Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:80
And Allah has made for you from your homes a place of rest and made for you from the hides of the animals tents which you find light on your day of travel and your day of encampment; and from their wool, fur and hair is furnishing and enjoyment for a time.
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 remembrance, says: وَاللَّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُمْ — and Allah has made for you, O people, مِنْ بُيُوتِكُمْ — of your houses that are made of stone and clay, سَكَنًا — a dwelling in which you find rest during the days that you reside in your dwellings and your cities. وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِنْ جُلُودِ الأنْعَامِ بُيُوتًا — and these are the tents of leather and the tent-cloths made from its hair, wool, and camel-hair. تَسْتَخِفُّونَهَا — He says: You find the carrying and moving of it light, يَوْمَ ظَعْنِكُمْ — when you set out from your cities and provinces for your journeys, وَيَوْمَ إِقَامَتِكُمْ — in your cities and provinces. وَمِنْ أَصْوَافِهَا وَأَوْبَارِهَا وَأَشْعَارِهَا أَثَاثًا .
And this accords with what we have said concerning the meaning of "al-sakan," according to the people of interpretation.
Those who said this:
Muhammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us; and al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdullāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ — all of them on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah مِنْ بُيُوتِكُمْ سَكَنًا : he said: so that you may dwell in them.
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 — the like of the above.
As for "al-ashʿār": it is the plural of shaʿr, with either heavy or light pronunciation of the ʿayn, and the singular of al-shaʿr is shaʿra. As for "al-athāth": it is the furnishings of the house, and no singular for it has been heard; in the absence of a singular it is like "al-matāʿ." It has been related from some of the grammarians that he used to say: the singular of al-athāth is athātha — but I have not seen the people of knowledge of the Arabic language acknowledge this.
As evidence that al-athāth is the furnishings (al-matāʿ), there serves the word of the poet:
"Has the caravan, on the day it departed, stirred you with that beautiful appearance of the furnishings?"
And it is also related: "with that beautiful adornment." And I hold that the origin of al-athāth is the joining together of one part of the furnishings with another until it becomes abundant — like dense hair (al-shaʿr al-athīth), that is, abundant, thickly-grown hair. One says of this: aththa shaʿru fulānin yaʾithu atthān: when it becomes abundant, dense, and joined together.
And this accords with what we have said about it, according to the people of interpretation.
Those who said this:
Muhammad 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 (athāthan): he means by al-athāth wealth (al-māl).
Muhammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us; and al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq informed us, saying: ʿAbdullāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ — all of them on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah (athāthan): he said: furnishings (matāʿan).
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 — the like of the above.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning (athāthan): he said: It is wealth.
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdullāh ibn Ḥarb al-Rāzī related to us, saying: Salama informed us, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, concerning His word (athāthan): he said: clothing.
And His word وَمَتَاعًا إِلَى حِينٍ — by this He means: He has appointed this for them as sufficient provision by which they may sustain themselves and find contentment until the time of their death. As Muhammad 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 وَمَتَاعًا إِلَى حِينٍ : he means: an adornment — he says: they derive benefit from it until an appointed time.
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَمَتَاعًا إِلَى حِينٍ : he said: until death.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَمَتَاعًا إِلَى حِينٍ : until an appointed term — a means of livelihood.
