Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:68
And your Lord inspired to the bee, "Take for yourself among the mountains, houses, and among the trees and [in] that which they construct.
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 your Lord, O Muḥammad, inspired the bees through revelation to them: أَنِ اتَّخِذِي مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا وَمِنَ الشَّجَرِ وَمِمَّا يَعْرِشُونَ (Take from the mountains houses, and from the trees, and from that which they build up on stakes) — that is to say: from what they build as roofs and have raised up by building.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said that:
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Marwān related to us, on the authority of Isḥāq al-Tamīmī — this is Ibn Abī l-Ṣabāḥ — on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَأَوْحَى رَبُّكَ إِلَى النَّحْلِ (And your Lord revealed to the bees): he said: He inspired them with inspiration (alhamahā ilhāman).
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, saying: it reached me concerning His word وَأَوْحَى رَبُّكَ إِلَى النَّحْلِ : he said: He cast it into their souls (qadhafa fī anfusihā).
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Sufyān related to me, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of his fellow scholars, concerning His word وَأَوْحَى رَبُّكَ إِلَى النَّحْلِ : he said: He cast it into their souls that they should take houses from the mountains.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word وَأَوْحَى رَبُّكَ إِلَى النَّحْلِ ... the verse: he said: He commanded them to eat of the fruits, and He commanded them to follow the ways of their Lord, submissively.
And We have already set forth the meaning of revelation (al-waḥy) and the disagreements of those who differed about it in what preceded, with its proofs, so that there is no need to repeat it here. Likewise the meaning of His word يَعْرِشُونَ .
And Ibn Zayd said concerning the meaning of yaʿrishūna, as Yūnus related to me: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word يَعْرِشُونَ : he said: the grapevine (al-karm).
