النحل
An Nahl
Verses
128
Revelation
Makki
Period
Late Makkan
Surah No.
16 / 114
Surah An-Nahl is one of the great Makkan surahs enumerating the blessings Allah has bestowed upon humanity. It uses the bee and its extraordinary ability to produce honey as a sign of divine wisdom and design. The surah covers the signs in nature, the blessings of livestock, agriculture, ships, and the night and day, weaving them into an argument for gratitude and monotheism. It also addresses the prohibition of certain meats and the command to justice.
أسباب النزول
Revealed mostly in the late Makkan period, though some scholars include a few final verses as Madinan. The final verses (126-128) regarding responding to harm with measure and patience are considered to have been revealed after the Battle of Uhud, when the Prophet saw the mutilated body of his uncle Hamza and swore to retaliate in kind. These verses counselled restraint and patience instead.
“Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression.”
Umar ibn al-Khattab said that when this verse was revealed, the Prophet recited it to him and it caused him to enter Islam. It remains the most comprehensive single verse on Islamic ethics and is recited in Friday sermons worldwide.
“And your Lord inspired to the bee: Take for yourself among the mountains houses, and among the trees and in that which they construct.”
The divine inspiration to the bee is highlighted as evidence of Allah's intricate wisdom in creation. The Arabic word for "inspire" (awha) here is the same root used for prophetic revelation, emphasising the divine origin of all instinctive wisdom in creation.