13 ἓξ δὲ ἡμέραις δημιουργηθῆναι φησιλέγω τὸν κόσμον, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ προσεδεῖτοπροσδέομαι χρόνων μήκους ὁ ποιῶν ἅμα γὰρ πάντα δρᾶν εἰκὸς θεόν, οὐ προστάττοντα μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ διανοούμενον ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ τοῖς γινομένοισγίνομαι ἔδει τάξεως. τάξει δὲ ἀριθμὸς οἰκεῖον, ἀριθμῶν δὲ φύσεως νόμοις γεννητικώτατος ὁ ἕξ· τῶν τε γὰρ ἀπὸ μονάδος πρῶτος τέλειόστέλεος ἐστιν ἰσούμενος τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μέρεσι καὶ συμπληρούμενος ἐξ αὐτῶν, ἡμίσους μὲν τριάδος, τρίτου δὲ δυάδος, ἕκτου δὲ μονάδος, καὶ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖνλέγω ἄρρηνἄρρην τε καὶ θῆλυς εἶναι πέφυκε κἀκκαί τῆς ἑκατέρου δυνάμεως ἥρμοσται· ἄρρενἄρρην μὲν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς οὖσι τὸ περιττόν, τὸ δ᾽ ἄρτιον θῆλυ· περιττῶν μὲν οὖν ἀριθμῶν ἀρχὴ τριάς, δυὰς δ᾽ ἀρτίων, ἡ δ᾽ ἀμφοῖν δύναμις ἑξάς. 14 ἔδει γὰρ τὸν κόσμον τελειότατοντέλεος μὲν ὄντα τῶν γεγονότωνγίνομαι κατ᾽ ἀριθμὸν τέλειοντέλεος παγῆναι τὸν ἕξ, ἐν ἑαυτῷ δ᾽ ἔχειν μέλλοντα τὰς ἐκ συνδυασμοῦ γενέσεις πρὸς μικτὸν ἀριθμὸν τὸν πρῶτον ἀρτιοπέριττον τυπωθῆναι, περιέξοντα καὶ τὴν τοῦ σπείροντος ἄρρενοσἄρρην καὶ τὴν τοῦ ὑποδεχομένου τὰς γονὰς θήλεος ἰδέαν.
Der Koran teilt mit der jüdischen und christlichen Tradition die Vorstellung, dass Gott die Welt in sechs Tagen erschaffen habe. Dieser Gedanke findet sich nicht nur in Genesis und Exodus (vgl. TUK_1112), sondern, wie der vorliegende Text und andere (TUK_1113, TUK_1115) exemplarisch zeigen, auch in der späteren Literatur.
13 III. And he [Moses] says that the world was made in six days, not because the Creator stood in need of a length of time (for it is natural that God should do everything at once, not merely by uttering a command, but by even thinking of it); but because the things created required arrangement; and number is akin to arrangement; and, of all numbers, six is, by the laws of nature, the most productive: for of all the numbers, from the unit upwards, it is the first perfect one, being made equal to its parts, and being made complete by them; the number three being half of it, and the number two a third of it, and the unit a sixth of it, and, so to say, it is formed so as to be both male and female, and is made up of the power of both natures; for in existing things the odd number is the male, and the even number is the female; accordingly, of odd numbers the first is the number three, and of even numbers the first is two, and the two numbers multiplied together make six. 14 It was fitting therefore, that the world, being the most perfect of created things, should be made according to the perfect number, namely, six: and, as it was to have in it the causes of both, which arise from combination, that it should be formed according to a mixed number, the first combination of odd and even numbers, since it was to embrace the character both of the male who sows the seed, and of the female who receives it.