Surah An-Nahl (16) — Ayah 81

(Ayah81) ➊ {وَ اللّٰهُ جَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِّمَّا خَلَقَ ظِلٰلًا …: ’’ ظِلٰلًا ‘‘ ’’ظِلٌّ‘‘} is the plural of ظِلٌّ, meaning shades. { ’’ اَكْنَانًا ‘‘} and { ’’اَكِنَّةٌ‘‘} are both plurals of {’’كِنٌّ‘‘}, a place or thing of concealment, as He said: «وَ قَالُوْا قُلُوْبُنَا فِيْۤ اَكِنَّةٍ » [ حٰمٓ السجدۃ : ۵ ] "And they said, 'Our hearts are in coverings.'" {’’ سَرَابِيْلَ ‘‘ ’’سِرْبَالٌ‘‘} is the plural of سِرْبَالٌ, meaning a shirt or any garment that is worn. {’’ تَقِيْكُمُ ‘‘ ’’وَقٰي يَقِيْ‘‘} is the imperfect tense, singular feminine absent form. Its subject is a plural pronoun, so it is singular feminine. After mentioning the blessings of cattle, houses, and tents, the blessings that protect from heat, cold, and enemies outside the home are mentioned. In this verse, for those who do not have a house or tent, or are traveling, various shades are mentioned for protection from heat, etc., such as the shade of trees, the shade of houses, walls, and mountains, the shade of settlements, the shade of umbrellas; in short, these shades are used for protection from heat, cold, and rain.

➋ { وَ جَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِّنَ الْجِبَالِ اَكْنَانًا :} This includes natural caves in mountains, houses dug out, and long tunnels made in mountains, in which military equipment, weapons, aircraft, and armies are kept safe, all are included.

➌ {وَ جَعَلَ لَكُمْ سَرَابِيْلَ تَقِيْكُمُ الْحَرَّ:} The clothing that protects you from heat; some scholars have said that the first addressees of the Qur'an were the Arabs, where heat was more prevalent, so only clothing that protects from heat was mentioned. But most commentators have said that mentioning heat was considered sufficient, so cold was not mentioned separately, because if clothing protects from heat, it also protects from cold. As for the prevalence of heat in Arabia, at the beginning of this Surah, when mentioning animals, He said: «{ لَكُمْ فِيْهَا دِفْءٌ }» [ النحل : ۵] "For you in them is warmth." It is clear that the Arabs also needed protection from cold, so it is stronger to say that the Qur'an, by mentioning only heat, left it to the listeners to reflect on the blessing of protection from cold, or because at the beginning of the Surah, {’’ لَكُمْ فِيْهَا دِفْءٌ ‘‘} (for you in them is warmth) already mentioned protection from cold, so it was not mentioned here. {’’ وَ سَرَابِيْلَ تَقِيْكُمْ بَاْسَكُمْ ‘‘} This includes armor, helmets, bulletproof jackets, vehicles, tanks, etc., all are included.

➍ { لَعَلَّكُمْ تُسْلِمُوْنَ :} That is, so that you may become obedient and submissive to Allah Almighty, because whoever reflects on these boundless blessings, it is necessary that he brings faith and adopts His obedience.

81. 1 That is, trees from which shade is obtained. 81. 2 That is, wool and cotton garments which are commonly worn, and iron armors and helmets which are worn in battles.

81. And it is Allah Who has made for you shade from what He has created, and made shelters for you in the mountains, and made garments for you to protect you from the heat [83], and coats of armor to protect you in battle. Thus does Allah complete His favors upon you, so that you may submit [84].

[83]
Clothes for Protection from Heat and Cold:

A person needs clothing to protect himself from the cold just as he needs it to protect himself from the heat, and the clothing that protects from heat also protects from cold. Here, the specific mention of protection from heat is because the people of Arabia were unfamiliar with cold weather; generally, the climate there remains hot, especially in Makkah, where this surah was revealed, there is no cold season at all. The only difference there is that sometimes the heat is less intense and sometimes it is extremely intense.
[84] ﴿لَعَلَّكُمْ تُسْلِمُوْنَ﴾ can have two meanings: one is the apparent meaning as shown in the translation, and the other is that clothing is made so that you may be protected from the heat, and war clothing or armor, etc., is made so that you may be protected from being wounded during battle. And the completion of blessings here refers to the fulfillment of all human needs, a few of which are mentioned here. Therefore, it is necessary for a person to bow his head in submission before his true Benefactor and remain obedient to Him.