قَالُوا ادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا هِيَ ۚ قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لَّا فَارِضٌ وَلَا بِكْرٌ عَوَانٌ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ ۖ فَافْعَلُوا مَا تُؤْمَرُونَ
Qaalud'u lanaa rabbaka yubayyil lanaa maa hiya qaala innahoo yaqoolu innahaa baqaratul laa faaridunw wa laa bikrun 'awaanum bayna zaalika faf'aloo maa tu'maroon
They said, "Call upon your Lord for us, that he may make clear what kind of cow it is." He said, "God says it is a cow neither old nor young, but between the two. So do what you are commanded."
Each answer narrows what was open. The first question receives a cow between the two ages, which rules out both ends and leaves everything in the middle, and the closing instruction is only to do what was commanded. Commentators noted that the original command could have been satisfied by any cow, and that the specifications came into being through the asking.