Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:14
And it is He who subjected the sea for you to eat from it tender meat and to extract from it ornaments which you wear. And you see the ships plowing through it, and [He subjected it] that you may seek of His bounty; and perhaps you will be grateful.
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.
Allah, exalted is His praise, says: The One who has performed these deeds for you and bestowed upon you, O people, these favours, is the One Who has made the sea subservient to you — and that is every river, whether of salt or of fresh water — لِتَأْكُلُوا مِنْهُ لَحْمًا طَرِيًّا — that is, the fish that is caught from it. وَتَسْتَخْرِجُوا مِنْهُ حِلْيَةً تَلْبَسُونَهَا — these are the pearl and the coral.
As al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq informed us, saying: Hishām informed us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word وَهُوَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ الْبَحْرَ لِتَأْكُلُوا مِنْهُ لَحْمًا طَرِيًّا — he said: from both of them together. وَتَسْتَخْرِجُوا مِنْهُ حِلْيَةً تَلْبَسُونَهَا — he said: that is the pearl.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning لِتَأْكُلُوا مِنْهُ لَحْمًا طَرِيًّا — he means the fish of the sea.
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq informed us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Yaḥyā, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Malik related to us, saying: a man came to Abū Jaʿfar and said: is zakāh to be paid on the jewellery of women? He said: no, it is as Allah the Exalted has said: حِلْيَةً تَلْبَسُونَهَا . وَتَرَى الْفُلْكَ — that is, the ships — مَوَاخِرَ فِيهِ — this is the plural of mākhira.
The exegetes of the Qurʾān differed concerning the interpretation of the word مَوَاخِرَ . Some said: al-mawākhir are al-mawāqir (the heavily laden ships).
* Mention of those who said that:
ʿAmr ibn Mūsā al-Qazzāz related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, saying: Yūnus related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word وَتَرَى الْفُلْكَ مَوَاخِرَ فِيهِ — he said: al-mawāqir (the heavily laden ships).
Others said — in what ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Aswad related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Rabīʿa related to us, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Aṣamm, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word وَتَرَى الْفُلْكَ مَوَاخِرَ فِيهِ : what the ship pushes aside of water on its right and on its left, that is al-mawākhir.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Abū Makīn, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word وَتَرَى الْفُلْكَ مَوَاخِرَ فِيهِ — he said: the ship does thus with the water, that is to say: it cleaves it.
Others said — in what Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ — concerning وَتَرَى الْفُلْكَ مَوَاخِرَ فِيهِ : they sail straight across through it.
Others said — in what Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَتَرَى الْفُلْكَ مَوَاخِرَ فِيهِ : the ship cleaves the winds, and only the great seafaring ships cleave the wind.
Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us; and al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudayfa informed us, saying: Shibil related to us; and al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us on the authority of Warqāʾ — all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — identically, except that al-Ḥārith in his narration said: and only the ships cleave the winds.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — identically.
Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning مَوَاخِرَ — he said: they cleave the wind.
Others said — in what Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَتَرَى الْفُلْكَ مَوَاخِرَ فِيهِ — they sail with a single wind, going and coming.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda — he said: going and coming with a single wind.
Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq informed us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Ibrāhīm, saying: I heard al-Ḥasan concerning وَتَرَى الْفُلْكَ مَوَاخِرَ فِيهِ — he said: going and coming with a single wind.
Al-makhr in Arabic means the sound of the blowing of the wind when it blows strongly; in this context it is the sound of the sailing of the ship through the wind when it blows powerfully, cleaving the water with its prow as it does so. One says: makharat al-safīna tamkharu makhran wa-mukhūran, wahiya mākhira. And one says: imtakhartu al-rīḥa wa-tamakhkhartuhā — when one looks from where it blows and catches the sound of its blowing. From this is the saying of Wāṣil, the freedman of Ibn ʿUyayna: they used to say: if one of you wishes to urinate, let him catch the wind (yatamakhkhara al-rīḥa) — meaning thereby: he should look from where it moves and blows so as to keep it at his back, so that the urine does not come back upon him.
By His word وَلِتَبْتَغُوا مِنْ فَضْلِهِ , Allah, exalted is His praise, says: and so that you may move about in seeking your livelihood through trade, He made this subservient to you.
As al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudayfa related to us, saying: Shibil related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَلِتَبْتَغُوا مِنْ فَضْلِهِ — he said: trade by land and by sea.
By His word وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ , Allah says: and so that you may be grateful to your Lord for what He has granted you therein, He made subservient to you what He made subservient to you of these matters which He has enumerated in these verses.
