Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:78

"And Allah brought you out from..."

It is read as ummahātikum (mothers) with the hamzah vocalized with a ḍammah and a kasrah. The hā’ is an augment in ammāt (mothers), just as it was added in arāqa (to pour), becoming ahrāqa. Its addition in the singular form is anomalous, as the poet said: “My mother is Khandaf, and Ilyās is my father.”

{...knowing nothing} This is in the position of a circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl). Its meaning is: "while you were not knowing anything of the right of the Bestower of blessings who created you in the wombs, fashioned you, and formed you, then brought you out from the constriction [of the womb] to the vastness [of the world]."

{And He made for you...} The meaning is: He did not install these things within you except as instruments to remove the ignorance upon which you were born, and to acquire knowledge and act upon it—such as thanking the Bestower of blessings, worshipping Him, fulfilling His rights, and ascending to that which brings you happiness.

Af’idah (hearts) is the plural of fu’ād, like agribah (crows) is the plural of ghurāb. It is one of the "plurals of paucity" (jumūʿ al-qillah) that functions as a "plural of abundance" (jumūʿ al-kathrah). When no other plural is heard in usage—as is the case with shusūʿ as the only plural for shisʿ (sandal strap)—it takes on that function.

{Do they not see the birds controlled in the atmosphere of the sky? None holds them up except Allah. Indeed, in that are signs for a people who believe.}