Tafsir of Surah An-Nahl - Verse 68

In the Bee and its Honey there is Blessing and a Lesson

What is meant by inspiration here is guidance. The bee is guided to make its home in the mountains, in trees and in structures erected by man. The bee's home is a solid structure, with its hexagonal shapes and interlocking forms there is no looseness in its combs. Then Allah decrees that the bee will have permission to eat from all fruits and to follow the ways which Allah has made easy for it, wherever it wants to go in the vast spaces of the wilderness, valleys and high mountains. Then each bee comes back to its hive without swerving to the right or left, it comes straight back to its home where its offspring and honey are. It makes wax from its wings, and regurgitates honey from its mouth, and lays eggs from its rear, then the next morning it goes out to the fields again.

فَاسْلُكِى سُبُلَ رَبِّكِ ذُلُلاً

(and follow the routes of your Lord made easy (for you)) Qatadah and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said: "This means, in an obedient way", understanding it to be a description of the route of migration. Ibn Zayd said that this is like the Ayah:

وَذَلَّلْنَـهَا لَهُمْ فَمِنْهَا رَكُوبُهُمْ وَمِنْهَا يَأْكُلُونَ

(And We have subdued them for them so that some they may ride and some they may eat.) (36:72) He said: "Do you not see that they move the bees' home from one land to another, and the bees follow them" The first opinion is clearly the more likely, as it describes the routes that the bees follow, i.e., `follow these routes as they are easy for you.' This was stated by Mujahid. Ibn Jarir said that both opinions are correct.

يَخْرُجُ مِن بُطُونِهَا شَرَابٌ مُّخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهُ فِيهِ شِفَآءٌ لِلنَّاسِ

(There comes forth from their bellies, a drink of varying colors, wherein is healing for men.) meaning, honey, that is white, yellow, red, or of other good colors, depending on the different things that the bees eat.

فِيهِ شِفَآءٌ لِلنَّاسِ

(in which there is a cure for men.) meaning there is a cure in honey for diseases that people suffer from. Some of those who spoke about the study of Prophetic medicine said that if Allah had said, `in which there is the cure for men', then it would be the remedy for all diseases, but He said, `in which there is a cure for men', meaning that it is the right treatment for every "cold" disease, because it is "hot", and a disease should be treated with its opposite. Al-Bukhari and Muslim recorded in their Sahihs from Qatadah from Abu Al-Mutawakkil `Ali bin Dawud An-Naji from Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri that a man came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, "My brother is suffering from diarrhea". He said,

«اسْقِهِ عَسَلًا»

(Give him honey to drink.) The man went and gave him honey, then he came back and said, "O Messenger of Allah! I gave him honey to drink, and he only got worse." The Prophet said,

«اذْهَبْ فَاسْقِهِ عَسَلًا»

(Go and give him honey to drink.) So he went and gave him honey, then he came back and said, "O Messenger of Allah! it only made him worse. " The Prophet said,

«صَدَقَ اللهُ وَكَذَبَ بَطْنُ أَخِيكَ، اذْهَبْ فَاسْقِهِ عَسَلًا»

(Allah speaks the truth and your brother's stomach is lying. Go and give him honey to drink.) So he went and gave him honey, and he recovered." It is reported in the Two Sahihs from `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to like sweet things and honey. This is the wording of Al-Bukhari, who also reported in his Sahih from Ibn `Abbas that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«الشِّفَاءُ فِي ثَلَاثَةٍ: فِي شَرْطَةِ مِحْجَمٍ، أَوْ شَرْبَةِ عَسَلٍ، أَوْ كَيَّةٍ بِنَارٍ، وَأَنْهَى أُمَّتِي عَنِ الْكَي»

(Healing is to be found in three things: the cut made by the cupper, or drinking honey, or in branding with fire (cauterizing), but I have forbidden my Ummah to use branding.)

إِنَّ فِى ذَلِكَ لآيَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

(There is indeed a sign in that for people who reflect.) meaning in the fact that Allah inspires this weak little creature to travel through the vast fields and feed from every kind of fruit, then gather it for wax and honey, which are some of the best things, in this is a sign for people who think about the might and power of the bee's Creator Who causes all of this to happen. From this they learn that He is the Initiator, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise, the All-Knowing, the Most Generous, the Most Merciful.

Some ` Ulama have also taken it to mean vinegar, or non-intoxicating wine (nabidh) [ Jassas Qurlubi ] but it is not necessary to report details about this element of difference.

Commentary

The first word: أَوْحَىٰ (awha) in the first sentence of verse 68 has not been used here in its technical sense of Way or Revelation. Instead, it appears here in its literal sense which happens when the speaker communicates to the addressee something particular, secretly, in a way that the other person remains unable to understand that which has been com-municated. Hence, its translation as 'revealed' is also in a literal sense.

As for the next word: اَلنَّحل (an-nahl), it is well-established that the honey bee is a distinct entity among non-human life forms particularly in terms of its intelligence and management. Therefore, the way it has been addressed by Allah Ta` ala shows a distinct elegance of its own. For the rest of the creation, particularly for life forms in the animal and insect kingdom, it was said: أَعْطَىٰ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَىٰ (He gave everything its form, then provided it with guidance - Taha, 20:50), something stated as a universal law for all of them. But, for this tiny creature, it was specially said: أَوْحَىٰ رَ‌بُّكَ (And your Lord revealed) which has been designed to indicate that it has a prominent status among other life forms by virtue of its intelligence, sense and functional insight.

The intelligence of the honey bees can be gauged fairly well by their system of governance. The system of this tiny flier's life operates on the principles of human politics and government. All management rests with one big bee which is the ruling head of all bees. It is her managerial skill and efficient distribution of work which helps run the whole system soundly and safely. Certainly so unique is her system and so established are its rules and regulations that human mind has but to marvel at the phenomena of the bee. This 'queen' itself lays six to twelve thousand eggs in a period of three weeks. By its size, physique and demeanor, it is distinguishable from other bees. This 'queen', following the principle of division of labour, appoints its subjects to handle different matters. Some of them serve on guard duty and do not allow some unknown outsider to enter into the hive. Some stand to protect eggs. Some nurture and train baby bees. Some serve as architects and engineers. The compartments of most roofs made by them range between twenty to thirty thousand. Some bees collect and deliver wax to architects which build homes. They procure this wax material from a whitish powder settled upon vegetation. This material is commonly visible on sugarcane. Some of them sit on different kinds of fruits and flowers and suck their juices which turns into honey while in their bellies. This honey is their food and the food of their children. And the same is, for all of us too, the essence of taste and nutrition, and the prescription of medicine and remedy.

These different parties discharge their assigned duties very enthusiastically and obey the command of their 'queen' most obediently. If one of them happens to perch on filth, the guards of the hive stop the unwary worker on the outside gate and the 'queen' kills it. One can only wonder about this system and the performance of its managers and workers. (Al-Jawahir)

The first instruction given through: أَوْحَىٰ رَ‌بُّكَ (your Lord revealed) appears in the next sentence: أَنِ اتَّخِذِي مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا (Make homes in the mountains) which mentions the making of homes. At this point, it is worth noting that every animal makes some sort of a sheltered arrangement to live anyway, then, why is it that bees have been particularly commanded to build 'homes' and that too with such considered attention? Further-more, the word used here is that of: بُیُوت (buyut) which is generally used for the places where human beings live, their homes. By doing this two hints have been given. The first hint is towards the fact: Since bees have to prepare honey, therefore, they should first make a safe home. The sec-ond hint is toward another fact: The homes they make will not be like the homes of common animals, instead, their design and construction will be extraordinary. As such, their homes are highly distinct, far different from those of other animals, virtually mind-boggling. Their homes are hexagonal in shape. Measuring them with a pair of compasses and rulers will hardly spell out a difference. Other than the hexagonal shape, they never choose any shape such as that of a square, pentagon or any others as some of their corners turn out to be functionally useless.

Allah Ta’ ala did not simply order the bees to make homes, He also told them as to where they should be located, that is, it should be at some altitude because such places help provide fresh, clean and almost-filtered air flow for the production of honey. Thus, honey stays protected from polluted air as well as from incidences of breakage or dam-age to the hives. So, it was said: مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا وَمِنَ الشَّجَرِ‌ وَمِمَّا يَعْرِ‌شُونَ. (Make homes in the mountains, in the trees and in the structures they raise) so that honey could be prepared in a hygienically safe way. This was the first instruction.

The honey-bee is the most wonderful masterpiece of God’s creation. It constructs its beehive to a standard pattern, strictly following the relevant mathematical principles. Then, in the best planned manner, sucks the nectar from the flowers, brings it back and, in a perfectly systematic manner, stores it in the hive. Then, in accordance with hygienic principles prepares honey, which serves as a valuable food as well as a remedy for human ailments. All this takes place in such an amazingly regulated manner that voluminous books have been written on it and still the description is not complete. The miraculous honey factory is more complicated than all the human factories and at the same time is more successful. It is run by bees who have not received any training in this technology. They are not even conscious of their own actions. This proves that there is a Being who is having this work done through the bees by giving them instructions. Anyone who observes the bees, will have a live example of God’s workmanship and will see a glimpse of God in their wonderfully meaningful activities. There is another aspect of the example of the bees given here. The bee works very hard to suck the nectar from flowers and to prepare honey which is a health-giving food for human beings. In the same manner, the servant of God should acquire wisdom from the universe by giving it deep consideration after intense observation of it, and such pieces of wisdom as he picks up should be spiritual food for him as well as a panacea for all his moral ailments. The things which are ‘nectar’ for the bees becomes intense realization (ma‘rifah) at the level of human beings.