Sura-4 [Al Nissa Medina 92]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s version

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ ...  

4:1.     O mankind!

reverence your Guardian-Lord, Who created you from a single person,

C504. Nafs may mean:

-         soul;

-         self;

-         person, living person;

-         will, good pleasure, as in 4:4 below.

... وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا ....

created, of like nature, his mate,

Minha: I follow the construction suggested by Imam Razi.

The particle min would then suggest here a species, a nature, a similarity.

The pronoun ha refers of course to Nafs. (R).

.. وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالاً كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاء...  

and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;

... وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءلُونَ بِهِ ...

reverence Allah, through Whom ye demand your mutual (rights),

C505. All our mutual rights and duties are referred to Allah. We are His creatures: His Will is the standard and measure of Allah; and our duties are measured by our conformity with His Will.

"Our wills are ours, to make them Thine," says Tennyson (In Memoriam).

Among ourselves (human beings) our mutual rights and duties arise out of Allah's Law, the sense of Right that is implanted in us by Him.

... وَالأَرْحَامَ ...

and (reverence) the wombs (that bore you):

C506. Among the most wonderful mysteries of our nature is that of sex.

The unregenerate male is apt, in the pride of his physical strength, to forget the all-important part which the female plays in his very existence, and in all the social relationships that arise in our collective human lives.

The mother that bore us must ever have our reverence. The wife, through whom we enter parentage, must have our reverence.

Sex, which governs so much of our physical life, and has so much influence on our emotional and higher nature, deserves-not our fear, or our contempt, or our amused indulgence, but-our reverence in the highest sense of the term.

With this fitting introduction we enter on a discussion of women, orphans, and family relationships.

... إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا ﴿١﴾

for Allah ever watches over you.

Asad’s Version:

4: 1 O mankind! Be conscious of your Sustainer, who has created you out of one living entity, and out of it created its mate, and out of the two spread abroad a multitude of men and women [note 1]. And remain conscious of God, in whose name you demand [your rights] from one another, and of these ties of kinship. Verily, God is ever watchful over you!

Pickthall O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Be careful of your duty toward Allah in Whom ye claim ( your rights ) of one another, and toward the wombs (that bore you ). Lo! Allah hath been a Watcher over you.

Transliteration Ya_ ayyuhan na_suttaqu_ rabbakumul lazi khalaqakum min nafsiw wa_hidatiw wa khalaqa minha_ zaujaha_ wa bassa minhuma_ rija_lan kasiraw wa nisa_'a(n), wattaqulla_hal lazi tasa_'alu_na bihi wal arha_m(a), innalla_ha ka_na'alaikum raqiba_(n).

[[ Asad’s note 1- Out of many meanings attributable to the term ‘nafs’ – soul, spirit, mind, animate being, living entity, human being, person, self (in the sense of a personal identity), humankind, life-essence, vital principle, and so forth – most of the classical commentators choose “human being”, and assume that it refers here to Adam. Muhammad Abduh, however rejects this interpretation stresses the common origin and brotherhood of the human race (which, undoubtedly, is the purport of the above verse), without, at the same time, unwarrantably tying it to the Biblical account of the creation of Adam and Eve. My rendering of ‘nafs’, in this context, as “living entity” follows the same reasoning. – As regards the expression ‘zawjaha’ (“its mate”), it is to be noted that , with reference to animate beings, the term ‘zawj’ (“a pair”, “one of a pair”, or “a mate”) applies to the male as well as to the female component of a pair of couple; hence, with reference to human beings, it signifies a woman’s mate (husband) as well as a man’s mate (wife). Abu Muslim – as quoted by Razi – interprets the phrase “He created out of it (minha) its mate” as meaning “He created its mate [i.e., its sexual counterpart] out of its own kind (min jinsiha)”, thus supporting the view of Muhammad Aduh refereed to above.

The literal translation of ‘minha’ as “out of it” clearly alludes, in conformity with the text, to the biological fact that both sexes have originated from “one living entity”.]]

[[ Ali’s notes - 504 Nafs may mean: (1) soul; (2) self; (3) person, living person; (4) will, good pleasure, as in iv. 4 below. Minha: I follow the construction suggested by Imam Razi. The particle min would then suggest here a species, a nature, a similarity. The pronoun ha refers of course to Nafs. (4.1)

505 All our mutual rights and duties are referred to Allah. We are His creatures: His Will is the standard and measure of Allah; and our duties are measured by our conformity with His Will. "Our wills are ours, to make them Thine," says Tennyson (In Memoriam). Among ourselves (human beings) our mutual rights and duties arise out of Allah's Law, the sense of Right that is implanted in us by Him. (4.1)

506 Among the most wonderful mysteries of our nature is that of sex. The unregenerate male is apt, in the pride of his physical strength, to forget the all-important part which the female plays in his very existence, and in all the social relationships that arise in our collective human lives. The mother that bore us must ever have our reverence. The wife, through whom we enter parentage, must have our reverence. Sex, which governs so much of our physical life, and has so much influence on our emotional and higher nature, deserves-not our fear, or our contempt, or our amused indulgence, but-our reverence in the highest sense of the term. With this fitting introduction we enter on a discussion of women, orphans, and family relationships. (4.1) ]]

Nafs means soul, nature, mind, spirit, living entity, human being, etc., NO GENDER ASSOCIATED WITH IT.

Zawj means a pair, one of a pair, or a mate.

Minha means 'out of it'

4: 25 ….( In the context of marrying a maidens or captives) And God knows all about your faith; each one of you is an issue of the other. Asad also see 3:195

Note: 31 ….equal in the sight of God…it is only the strength or weakness of faith which makes one superior or inferior to another.

: 25 …..( re: slave or captive women) ..And when they are married, and thereafter become guilty of immoral conduct, they shall be liable to half the penalty to which free married women are liable.