Tafseer of The Table · Al-Maaida · 5:31
Then Allah sent a crow searching in the ground to show him how to hide the disgrace of his brother. He said, "O woe to me! Have I failed to be like this crow and hide the body of my brother?" And he became of the regretful.
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 His word, exalted is His mention: فَبَعَثَ اللَّهُ غُرَابًا يَبْحَثُ فِي الأَرْضِ لِيُرِيَهُ كَيْفَ يُوَارِي سَوْأَةَ أَخِيهِ قَالَ يَا وَيْلَتَا أَعَجَزْتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِثْلَ هَذَا الْغُرَابِ فَأُوَارِيَ سَوْأَةَ أَخِي فَأَصْبَحَ مِنَ النَّادِمِينَ (5:31) (Then Allah sent a raven that dug in the earth, to show him how he might conceal the corpse of his brother. He said: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven, so that I may conceal the corpse of my brother?" And he became one of the remorseful.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: And this too is one of the indications that the ruling concerning the affair of the two sons of Adam is other than what ʿAmr related on the authority of al-Ḥasan. For the two men whose characteristics Allah has described in this verse — had they been of the children of Israel, the slayer would not have been ignorant of how to bury his brother and conceal his brother's corpse. But they were both of the offspring of Adam from his own loins, and the slayer among them, who was the brother, did not know the practice (sunna) of Allah concerning His deceased servants, and did not know what to do with his slain brother. It has been mentioned that he carried him upon his shoulder for a time until his corpse began to stink; then Allah willed to make known to him the practice concerning the dead among His creatures, and appointed for him the two ravens whose characteristics He has described in His Book.
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Mention of the reports of the scholars of interpretation concerning what the slayer, one of the two sons of Adam, did with his slain brother after he had killed him.
11752 — Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Rawq al-Hamdānī related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: he kept carrying his brother for a year in a leather sack upon his neck, until Allah, Mighty and Exalted, sent the two ravens. He saw them digging and said: "Am I not even able to be like this raven?" And he buried his brother.
11753 — 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: "Then Allah sent a raven that dug in the earth, to show him how he might conceal the corpse of his brother" — Allah, Mighty and Exalted, sent a living raven to a dead raven, and the living raven proceeded to conceal the corpse of the dead raven. Then the son of Adam who had killed his brother said: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven?" — the verse.
11754 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī according to what is mentioned, on the authority of Abū Mālik = and on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās = and on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh = and on the authority of a number of people among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ: when the youth died, he left him in the open field, and he did not know how to bury him. Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, sent two ravens that were brothers; they fought and the one killed the other; then it dug for it and cast earth over it. When he saw that, he said: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven, so that I may conceal the corpse of my brother?" And that is the word of Allah: "Then Allah sent a raven that dug in the earth, to show him how he might conceal the corpse of his brother."
11755 — 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: "dug (yabḥathu)", he said: Allah sent a raven until it dug for another, dead raven beside it = while the son of Adam, the slayer, was looking at it = then it dug over it until it hid it.
11756 — 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: "a raven that dug in the earth", until it dug for another, dead raven beside it and hid it, while the son of Adam, the slayer, was looking at it, where it dug over it until it hid it; then he said: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven?" — the verse.
11757 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, his word: "Then Allah sent a raven that dug in the earth", he said: Allah sent a raven to a raven, and they fought and the one killed the other; then it proceeded to cast earth over it, and he said: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven, so that I may conceal the corpse of my brother?" And he became one of the remorseful.
11758 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "Then Allah sent a raven that dug in the earth", he said: a raven came to a dead raven and cast earth over it until it covered it; then the one who had killed his brother said: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven?" — the verse.
11759 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, on the authority of Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, he said: when he had killed him, he became remorseful, so he pressed him against himself until he began to stink, and the birds and beasts of prey gathered around him, waiting for the moment when he would cast him away so that they might eat him.
11760 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his word: "Then Allah sent a raven that dug in the earth, to show him", that Allah, exalted is His mention, sent it to dig in the earth; it has been mentioned to us that they were two ravens that fought, and the one killed the other, and that he — that is, the son of Adam — looked on, and the living one proceeded to cast earth over the dead one; at that moment he said what he said: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven?" — the verse, up to His word: "of the remorseful".
11761 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: as for His word: "Then Allah sent a raven", he said: a raven killed a raven, and it proceeded to cast earth over it; then the son of Adam who had killed his brother said, when he saw it: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven, so that I may conceal the corpse of my brother?" And he became one of the remorseful.
11762 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: "Then Allah sent a raven that dug in the earth, to show him how he might conceal the corpse of his brother", he said: the raven covered the raven. He said: he carried him for a hundred years upon his shoulder, not knowing what to do with him; he carried him and set him down upon the ground, until he saw the raven bury the raven, and he said: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven, so that I may conceal the corpse of my brother?" And he became one of the remorseful.
11763 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muʿallā ibn Asad related to us, saying: Khālid related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Abū Mālik concerning the word of Allah: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven?", he said: Allah, Mighty and Exalted, sent a raven, and it proceeded to scratch away the earth over a dead raven. He said: then at that moment he said: "Am I not even able to be like this raven, so that I may conceal the corpse of my brother?" And he became one of the remorseful.
11764 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: "Then Allah sent a raven that dug in the earth", Allah sent a living raven to a dead raven, and the living raven proceeded to conceal the corpse of the dead raven; then the son of Adam who had killed his brother said: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven?" — the verse.
11765 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, according to what he mentions on the authority of some scholars of the first Book, he said: when he had killed him, he was at a loss and did not know how to conceal him. And that, as they claim, was the first slain one among the children of Adam and the first dead one = [he said]: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven, so that I may conceal the corpse of my brother?" — the verse = [up to His word: ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنْهُمْ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فِي الأَرْضِ لَمُسْرِفُونَ (Then indeed many of them, after that, were transgressors in the land), he said]: and the people of the Torah claim that Qābīl, when he had killed his brother Hābīl, that He, glorified is His praise, said to him: "O Qābīl, where is your brother Hābīl?" He said: "I do not know; I was not a keeper over him!" Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, said to him: "Verily, the voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the earth. Now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth and swallowed your brother's blood from your hand. And when you till the earth, it shall no longer yield to you its produce, until you are fearful and wandering upon the earth." Qābīl said: "My sin is too great to be forgiven! Today You have driven me from the face of the earth, and I shall hide myself from You and be fearful and wandering upon the earth, and everyone who meets me shall kill me!" Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, said: "It is not so, and not everyone who kills a slain one shall be requited sevenfold for one, but whoever kills Qābīl shall be requited sevenfold." And Allah placed in Qābīl a sign, so that not everyone who found him would kill him. And Qābīl went away from before Allah, Mighty and Exalted, from the eastern part of the garden of Eden.
11766 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Jābir ibn Nūḥ related to us, saying: al-Aʿmash related to us, on the authority of Khaythama, he said: when the son of Adam killed his brother, the earth drank up his blood, and it was cursed, so that the earth thereafter no longer drank up any blood.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The interpretation of the words is therefore: Allah caused, for the slayer = when he did not know what to do with his slain brother = "a raven to arise that dug in the earth" — He says: which digs in the earth and throws up its soil = "to show him how he might conceal the corpse of his brother" — He says: to show him how he might conceal the carcass of his brother.
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And it is possible that by "the corpse (al-sawʾa)" the private parts are intended, except that the most predominant of its meaning is what I have mentioned concerning the carcass; in that sense came the interpretation of the scholars of interpretation.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And therein is something omitted whose mention has been left out, because the indication of what is mentioned of it sufficed, and that is: "then He showed it to him by his digging in the earth for another, dead raven and covering it therein"; then the slayer of his brother said at that moment: "Woe is me! Am I not even able to be like this raven", which had covered the other, dead raven = "so that I may conceal the corpse of my brother", and then he covered him at that moment = "and he became one of the remorseful", over what he had committed, namely the disobedience to Allah, exalted is His mention, in the killing of his brother.
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And all that Allah, Mighty and Exalted, has mentioned in these verses is a parable that Allah, exalted is His mention, has set forth for the children of Adam, and by which He urged the believers among the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to practise forgiveness and to overlook regarding the Jews = who had sought to kill the Prophet ﷺ and them = of the Banū al-Naḍīr, when they came to them to ask them for help concerning the blood-money (diya) of the two slain men of ʿAmr ibn Umayya al-Ḍamrī. And He, Mighty and Exalted, made known to them the evil of the nature of their forefathers, and the evil of their steadfastness upon the path of truth, despite the abundance of His blessings and favours upon them. And He set forth their likeness in their treachery, and the likeness of the believers in faithfulness toward them and forgiveness toward them, as the two sons of Adam who offered their sacrifices, whom Allah has named in these verses. Then that is a parable for them, to follow the excellent of the two and not the corrupt. And in that sense came the report of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
11767 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, he said: I said to Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh: "Has it not reached you that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: 'Verily Allah, Mighty and Exalted, has set forth for you the two sons of Adam as a parable, so take the better of the two and leave the worse of the two'?" He said: "Yes indeed."
11768 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Verily the two sons of Adam have been set forth as a parable for this community, so take the good of the two."
11769 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim al-Aḥwal, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Verily Allah has set forth for you the two sons of Adam as a parable, so take the good of them and leave the evil."
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The footnotes:
(139) He means the report 11719, and see also what preceded earlier on p. 219.
(140) In the manuscript: "fī ʿādih al-mawtā", and in the printed edition: "fī ʿādat al-mawtā", and these are words without meaning; the correct reading of it is what I have adopted.
(141) "arāḥa al-laḥm" (the meat stank) means: it spoiled and gave off a foul odour.
(142) Report 11752 — "Yaḥyā ibn Abī Rawq" is "Yaḥyā ibn ʿAṭiyya ibn al-Ḥārith al-Hamdānī al-Kūfī. Weak. Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn said: 'not trustworthy'. A biography of him is in Lisān al-Mīzān and in Ibn Abī Ḥātim 4/2/180. And his father "Abū Rawq" is "ʿAṭiyya ibn al-Ḥārith al-Hamdānī", trustworthy, no objection against him. Passed under number 137 and 9632.
(143) "baḥatha ʿalayhi" means: he dug the earth over him and covered him with it.
(144) "ḥathā ʿalayhi al-turāb yaḥthūhu ḥathwan" and "ḥathā ʿalayhi al-turāb yaḥthīhi ḥathyan" mean: he poured it out. The second of the two is higher and more eloquent than the first. And "ḥathā" has already passed, and in the following reports will come "yaḥthū", so that its mention here relieves us of mentioning it in what has passed and what will come.
(145) "arwaḥa al-laḥm" and "arāḥa" mean: it stank; see the preceding note on p. 224, footnote 4.
(146) I have added what is between the brackets from the Taʾrīkh of al-Ṭabarī.
(147) In the printed edition and the manuscript: "Qābīl", and in the Taʾrīkh there stands in place of "Qābīl" in every instance "Qayn"; see p. 205, footnote 3.
(148) In the manuscript: "qāla wa-man ʿaẓumat khaṭīʾatī", and the correct of it is "qāla Qayn: ʿaẓumat..." as in the Taʾrīkh, but the manuscript applied here the rule of putting "Qābīl" in place of "Qayn", so the first editor of the tafsīr put "qāla Qābīl", and that is good.
(149) This sentence stood in the printed edition: "wa-lā yakūnu kullu qātilin qatīlan yujzā wāḥidan, wa-lākin yujzā sabʿah", and it is utterly corrupt; I have corrected it from the Taʾrīkh of al-Ṭabarī, but I have followed the method of the manuscript by putting "Qābīl" in place of "Qayn", so I wrote "whoever kills Qābīl".
(150) Report 11765 — this which Ibn Isḥāq related from the statement of the people of the Torah, you find in the Book of that people in the book of Genesis, in chapter four, and it is another translation of this passage from this chapter. See what preceded earlier on p. 183, footnote 2.
(151) "nashifat al-arḍ al-māʾ tanshifuhu nashfan" (on the pattern: ʿalima yaʿlamu) means: it drank it up.
(152) See the explanation of "baʿatha" in what preceded earlier, part 2: 84, 85 / part 5: 457.
(153) In the manuscript: "fī qatlihi akhīhi", and the correct is what is in the printed edition, or it would be "fī qatli akhīhi".
(154) The context: "...regarding the Jews... of the Banū al-Naḍīr".
(155) In the manuscript thus: "radaʾa sajjah awāʾilihim", and unpointed, and what is in the printed edition approximates the correct.
(156) In the printed edition: "fī ʿadūwihim" (in their enmity); he did not read the manuscript well, because it is unpointed.
(157) In the manuscript and the printed edition: "qarā baynahum", and the correct is what I have adopted.
(158) In the manuscript: "dūna al-ṣāliḥ" (not the righteous one), and that is a pure error. Perhaps the original reading was: "bi-al-ṣāliḥ minhumā dūna al-ṭāliḥ" (the righteous of the two and not the corrupt).
(159) Reports 11767–11769 — these three reports are mursal (with a broken chain); I have not been able to find any of them in the collections of the Sunna.
