16أَمِ اتَّخَذَ مِمّا يَخلُقُ بَناتٍ وَأَصفاكُم بِالبَنينَMuhammad AsadOr [do you think], perchance, that out of all His creation He has chosen for Himself daughters, and favoured you with sons?1It should be remembered that the people thus addressed were the pagan Arabs, who believed that some of their goddesses, as well as the angels, were "God's daughters". In view of the fact that those pre-Islamic Arabs regarded daughters as a mere liability and their birth as a disgrace, this verse is obviously ironical. (Cf. in this connection 16:57-59.)