طَيِّبَٰتِ

7:161.

7:161; 20:81.

Important Words:

من (Manna). The infinitive من signifies bestowing favour on or doing good to. They say من علیه i.e. he bestowed a favour on him without his labouring for it. من means: (1) a favour; (2) anything obtained without trouble or difficulty; (3) honey-dew (Aqrab).

سلوی (Salwa) is derived from سلا. They say سلا عن الشیء i.e. he was satisfied with it سلاه عن الشیء means, he satisfied him with it; he removed his grief and worry through it. سلوی is (1) a whitish bird resembling a quail and found in some parts of Arabia and the neighbouring countries. It also means, (2) whatever renders a person contented and happy; (3) honey (Aqrab).

Commentary:

As the Israelites were camping in hot and open country, God speaks of the clouds having been sent to give them shade. We learn from Exod. 40:34-38, that clouds spread and shaded the spot where the Israelites encamped, and that they dispersed on the day when it was time for them to resume their journey. But the verse under comment shows that the clouds meant not only shadow but also rainfall because, firstly, it is rain-clouds that are generally dark and dense; and, secondly, along with the "clouds," the Quran also mentions two eatables, Manna and Salwa, which served as complement to the favour mentioned in the shadowing clouds. In fact, there was scarcity of both water and food in that arid country, and God used to quench their thirst by sending clouds, and satisfy their hunger by providing Manna and Salwa. And, no wonder, for God shows special favours to His servants in order to remove their difficulties and promote their comfort.

The sending down of Manna and Salwa has been mentioned in Exod. 16:11-15, where we read: "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God. And it came to pass that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat."

When the children of Israel got no food in the wilderness and death stared them in the face, they began to murmur against Moses and Aaron. They said to them: "Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger" (Exod. 16:3). These murmurings of the Israelites were answered in the passage quoted above.

The Holy Prophet refers to the Manna bestowed on the Israelites in the following, hadith. Says he: "The mushroom is one of the things included in the Manna, and the sap of it heals the eye" (Bukhari). He is also reported to have said: "The mushroom is among the things which God bestowed upon Moses, as a free gift" (Muhit). This shows that God provided the Israelites with a number of things in the wilderness, sometimes with one thing and sometimes with another.

The verse does not mention how the Israelites "wronged themselves". But as God speaks here of the favours bestowed upon them, it is evident that they wronged themselves by showing ingratitude and by murmuring and complaining of their lot in spite of God’s special favours. By doing so, however, they did no harm to God or His Messenger, but only harmed their own souls.

5:6; 16:115; 23:52; 40:65.

Commentary:

The injunction contained in the words, "eat of طیبات i.e. good, pure and wholesome things", indicates that Muslims are not allowed to use things which may, in any way, injure their physical or moral or spiritual health, though they may be حلال i.e. allowed by Law. The injunction is thus very important and far-reaching in its effect. The words, We have provided for you, further imply that Muslims are also not allowed to make use of things acquired by unfair and unlawful means. Only the things bestowed by God, i.e. those lawfully earned, are to be used.

Important Words:

تیمموا (seek) is derived from یم or ام. They say یمه i.e. he sought it. یمم فلانابرمح means, he sought and singled out that person for attacking with his spear. تیمم الامر means, he sought and singled out the affair. تیمم للصلوة means, he performed what is termed تیمم for his Prayers, i.e. instead of performing the prescribed ablution with water he sought dust and touching it with his hands passed them over his face, etc. (Aqrab & Mufradat).

خبیث (bad) is derived from خبث i.e. he or it was or became bad or foul or abominable or wicked or filthy or impure (Lane).

تغمضوا (connive) is derived from اغمض which again is derived from غمض i.e. it became hidden and concealed. غمض فی الکلامmeans, he made his speech obscure, and abstained from making it clear in meaning. اغمض means, he closed, or shut his eyes; he connived at something so as to practically treat it as something unseen or hidden. اغمض فی البیع means, he demanded a lowering of the price of a thing owing to its badness. اغمض عنه فی البیع means, he connived at the bad quality of the thing and was not strict settling its price (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The verse implies that believers should not only spend in the cause of Allah but should spend what is good and pure; for even a lawfully-earned property might include things that are bad. They should not deliberately select worthless and worn out things for the purpose of charity. Old and second-hand things may indeed be given to the poor, but such things should not be specially selected or singled out for this purpose. Indeed, a believer can be said to have properly discharged his duty for "spending" in the cause of Allah only if he spends "good things".

10:60.

Commentary:

Just as the making of a forbidden thing lawful is an act of excess and transgression, similarly the declaring of a good and lawful thing to be unlawful, or practically treating it as such, is an act of sin. Both these acts are acts of transgression. The verse may have a figurative sense also. In this case the expression, make not unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful for you, would mean "do not shut the door of God’s favours on yourselves by rejecting the Prophet of Islam".

5:13.

2:61.

2:58; 20:81.

Commentary:

See notes on 2:58 & 61.

The words, And they wronged Us not, mean that they did not harm the cause of the religion revealed by God

2:58; 7:161.

Important Words:

فیحل (lest it descend) is formed from حل. They say حل بالقوم i.e. he alighted or descended and stopped at or in the abode of the people.

حل الدین means, the time of the payment of the debt has ended i.e. its payment has become due.

یحل علیکم غضبی means, lest My wrath befall you; lest it become due to you i.e. lest it overtake you at once (Lane & Aqrab). See also 2:169.

ھوی (shall perish). ھویالشیء means, the thing fell from a high to a low place; it rose and descended. According to some الھوی (alhawiyyu) is used for going up and الھوی (alhuwiyyu) for going down. ھوت الام means, the mother died; or may his mother die (Aqrab).

Commentary:

At three places in the Quran the sending down of manna and salwa has been mentioned; viz. in the present verse and in vv. 2:58 and 7:161 and at all these three places the fact has been followed by the injunction, 'Eat of the good things that We have provided for you'. This shows that whereas the food which was provided to the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai was wholesome, palatable and good in taste; it consisted not of one but of several things, من (truffle) and سلوی (quails) forming the major part of them.

The injunction in the words "And transgress not therein" contained a warning to the Israelites that as they had been provided with food in abundance in the wilderness without much labour on their part and purely as an act of God’s grace, they should not misuse this divine gift, the powerful and the influential among them hoarding it for themselves and depriving the poor and the weak of their due share.