Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:68

"And your Lord inspired the bee..."

The inspiration (al-iḥā’) to the bee is the divine casting into its heart and teaching it in a manner known only to Him, to which no one else has access. Its precision in its craft, the subtlety in managing its affairs, and its accuracy in what benefits it are clear proofs testifying that God has deposited knowledge and intelligence within it, just as He bestowed intellects upon those who possess them.

Yaḥyā ibn Waththāb read al-naḥl with two fatḥas (naḥalan). It is masculine, like al-naḥl, and its feminine usage in ittakhidhī (take for yourselves) is based on the meaning.

• "That take for yourselves..." The an is explanatory (mufassira), because inspiration contains the meaning of speech.
• "Houses" (buyūtan): It is read with a kasra on the bā’ due to the yā’.
• "And they build" (ya‘rishūn): Read with both kasra and ḍamma on the rā’. It means to raise the roofs of houses. It is also said to refer to what people build for bees in mountains, trees, and structures—places where they produce honey. The pronoun in ya‘rishūn refers to people.

If you ask: What is the meaning of "from" (min) in His saying, "Take from the mountains houses, and from the trees, and from what they build"? Why was it not said "in the mountains" and "in the trees"?

I say: It is intended to signify partiality (tab‘īḍ), meaning it does not build its houses in every mountain, every tree, or every structure, nor in every place within them.

• "Then eat from all the fruits": This encompasses all the fruits the bee gathers and is accustomed to eating. It means: Build the houses, then eat from every fruit you desire.
• "And follow the paths of your Lord": That is, the paths He inspired and taught you in the making of honey. Or, "follow what you have eaten into the paths of your Lord," meaning the passages through which He, by His power, transforms the nectar into honey from within your bodies and digestive tracts. Or, when you eat fruits in places far from your hives, follow the paths of your Lord back to your hives; they will not become difficult for you, nor will you get lost. It has reached me that when the surroundings become barren, the bee travels to distant lands in search of sustenance. Or, the meaning of "then eat" is: then seek to eat the fruits, and follow the paths of your Lord in seeking them in their proper places.
• "Submissively" (dhululan): The plural of dhulūl (submissive/easy). It is a state (ḥāl) of the "paths," because God has made them easy, leveled, and accessible for it, as in His saying: "It is He who made the earth submissive for you" (Al-Mulk: 15). Or, it refers to the pronoun in "follow" (faslukī), meaning: "while you are submissive and obedient to what you have been commanded, not resisting."

• "A drink": He means honey, because it is something that is drunk.
• "Varying in its colors": Among it are white, black, yellow, and red.
• "In it is healing for the people": Because it is among the well-known, beneficial remedies and medicines. Few medicinal pastes exist in which physicians do not include honey. The intent is not that it is a cure for every patient, just as not every medicine is a cure for every ailment. Its indefiniteness (tankīr) is either to exalt the healing within it, or because it contains some healing; both are possible.

Regarding the Prophet (ﷺ): A man came to him and said, "My brother is suffering from his stomach." He said, "Go and give him honey to drink." He went, then returned and said, "I gave him to drink, but it did not help." He said, "Go and give him honey to drink, for God has spoken the truth, and your brother's stomach has lied." He gave it to him, and God healed him, as if he had been released from a tether.

‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd said: "Honey is a cure for every ailment, and the Qur’an is a cure for what is in the breasts; so hold fast to the two cures: the Qur’an and honey."

Among the heretical interpretations of the Rāfiḍah: That the "bee" refers to ‘Alī and his people. It is said that one of them said in the presence of al-Mahdī: "The bees are the Banū Hāshim; knowledge comes out of their bellies." A man said to him, "May God make your food and drink from what comes out of their bellies!" Al-Mahdī laughed and told al-Manṣūr, and they made it a laughingstock among their jokes.