Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:66

Sibawayh mentioned al-anʿām (grazing livestock) in the chapter on nouns that do not take tanwīn (diptotes) among singular nouns that follow the pattern of afʿāl, such as the saying: thawb akyāsh (a bag-like garment). For this reason, the pronoun referring back to it is singular. As for the phrase "in their bellies" (fī buṭūnihā) in Sūrat al-Muʾminūn, it is because its meaning is collective.

It is permissible to state two aspects regarding al-anʿām:

1. That it is the broken plural of naʿam (livestock), like ajbāl (mountains) for jabal (mountain).
2. That it is a singular noun that implies a collective meaning, like naʿam. When it is treated as masculine, it is like the usage of naʿam in the verse:

In every year, livestock (naʿam) you gather, A people impregnate them, and you produce them.

When it is treated as feminine, there are two aspects: that it is the broken plural of naʿam, or that it is in the meaning of a collective.

"We give you to drink" (nusqīkum): It is read with both the fatḥah and the ḍammah (on the nūn). It is an istiʾnāf (a new sentence), as if it were asked: "How is the lesson [in this]?" It was answered: "We give you to drink from between excrement and blood."

That is, Allah creates milk situated between excrement and blood, which surround it. Between the milk and them is a barrier of Allah’s power; neither of them encroaches upon it in color, taste, or smell. Rather, it is pure from all of that. It is said: When the animal eats fodder and it settles in its rumen, it cooks it; the bottom becomes excrement, the middle becomes milk, and the top becomes blood. The liver is empowered over these three types, distributing them: the blood flows into the veins, the milk into the udder, and the excrement remains in the rumen. Glory be to Allah! How great is His power and how subtle His wisdom for those who reflect and contemplate.

Shaqīq was asked about sincerity (ikhlāṣ), and he said: "It is the distinguishing of the deed from defects, just as milk is distinguished from between excrement and blood."

"Palatable" (sāʾighan): Easy to pass down the throat. It is said that no one has ever choked on milk. It is also read as sayyighan (with shaddah) and sayghan (with takhfīf), like hayyin and layyin.

If you ask: What is the difference between the first "from" (min) and the second? I say: The first is for tabʿīḍ (partitive), because the milk is a part of what is in their bellies, like saying: "I took a garment from Zayd’s wealth." The second is for ibtidāʾ al-ghāyah (the starting point of the limit), because "between excrement and blood" is the place of the drinking from which it originates. It is connected to nusqīkum, like saying: "I gave him to drink from the basin." It is also permissible for it to be a state (ḥāl) from the word "milk" (labanan), placed before it, and thus it relates to an omitted predicate, meaning: "existing from between excrement and blood." Do you not see that if it were placed after, saying "milk from between excrement and blood," it would be an adjective for it? It was only placed before because it is the place of the lesson, so it is worthy of being placed first.

Some who consider semen to be pure have argued against those who consider it impure—due to its passing through the path of urine—by using this verse. They argue that it is not strange for it to pass through the path of urine while being pure, just as milk comes out pure from between excrement and blood.

"And from the fruits of the palm trees and grapevines, you take intoxicant and good provision. Indeed in that is a sign for a people who reason."