Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:20
And [mention, O Muhammad], when Moses said to his people, "O my people, remember the favor of Allah upon you when He appointed among you prophets and made you possessors and gave you that which He had not given anyone among the worlds.
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 discourse on the explanation of His saying, exalted is His mention: وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ يَا قَوْمِ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ (And when Mūsā said to his people: O my people, remember the favour of Allah upon you.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: This too is from Allah a making-known to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ of the ancient persistence of these Jews in error, their distancing themselves from the truth, the wretchedness of their choice for themselves, the severity of their opposition to their prophets, and the slowness of their return to the right way, despite the abundance of Allah's favours among them and the succession of His benefactions and gifts upon them. By this He consoles His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ over what befalls him of hardship with them and over what afflicts him of suffering for their sake for the sake of Allah. Allah says to him ﷺ: Do not grieve over what befalls you from them, for turning away from Allah, distancing from the truth and from what contains their share in this life and the Hereafter, is among their habits and the habits of their forefathers and their predecessors. And console yourself with what your brother Mūsā ﷺ encountered from them. And remember when Mūsā said to them: "O my people, remember the favour of Allah upon you" – he says: remember the benefactions of Allah among you and His gifts that were bestowed upon you previously. As:
11622 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿUyayna: "remember the favour of Allah upon you" – he said: the benefactions of Allah among you and His days (of favour).
11623 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "remember the favour of Allah upon you" – he says: the well-being that Allah, mighty and exalted, bestows.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: We have chosen only what we have said, because Allah did not single out any of the favours in particular, but rather indicated that generally with the mention of "the favours"; thus it includes well-being and the rest, since "well-being" is one of the meanings of "the favours."
The discourse on the explanation of His saying, exalted is His praise: إِذْ جَعَلَ فِيكُمْ أَنْبِيَاءَ وَجَعَلَكُمْ مُلُوكًا (When He appointed prophets among you and made you kings.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by it: that Mūsā reminded his people of the children of Israel of the days of Allah's favour among them and of His gifts that had been bestowed upon them previously, thereby urging them to follow Allah's command in the fighting (qitāl) against the tyrants. So he said to them: Remember the favour of Allah upon you, that He chose you by appointing prophets among you who come to you with His revelation and give you reports about the unseen matters, while He had not given that to anyone other than you in this time of yours.
It has been said: The prophets whom Mūsā reminded them were appointed among them are those whom Mūsā chose when he went to the mountain, and they are the seventy whom Allah mentioned, saying thus: وَاخْتَارَ مُوسَى قَوْمَهُ سَبْعِينَ رَجُلًا لِمِيقَاتِنَا (And Mūsā chose from his people seventy men for Our appointment) [Surah Al-Aʿrāf: 155].
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"and made you kings" – He appointed servants from others than you in your service, who serve you.
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And it has been said: Mūsā said that only to them because in that time there was no one other than them who was served by anyone of the children of Adam.
Mention of who said that:
11624 – Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "And when Mūsā said to his people: O my people, remember the favour of Allah upon you when He appointed prophets among you and made you kings" – he said: it was related to us that they were the first for whom servants from the children of Adam were put into service, and they possessed those (people).
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And others said: Everyone who possesses a house, a servant and a wife is a "king," whoever among the people he may be.
Mention of who said that:
11625 – Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Abū Hāniʾ informed us: that he heard Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥubulī say: I heard ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, and a man asked him and said: Are we not among the poor of the emigrants (muhājirūn)? Thereupon ʿAbd Allāh said to him: Do you have a wife with whom you take refuge? He said: Yes! He said: Do you have a dwelling in which you live? He said: Yes! He said: Then you are among the rich! He said: I have a servant. He said: Then you are among the kings.
11626 – Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār related to us, saying: Abū Ḍamra Anas ibn ʿIyāḍ related to us, saying: I heard Zayd ibn Aslam say: "and made you kings" – and I do not know but that he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Whoever has a house and a servant is a king.
11627 – Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Salama, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: that he recited this verse: "and made you kings," and said: And is kingship anything other than a mount, a servant and a house?
Those who made this statement said: Mūsā said that only to them because they possessed the houses and the servants, and they had women and wives.
Mention of who said that:
11628 – Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ and Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, both saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr – he (Jarīr) said: I think it was on the authority of al-Ḥakam –: "and made you kings," he said: When a man of the children of Israel had a house, a wife and a servant, he was considered a king.
11629 – Hannād related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān – and (by another route:) Sufyān related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān – on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam: "and made you kings," he said: the house, the wife and the servant. Sufyān said: or two of the three.
11630 – Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "and made you kings" – he said: the house and the servant.
11631 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam or another, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "and made you kings" – he said: the wife, the servant and the house.
11632 – Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, 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: "and made you kings" – he said: He has given you wives, servants and houses.
11633 – Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭanāfisī related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Ḥajjāj ibn Tamīm, on the authority of Maymūn ibn Mihrān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the saying of Allah: "and made you kings" – he said: When a man of the children of Israel had the wife, the servant and the house, he was called a king.
11634 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "and made you kings" – he said: their kingship was the servants. Qatāda said: they were the first to possess servants.
11635 – Al-Ḥārith ibn Muḥammad related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and made you kings" – he said: He has given you wives, servants and houses.
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And others said: By His saying "and made you kings" was meant only that they possess their own persons, their families and their possessions.
Mention of who said that:
11636 – Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and made you kings" – the man of you possesses his own person, his family and his possession.
The discourse on the explanation of His saying, exalted is His mention: وَآتَاكُمْ مَا لَمْ يُؤْتِ أَحَدًا مِنَ الْعَالَمِينَ (20) (And He gave you what He had not given to anyone of the worlds.) (20)
Abū Jaʿfar said: They differed about who was meant by this address.
Some said: By it was meant the community (umma) of Muḥammad ﷺ.
Mention of who said that:
11637 – Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Mālik and Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "and He gave you what He had not given to anyone of the worlds" – both of them said: the community of Muḥammad ﷺ.
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And others said: By it was meant the people of Mūsā ﷺ.
Mention of who said that:
11638 – 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: they are the people of Mūsā.
11639 – Al-Ḥārith ibn Muḥammad related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and He gave you what He had not given to anyone of the worlds" – he said: they were in the midst of it (the world) on that day.
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Then they differed about that which Allah gave them, which He gave to no one of the worlds.
Some said: That is the manna, the quails, the rock and the cloud.
Mention of who said that:
11640 – Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and He gave you what He had not given to anyone of the worlds" – he said: the manna, the quails, the rock and the cloud.
11641 – 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: "and He gave you what He had not given to anyone of the worlds" – he means: the people of that time, the manna, the quails, the rock and the cloud.
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And others said: That is the house, the servant and the wife.
Mention of who said that:
11642 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Sarī related to us, on the authority of Ṭalḥa ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and He gave you what He had not given to anyone of the worlds" – he said: the man has the house, the servant and the wife.
11643 – Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and He gave you what He had not given to anyone of the worlds" – the manna, the quails, the rock and the cloud.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The more correct of the two interpretations therein, in my view, is the statement of him who said: "and He gave you what He had not given to anyone of the worlds" stands in the context of His saying: اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ (remember the favour of Allah upon you), and is connected to it.
There is in the wording no indication that points to His saying: "and He gave you what He had not given to anyone of the worlds" being turned away from the address to those to whom the address began at the beginning of the verse. Since that is so, it is more correct that it is an address to them than that it be said: it is turned away from them to others.
And if someone were to suppose that His saying: "and He gave you what He had not given to anyone of the worlds" cannot be an address to them, since the community of Muḥammad received, of the honour of Allah, mighty and exalted, through their prophet – peace be upon him – Muḥammad, that which no one other than they received, while they too are among the worlds – then he has supposed wrongly. For His saying: "and He gave you what He had not given to anyone of the worlds" is an address of Mūsā ﷺ to his people on that day, and he meant by it the worlds of his time, not the worlds of every time. And in that time no one of the worlds had received of Allah's favours and His honour what his people ﷺ received. Thus the saying from him ﷺ concerning that came forth, not concerning the entire [world] of every time.