ﱒ ﱓ ﱔ ﱕ ﱖ ﱗ ﱘ ﱙ ﱚ ﱛ ﱜ ﱝ ﱞ ﱟ ﱠ ﱡ ﱢ ﱣ ﱤ ﱥ ﱦ ﱧ ﱨ ﱩ
And Allah presents an example: a city which was safe and secure, its provision coming to it in abundance from every location, but it denied the favors of Allah. So Allah made it taste the envelopment of hunger and fear for what they had been doing.
Tafsir
Verse range: 16:112
According to leading Tafsir authorities, the similitude mentioned in verse 112 is general and universal. It does not relate to a particular habi¬tation. However, there are others who connect it to what had happened in Makkah al-Mukarramah where people suffered from an acute famine for seven years so much so that they were compelled to eat animal car¬cass, dead dogs and filth. They were virtually gripped with the awe of Muslims. Then, the chiefs of Makkah came to the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) with the plea that those who had committed disbelief and disobedience against his call were all grown-up men. Women and children were inno¬cent. Thereupon, the Holy Prophet arranged to have food supplies for them sent from Madinah al-Taiyyibah. (Mazhari)
And Abu Sufyn, while still in his state of kufr, requested the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) : You teach kindness to relatives and mercy and forgiveness. Here are your people standing on the brink of destruction. Please pray to Allah for the removal of this famine from us. Thereupon, the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) prayed for them and the famine was gone. (Qurtubi)
As for the use of the word: لِبَاس (libas: garment) to carry the sense of giving a taste of hunger and fear towards the later part of verse 112, it will be noted that a garment is not a thing to be tasted. But, the word 'garment' standing for 'libas' has been used here with the force of a simi¬lie denoting something being wide-spread and all-enveloping. The sug¬gestion being conveyed here is that fear and hunger were cast over them in a manner of a garment or dress which becomes an integral part of the body. This was how hunger and fear were released and set all over them. (Mazhari)
