Al-Qur'an Surah An-Nahl Verse 8

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And (He created) horses, mules and donkeys, so that you may ride on them, and they may give you a good look. And He creates what you do not know (as yet).

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

˹He also created˺ horses, mules, and donkeys for your transportation and adornment. And He creates what you do not know.

Ruwwad Translation Center

And horses, mules and donkeys for you to ride and for adornment, and He creates other things that you do not know.

A. J. Arberry

And horses, and mules, and asses, for you to ride, and as an adornment; and He creates what you know not.

Abdul Haleem

horses, mules, and donkeys for you to ride and use for show, and other things you know nothing about.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And He hath created horses and mules and asses that ye may ride there on, and as an adornment; and He createth that which ye know not.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And (He has created) horses, mules, and donkeys, for you to ride and use for show; and He has created (other) things of which ye have no knowledge.

Abul Ala Maududi

And He created horses and mules and asses for you to ride, and also for your adornment. And He creates many things (for you) that you do not even know about.

Ahmed Ali

He created horses, mules and donkeys for riding and for splendour. He created other things too which you do not know.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And horses, and mules, and donkeys so that you may ride them, and for adornment; and He will create what you do not know*. (* All modern means of transport – by air, sea, land and even in space – evidence this.)

Ali Quli Qarai

And horses, mules and asses, for you to ride them, and for pomp, and He creates what you do not know.

Ali Ünal

And horses, mules and donkeys (has He created for you) to ride, as well as for ornament (the loveliness they add to your world); and (besides all that you see and know of,) He creates what you have no knowledge of.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And (He has created) horses, mules and donkeys that you may ride them and look graceful. And He will yet create (for you) things of which (today) you have no knowledge.

English Literal

And the horses and the mules and the donkeys, (are) to ride it and decoration/beauty , and He creates what you do not know.

Faridul Haque

And horses, and mules, and donkeys so that you may ride them, and for adornment; and He will create what you do not know *. (* All modern means of transport - by air, sea, land and even in space - evidence this.)

Hamid S. Aziz

And horses too, and mules, and asses, for you to ride upon and for an ornament. He has creates also that which you know not.

Hilali & Khan

And (He has created) horses, mules and donkeys, for you to ride and as an adornment. And He creates (other) things of which you have no knowledge.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And they carry your heavy loads to regions which you could not reach but with distress to yourselves. Surely your Lord is Compassionate, Merciful.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And (He made) horses and mules and asses that you might ride upon them and as an ornament; and He creates what you do not know.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And horses and mules and asses (hath He created) that ye may ride them, and for ornament. And He createth that which ye know not.

Muhammad Sarwar

He created horses, mules, and donkeys for you to ride and as a means of beauty. He has also created things that you do not know.

Qaribullah & Darwish

(He has created for you) horses, mules, and donkeys, which you ride and as an adornment; and He creates what you do not know.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And (He has created) horses, mules and donkeys for you to ride, and as an adornment. And He creates (other) things of which you have no knowledge.

Wahiduddin Khan

He has created horses, mules and donkeys, so that you may ride them, and also so that they may be put on show, and He creates other things beyond your knowledge.

Talal Itani

And the horses, and the mules, and the donkeys—for you to ride, and for luxury. And He creates what you do not know.

Tafsir jalalayn

And, He created, horses and mules and asses, that you may ride them, and for adornment (wa-znatan is an object denoting reason; the use of both of these reasons [`to ride' and `for adornment'] as illustrations of [God's] graces does not preclude that they may have been created for other purposes, such as for consumption in the case of horses -- which is established [as lawful] by a hadth in both Sahhs [of Bukhr and Muslim]); and He creates what you do not know, of marvelous and strange things.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Allah says;

وَالْخَيْلَ وَالْبِغَالَ وَالْحَمِيرَ لِتَرْكَبُوهَا وَزِينَةً وَيَخْلُقُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ



And (He has created) horses, mules and donkeys for you to ride, and as an adornment. And He creates (other) things of which you have no knowledge.

This refers to another category of animals that Allah has created as a blessing for His servants; horses, mules and donkeys, all of which He made for riding and adornment. This is the main purpose for which these animals were created.

It was reported in the Two Sahihs that Jabir bin Abdullah said;

"The Messenger of Allah forbade us to eat the meat of domestic donkeys, but he allowed us to eat the meat of horses."

Imam Ahmad and Abu Dawud reported with two chains of narration, each of which meet the conditions of Muslim, that Jabir said;

"On the day of Khyber we slaughtered horses, mules and donkeys. The Messenger of Allah forbade us from eating the mules and donkeys, but he did not forbid us from eating the horses."

According to Sahih Muslim, Asma' bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said;

"At the time of the Messenger of Allah we slaughtered a horse and ate it when we were in Al-Madinah.