Khalaqakum min nafsin wahidatin thumma jaAAala minha zawjaha waanzala lakum mina al-anAAami (surah Zumar: 6)

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

(39:6) He it is Who created you from a single being, and He it is Who made from it its mate. *12 He it is Who created for you eight heads of cattle in pairs. *13 He creates you in your mothers' wombs, giving you one form after another in threefold depths of darkness. *14 That, then, is Allah, your Lord. *15 His is the kingdom. *16 There is no god but He. *17 So, whence are you being turned astray? *18

Khalaqakum min nafsinw waahidatin summa ja`ala minhaa zawjahaa wa anzala lakum minal-an`aami samaani yata azwaaj; yakhuluqukum fee butooni ummahaatikum khalqam mim ba`di khalqin fee zulumaatin salaas; zaalikumul laahu Rabbukum lahul mulk; laaa ilaaha illaa Huwa fa annaa tusrafoon

*12) This dces not mean that first He created the human beings from Adam and then created his wife, Eve. But here, instead of the chronological order, there is the order of presentation, examples of which arc found in every language. For instance, we say, "Whatever you did today is known to me, and whatever you did yesterday is also in my knowledge." This cannot mean that what happened yesterday has happened after today.
*13) That is, the camel, cow, sheep and goat whose four males and four females together make eight heads of cattle.
*14) The three dark veils are: the belly, the womb and the caul or membrane enclosing the foetus.
*15) "Your Lord" : your Master, Ruler and Providence.
*16) That is, "All powers and authority rest with Him and it is He Who is ruling over the whole Universe. "
>*17) In other words, the reasoning is this: "When Allah alone is your Lord and His is the sovereignty, then inevitably your Deity also is He. How can another be your deity when he has neither any share in providence nor any role in sovereignty? After all, how can it be reasonable for you to take others as your deities when Allah alone is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, when Allah alone has subjected the sun and the moon for you, when He alone brings the day after the night and the night after the day, and when He alone is your own Creator and Lord as well as of all animals and cattle?"
*18) These words need deep consideration. It has not been said: "Where are you turning away?" but 'where are you being turned away?" That is, "There is someone else who is misleading you, and being thus deceived you do not understand such a simple and reasonable thing. " The other thing which by itself becomes evident from the style is: The word "you" is not addressed to the agents but to those who were turning away under their influence. Their is a subtle point in this which can be understood easily after a little thought. Those who were working to turn away others (from the Right Way) were present in the same society and were doing whatever they could openly and publicly. Therefore, there was no need to mention them by name. It was also useless to address them, for they were trying to turn away the people from the service of Allah, the One, and entrapping them for the service of others, and keeping them entrapped for selfish motives. Obviously, such people could not be made to see reason by argument, for it lay in their own interest not' to understand and see reason, and even after understanding they could hardly be inclined to sacrifice their interests. However, the condition of the common people who were being deceived and cheated, was certainly pitiable. They had no interest involved in the business; therefore, they could be convinced by reasoning and argument, and after a little understanding they could also see what advantages were being gained by those who were showing them the way to other deities, after turning them away from Allah. That is why the address has been directed to the common people, who were being misguided rather than those few who were misguiding them.