Verses 112–118
16. An-Nahl · The Bee
Makkan128 verses
وَضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلًۭا قَرْيَةًۭ كَانَتْ ءَامِنَةًۭ مُّطْمَئِنَّةًۭ يَأْتِيهَا رِزْقُهَا رَغَدًۭا مِّن كُلِّ مَكَانٍۢ فَكَفَرَتْ بِأَنْعُمِ ٱللَّهِ فَأَذَٰقَهَا ٱللَّهُ لِبَاسَ ٱلْجُوعِ وَٱلْخَوْفِ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَصْنَعُونَ
16:112Allah draws a parable: There was a town secure and peaceful, its provision coming abundantly from every place. But it was ungrateful toward Allah’s blessings. So Allah made it taste hunger and fear because of what they used to do.1
وَلَقَدْ جَآءَهُمْ رَسُولٌۭ مِّنْهُمْ فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَأَخَذَهُمُ ٱلْعَذَابُ وَهُمْ ظَٰلِمُونَ
16:113Certainly there had come to them an apostle from among themselves, but they impugned him. So the punishment seized them while they were doing wrong.
فَكُلُوا۟ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ حَلَٰلًۭا طَيِّبًۭا وَٱشْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ
16:114So eat out of what Allah has provided you as lawful and good, and give thanks for Allah’s blessing, if it is Him that you worship.
إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةَ وَٱلدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ ۖ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍۢ وَلَا عَادٍۢ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ
16:115He has forbidden you only carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been offered to other than Allah. But if someone is compelled [to eat any of that], without being rebellious or aggressive, indeed Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.2
وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ لِمَا تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ ٱلْكَذِبَ هَٰذَا حَلَٰلٌۭ وَهَٰذَا حَرَامٌۭ لِّتَفْتَرُوا۟ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ٱلْكَذِبَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ٱلْكَذِبَ لَا يُفْلِحُونَ
16:116Do not say, asserting falsely with your tongues, ‘This is lawful, and that is unlawful,’ attributing lies to Allah. Indeed those who attribute lies to Allah will not be felicitous.
مَتَٰعٌۭ قَلِيلٌۭ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ
16:117[Their share of the present life is] a trifling enjoyment, and there will be a painful punishment for them.
وَعَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ هَادُوا۟ حَرَّمْنَا مَا قَصَصْنَا عَلَيْكَ مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَمَا ظَلَمْنَٰهُمْ وَلَٰكِن كَانُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ
16:118We forbade to the Jews what We have recounted to you earlier, and We did not wrong them, but they used to wrong themselves.
Tafsir
Commentary on this passage
Verse 112
1.It is a principle of nature that Allah first shows His favour and demands thankfulness from man. Now if man becomes thankful to Allah it means he spends his bounties in the way of Allah and Allah gives him more bounties and if he becomes ungrateful of the bounties and spends by his own will Allah takes away the bounties and makes him suffer different kinds of chastisements. One kind of the chastisement is hunger and fear. The Holy Quran has stated about this in different chapters. The Holy Quran says: Sometimes Allah takes trial by hunger and fear. Sometimes the atheist will be punished by hunger and fear. Sometimes the worship of Allah, the Lord of Universe sustains us in hunger and gives us the provisions of safety in fear. The biggest problem of the present era is hunger and fear. This is the sign that a man has becomes ungrateful of and for this reason the chastisement has descended on him. If he starts praying to Allah and obeys His commands, surely this chastisement will disappear.
Footnotes
Explanations of words and phrases in these verses
- 1
Most of the commentators say that it denotes the Meccans because they were getting a good sustenance as a result of the prayers of Ibrahim (a.s.) but they became unbelievers and had to face hunger and terror in the hereafter.
Benefit: The word taste with clothing in 112th ayat indicates that as she was satisfied by food and dress the punishment has surrounded them. And in place of clothes and food there is hunger and fear. That hunger has become food and fear has become a dress, to escape which there is no other dress. If only those who prepare more food than needed could pay attention to this and obtain a lesson from it. Jidaal anin Nafs means to defend and to strive for Salvation.
- 2
This also includes the animals slaughtered for someone or something other than Allah. It also denotes those animals which cannot be slaughtered for the name of Allah, like dogs etc. Otherwise the holy ayat only mentions pig. In the items mentioned therein, the prohibition for some is natural and for other, ethical. Because Islam considers both the aspects. It is not concerned only with natural factors. Also, it should be clear that Jews were prohibited extra items as a punishment for their sins. A general principle cannot be derived from it, neither can it denote universal prohibition.