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سُورَةُ النَّحۡلِ · 16:58
MeccanRevelation order ٧٠Juzʾ ١٤Page ٢٧٣

وَإِذَا بُشِّرَ أَحَدُهُم بِٱلْأُنثَىٰ ظَلَّ وَجْهُهُۥ مُسْوَدًّۭا وَهُوَ كَظِيمٌۭ

٥٨
Saheeh International · EN

And when one of them is informed of [the birth of] a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief.

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Bio

Introduction

This is āyah 58 of Sūrat An-Nahl (The Bee), the 70th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 14. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

Bio

Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Meccan
Order revealed
70 of 114
Surah
An-Nahl (16)

No specific occasion of revelation (Asbāb al-Nuzūl) is recorded for this āyah in al-Wāḥidī's collection. Many verses were revealed without a single triggering event.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

And they assign a portion of that which We have provided them with, to what they have no knowledge of (false deities). By Allah, you shall certainly be questioned about (all) that you used to fabricate (56)And they assign daughters to Allah! Glorified (and Exalted) is He (above all that they associate with Him!). And for themselves (they assign) what they desire (57)And when the news of (the birth of) a female (child) is brought to any of them, his face becomes dark, and he is filled with inner grief (58)He hides himself from the people because of the evil of what he has been informed. Shall he keep her with dishonor or bury her in the earth? Certainly, evil is their decision (59)For those who do not believe in the Hereafter is an evil description, and for Allah is the highest description. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise (60) Among the Behavior of the Idolators was vowing to Thin…
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

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And now — what do you think?

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Provenance

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