News of a female versus news of a likeness
وَإِذَا بُشِّرَ أَحَدُهُم بِٱلْأُنثَىٰ ظَلَّ وَجْهُهُۥ مُسْوَدًّا وَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ
wa-idhā bushshira aḥaduhum bil-unthā ẓalla wajhuhu muswaddan wa-huwa kaẓīm — And when one of them is given news of a female, his face remains darkened, while he is choked within.
Two verses share an identical reaction-scene—darkened face, choked silence—triggered by different news: the birth of a female (16:58) and the attribution of a likeness to the All-Merciful (43:17). The shared wording ties the two reactions together, so the shame felt at a daughter is presented in the same terms as the distress felt at what is said about God.
The two verses share the same opening (wa-idhā bushshira aḥaduhum) and the same closing formula ('his face remains darkened while he is choked within') (16:58, 43:17). The difference lies entirely in the object of the news. In (16:58) the news is 'of a female' (bil-unthā), and the surrounding verses make the stakes explicit: 'they assign to Allah the daughters' (16:57), and the man who receives the news 'withdraws, keeping out of sight from the people because of the evil of what he has been given news of' (16:59). In (43:17) the news is 'of what he has set up as a likeness for the All-Merciful' (bimā ḍaraba lil-raḥmān mathalan), and the context likewise turns on attribution: 'has He taken, from what He creates, daughters?' (43:16), followed by a description of one 'brought up amid adornment, while in dispute he is not clear' (43:18). The shared formula makes the two scenes mirror each other: the same physical response—darkened face, being choked within—is ascribed to a man hearing of a daughter and to a man confronted with the likeness he has set up for the All-Merciful. In (16:58) the reaction exposes a judgment the verse itself calls evil: 'Oh, how evil is what they judge!' (16:59). In (43:17) the same reaction is turned back on the attributer: the distress he shows at the likeness is the verse's measure of what he has himself asserted.
Where it occurs
- 16:58 Describes a man's darkened face and choked silence at news of a female, framed by assigning daughters to Allah (16:57) and by his withdrawal and choice to keep or conceal the child (16:59).
- 43:17 Applies the identical reaction to news of what a man has set up as a likeness for the All-Merciful, framed by the question of daughters (43:16) and the description of one raised amid adornment (43:18).
All Qur'anic expressions