An-Nahl: 8

Ayah

Word by Word

وَٱلۡخَيۡلَ

And horses

وَٱلۡبِغَالَ

and mules

وَٱلۡحَمِيرَ

and donkeys

لِتَرۡكَبُوهَا

for you to ride them

وَزِينَةٗۚ

and (as) adornment

وَيَخۡلُقُ

And He creates

مَا

what

لَا

not

تَعۡلَمُونَ

you know

Translation

And (He has created) horses, mules, and donkeys, for you to ride and use for show; and He has created (other) things of which ye have no knowledge.

Tafsir

The Cattle are part of the Creation of Allah and a Blessing from Him

Allah says:

وَالَانۡعَامَ خَلَقَهَا لَكُمۡ فِيهَا دِفۡءٌ وَمَنَافِعُ وَمِنۡهَا تَأۡكُلُونَ

And the cattle, He has created them for you; in them there is warmth (warm clothing), and numerous benefits, and you eat from them.

Allah reminds His servants of the blessing in His creation of An`am, this term includes camels, cows and sheep, as was explained in detail in Surah Al-An`am where the ""eight pairs"" are mentioned.

The blessings include the benefits derived from their wool and hair, from which clothes and furnishings are made, from their milk which is drunk, and their young which are eaten.

Their beauty is a kind of adornment, thus Allah says

وَلَكُمۡ فِيهَا جَمَالٌ حِينَ تُرِيحُونَ

And there is beauty in them for you, when you bring them home in the evening.

which is when they are brought back from the pasture in the evening.

This is a reference to how their flanks become fat, their udders fill with milk and their humps become bigger.

وَحِينَ تَسۡرَحُونَ

and as you lead them forth to pasture (in the morning).

meaning when you send them out to the pasture in the morning

وَتَحۡمِلُ أَثۡقَالَكُمۡ

And they carry your loads,

meaning the heavy burdens that you cannot move or carry by yourselves,

إِلَى بَلَدٍ لَّمۡ تَكُونُواۡ بَالِغِيهِ إِلاَّ بِشِقِّ الَانفُسِ

to a land that you could not reach except with great trouble to yourselves,

meaning journeys for Hajj, Umrah, military campaigns, and journeys for the purpose of trading, and so on.

They use these animals for all kinds of purposes, for riding and for carrying loads, as Allah says:

وَإِنَّ لَكُمۡ فِى الاٌّنۡعَـمِ لَعِبۡرَةً نُّسۡقِيكُمۡ مِّمَّا فِى بُطُونِهَا وَلَكُمۡ فيِهَا مَنَـفِعُ كَثِيرَةٌ وَمِنۡهَا تَأۡكُلُونَ

وَعَلَيۡهَا وَعَلَى الۡفُلۡكِ تُحۡمَلُونَ

And verily, there is indeed a lesson for you in the An'am (cattle). We give you to drink (milk) of that which is in their bellies. And there are numerous (other) benefits in them for you. Of them you eat, and on them and on ships you are carried. (23:21-22)

اللَّهُ الَّذِى جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الاٌّنۡعَـمَ لِتَرۡكَـبُواۡ مِنۡهَا وَمِنۡهَا تَأۡكُلُونَ

وَلَكُمۡ فِيهَا مَنَـفِعُ وَلِتَـبۡلُغُواۡ عَلَيۡهَا حَاجَةً فِى صُدُورِكُمۡ وَعَلَيۡهَا وَعَلَى الۡفُلۡكِ تُحۡمَلُونَ

وَيُرِيكُمۡ ءَايَـتِهِ فَأَىَّ ءَايَـتِ اللَّهِ تُنكِرُونَ

Allah, it is He Who has made cattle for you, so that some you may ride, and some you may eat. And you find (many other) benefits in them; you may reach by their means a desire that is in your breasts (i.e. carry your goods, loads), and on them and on ships you are carried. And He shows you His Ayat.

Which, then of the Ayat of Allah do you deny! (40:79-81)

Thus here Allah says, after enumerating these blessings,

إِنَّ رَبَّكُمۡ لَرَوُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Truly, your Lord is full of kindness, Most Merciful.

meaning, your Lord is the One Who has subjugated the An`am (cattle) to you.

This is like the Ayat:

أَوَلَمۡ يَرَوۡاۡ أَنَّا خَلَقۡنَا لَهُم مِمَّا عَمِلَتۡ أَيۡدِينَأ أَنۡعـماً فَهُمۡ لَهَا مَـلِكُونَ

وَذَلَّلۡنَـهَا لَهُمۡ فَمِنۡهَا رَكُوبُهُمۡ وَمِنۡهَا يَأۡكُلُونَ

Do they not see, that of what Our Hands have created, We created the An'am (cattle) for them, so that they may own them, and We subdued them so that they may ride some and they may eat some. (36:71-72)

وَالَّذِى خَلَقَ الَازۡوَجَ كُلَّهَا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمۡ مِّنَ الۡفُلۡكِ وَالاٌّنۡعَـمِ مَا تَرۡكَبُونَ

لِتَسۡتَوُواۡ عَلَى ظُهُورِهِ ثُمَّ تَذۡكُرُواۡ نِعۡمَةَ رَبِّكُمۡ إِذَا اسۡتَوَيۡتُمۡ عَلَيۡهِ وَتَقُولُواۡ سُبۡحَـنَ الَّذِى سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَـذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقۡرِنِينَ

وَإِنَّأ إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ

And He made mounts for you out of ships and cattle. In order that you may ride on their backs, and may then remember the favor of your Lord when you mount upon them, and say:

""Glory be to the One Who subjected this to us, and we could never have it (by our efforts). And verily, to Our Lord we indeed are to return!"" (43:12-14)

Ibn Abbas said,

لَكُمۡ فِيهَا دِفۡءٌ

(In them there is warmth),

refers to clothing;

وَمَنَافِعُ

(and numerous benefits),

refers to the ways in which they derive the benefits of food and drink from them.

Allah says:

وَالۡخَيۡلَ وَالۡبِغَالَ وَالۡحَمِيرَ لِتَرۡكَبُوهَا وَزِينَةً وَيَخۡلُقُ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ

And (He has created) horses, mules and donkeys for you to ride, and as an adornment. And He creates (other) things of which you have no knowledge.

This refers to another category of animals that Allah has created as a blessing for His servants; horses, mules and donkeys, all of which He made for riding and adornment. This is the main purpose for which these animals were created.

It was reported in the Two Sahihs that Jabir bin Abdullah said:

""The Messenger of Allah forbade us to eat the meat of domestic donkeys, but he allowed us to eat the meat of horses.""

Imam Ahmad and Abu Dawud reported with two chains of narration, each of which meet the conditions of Muslim, that Jabir said:

""On the day of Khyber we slaughtered horses, mules and donkeys. The Messenger of Allah forbade us from eating the mules and donkeys, but he did not forbid us from eating the horses.""

According to Sahih Muslim, Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:

""At the time of the Messenger of Allah we slaughtered a horse and ate it when we were in Al-Madinah."