Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:67
And from the fruits of the palm trees and grapevines you take intoxicant and good provision. Indeed in that is a sign for a people who reason.
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 mention, says: And for you, O people, there is also a lesson in what We give you to drink from the fruits of the date palms and the grapevines — namely that from which you prepare an intoxicating drink (sakaran) and good provision (rizqan ḥasanan) — alongside what We give you to drink from the bellies of the cattle, namely the milk that issues from between the dung and the blood. In His word وَمِنْ ثَمَرَاتِ النَّخِيلِ وَالأعْنَابِ (And from the fruits of the date palms and the grapevines) the noun has been omitted, and the meaning is what I have described: and from the fruits of the date palms and the grapevines that from which you prepare — by the indication of the word "from" (min), for "from" was inserted in the sentence as a partitive word, so that its indication and the hearers' knowledge of what it requires suffices for the mention of the noun thereby. And some of the grammarians of Basra said concerning the meaning of the sentence: and from the fruits of the date palms and the grapevines something from which you prepare an intoxicating drink; and they say: the pronominal h in His word تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ (from which you prepare) was mentioned because the "thing" was intended, and that, according to us, is a reference to the omitted, namely "that which" (mā). And His word تَتَّخِذُونَ (you prepare) is an adjectival qualification of the omitted "that which."
And the exegetes differed concerning the meaning of His word تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا (from which you prepare an intoxicating drink and good provision). Some said: by al-sakar (the intoxicating drink) wine is meant, and by al-rizq al-ḥasan (the good provision): dates and raisins. And they said: this verse was revealed before the prohibition of wine, and afterwards it was forbidden.
Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Muḥāribī related to me, he said: Ayyūb ibn Jābir al-Suḥaymī related to us, on the authority of al-Aswad, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: al-sakar is what is forbidden of its drink, and al-rizq al-ḥasan is what is permitted of its fruit.
Ibn Wakīʿ and Saʿīd ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Rāzī related to us, they said: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Qays, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: al-rizq al-ḥasan is what is permitted of their fruit, and al-sakar is what is forbidden of their fruit.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: his father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Aswad, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the same.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Qays, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, similarly.
Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Nuʿaym al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Qays, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, similarly.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Qays, he said: I heard a man who related on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning this verse تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: al-sakar is what is forbidden of the fruit of the two, and al-rizq al-ḥasan is what is permitted of the fruit of the two.
Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Qays, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, similarly.
Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ghassān related to us, he said: Zuhayr ibn Muʿāwiya related to us, he said: al-Aswad ibn Qays related to us, he said: ʿAmr ibn Sufyān related to me, he said: I heard Ibn ʿAbbās say — and this verse was mentioned in his presence وَمِنْ ثَمَرَاتِ النَّخِيلِ وَالأعْنَابِ تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: al-sakar is what is forbidden of the two, and al-rizq al-ḥasan is what is permitted of the two.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Sufyān informed us, on the authority of al-Aswad ibn Qays, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Sufyān al-Baṣrī, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning His word تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : as for al-rizq al-ḥasan: that is what is permitted of the fruit of the two; and as for al-sakar: that is what is forbidden of the fruit of the two.
Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: al-Ḥammānī informed us, he said: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of al-Aswad, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Sufyān al-Baṣrī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: al-sakar is the forbidden of it, and al-rizq al-ḥasan is the permitted of it.
Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: al-ʿAbbās ibn Abī Ṭālib informed us, he said: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of al-Aswad, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: al-sakar is what is forbidden of the fruit of the two, and al-rizq al-ḥasan is what is permitted of the fruit of the two.
Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: al-rizq al-ḥasan is the permitted, and al-sakar is the forbidden.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: what is forbidden of the fruit of the two, and what is permitted of the fruit of the two.
Aḥmad related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: al-sakar is wine, and al-rizq al-ḥasan is the permitted.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: his father related to us, on the authority of Masʿar and Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: al-rizq al-ḥasan is the permitted, and al-sakar is the forbidden.
Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, similarly.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning this verse تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: al-sakar is the forbidden, and al-rizq al-ḥasan is the permitted.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Abū Razīn, concerning تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: this was revealed while they were drinking wine, and this was before the descent of the prohibition of wine.
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm and al-Shaʿbī and Abū Razīn, they said: it is abrogated (mansūkh) regarding this verse تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا .
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, he said: Abū Qaṭan related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm and al-Shaʿbī and Abū Razīn, the same.
Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, he said: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning His word تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: it is abrogated — the prohibition of wine abrogated it.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Hawdha related to us, he said: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: Allah mentioned His favor with the intoxicating drink before the prohibition of wine.
Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, he said: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Manṣūr and ʿAwf, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: al-sakar is what Allah declared forbidden, and al-rizq is what Allah declared permitted.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: his father related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: al-rizq al-ḥasan is the permitted, and al-sakar is the forbidden.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: his father related to us, on the authority of Salama, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he said: al-rizq al-ḥasan is the permitted, and al-sakar is the forbidden.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Abū Kudayna Yaḥyā ibn al-Muhallab, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: al-sakar is the wine, and al-rizq al-ḥasan are the fresh dates and the grapes.
Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا : he said: that is the wine before its prohibition.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us; and al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl; all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا : he said: the wine before its prohibition. وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: food.
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, similarly.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word وَمِنْ ثَمَرَاتِ النَّخِيلِ وَالأعْنَابِ تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : as for al-sakar: those are the wines of the non-Arabs; and as for al-rizq al-ḥasan: that is that from which you set drink to ferment, and that which you prepare as vinegar, and that which you eat. And this verse was revealed while wine on that day was not yet forbidden; its prohibition came later in Sūrat al-Māʾida.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: ʿAbda ibn Sulaymān related to us, he said: I read aloud to Ibn Abī ʿUdhra, he said: thus I heard Qatāda, concerning تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا — then he mentioned similarly to the ḥadīth of Bishr.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning سَكَرًا : he said: those are the wines of the non-Arabs, and it is abrogated in Sūrat al-Māʾida. And al-rizq al-ḥasan: he said: that from which you set drink to ferment and prepare vinegar and eat.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning وَمِنْ ثَمَرَاتِ النَّخِيلِ وَالأعْنَابِ تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : by it he meant that the people used to call the wine sakaran, and they drank it. Ibn ʿAbbās said: men used to pass through the valley of al-Sukrān — the valley where Quraysh gathered when they welcomed their travelers who came from Syria — and they went out with them to escort them until they reached the valley of al-Sukrān, and then they returned from there. Then Allah named it wine (khamr) thereafter when it was forbidden. And Ibn ʿAbbās asserted that it was the wine, and he also asserted that the Ethiopians call vinegar sakaran. His word وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : by it he means: the permitted — the dates and the raisins, and what was permitted and did not cause intoxication.
And others said: al-sakar has the same status as wine with respect to the prohibition, but it is not wine; and they said: it is the steeping-water of dates and raisins when that has become strong and intoxicates the one who drinks it.
Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: al-Ḥakam ibn Bashīr related to us, he said: ʿAmr related to us, concerning His word وَمِنْ ثَمَرَاتِ النَّخِيلِ وَالأعْنَابِ تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : Ibn ʿAbbās said: this was before the descent of the prohibition of wine; and al-sakar is forbidden like the wine; and what is permitted of it: the raisins and the dates and the vinegar and the like.
Al-Muthannā and ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to us, they said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا : then Allah forbade thereafter — that is to say: after He had sent down in Sūrat al-Baqara the mention of the wine, gambling, the sacrificial altar-stones, and the divining arrows — al-sakar together with the prohibition of the wine, for it is of it. He said: وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : that is the permitted of vinegar and unfermented wine, and the like — Allah established that and made it permitted for the Muslims.
Aḥmad related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Mūsā, he said: I asked Murra about al-sakar, and he said: ʿAbd Allāh said: it is wine.
Aḥmad related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Farwa, on the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Layla, he said: al-sakar is wine.
Aḥmad related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū l-Haytham, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: al-sakar is wine.
Aḥmad related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm and Abū Razīn, they said: al-sakar is wine.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا : that is to say: what intoxicates from the grape and the date. وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : that is to say: the fruit of it.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: the permitted is what was in the permitted manner, until they changed it and made of it an intoxicating drink.
And others said: al-sakar is everything that is permitted to drink — such as permitted unfermented wine (nabīdh) and vinegar and fresh dates. And al-rizq al-ḥasan are the dates and the raisins.
Mention of who said that:
Dāwūd al-Wāsiṭī related to me, he said: Abū Usāma related to us; Abū Rawq related to us, he said: I said to al-Shaʿbī: what do you say concerning His word, the Exalted تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا : is this the intoxicating drink that the Nabataeans prepare? He said: no, that is wine; al-sakar that Allah, exalted is His mention, means, is the unfermented wine and the vinegar; and al-rizq al-ḥasan are the dates and the raisins.
Yaḥyā ibn Dāwūd related to me, he said: Abū Usāma related to us; and Mujālid was mentioned, on the authority of ʿĀmir, similarly.
Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to me, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Mandal related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا : he said: what they made from the date palm of unfermented wine, and al-rizq al-ḥasan: what they made from the raisins and the dates.
Aḥmad related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Mandal related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī: he said: I asked him: what do you prepare of it as an intoxicating drink? He said: one made of it unfermented wine and vinegar. I said: and the good provision? He said: one made of it dates and raisins.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: Abū Usāma and Aḥmad ibn Bashīr related to us, on the authority of Mujālid, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: al-sakar is the unfermented wine, and al-rizq al-ḥasan are the dates that are eaten. And on the basis of this interpretation the verse is not abrogated, but its ruling is in force.
And this interpretation, in my view, is the most correct concerning the interpretation of this verse. This is because al-sakar in the usage of the Arabs is used in four ways: the first: what intoxicates of drink; the second: what is eaten of food, as the poet said: "I made the faults of the noblest into sakar" — that is to say: into food; the third: rest (al-sukūn), from the word of the poet: "I made the eye of the heat rest"; and that we have expounded elsewhere; the fourth: the verbal noun of the verb sakira yaskaru sukran wa-sakran wa-sakaran.
When that is so, and when what intoxicates of drink is forbidden as we have demonstrated in our book named "Lāṭif al-qawl fī aḥkām sharāʾiʿ al-Islām"; and when it is not permissible for us to say that it is abrogated — for the abrogated is that which the abrogating ruling has removed, and when there is no possibility of the simultaneous operation of the ruling and its abrogation; and when there is in Allah's ruling of the prohibition of wine no proof that al-sakar — which is not the wine itself and is not what intoxicates of drink — is forbidden, since al-sakar according to its meaning among the Arabs and among those in whose language the Qurʾān was sent down is also everything that is eaten; and when, moreover, there is in the text itself no proof that it is abrogated, nor a narration from the Messenger ﷺ that it is abrogated, nor does the community agree upon it: then it is necessary to say what we have said — namely that the meaning of al-sakar in this place is: everything that is permitted to drink of what is prepared from the fruit of the date palm and the grapevine. And it is incorrect that its meaning is the wine or what intoxicates of drink, and it falls outside the possibility that its meaning is al-sakar itself — for al-sakar is not something that is prepared from the date palm and the grapevine; and outside the possibility that it has the meaning of al-sukūn (rest).
And His word إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ (Truly, in that is a sign for a people who understand) — that is to say: in what We have described to you, O people, of Our favors that We have bestowed upon you — the cattle, the date palm, and the grapevine — is a clear proof and a manifest sign for a people who understand the proofs of Allah and comprehend His admonitions, so that they may take heed.
