Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:58

"And when one of them is given tidings of a female"—meaning, when he is informed of her birth. The root of basharah (glad tidings) is to inform someone of something that pleases them; however, because the birth of a female distressed them, it is interpreted here as absolute informing. It is also suggested that it is a "glad tiding" with regard to the birth itself, regardless of the child’s gender. It is further argued that it is a genuine glad tiding when viewed in relation to the state of the one being given the news in reality. Regardless, the statement implies a missing additive, as we have indicated.

"His face becomes darkened"—meaning, it becomes black from distress and shame before the people. The root meaning of zalla (to become/to continue) is to remain during the day in the state attributed to the noun. Since the informing of such news may occur by night or by day, it has been interpreted as mentioned. The prevailing condition may also be observed, based on the fact that most births occur at night, and the informing of the father is delayed until the day—especially regarding a female—so his remaining in that state throughout the day is significant. The blackening of the face is a metonym for the frowning, grief, anxiety, and aversion that afflicted him upon the birth of the female. It is said that when joy is intense, the heart expands from within and reaches the extremities, especially the face, due to the intense connection between the heart and the brain; thus, the face is seen as bright and radiant. When grief is intense, the spirit is confined to the inner heart, leaving no trace on the outer face, so it becomes dark, changes color, turns yellow, then black, and the signs of earthiness appear in it. Therefore, the brightness and radiance of the face are among the necessities of joy, while its darkening and blackening are among the necessities of grief and sorrow. Thus, radiance is used as a metonym for joy, and blackening for grief. If one were to argue it is metaphorical, it would not be far-fetched; indeed, some have said it is the manifest meaning. The apparent structure is that wajhuhu (his face) is the noun for zalla, and muswaddan (darkened) is its predicate. It is also permissible for the noun to be a pronoun referring to "one of them," with wajhuhu being a substituted part (badal) for it. If muswaddan were in the nominative case (muswaddun), such that wajhuhu is a subject and muswaddun is its predicate, with the sentence serving as the predicate of zalla, it would be grammatically sound, though it is not recited as such here.

"And he is kazim"—meaning, filled with rage. The root of kazm is the exit of breath. It is said, "He took hold of his kazm," meaning he grasped the exit of his breath. From this comes "suppressing rage" (kazm al-ghayz), which is hiding it and preventing it from reaching its exit. The pattern fa'il is either in the sense of the passive participle (maf'ul), as indicated, or it is a hyperbole. It is apparent that this rage is directed at the woman for giving birth to a female rather than a male. This is supported by the narration of Al-Asma'i, that a woman gave birth to a daughter and named her Al-Zhalfa', so her husband deserted her. She recited: "What is with the father of Al-Zhalfa' that he does not come to us, but stays in the house adjoining ours? He is angry because we do not bear sons, whereas we only take what is given to us." I have even seen a poor man who divorced his wife because she gave birth to a female. The sentence stands in the position of a state (hal) for the pronoun in zalla. Abu al-Baqa' suggested that it could be a state for "face," and others have suggested it could be a state for the pronoun in muswaddan.