Sūrah An-Naḥl The Bee
سورة النحل
A Makkan sūrah of 128 verses called the "Sūrah of Blessings" (Sūrat al-Niʿam). Al-Ṭabarī examines the divine inspiration to the bee (waḥy to animals), the prohibition of speaking falsehood about Allah's rulings, and the great verse commanding justice, excellence, and charity.
Surah Overview
Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī
The bee verse (16:68–69) presents a challenge: Allah says He "inspired" (awḥā) the bee to make hives and eat from fruit, and from its belly comes honey of diverse colors with healing. Al-Ṭabarī distinguishes this from prophetic waḥy: the bee receives ilhām (divinely placed instinct) that guides its behavior not verbal revelation, but a form of real divine communication to creation. This is consistent, he notes, with the Quran's use of "awḥā" for the earth on Judgment Day and for the mother of Mūsā both are forms of divine communication below the level of prophetic revelation.
On 16:90, al-Ṭabarī presents the Companion explanation that this is the most comprehensive ethical verse in the Quran: "inna Allāha yaʾmuru bil-ʿadli wa-l-iḥsāni wa-ītāʾi dhī l-qurbā wa-yanhā ʿani l-faḥshāʾi wa-l-munkari wa-l-baghyi." He collects chains from Ibn Masʿūd and others that identify these six commands and prohibitions as the complete ethical framework both ʿUthmān ibn Mazʿūn and ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās are recorded as converting after hearing this verse, which demonstrates its power even without context.
- Waḥy to animals: Al-Ṭabarī's ilhām concept divine instinct placed in animals is established through comparing three Quranic uses of "awḥā" to non-prophets (bee, earth, Mūsā's mother).
- Six ethical commands: Justice, excellence, charity to relatives, prohibition of indecency, prohibition of evil, prohibition of transgression al-Ṭabarī traces each through Companion narrations.
- Healing in honey: Al-Ṭabarī presents the prophetic ḥadīths on honey as medicine connecting the Quranic mention to the prophetic medicine (ṭibb nabawī) tradition.
- Conversion power of 16:90: Multiple Companion conversion stories when hearing this verse confirm its moral self-evidence al-Ṭabarī uses these to establish its comprehensive ethical status.
- Food prohibitions: Al-Ṭabarī examines the list of forbidden foods in 16:115 through Companion narrations, distinguishing which prohibitions are absolute from which are contextual.