Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:142
And of the grazing livestock are carriers [of burdens] and those [too] small. Eat of what Allah has provided for you and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.
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: وَمِنَ الأَنْعَامِ حَمُولَةً وَفَرْشًا ("And of the cattle [He created] beasts of burden and small livestock").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And He brought forth from the cattle beasts of burden (ḥamūla) and small livestock (farsh), in addition to what He brought forth of gardens, both those standing on trellises and those not standing on trellises.
The "ḥamūla" are those [animals] upon which loads are laid, of camels and others.
And the "farsh" are the young camels that have not yet reached the age at which loads are laid upon them.
The exegetes differed concerning the explanation of this.
Some of them said: The "ḥamūla" are those [animals] upon which loads are laid, of the large, mature camels, and the "farsh" are the young ones upon which, on account of their smallness, no load is laid.
Mention of who said that:
14047 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning His word (ḥamūlatan wa-farshan): he said: the "ḥamūla" are the large camels, and the "farsh" are the small camels.
14048 - ... And he said: my father related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: the "ḥamūla" are the large ones, and the "farsh" are the small camels.
14049 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to me, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to me, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū Yaḥyā, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: the "ḥamūla" are those camels upon which loads are laid, and the "farsh" are those upon which no load is laid.
14050 - And with the same [chain] on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid: the "ḥamūla" are those camels upon which loads are laid, and the "farsh" are those upon which no load is laid.
14051 - 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, concerning the word of Allah (wa-farshan): he said: the young camels.
14052 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning His word (ḥamūlatan wa-farshan): he said: the "ḥamūla" are the large ones, and the "farsh" are the small ones.
14053 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, concerning His word (ḥamūlatan wa-farshan): the "ḥamūla" are those camels upon which loads are laid, and the "farsh," those are the small ones.
14054 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh: that he said concerning this verse (ḥamūlatan wa-farshan): the "ḥamūla" are those camels upon which loads are laid, and the "farsh" are the small ones. Ibn al-Muthannā said, Muḥammad said, Shuʿba said: indeed, it was that Sufyān had related to me, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq.
14055 - Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, he said: al-Ḥasan said: the "ḥamūla" are of the camels and the cattle.
And some of them said: The "ḥamūla" are of the camels, and what does not belong to the "ḥamūla," that is the "farsh."
14056 - Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: (ḥamūlatan wa-farshan), he said: the "ḥamūla" are those upon which loads are laid, and the "farsh" are the subordinate ones of them, that is, the small ones of them.
14057 - 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, [concerning] His word (wa-min al-anʿām ḥamūlatan wa-farshan): the "ḥamūla" are those camels upon which loads are laid, and the "farsh" are the young camels, the foal and what is below it of that upon which no load is laid.
And it is said: The "ḥamūla" are of the cattle and the camels, and the "farsh" are the small livestock (sheep and goats).
And others said: The "ḥamūla" are those [animals] upon which loads are laid, of camels, horses, mules and others, and the "farsh" are the small livestock.
Mention of who said that:
14058 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, [concerning] His word (wa-min al-anʿām ḥamūlatan wa-farshan): as for the "ḥamūla," those are the camels, the horses, the mules and the donkeys, and everything upon which loads are laid; and as for the "farsh," that is the small livestock.
14059 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas: the "ḥamūla" are of the camels and the cattle, and the "farsh" are the goats and the sheep.
14060 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, [concerning] His word (wa-min al-anʿām ḥamūlatan wa-farshan): he said: as for the "ḥamūla," those are the camels and the cattle. He said: and as for the "farsh," that is the small livestock.
14061 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: someone other than al-Ḥasan used to say: the "ḥamūla" are the camels and the cattle, and the "farsh" are the small livestock.
14062 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (wa-min al-anʿām ḥamūlatan wa-farshan): as for the "ḥamūla," those are the camels. And as for the "farsh," those are the young camels, the calves and the small livestock; and that which carries the load is "ḥamūla."
14063 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word (ḥamūlatan wa-farshan): the "ḥamūla" are the camels, and the "farsh" are the small livestock.
14064 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: (wa-farshan), he said: the "farsh" are the small livestock.
14065 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word (ḥamūlatan wa-farshan): he said: the "ḥamūla" are those [animals] upon which you ride, and the "farsh" are those [animals] from which you eat and which you milk: a sheep that carries no load, of whose flesh you eat and from whose wool you make a blanket and a floor covering.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct judgment concerning this, in my view, is that one says: the "ḥamūla" are those [animals] of the cattle upon which loads are laid, for that is a description of them when a load is laid upon them, and not a [species] name of them, like "camels," "horses" and "mules." Since they are only called "ḥamūla" because they bear loads, it is necessary that everything of the cattle that bears a load upon its back is "ḥamūla." It is a plural without a singular from its own word-form, like "rakūba" (riding animal) and "jazūra" (slaughter animal). And likewise the "farsh": it is only a description of that which is small, so that its body comes close to the ground; and it is called "farsh." I suppose that it was so named by way of comparison, on account of the evenness of their teeth and their smallness, with the "farsh" of the earth, that is, the level ground which people tread upon.
As for "al-ḥumūla," with a ḍamma on the "ḥāʾ," those are the loads, and they are also "al-ḥumūl" with a ḍamma on the "ḥāʾ."
The explanation of His word: كُلُوا مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ وَلا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ ("Eat of that with which Allah has provided you, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan; indeed, he is to you a manifest enemy") (6:142).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is great, says: Eat of that with which Allah has provided you, O believers, for He has made lawful for you the fruits of your fields and your crops and the flesh of your cattle, while the polytheists (mushrikīn) who ascribe partners to Allah had forbidden a portion of that to themselves. Thus they assigned, of what He had brought forth of crops and cattle, a share to Allah and an equal share to Satan, and said: هَذَا لِلَّهِ بِزَعْمِهِمْ وَهَذَا لِشُرَكَائِنَا ("This is for Allah, by their claim, and this is for our partners") — (and do not follow the footsteps of Satan), as did those who slit the ears of the baḥīra and those who set free the sāʾiba [freely roaming animals] who indeed followed [his footsteps], so that you do not forbid to yourselves, of the good provision of Allah with which He has provided you, what they had forbidden, and thereby obey Satan and disobey the All-Merciful (al-Raḥmān) by it. As [in the following]:
14066 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word (and do not follow the footsteps of Satan): do not follow his obedience; those are sins for you, and it is obedience to the corrupt one.
— Indeed, Satan is to you an enemy who seeks your destruction and wishes to turn you away from the way of your Lord; — (manifest), he has made his enmity manifest to you by combating your father [Ādam] in open enmity, until he caused him to be expelled from the Garden (janna) through his cunning, and deceived him out of envy toward him and out of arrogance against him.
