Quran Universe
16:72

وَٱللَّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنۡ أَنفُسِكُمۡ أَزۡوَٰجٗا وَجَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنۡ أَزۡوَٰجِكُم بَنِينَ وَحَفَدَةٗ وَرَزَقَكُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِۚ أَفَبِٱلۡبَٰطِلِ يُؤۡمِنُونَ وَبِنِعۡمَتِ ٱللَّهِ هُمۡ يَكۡفُرُونَ

WaAllahu jaAAala lakum min anfusikum azwajan wajaAAala lakum min azwajikum baneena wahafadatan warazaqakum mina alttayyibati afabialbatili yuminoona wabiniAAmati Allahi hum yakfuroona

And Allah has made for you from yourselves mates and has made for you from your mates sons and grandchildren and has provided for you from the good things. Then in falsehood do they believe and in the favor of Allah they disbelieve?

Word by word
  1. وَٱللَّهُAnd Allah
  2. جَعَلَ(has) made
  3. لَكُمfor you
  4. مِّنۡfrom
  5. أَنفُسِكُمۡyourselves
  6. أَزۡوَٰجٗاspouses
  7. وَجَعَلَand has made
  8. لَكُمfor you
  9. مِّنۡfrom
  10. أَزۡوَٰجِكُمyour spouses
  11. بَنِينَsons
  12. وَحَفَدَةٗand grandsons
  13. وَرَزَقَكُمand has provided for you
  14. مِّنَfrom
  15. ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِۚthe good things
  16. أَفَبِٱلۡبَٰطِلِThen in falsehood do
  17. يُؤۡمِنُونَthey believe
  18. وَبِنِعۡمَتِand the Favor
  19. ٱللَّهِof Allah
  20. هُمۡthey
  21. يَكۡفُرُونَdisbelieve
An-Nahl · 16:72Makkah

Spouse, children, grandchildren, food. Then who gets the credit?

The family around your table is a favor

What He made for you
spousesof your own kind
children
grandchildrenchildren's children
good foodand drink
Where the thanks goes
credited to othersfalse things believed in
the favor of Allahnamed as His

Ibn Kathir explains that mates were made of our own kind so there could be harmony, love and mercy. Children and grandchildren follow. The verse then asks how people could thank false gods for all this. He cites a hadith that on the Day, Allah will remind a servant: did I not give you a spouse?

Eid lunch. Your spouse laughing in the kitchen, the kids fighting over the last samosa, your mother holding the baby. You think, I worked hard for this. You did. And every face at that table was given.

My family is the result of my choices and my effort.

My spouse, my children, the food on the table are favors from Allah first.

Try this

Tell one family member today, out loud, that you are grateful to Allah for them.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

And Allah has made for you mates of your own kind, and has made for you, from your mates, sons and grandsons, and has granted you good provisions. Do they then believe in false deities and deny favor of Allah (72)

Among His Blessings and Signs are Mates, Children and Grandchildren

Allah mentions the blessing He has bestowed upon His servant by giving them mates from among themselves, mates of their own kind. If He had given them mates of another kind, there would be no harmony, love and mercy between them. But out of His mercy He has made the Children of Adam male and female, and has made the females wives or mates for the males. Then Allah mentions that from these wives He creates children and grandchildren, one's children's children. This was the opinion of Ibn 'Abbas, 'Ikrimah, Al-Hasan, Ad-Dahhak and Ibn Zayd.

Shu'bah said, narrating from Abu Bishr from Sa'id bin Jubayr from Ibn 'Abbas: "Children and grandchildren, who are one's children and one's children's children." It was also said that this means servants and helpers, or it means sons-in-law or in-laws. I say: if we understand

وَحَفَدَةً 

(grandsons) to refer back to wives, then it must mean children, children's children, and sons-in-law, because they are the husbands of one's daughter or the children of one's wife.

وَرَزَقَكُم مِّنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ

(and has granted you good provisions.) meaning your food and drink. Then Allah denounces those who associate others in worship with the One Who bestows blessings on them:

أَفَبِالْبَاطِلِ يُؤْمِنُونَ

(Do they then believe in false deities), meaning idols and rivals to Allah

وَبِنِعْمَتِ اللَّهِ هُمْ يَكْفُرُونَ

(and deny the favor of Allah?) meaning, by concealing the blessings that Allah has given them and attributing them to others. According to a Sahih Hadith, the Prophet ﷺ said:

إِنَّ اللهَ يَقُولُ لِلْعَبْدِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مُمْتَنًّا عَلَيْهِ: أَلَمْ أُزَوِّجْكَ؟ أَلَمْ أُكْرِمْكَ؟ أَلَمْ أُسَخِّرْ لَكَ الْخَيْلَ وَالْإِبِلَ، وَأَذَرْكَ تَرْأَسُ وَتَرْبَعُ؟

(Allah will say to His servant on the Day of Resurrection, reminding him of His blessings: "Did I not give you a wife? Did I not honor you? Did I not subject horses and camels to your use, and cause you to occupy a position of leadership and honor?")