Carrying and bedding is an apposition to gardens. That is: He created from the livestock what carries burdens and what is laid out for slaughter, or what is woven from its hair, wool, and fur. It is said: 'the carrying' refers to the large ones that are suitable for carrying, and 'the bedding' refers to the small ones like the young camels and goats, and sheep, because they are close to the ground due to their light bodies, similar to the bedding laid out upon it. And do not follow the footsteps of Satan in the matters of permissibility and prohibition from yourselves as the people of ignorance did. Eight pairs is a substitution for carrying and bedding, two pairs, meaning the male and the female, like the camel and the she-camel, the bull and the cow, the ram and the ewe, and the billy goat and the she-goat. The singular, if it is alone, is an individual, but if it is with another of its kind, each one of them is called a pair, and they are two pairs, as evidenced by His saying: 'He created the two pairs, the male and the female.' The evidence for this is in His saying: 'Eight pairs,' then He explained it by saying: 'Of the sheep, two, and of the goats, two, and of the camels, two, and of the cattle, two,' and similarly in naming the individual as a pair, on the condition that there is another of its kind with it: naming a bottle a cup on the condition that it contains wine. The sheep and the goats are plural forms of [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: dhani] and [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: ma'zi], like merchant and trade. It was read with an open 'ain. And it was read by Ubayy: 'And of the goats.' And it was read: 'two,' as a beginning. The hamzah in 'the two males' is for denial, and the intended males are the male of the sheep and the male of the goats. And the two females are the female of the sheep and the female of the goats, in terms of gender. The meaning is the denial that Allah, the Exalted, prohibits anything from the type of sheep, its males and females, nor from what the females of both genders carry, and likewise the males from the types of camels and cattle, and the females from them and what their females carry. This is because they used to prohibit the males of the livestock at times, and the females at times, and their offspring regardless of whether they were males or females, or mixed at times. They would say that Allah prohibited them, so He denied that upon them: 'Inform me with knowledge, tell me of a matter known from Allah that indicates the prohibition of what you have prohibited if you are truthful in that Allah has prohibited it, or were you witnesses?' The meaning of the hamzah is denial, meaning: 'Did you witness your Lord when He commanded you with this prohibition?' And mentioning witnessing is according to their doctrine, because they did not believe in the Messenger while they said: 'Allah prohibited that which we prohibit,' so He mocked them in His saying: 'Or were you witnesses?' meaning: 'Did you know the recommendation with witnessing, since you do not believe in the Messengers?' So who is more unjust than one who fabricates lies against Allah, attributing to Him the prohibition of what He has not prohibited to mislead the people? It is 'Amr ibn Luhay ibn Qama' who made the sea animals sacred and released the sacrificial animals.