Aw yuzawwijuhum thukranan wa-inathan wayajAAalu man yashao AAaqeeman innahu AAaleemun qadeer (surah shura: 50)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(42:50) or grants them a mix of males and females, and causes whomever He pleases to be barren. He is All- Knowing, All-Powerful. *77

Aw yuzawwijuhum zukraananw wa inaasanw wa yaj`alu mai yashaaa`u `aqeemaa; innahoo `Aleemun Qadeer

*77) This is a manifest proof of Allah's Sovereignty being absolute. No man, whether he be posing as owner of the highest worldly authority, or regarded as owner of great spiritual powers, has ever been able to produce children for himself according to his own choice and desire, not to speak of providing children for others. The one whom Allah made barren could not have children through any medicine, any treatment, any amulet or charm. The one whom Allah gave only daughters could not get a single son by any device, and the one whom Allah gave only sons could not have a single daughter by any means. In this matter everyone is absolutely helpless. So much so that before the birth of a child no one could know whether a son was taking shape in the mother's womb or a daughter. Even after seeing all this if some one posed to be all-powerful in God's Kingdom, or regarded another as a possessor of the powers, it would be his own shortsightedness for which he himself will suffer, the truth will not change at all.