Tafseer of The Beneficent · Ar-Rahmaan · 55:11
Therein is fruit and palm trees having sheaths [of dates]
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.
His statement فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ وَالنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ الأكْمَامِ ("Therein is fruit, and the date-palms with their sheaths") (55:11) — the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: upon the earth is fruit; and the "hā" and "alif" in it (in fīhā) refer to the earth. وَالنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ الأكْمَامِ ("and the date-palms with their sheaths"): al-akmām is the plural of kimm, which is that in which something is enveloped.
The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed over its meaning. Some said: by it is meant the enveloping of the date-palm in the fibers (līf).
* Mention of who said that:
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, saying: I asked al-Ḥasan about His statement وَالنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ الأكْمَامِ, and he said: a palm-frond (saʿafa) of fibers with which it is wound about.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda and al-Ḥasan, ذَاتُ الأكْمَامِ: its sheaths are its fibers.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, وَالنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ الأكْمَامِ: the fibers that are upon it.
Others said: by al-akmām is meant the remnants/the decayed matter (al-rufāt).
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Marwān related to us, saying: Abū al-ʿAwwām related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, وَالنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ الأكْمَامِ, he said: its sheaths are its remnants (rufāt).
Others said: no, the meaning of the wording is rather: and the date-palms with the spadix (ṭalʿ) that is enclosed in its sheath.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement وَالنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ الأكْمَامِ, and it was said to him: it is the spadix (ṭalʿ); he said: yes, and it is enclosed in a sheath until it splits open out of it. He said: and the grain (ḥabb) too is in sheaths. And he recited وَمَا تَخْرُجُ مِنْ ثَمَرَاتٍ مِنْ أَكْمَامِهَا ("And no fruits come forth from their sheaths").
The most correct of the views concerning that is that one says: Allah described the date-palm as being possessed of sheaths (dhāt akmām), while it is enveloped in its fibers and its spadix is enveloped in its spathe (jufn). Allah did not restrict the report about it to its being enveloped in its fibers, nor to the enveloping of its spadix in its spathe, but rather He kept the report about it general by saying that it is possessed of sheaths.
And the correct view is that one says: by it is meant: with fibers — in which it is enveloped — and with a spadix, which is enveloped in its spathe; and it is taken in a general sense, just as the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, kept it general.
