Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:69

They said: "Call upon your Lord for us to clarify for us what its color is." He said: "He says: It is a yellow cow, intense in its color, delighting the onlookers."

Attributing the clarification each time to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, is to demonstrate complete assistance in answering their request. The use of the imperfect tense (yubayinu - clarifies) is to bring the image to mind. Fuqu’ (intensity) is the most extreme and eloquent degree of yellow. Describing it with this is for emphasis, like saying "yesterday the past" (a common idiom for emphasis). This is similar to their expressions: "a pure white" (abyad nasi’), "an intense black" (aswad halik), "an intense red" (ahmar qani’), and "a vibrant green" (akhdar nadir).

Lawnuh (its color) is in the nominative case because of faqi’ (intense). It was not deemed sufficient to say safra’ faqia (an intense yellow cow) because the intent was to emphasize the attribution of yellowness. Therefore, He first ruled that it is yellow, then ruled that its color is intensely yellow. It is as if He said: "It is yellow, and its color is intensely yellow."

According to Al-Hasan, it is black, intensely black, though it is not hidden that this is contrary to the apparent meaning. Even though the Arabs rarely used "yellow" in this sense—just as they applied "black" to what is green, specifically regarding camels as stated in the interpretation of His saying, "yellow camels" (jamalatun sufr), because the black of camels has a tinge of yellowness—emphasizing it with fuqu’ contradicts this, because fuqu’ is famously a description of yellowness. Yes, it is mentioned in al-Lum’ that one says: "intense yellow" (asfar faqi’) and "intense red" (ahmar faqi’), and that faqi’ and nasi’ are said for all colors if they are pure. Thus, the aforementioned objection is not valid.

Some people said: The term "yellow" was metaphorically used here for black, as was faqi’ for "intensely black," which is a stylistic extension (tarshi) that attributes the blackness to its brilliance and shine, but there is no substance to this. Some permitted that lawnuh (its color) be an initial (mubtada’), and its predicate be either faqi’ or the sentence following it. The feminine agreement [in faqi’] is for one of two reasons: the first is that it is annexed to a feminine noun, as they say, "some of her fingers went" (dhahabat ba’du asabi’iha). The second is that the feminine is intended, meaning the yellowness itself; it is as if He said: "Its yellowness delights the onlookers." It is not hidden that this is far-fetched.

Surur (delight) originally refers to a pleasure in the heart upon receiving a benefit, anticipating one, or seeing something impressive and pleasant. As for the self, it is a joy contained within it. Between surur (delight), hubur (exuberance), and farah (joy/rejoicing), there is a closeness in meaning. However, surur is pure and kept private, named as such in consideration of concealment (israr). Hubur is that whose traces (hibr) appear on the outer skin. Both are used for praiseworthy things. As for farah, it is what results in vanity and insolence; therefore, it is often condemned, as Allah the Almighty said: "Indeed, Allah does not love the exultant." The intent here, according to some, is "admiration" metaphorically, due to its frequent association with it. The sentence is an attribute of the cow, meaning it delights those who look at it.

The majority of exegetes indicate that yellow is among the pleasing colors. For this reason, Ali—may Allah ennoble his countenance—desired yellow sandals and used to say, "Whoever wears yellow sandals, his anxiety decreases." Ibn al-Zubayr and Yahya ibn Abi Kathir forbade wearing black sandals because they induce sadness.

It is also recited as yasurru (delights, with a ya). In this case, it is possible that lawnuh is the initial and yasurru is the predicate, and faqi’ is an attribute following safra’ in the manner of the saying: "And I give the drinking company [a drink] yellow, intense in color, as if the sharp scent of musk is being released within it." However, this is rare, to the point that it is said to be confined to poetry. It is also possible that lawnuh is the active participle for faqi’ and yasurru is a new, independent sentence.