The Quran

Preface

وَاللَّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِن بُيوتِكُم سَكَنًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُم مِن جُلودِ الأَنعامِ بُيوتًا تَستَخِفّونَها يَومَ ظَعنِكُم وَيَومَ إِقامَتِكُم ۙ وَمِن أَصوافِها وَأَوبارِها وَأَشعارِها أَثاثًا وَمَتاعًا إِلىٰ حينٍ

Yusuf Ali

It is God Who made your habitations homes of rest and quiet¹ for you; and made for you, out of the skins of animals, (tents for) dwellings, which ye find so light (and handy) when ye travel and when ye stop (in your travels);² and out of their wool, and their soft fibres³ (between wool and hair), and their hair, rich stuff and articles of convenience (to serve you) for a time.⁴

Man’s social, intellectual, and spiritual gifts make, of his permanent dwellings, homes of rest and quiet, of refinement and the purer affections, which are the types, in this earthly life, of the highest spiritual Good, the Love of God. The pure home thus becomes the type of the highest spiritual destiny of man. And these capacities in man are the gifts of God.
When man travels, he wants temporary dwellings, tents, which he can make of the skins of animals, or of the fabrics of vegetable fibres, similar to the skins of animals. These tents are easy to carry when moving, and easy to pitch during halts.
Suf, wool, is what we get from sheep. Sha'r, hair, is what we get from goats or similar animals, for weaving into fabrics. Wabar is the soft camel’s hair of which, also, fabrics are woven: they may be considered intermediate between the other two: by extension and analogy the term may be applied to furs and such things, by way of illustration.
All such articles of refined luxury, and useful articles of comfort and convenience only last for awhile, but they must be considered God’s gifts (Cf. n. 3991).