Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:10
It is He who sends down rain from the sky; from it is drink and from it is foliage in which you pasture [animals].
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Allāh, the Exalted, says: He Who has bestowed upon you these blessings and created for you the cattle, the horses, and all the other animals for your benefit and advantage — He is the Lord Who has sent down water from the sky, that is to say: rain, from which you have a drink to drink, and from which comes the nourishment for your trees and the life and growth of your crops. فِيهِ تُسِيمُونَ — He says: In the trees that grow by the water sent down from the sky, you let (the cattle) graze (tarʿawna). One says: So-and-so let his camels graze (asāma fulān ibilahu yusīmuhā isāmatan), when he lets them pasture; and also sāmahā (he let them pasture), and sāmat hiya (she grazed by herself), so that she is tūm (grazing) and they are the sāʾima-cattle (grazing cattle). Hence the free-ranging cattle in the plain and elsewhere for grazing is called sāʾima. Some have related the word al-sawm in commerce to this, and said that it means the free movement of each of the two trading parties to seek what is due to them in raising or lowering the price, just as the grazing cattle goes where it wishes in its pasture. Hence the saying of al-Aʿshā: "The people set out with provisions to the pasture, but the herdsman grew weary: where is the driving direction?" In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes also spoke.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us on the authority of al-Naḍr ibn ʿArabī, on the authority of ʿIkrima — وَمِنْهُ شَجَرٌ فِيهِ تُسِيمُونَ : he said: You let (the cattle) graze (tarʿawna). Aḥmad ibn Suhayl al-Wāsiṭī related to us on the authority of al-Naḍr ibn ʿArabī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word فِيهِ تُسِيمُونَ : he said: You let (them) graze. Ibn Wakīʿ related to us on the authority of his father, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: You let (them) graze. Mujāhid said: You let (them) graze. Al-Qāsim related to us on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning فِيهِ تُسِيمُونَ : You let (them) graze. Ibn Wakīʿ related to us on the authority of Abū Muʿāwiya and Abū Khālid, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: Therein you let (them) graze. On the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning تُسِيمُونَ : he says: You let your cattle graze. Ibn Wakīʿ related to us on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abzā: Therein you let (them) graze. Bishr related to us on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda — concerning شَجَرٌ فِيهِ تُسِيمُونَ : he says: You let (them) graze. Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: You let (them) graze. Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to us on the authority of Qatāda: You let (them) graze. Yūnus related to me: Ibn Wahb reports: Ibn Zayd said concerning وَمِنْهُ شَجَرٌ فِيهِ تُسِيمُونَ : You let (them) graze. He said: Al-isāma is the pasturing (al-riʿya). And the poet said: "Like Ibn Bazʿa or another such as him — woe to you, O son of the woman who pastures camels." He said: O son of the driver of camels.
