And "soundness" (al-ṣalāḥ) may encompass many meanings: among them "soundness" in the perfection of the form, and among them "soundness" in religion, and "soundness" in the intellect and management.
And since that is so, and there is no report from the Messenger that obligates as proof that this refers to one part of the meanings of "soundness" to the exclusion of another part, and there is also no indication in the intellect for it, it is obligatory that it be understood generally as Allah kept it general, and so one says: they both said (if You grant us a sound child) with all the meanings of "soundness".
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As for the meaning of His word (we shall surely be among the thankful), that is: we shall surely be among those who thank You for the sound child that You have granted them.
