وَخَلَقناكُم أَزواجًا
And create you in pairs?
EXEGESIS
Azwāj is the plural of zawj, which is anything that has a counterpart or companion that is its similar and/or complement. It is often used for spouses in the Quran, but it is also used for kinds and species. Here, azwāj could have two meanings: 1. We created you in diverse kinds in terms of gender, race, colour, and language (30:22, 35:28, 49:13). 2. We created you in pairs of male and female, as used in: Allah made for you mates from your own selves (16:72; see also 30:21 and 42:11). Both meanings fit the context of these verses: the verses prove the possibility and necessity of the hereafter. An argument for the necessity of the hereafter is that it is where innate and involuntary differences of the people will be accounted for, as per God’s justice. This complies with the first meaning of azwāj (kinds, fashions). Secondly, the verses before and after discuss God’s bounties to mankind and how He sustains their lives. This is more compatible with the second meaning of azwāj (pairs, sexes). Both meanings could be intended here, and the early exegetes have also suggested both. Meanwhile, the second meaning is more apparent and congruous with the previous and next verses, even though the first meaning is more comprehensive. Most English translators have translated azwāj as ‘pairs’ in this verse.
The verse involves a transition from third-person to second-person, which is also seen in verses 9 and 12. The reader is now directly addressed, which calls for more attention and emphasises the argument.
EXPOSITION
Just as the earth provides some of the needs of mankind, husbands and wives fulfil some needs of one another. Moreover, this is God’s means of sustaining the human race and it is how each of us has been brought into existence.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Other suggested meanings for azwāj (pairs) that are derived from the meanings discussed in Exegesis are: 1. We created you through pairs and couples. That is, the creation of each of you is rooted in two gametes. 2. Each of you is in such a way that you are prone to opposite pairs such as wealth and poverty, health and illness, knowledge and ignorance, strength and weakness. The variations of these states in one’s life and across society show God’s wisdom as He tests you by them, and thus they must be pursuing an end. 3. Each of you has been created by the coupling of body and spirit, or ego (nafs) and heart.
[1] Maqayis, under z-w-j; Raghib, under z-w-j; Tahqiq, under z-w-j.
[2] Mizan, 20/162.
[3] Alusi, 15/206.
[4] Bursawi, 10/294.
[5] Bursawi, 10/295, narrated from al-Taʾwīlāt al-Najmiyyah.