Tafseer of The Moon · Al-Qamar · 54:28
And inform them that the water is shared between them, each [day of] drink attended [by turn].
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 words of the Exalted: "And inform them that the water is to be divided between them; each drinking will be attended" (54:28)
And His words "And inform them that the water is to be divided between them": The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: Inform them — give them tidings — that the water is divided between them on the day when the she-camel is absent from the water. That was so because she would come to the water on one day and stay away the next day. Allah, whose praise is exalted, said to Ṣāliḥ: Inform your people of Thamūd that the water, on the day when the she-camel stays away, is divided between them. So they divided it among themselves on the day she stayed away, and they drank of it on that day and took from it a provision for the day on which she would come to the water.
Some have directed the explanation of this toward the view that the water was divided between them and the she-camel: one day for them and one day for her; and that it was only said "between them" while the meaning is what I have mentioned, because the Arabs, when they report an action of a group of people with whom animals are intermingled, formulate the action as the action of a group of people, in order to let the action of the people predominate over the action of the animals.
And His words "each drinking will be attended" (54:28): The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: each drinking — of water on the day the she-camel stays away, and of milk on the day she comes — will be attended; it is attended.
As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His words "each drinking will be attended", he said: They attended the water together with her when she was absent, and when she came they attended the milk.
Al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His words "each drinking will be attended", he said: They attended the water together with her when she was absent, and when she came they attended the milk.
