أَمِ اتَّخَذَ مِمّا يَخلُقُ بَناتٍ وَأَصفاكُم بِالبَنينَ

Did He adopt daughters from what He creates while He preferred you with sons?

EXEGESIS

This verse is a continuation of the previous verse but has a shift in pronouns. The previous verse spoke about the polytheists in the third person, but this verse addresses them directly in the second person. This could be to further emphasise on charging them with their nonsensical beliefs (taʾkīd al-ilzām) and a firmer way of reprimanding them (tathbīt al-tawbīkh).

The question posed here is a rhetorical one that is meant to show incredulity and negation.^{‎[1]Tabrisi, 9/66.}
According to some exegetes, the conjunction am here has a similar meaning to the retraction particle bal, which is used to amend a previous statement, as well as the interrogative participle hamzah, and is thus used to show negation and astonishment.^{‎[2]Al-Jadwal fī Iʿrāb al-Qurʾān, 25/72.} Shakir incorporates this nuance in his translation: ‘What! has He taken daughters to Himself of what He Himself creates and chosen you to have sons?’
As such, the verse aims at showing incredulity that not only did the polytheists ascribe offspring to God (as mentioned in the previous verse), but they went a step further and ascribed that which they considered as abject.^{‎[3]Safi, 4/386.}

Aṣfākum (preferred you) means to prefer someone with something in such a way that it is exclusive to them and no one else shares in it.^{‎[4]Razi, 27/624.}

EXPOSITION

This verse raises a rhetorical question for the polytheists to ponder. The common belief amongst the polytheists was that male offspring were better than female, and thus they considered sons as better than daughters. This verse asks them that whilst they hold such a belief, how is it that God has chosen daughters (angels) to adopt for Himself but has exclusively blessed them with sons? This argument is presented many times in the Quran (for example see 17:40, 37:149, 37:153, 52:39, and 53:21-22).

The concept of God adopting offspring, particularly daughters who are considered inferior within the polytheists’ cultural context, is not only logically unsound but also a blatant display of ingratitude. By ascribing this perceived lesser class of children to God, the polytheists unwittingly insult Him (see also 16:57).^{‎[5]Mizan, 18/90.}

Qualifying daughters with the phrase from what He creates is to indicate that the polytheists believed that the angels were created by God, even though they simultaneously believed in their divinity.^{‎[6]Mizan, 18/90.} Some exegetes have suggested that this qualifier may have been mentioned to allude to the falsity of such an argument, for the creation cannot be a part (juzʾ) of a creator, just as a house is not a part of the builder.^{‎[7]Kashif, 6/541.}

In another place in the Quran, it is implied that the polytheists also considered their idols, al-Lāt, al-ʿUzzā, and Manāt, as the daughters of God (see 53:19-21).

It is obvious that the argument in this verse is not based on reality since both man and woman are equal in the eyes of God. Rather, this argument is based on premises that the polytheists themselves had incorrectly accepted. This method of argumentation is useful as it can leave an impact on the listener, forcing them to reassess their beliefs.^{‎[8]Amthal, 16/26.}

[1] Tabrisi, 9/66.
[2] Al-Jadwal fī Iʿrāb al-Qurʾān, 25/72.
[3] Safi, 4/386.
[4] Razi, 27/624.
[5] Mizan, 18/90.
[6] Mizan, 18/90.
[7] Kashif, 6/541.
[8] Amthal, 16/26.