Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:57
And We shaded you with clouds and sent down to you manna and quails, [saying], "Eat from the good things with which We have provided you." And they wronged Us not - but they were [only] wronging themselves.
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.
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَظَلَّلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْغَمَامَ (And We shaded you with the cloud)
(And We shaded you with the cloud) — this is connected (ʿaṭf) with His word: ثُمَّ بَعَثْنَاكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَوْتِكُمْ (Then We raised you up after your death). So the meaning of the verse is: then We raised you up after your death, and We shaded you with the cloud — and He enumerates for them the remaining favors that He bestowed upon them — that you might be grateful.
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And "al-ghamām" (the cloud) is the plural of "ghamāma," just as "saḥāb" (clouds) is the plural of "saḥāba." And "al-ghamām" is that which covers the sky and envelops it of clouds, dust, and the like, and which conceals it from the eyes of the beholders. Everything that is covered, the Arabs call "maghmūm" (overcast).
* * *
Some have said: the cloud with which Allah shaded the children of Israel was not an ordinary cloud (saḥāb).
962 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Ahwāzī related to me, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: (And We shaded you with the cloud), he said: it was not an ordinary cloud.
963 — And al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: (And We shaded you with the cloud), he said: it was not an ordinary cloud; it is the cloud in which Allah will come on the Day of Resurrection, and it was there only for them.
964 — And Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr al-Bāhilī 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 the saying of Allah, exalted be His praise: (And We shaded you with the cloud), he said: it was like an ordinary cloud.
965 — And al-Qāsim ibn al-Ḥasan related to me, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning (And We shaded you with the cloud): it is a cloud, cooler than this one and more pleasant, and it is that in which Allah, Mighty and Exalted, will come on the Day of Resurrection, in His word: فِي ظُلَلٍ مِنَ الْغَمَامِ [Al-Baqarah: 210] (in shades of clouds), and it is that in which the angels came on the day of Badr. Ibn ʿAbbās said: and it was with them in the wilderness (al-tīh).
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And since the meaning of "al-ghamām" is that which we have described — namely, that which covers the sky and veils its surface from whoever beholds it — that with which Allah, Mighty and Exalted, shaded the children of Israel — and which He described as being "ghamām" — is, by that description, no more an ordinary cloud than it would be something else of that which envelops the surface of the sky.
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And it has been said: it is that part of the clouds which is white.
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The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَأَنْزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَنَّ (And We sent down the manna upon you)
The exegetes differ concerning the nature of "al-mann" (the manna). Some have said what follows here:
966 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related this 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 the saying of Allah, Mighty and Exalted: (And We sent down the manna upon you), he said: the manna is a resin (ṣamgha).
967 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
968 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (And We sent down the manna and the quails upon you), he says: the manna used to descend upon them like snow.
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And others said: it is a drink.
* Mention of who said that:
969 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, he said: the manna is a drink that used to descend upon them like honey, which they mixed with water and then drank.
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And others said: "al-mann" is honey.
* Mention of who said that:
970 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: the manna is honey that used to descend upon them from the sky.
971 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of ʿĀmir, he said: this honey of yours is one part of seventy parts of the manna.
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And others said: "al-mann" is thin bread.
* Mention of who said that:
972 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to me, saying: I heard Wahb — when he was asked: what is the manna? — saying: thin bread, like millet, and like fine flour.
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And others said: "al-mann" is ginger (al-zanjabīl).
* Mention of who said that:
973 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: the manna used to fall upon the ginger plant.
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And others said: "al-mann" is that which falls upon the trees and which the people eat.
* Mention of who said that:
974 — Al-Qāsim related to me, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: the manna used to descend upon their trees, and they would go out to it in the morning and eat of it what they wished.
975 — And al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Mujālid, on the authority of ʿĀmir, concerning His word: (And We sent down the manna upon you), he said: the manna is that which falls upon the trees.
976 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Minjāb ibn al-Ḥārith, he said: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra related to us, on the authority of Abī Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (the manna), he said: the manna is that which descends from the sky upon the trees and which the people eat.
977 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Mujālid, on the authority of ʿĀmir, he said: the manna is this which falls upon the trees.
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And it has been said: "al-mann" is al-taranjabīn (manna-resin).
* * *
And some said: "al-mann" is that which falls upon the thumām grass and the ʿushar plant, and it is sweet like honey. And it is this that al-Aʿshā — Maymūn ibn Qays — meant by his words:
Had they in their place eaten of the manna and the quails, the people would not have beheld among them a satisfying, thriving food.
And the reports of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ mutually support one another that he ﷺ said:
978 — "The truffle is part of the manna, and its juice is a healing for the eye."
And some said: "al-mann" is a sweet drink which they used to cook and then drink.
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As for Umayya ibn Abī al-Ṣalt, he made it in his poetry to be honey, and said, describing their situation in the wilderness and what was bestowed upon them therein:
Then Allah saw that they were in a desolate place, not in a land of tillage, nor inhabited.
So He drove morning clouds over them, and He had the rain-clouds milked for them like milk-rich she-camels,
dripping honey and sweet, fresh water, and lustrous milk, clear and pure.
"Al-mathmūr" is the clear milk. Thus he made the manna that descended upon them to be dripping honey; and "al-nāṭif" is that which drips.
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The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَالسَّلْوَى (and the quails)
Abū Jaʿfar said: and "al-salwā" is the name of a bird that resembles the quail (al-sumānā); the singular and the plural have the same form. Likewise, with "al-sumānā" the form of the plural and the singular is the same. And it has been said that the singular of "al-salwā" is "salwāt."
* Mention of who said that:
979 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to me, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a report that he mentioned on the authority of Abī Mālik, and on the authority of Abī Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and on the authority of Murra al-Hamdānī, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and on the authority of a number of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ: the salwā is a bird that resembles the quail.
980 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: it was a bird larger than the quail.
981 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: the salwā is a bird that the south wind used to drive together upon them.
982 — 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, he said: the salwā is a bird.
983 — 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: the salwā is a bird.
984 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to me, saying: I heard Wahb — when he was asked: what is the salwā? — saying: a fat bird, like the dove.
985 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: the salwā is a bird.
986 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas: the salwā was a bird that came to them, like the quail.
987 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Mujālid, on the authority of ʿĀmir, he said: the salwā is the quail.
988 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Minjāb, he said: Bishr related to us, on the authority of Abī Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the salwā, that is the quail.
989 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad informed us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Mujālid, on the authority of ʿĀmir, he said: the salwā is the quail.
990 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Qurra related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he said: the quail is the salwā.
* * *
And if a questioner asks: what was the reason for Allah, exalted be His praise, shading them with the cloud, and for sending down the manna and the quails upon this people?
Then it is said: the people of knowledge differ concerning that. We shall mention what is before us of that:
991 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ ibn Naṣr related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: when Allah turned with forgiveness to the people of Mūsā, and brought back to life the seventy whom Mūsā had chosen after He had caused them to die, Allah commanded them to march toward Jericho (Arīḥā) — and that is the land of Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis). They marched on, until, when they were near it, [Mūsā] sent twelve chiefs. And what befell them, and the tyrants (al-jabbārīn), and the people of Mūsā, is that which Allah has recounted in His Book. The people of Mūsā said to Mūsā: (Go you and your Lord, and fight, both of you; we remain sitting here). Then Mūsā became angry and cried out against them, and said: رَبِّ إِنِّي لَا أَمْلِكُ إِلَّا نَفْسِي وَأَخِي فَافْرُقْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ (My Lord, I have power over none but myself and my brother; so separate between us and the rebellious people). This was a haste (ʿajla) that Mūsā committed, and Allah, the Exalted, said: (Verily, it is forbidden to them for forty years; they shall wander about in the land). When the wandering was imposed upon them, Mūsā regretted it, and his people who used to obey him came to him and said to him: what have you done to us, O Mūsā? When he felt regret, Allah revealed to him: do not grieve over the rebellious people — that is to say: do not be saddened over the people whom you have named rebellious — and he did not grieve. Then they said: O Mūsā, how shall we obtain water here? Where is the food? Then Allah sent down upon them the manna — which used to fall upon the taranjabīn plant — and the salwā — and that is a bird that resembles the quail. One of them would come and look at the bird: if it was fat, he would slaughter it, and if not, he would let it go, and when it became fat, it would come back to him. Then they said: this is the food, but where is the drink? Then Mūsā was commanded, and he struck the rock with his staff, and from it gushed forth twelve springs, and each tribe drank from a spring. Then they said: this is the food and the drink, but where is the shade? Then He shaded them with the cloud. Then they said: this is the shade, but where is the clothing? Then their garments used to grow with them as they grow with children, and no garment wore out for them. That is His word: (And We shaded you with the cloud and sent down the manna and the quails upon you), and His word: وَإِذِ اسْتَسْقَى مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ فَقُلْنَا اضْرِبْ بِعَصَاكَ الْحَجَرَ فَانْفَجَرَتْ مِنْهُ اثْنَتَا عَشْرَةَ عَيْنًا قَدْ عَلِمَ كُلُّ أُنَاسٍ مَشْرَبَهُمْ [Al-Baqarah: 60] (And when Mūsā asked for water for his people, and We said: strike the rock with your staff, and from it gushed forth twelve springs; each group of people knew their drinking-place).
992 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, he said: when Allah, Mighty and Exalted, turned with forgiveness to the children of Israel, and commanded Mūsā to lift the sword from them on account of the worship of the calf, He commanded Mūsā to march with them to the holy land, and He said: verily, I have prescribed it for you as a dwelling, an abode, and a habitation, so march to it, and fight the enemy that is in it, for I shall help you against them. So Mūsā marched with them to the holy land, by the command of Allah, Mighty and Exalted. Until, when he descended into the wilderness (al-tīh) — between Egypt and Syria, and it is a land in which there is no shelter nor shade — Mūsā prayed to his Lord, when the heat tormented them, and He shaded them with the cloud; and he prayed for them for sustenance, and Allah sent down for them the manna and the quails.
993 — Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas —
994 — And it was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His word: وَظَلَّلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْغَمَامَ (And We shaded you with the cloud), he said: the cloud shaded them in the wilderness; they wandered about over an area of five or six farsakhs. Whenever they arose in the morning, they would set out in the morning, and when evening came, they found themselves in the same place from which they had departed. Thus they were for forty years. He said: and during all of that the manna and the quails descended upon them, and their garments did not wear out. And they had with them a stone from the stones of the mountain al-Ṭūr, which they carried with them; and when they encamped, Mūsā struck it with his staff, and from it gushed forth twelve springs.
995 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to me, saying: I heard Wahb say: verily, the children of Israel — when Allah forbade them to enter the holy land for forty years during which they wandered about in the land — complained to Mūsā and said: what shall we eat? He said: verily, Allah will bring you what you eat. They said: from where, unless He rains bread upon us! He said: verily, Allah, Mighty and Exalted, will send down baked bread upon you. And so the manna descended upon them — Wahb was asked: what is the manna? He said: thin bread, like millet or like fine flour. They said: and what shall we have as a relish? Can we do without meat? He said: verily, Allah will bring it to you. They said: from where, unless the wind brings it to us! He said: verily, the wind will bring it to you. And so the wind brought them the quails — and Wahb was asked: what is the salwā? He said: a fat bird, like the dove — which was brought to them, and they took of it from Sabbath to Sabbath. They said: and what shall we wear? He said: no garment shall wear out for any of you for forty years. They said: and what footwear shall we have? He said: no sandal-strap shall break for any of you for forty years. They said: and if children are born among us, with what shall we clothe them? He said: the garment of the small child grows with him. They said: and from where shall water come for us? He said: Allah will bring it to you. They said: and from where, unless it comes forth for us from the rock! Then Allah, Blessed and Exalted, commanded Mūsā to strike the rock with his staff. They said: and what shall we see? The darkness overcomes us! Then He set up for them a pillar of light in the midst of their camp, which illuminated their entire camp. They said: and with what shall we seek shade? For the sun is severe upon us! He said: Allah will shade you with the cloud.
996 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, Ibn Zayd said — and he mentioned something similar to the report of Mūsā ibn Hārūn, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī.
997 — Al-Qāsim ibn al-Ḥasan related to me, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās said: for them in the wilderness garments were created that did not wear out and did not become dirty. He said: and Ibn Jurayj said: if anyone took of the manna and the quails more than the food of one day, it would spoil — except that on Friday they took the food of the Sabbath, and then it would not spoil.
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The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: كُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ (Eat of the good things with which We have provided you)
This belongs to that in which the indication of the manifest part suffices for what has been omitted of it. For the meaning of the verse is: and We shaded you with the cloud, and We sent down the manna and the quails upon you, and We said to you: eat of the good things with which We have provided you. Thus the mention of His word "and We said to you" was omitted, on account of what we have explained concerning the indication of the manifest in the address thereto. And He, exalted be His mention, meant by His word (Eat of the good things with which We have provided you): eat of the savory things of Our provision with which We have provided you. And it has been said that He meant by His word (of the good things with which We have provided you): of the lawful (ḥalāl) which We have permitted you and which We have made a provision for you.
And the first of the two views is the more fitting explanation, because He described that condition of pleasant living in which the people were, which He bestowed upon them; and to describe that with "the good" (al-ṭayyib), which carries the meaning of enjoyment, is more apt than to describe it as being lawful and permitted.
And the "mā" (that which) in "razaqnākum" (with which We have provided you) carries the meaning of "that which." It is as though it were said: eat of the good things of the provision with which We have provided you.
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The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَمَا ظَلَمُونَا وَلَكِنْ كَانُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ (57) (And they did Us no wrong, but they wronged themselves)
This too belongs to that in which the indication of the manifest part suffices for what has been omitted of it. For the meaning of the words is: eat of the good things with which We have provided you. But they went against what We commanded them and were disobedient to their Lord, and then to Our messenger to them, and "they did Us no wrong." Thus the manifest was made to suffice in place of what was omitted.
And His word (And they did Us no wrong), He says: and they did Us no wrong by that deed of theirs and their disobedience, but they wronged themselves.
And He means by His word (And they did Us no wrong): and they did not place that deed of theirs and their disobedience to Us in the position of harm to Us or diminishment to Us, but they placed it for themselves in the position of harm to them and diminishment to them. As:
999 — It was related to us on the authority of al-Minjāb, he said: Bishr related to us, on the authority of Abī Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (And they did Us no wrong, but they wronged themselves), he said: they caused harm [to themselves].
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And we have already shown earlier that the root meaning of "al-ẓulm" (wrong) is: placing something in other than its rightful place — with what suffices for that, so as to make it unnecessary to repeat it.
* * *
And likewise our Lord, exalted be His mention: the disobedience of a disobedient one does not harm Him, and the wrongdoing of a wrongdoer does not diminish His treasuries, and the obedience of an obedient one does not benefit Him, and the justice of a just one does not increase His kingdom; rather, the wrongdoer wrongs himself, and the disobedient one deprives himself of his own share, and the obedient one benefits himself, and the just one attains his own share.
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The footnotes:
(175) In the printed edition it reads: "fa-inna al-ʿarab tusammīhi" (for the Arabs call it).
(176) Report 963 — in the manuscript this report was extended up to his word "he said: it was not an ordinary cloud," and then after it comes the text: "and with the same isnād, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: it was not an ordinary cloud, it is the cloud which..." to the end of the report.
(177) In the manuscript it reads: "fīhi fī qawlihi" with the omission of "yawm al-qiyāma" (the Day of Resurrection).
(178) The pronoun in his word "wa-kāna" (and it was) refers to the cloud (al-ghamām).
(179) In the printed edition it reads: "fa-ghaṭṭā wajhahā" (and it covered its surface), and that is better.
(180) In the printed edition it reads: "khubz al-riqāq." "Khubz riqāq" means thin [bread], like "ṭawīl/ṭiwāl," an adjectival form. It is spread-out, thin bread.
(181) Report 972 — is part of a report that comes later under number 995. In the manuscript it reads "min al-dhurra," and in Ibn Kathīr as in the printed edition, and likewise it will come under number 995.
(182) In the printed edition it reads "al-taranjabīn," and likewise in al-Baghawī "al-taranjabīn." And in Tāj al-ʿArūs: "al-taranjabīn," with ḍamma, is the manna mentioned in the Qurʾān. And that will come after number 977, and here it is "al-zanjabīl" (ginger) as in Ibn Kathīr and in the manuscript. See Lisān al-ʿArab: (m-n-n).
(183) In the printed edition it reads "shajar al-taranjabīn" (the taranjabīn plant).
(184) Report 974 — in the manuscript it comes after number 976.
(185) His dīwān: 87, from a long poem in which he mentions the bearer of the crown, Hawdha ibn ʿAlī al-Ḥanafī, lord of al-Yamāma. The Banū Tamīm had set upon property and valuables that were being conveyed to Kisrā (the Persian king), and al-Mukaʿbir the Persian, the governor of Kisrā over Bahrayn, struck them down, and brought them into the [fortress] al-Mushaqqar — a citadel in Bahrayn — by a ruse with which he deceived them, and he killed their men and spared the boys. And Hawdha ibn ʿAlī spoke that day with al-Mukaʿbir concerning a hundred of the captives of the Banū Tamīm, and he made a gift of them to him on the day of the Easter feast, and he set them free. Then al-Aʿshā said, mentioning what Hawdha had done with respect to the Banū Tamīm:
Ask the Tamīm about it, on the days of their trafficking, when they came to him as captives, all subdued,
amid al-Mushaqqar, in a high, dark [citadel], in which they had no means of resistance.
Had they eaten of the manna...
Thus he described the Banū Tamīm as ungrateful (kufr) for his favor (Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī 2: 132–134). And "al-ṭuʿm" is that which is eaten of food; and "najaʿa al-ṭaʿām fī al-insān" means: it was wholesome for him, and its nourishing effect became evident, and he found it savory and it was wholesome for him.
(186) The ḥadīth 978 — thus al-Ṭabarī related it without an isnād. And he spoke the truth when he said that the reports mutually support one another. Aḥmad, al-Bukhārī and Muslim, and al-Tirmidhī related it through the report of Saʿīd ibn Zayd. And Aḥmad, al-Bukhārī and Muslim, and Ibn Mājah also related it through the report of Abū Saʿīd and Jābir. And Abū Nuʿaym related it in [his work on] medicine, through the report of Ibn ʿAbbās and ʿĀʾisha. See, for example, al-Musnad: 1625, 1626; and al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr: 6463; and Zād al-Maʿād of Ibn al-Qayyim 3: 383; and Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr 1: 174–176, where he adduces many of its chains of transmission.
(187) His dīwān: 34–35. In the source texts and the dīwān it reads "wa-lā mathmūran." "Maḍīʿ" means: in a place of loss, humiliation, and ruin. One says: "he is in a house of maḍyaʿa" (with fatḥa on the mīm and kasra on the ḍād), as though he were lost therein. It is a mafʿala-form, and its tāʾ has been omitted, as one says "al-manzil" and "al-manzila." And "mazraʿ" is a mīmī verbal noun of "zaraʿa," that is to say: not a land of cultivation, and "maʿmūr" means: inhabited, whose ruination has departed. And "wa-lā maʿmūran" is in the accusative, in apposition to the position of "bi-dhī mazraʿ," which is in the accusative. I have chosen this word because it accords with the context of the poem, and because the scribal error in "maʿmūr" and "mathmūr" is easy, and for what you will see in the comment on the third verse.
(188) In the printed edition it reads "fa-ʿaffāhā" and in the manuscript "fa-sannāhā," and in the dīwān "fa-ʿaffāhā," and none of these has meaning. I deemed it best to read it from the manuscript as "fa-nasāhā," whose origin is "fa-nasaʾahā" with hamza, as they said: "baraʾa Allāh al-khalq" and "barāhum" with the omission of the hamza. And "nasaʾa al-dābba wa-l-ibil yansaʾuhā nasʾan" means: he drove them on. "Ghādiyāt" is the plural of "ghādiya": the cloud that rises in the morning. And "marā al-nāqa maryan" means: he stroked her udder so that she would give milk. And "al-muzn" is the plural of "muzna": the cloud bearing water. And "khalāyā" is the plural of "khaliyya": the she-camel left free for milking on account of her nobility and the abundance of her milk. "Al-khūr": reddish-brown she-camels inclining toward dust-gray, with thin hides, long hair, and hair that protrudes through their coats, and which is longer than the rest of the coat; when they are so, then they are milk-rich, abundant of milk. He likened the water-bearing cloud to these two kinds of milk-rich she-camels, whose rain was milked upon them; then he distinguished in the following verse the kinds of what descended upon them from the sky.
(189) "Nāṭif," from "naṭafa yanṭifu": to drip. And it is explained later — that is to say: it drips from the sky. And "al-furāt" is the sweetest water. And the milk is described as "dhū bahja": that is beauty and freshness, because its butter had not been removed, so that it would become thin and the luster of the butter would depart from it; thus he borrowed the bahja for it. As for his word "mathmūran": that reads in the printed edition as "mamrūran," and in the manuscript it was at first read in the main text as "mathmūran," then the pen of the copyist played in the thāʾ and the mīm, and then he himself wrote in the margin "mazmūran," and then he explained in the side of the page and said: "al-mazmūr: the clear milk." And that is something that does not exist in the linguistic works. And I have seen that he wrote "mathmūran" in the first verse, and I preferred "maʿmūran" as the correct reading; and in this verse I preferred the view that it confused him when he wrote "mathmūran," and he then changed it into "mazmūran."
And I have not found "mathmūran" in the linguistic works, but one says: "al-thamīr" and "al-thamīra": the milk whose butter has appeared and which has formed into little grains. Ibn Shumayl said: when it is churned, one sees upon it something like the rash on the skin, and then it gathers and becomes butter; and so long as it is small, it is "thamīr." And they say: "verily, your milk is of good thamr" and "your churned milk has produced thamr." It is as though he said "mathmūran" and meant "thamīr," because "faʿīl" here carries the meaning of "mafʿūl."
(190) In the printed edition it read "al-mamrūr," and I have mentioned in the annotation that in the margin of the manuscript it is "al-mazmūr."
(191) His word "Thus he made the manna..." to the end of the sentence is not in the manuscript.
(192) Report 979 — in the manuscript one confined oneself to part of this isnād, up to his word "on the authority of al-Suddī," and omitted the rest, namely the isnād customary in his tafsīr. It is as though every isnād that stopped at al-Suddī is this isnād, and one then sufficed with part of it in place of the whole, as has just passed and as will come later. [Note: the editor here refers by mistake to 978; it concerns report 979.]
(193) Report 984 — is part of a report that comes later under number 995.
(194) In the manuscript it reads "ʿalā Mūsā" with the omission of "qawm" (the people of).
(195) In the printed edition it reads "bi-l-masīr," and they are equivalent.
(196) This is an abridgment, and its elaboration is in the Tārīkh in its place, as will come later in its place with the mention of its sources.
(197) Only in the manuscript does it read "al-zanjabīl" (ginger). See what has passed: 92.
(198) Report 991 — is in Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī 1: 221–222.
(199) In the manuscript it reads "an yasbiqa bihim," and the copyist wished to correct it in the margin, and wrote "-", but did not complete it.
(200) "Al-khamar" (with two fatḥas): everything that shelters you, of trees, structures, or something else.
(201) This second isnād is missing in the manuscript.
(202) In the manuscript it reads "fa-idhā huwa fī qadr," rendered incorrectly. See Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī 6: 116–117, 119 (Būlāq edition); and the word "qadr" is not in the printed edition.
(203) In the manuscript it reads "ḥattā qamarat arbaʿīna sana," miswritten.
(204) This sentence has already passed in report number 972.
(205) This sentence has already passed in report number 984.
(206) In the printed edition it reads "min al-sabt ilā al-sabt."
(207) "Al-shisʿ": one of the straps of the sandal that is inserted between the two toes.
(208) In the printed edition it reads "fa-inna fīnā awlādan."
(209) In the printed edition it reads "fa-bima nubṣir."
(210) Report 995 — Isḥāq: that is Ibn Rāhawayh, the great imam. Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Maʿqil ibn Munabbih al-Ṣanʿānī: trustworthy (thiqa), with a biography in al-Tahdhīb, the biography of al-Bukhārī 1/1/367, and Ibn Abī Ḥātim 1/1/187. And he relates here on the authority of his uncle: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn Maʿqil ibn Munabbih, and he too is trustworthy (thiqa), with a biography in al-Tahdhīb and in Ibn Abī Ḥātim 3/1/50. And ʿAbd al-Ṣamad relates on the authority of his uncle: Wahb ibn Munabbih, this report.
(211) "Darina al-thawb yadranu daranan" — then it is "darin" and "adran": besmeared with dirt.
(212) In the printed edition it reads "min mushahhayāt," which is nothing [i.e., not a valid reading].
(213) See what has passed 1: 523–524, and this volume 2: 69.
