Page 268
wa-l-khayla wa-l-bighāla wa-l-ḥamīra li-tarkabūhā wa-zīnatan wa-yakhluqu mā lā taʿlamūna
And horses, mules and asses, for you to ride them, and for pomp, and He creates what you do not know.
— Ali Quli Qarai
16An-NaḥlالنحلVerse 8 of 128
The Bee16. An-Naḥlالنحل
Al Naḥl
The Bee
MeccanVerse 8 of 128
Surah An-Nahl – Verse 8
8. “And (He created) horses, and mules and donkeys that you may ride upon them, and for ornament, and He creates what you do not know.”
The Qur’anic term /xayl/ means: ‘pride, arrogance’, but here, in this verse, the objective is ‘horse’, as if man feels a kind of pride and arrogance in horse riding. The Arabic word /biq al/ signifies ‘mule’ which comes to being by a horse and a donkey; and the word /hamir/ is the plural from of /himar/ in the sense of ‘ass’. In this holy verse, the Qur’an points to some other animals which man uses for riding. The verse says:
“And (He created) horses, and mules and donkeys that you may ride upon them, and for ornament…”
In conclusion, Allah points out to a more important issue and calls everybody’s attention to the various means of transportation and mounts which will be made available to man in the future, and, which he can make better use of them. And Allah will create other things that you know nothing about them, like the modern various means of transportation, whether be it cars, trains, or airplanes which are indeed Allah’s creatures, not those of men. The verse continues saying:
“…and He creates what you do not know.”