He created you ˹all˺ from a single soul,2 then from it He made its mate.2 And He produced for you four pairs of cattle.2 He creates you in the wombs of your mothers ˹in stages˺, one development after another, in three layers of darkness.2 That is Allah—your Lord! All authority belongs to Him. There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him. How can you then be turned away?
He created you (all) from a single Person: 4249 then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head 4250 of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, 4251 in three veils of darkness. 4252 such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are you turned away 4253 (from your true Centre)?
4249 Cf. 4:1, and n. 504.
4250 See 6:143-144, where four kinds of cattle are mentioned in pairs in connection with certain Arab superstitions which are there condemned. Here the same four kinds are mentioned as representative of domesticated cattle given by Allah as useful to man. These are sheep, goats, camels, and oxen. In Arab idiom the horse is not included among "cattle". For the wisdom and goodness of Allah in granting man dominion over cattle, see 36:71-73.
4251 See 22:5, where the gradual physical growth of man in several successive stages is mentioned as one of the Signs of Allah's creative Power and cherishing care.
4252 The three veils of darkness which cover the unborn child are: the caul or membrane, the womb, and the hollow in which the womb is enclosed. But we might understand "three" in a cumulative rather than a numerical sense.
4253 It is clear that you owe your very existence and your maintenance, growth, and preservation, to Allah; how is it that you are turned away by chance things from Him? (R).
He has created you [all] out of one living entity, and out of it fashioned its mate; 7 and he has bestowed upon you four kinds of cattle of either sex; 8 [and] He creates you in your mothers’ wombs, one act of creation after another, in threefold depths of darkness. 9 Thus is God, your Sustainer: unto Him belongs all dominion: there is no deity save Him: how, then, can you lose sight of the truth? 10
7 See 4:1 and the corresponding note 1.
8 Lit., "eight [in] pairs", i.e., the male and the female of four kinds of cattle (sheep, goats, camels and bovine cattle). For an explanation of my rendering, see note 130 on 6:143-144, where the same kinds of domesticated cattle are spoken of in connection with certain meaningless, superstitious taboos of pre-Islamic times, whereas here they are mentioned as "bestowed upon you" by God, and therefore lawful. Beyond this, the mention of cattle in this context is meant to remind man that it is God who provides his sustenance and therefore, man is utterly dependent on Him.
9 Lit., "by creation after creation, in three darknesses": an allusion to the successive stages of embryonic development, repeatedly spoken of in the Qur’an (cf. 22:5 and 23:12-14), and to the darkness of the womb, the membrane enveloping the embryo, and its pre-natal blindness.
10 Lit., "how, then, are you turned away?" - i.e., from the truth.
2 i.e., Adam (ﷺ).