Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:57

(And We shaded you with clouds) is a conjunction linked to "We resurrected you," and it is said: linked to "You said." The first is more apparent due to proximity and the commonality in the agent (the implied "We"), along with the harmony between the two predicates in that each of them constitutes a blessing. This is contrary to "You said," as that is a prelude to them, and because it implies that the shading and the sending down occurred after the event of their request to see [God]. Under either interpretation, there must be a point behind omitting the word "idhh" (when) here. Perhaps it is to suffice with the rational indication that each of them is an independent blessing, while avoiding its repetition in "We shaded" and "We sent down."

"Al-Ghamam" (the clouds) is a generic noun, like "hamamah" (a pigeon) and "hamam" (pigeons), referring to the clouds. It is said: it refers to the white among them. Mujahid said: It is colder and thinner than clouds. It is called ghamam because it covers and veils the face of the sky; from this root comes ghamm (distress) and ghamam (veiling). Whether it was literally clouds or something resembling them that was named as such, there are two opinions, the more famous being the former. It is in the accusative case as the object of "We shaded," with the omission of the preposition, as one says "I shaded over so-and-so with a cloak," or without omission. The meaning is: We made the clouds a shade over you.

The apparent meaning is that the address is to all of them. It is reported that when they were commanded to fight the tyrants and refused, saying, "Go, you and your Lord, and fight," God Almighty afflicted them with wandering in the wilderness between Syria and Egypt for forty years. They complained of the heat of the sun, so God Almighty showed kindness to them by shading them with clouds and sending down manna and quails. It is said: When they exited the sea, they arrived at a white, barren land lacking water and shade, so they complained of the heat and were shaded. It is also said: Those who were shaded by the clouds were only a portion of the Children of Israel. God Almighty had established a custom among them that whoever worshipped for thirty years without committing a sin would be shaded by a cloud; there were groups among them known as "the companions of the clouds," so God Almighty bestowed this favor upon them because there were those among them who possessed this manifest honor and overwhelming blessing.

(And We sent down to you Manna and Quails). "Manna" is a generic noun having no singular form from its own root. The well-known view is that it is taranjabin (manna), a substance resembling gum, sweet with a degree of acidity, which used to descend upon them like dew from dawn until sunrise every day, except on the Sabbath. Every person was commanded to take the measure of a sa’ each day, or what sufficed them for a day and a night, and they were not to store it, except for Friday, as storing the Sabbath's portion was permitted then. According to Wahb, it is thin bread. It is said that it refers to all that God Almighty favored them with in the wilderness, which came to them easily without toil. Al-Zajjaj held this view, supported by the saying of the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace): "The truffle is of the manna which God Almighty favored the Children of Israel with."

"Salwa" (quails) is also a generic noun, its singular being salwah, as stated by al-Khalil; the alif at the end is not for feminine gender, otherwise it would not be made feminine with the ha in the saying: "As the salawat (plural) tremble from the dampness of the rain." Al-Kisa’i said salwa is singular, and its plural is salawa. According to al-Akhfash, the plural and the singular are the same in form. It is said to be a plural with no singular from its own root. It is a bird resembling the quail, or it is the quail itself. They used to come to them from the direction of the sky morning and evening, or whenever they wished, so they would choose the fat ones and leave the lean. It is said that the south wind would drive them to them, and they would take their needs and the rest would depart. In one narration, they would descend upon them cooked and roasted. Glory to Him Who says to a thing, "Be," and it is. Al-Sadusi mentioned that salwa is honey in the dialect of Kinana; this is supported by the saying of the Hudhali poet: "And I swore by God openly to her, you are more delicious than salwa when we spread it." Ibn Atiyya said this is an error, and its derivation is from salwah (comfort), because due to its pleasantness, it brings comfort from other foods. Its conjunction [with manna] is an instance of mentioning the specific after the general, out of concern for its importance.

(Eat from the good things We have provided for you) is a command of permission, intending the implied "Saying," i.e., "And We said," or "We being those who say." "The good things" are those that are enjoyed. Mentioning them is to highlight the favor bestowed upon them, or [they mean] "the lawful things," which makes it a prohibition against storing. "From" (min) is for partitive meaning; those who say it denotes the genus or is for substitution are far from the truth. Similar to this is the claim that this involves an omitted genitive, meaning "from the compensation of the good things," claiming that God Almighty compensated them for all their previously enjoyed foods with manna and quails, so they were a substitute for the good things. "Ma" is a relative pronoun, and the returning pronoun is omitted, meaning "We provided you [with it]," or it is a source-form (masdar) meaning the passive participle.

Some deduced from the verse that it is not sufficient for an owner to place food before a person for it to be permissible to eat; rather, it is not permissible to dispose of it except with the owner's permission. This is one of the opinions on the matter.

(And they did not wrong Us) is a conjunction to an omitted phrase, [meaning:] "So they disobeyed, and did not meet the blessings with gratitude," or "they did wrong by denying these blessings, and they did not wrong Us by doing so." It is permitted—as in the Bahr—not to estimate an omission, for they had committed abominations, such as taking the calf as a god and asking to see Him, and other instances of wrongdoing. So God Almighty’s statement came: (And they did not wrong Us), as a negated sentence indicating that whatever abominations occurred from them did not cause any loss or harm to Us. In this is evidence that it is not a condition for the negation of a thing from another that its occurrence be possible, for human wrongdoing against God Almighty is impossible, but they were wronging their own selves by disbelief or by what they did, as the harm thereof did not bypass them. The direct object is fronted to indicate the restriction necessitated by the preceding negation. In this is a type of irony toward them. Combining the past and future forms indicates their persistence and continuity in wrongdoing. Mentioning "themselves" in the plural form of paucity serves to belittle and minimize them, and the disobedient self is less than the least of the little.