Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 57

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And We made the cloud give you shade, and sent down to you Mann and Salwā: “Eat of the good things We have provided to you”. And they (by their ingratitude) did Us no harm, but were harming only themselves.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And ˹remember when˺ We shaded you with clouds and sent down to you manna and quails,[[ Manna (heavenly bread) and quails (chicken-like birds) sustained the children of Israel in the wilderness after they left Egypt.]] ˹saying˺, “Eat from the good things We have provided for you.” The evildoers ˹certainly˺ did not wrong Us, but wronged themselves.

Ruwwad Translation Center

And We shaded you with clouds and sent down to you manna and quails, [saying], “Eat of the good things We have provided for you.” They did not wrong Us, but they wronged themselves.

A. J. Arberry

And We outspread the cloud to overshadow you, and We sent down manna and quails upon you: 'Eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you. And they worked no wrong upon Us, but themselves they wronged.

Abdul Haleem

We made the clouds cover you with shade, and sent manna and quails down to you, saying, ‘Eat the good things We have provided for you.’ It was not Us they wronged; they wronged themselves.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And We overshadowed you with Clouds and We sent down unto you the Manna and the quails, saying: eat of the clean things, wherewith We have provided you. And they wronged Us not, but themselves they were wont to wrong.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And We gave you the shade of clouds and sent down to you Manna and quails, saying; "Eat of the good things We have provided for you;" (But they rebelled); to us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls.

Abul Ala Maududi

(Remember that) We caused the cloud to overshadow you and provided you with manna and salva for your food, saying, "Eat of the clean and pure things We have bestowed upon you" (In spite of this, your forefathers violated Our commands:) however, they did not harm Us but harmed only themselves.

Ahmed Ali

And made the cloud spread shade over you, and sent for you manna and quails that you may eat of the good things We have made for you. No harm was done to Us, they only harmed themselves.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And We made the clouds a canopy for you and sent down Manna and Salwa (birds) on you; “Eat of the pure things We have provided you”; they did not wrong Us in the least, but indeed they wronged themselves.

Ali Quli Qarai

We shaded you with clouds, and sent down to you manna and quails [saying]: ‘Eat of the good things We have provided for you.’ And they did not wrong Us, but they used to wrong [only] themselves.

Ali Ünal

And (since, unaided, you could not survive in the desert without shelter and food) We caused the cloud (which you plainly saw was assigned for you) to shade you, and sent down upon you manna and quails: "Eat of the pure, wholesome things that We have provided for you." Yet (in breaking the laws, in refusing to obey the injunctions about even those foods) they did not wrong Us but they were wronging themselves.

Amatul Rahman Omar

Then We outspread the cloud to be a shade over you and We supplied you Manna and Quails, (saying,) `Eat of the good things We have provided you.´ They (disobeyed and by so doing) did Us no harm but it is themselves that they had been doing harm to.

English Literal

And We overshadowed on you the clouds , and We descended on you the mana (sweet gluey substance) and the quails/amusement . Eat from (the) goodness (of) what We provided for you , and they did not cause injustice to Us, and but they were (to) themselves causing injustice.

Faridul Haque

And We made the clouds a canopy for you and sent down Manna and Salwa (birds) on you; "Eat of the pure things We have provided you"; they did not wrong Us in the least, but indeed they wronged themselves.

Hamid S. Aziz

And We overshadowed you with the cloud, and sent down the manna and the quails; "Eat of the good things we have given you." They did not wrong Us, but it was themselves they were wronging.

Hilali & Khan

And We shaded you with clouds and sent down on you Al-Manna and the quails, (saying): "Eat of the good lawful things We have provided for you," (but they rebelled). And they did not wrong Us but they wronged themselves.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And We made the clouds to give shade over you and We sent to you manna and quails. Eat of the good things that We have given you. And they did not do Us any harm, but they wronged their own souls.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And We made the clouds to give shade over you and We sent to you manna and quails: Eat of the good things that We have given you; and they did not do Us any harm, but they made their own souls suffer the loss.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And We caused the white cloud to overshadow you and sent down on you the manna and the quails, (saying): Eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you - they wronged Us not, but they did wrong themselves.

Muhammad Sarwar

We provided you with shade from the clouds and sent down manna and quails as the best pure sustenance for you to eat. They (children of Israel) did not wrong Us but wronged themselves.

Qaribullah & Darwish

We caused the clouds to cast their shadow over you and sent down for you manna and quails, (saying:) 'Eat of the good things We have provided you. 'Indeed, they did not harm Us, but they harmed themselves.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And We shaded you with clouds and sent down on you Al-Manna and the quail, (saying): "Eat of the good lawful things We have provided for you," (but they rebelled). And they did not wrong Us but they wronged themselves.

Wahiduddin Khan

Then We caused the clouds to provide shade for you and sent down for you manna and quails, saying, "Eat the good things We have provided for you." Indeed, they did not wrong Us, but they wronged themselves.

Talal Itani

And We shaded you with clouds, and We sent down to you manna and quails: “Eat of the good things We have provided for you.” They did not wrong Us, but they used to wrong their own souls.

Tafsir jalalayn

And We made the cloud overshadow you, that is, We sheltered you with fine clouds from the heat of the sun while you were in the wilderness; and We sent down, in them [the clouds], upon you manna and quails -- which are [respectively, a type of citrus known as] turunjabn and the quail -- and We said; `Eat of the good things We have provided for you', and do not store any of it away, but they were not grateful for this favour and stored the food, and so they were deprived of it; And they did not wrong Us, in this, but themselves they wronged, since the evil consequences [of this] befell them.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Shade, the Manna and the Quail

After Allah mentioned the calamities that He saved the Children of Israel from, He mentioned the favors that He granted them, saying,

وَظَلَّلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْغَمَامَ

And We shaded you with clouds.

This Ayah mentions the white clouds that provided shade for the Children of Israel, protecting them from the sun s heat during their years of wandering.

In the Hadith about the trials, An-Nasa'i recorded Ibn Abbas saying, Allah shaded the Children of Israel with clouds during the years of wandering.

Ibn Abi Hلa0tim said, Narrations similar to that of Ibn Abbas were reported from Ibn Umar, Ar-Rabi bin Anas, Abu Mijlaz, Ad-Dahhak, and As-Suddi.

Al-Hasan and Qatadah said that,
وَظَلَّلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْغَمَامَ
(And We shaded you with clouds),

"This happened when they were in the desert and the clouds shielded them from the sun."

Ibn Jarir said that several scholars said that the type of cloud the Ayah mentioned,

"was cooler and better than the type we know."

وَأَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَنَّ وَالسَّلْوَى

and sent down on you Al-Manna and the quail,

Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas commented on Allah's statement,
وَأَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَنَّ
(And sent down on you Al-Manna),

The manna used to descend to them to the trees, and they used to eat whatever they wished of it.

Also, Qatadah said,

The manna, which was whiter than milk and sweeter than honey, used to rain down on the Children of Israel, just as the snow falls, from dawn until sunrise. One of them would collect enough for that particular day, for if it remained more than that, it would spoil. On the sixth day, Friday, one would collect enough for the sixth and the seventh day, which was the Sabbath during which one would not leave home to seek his livelihood, or for anything else. All this occurred in the wilderness.

The type of manna that we know provides sufficient food when eaten alone, because it is nutritious and sweet. When manna is mixed with water, it becomes a sweet drink. It also changes composition when mixed with other types of food. However, this is not the only type.

The evidence to this fact is that Al-Bukhari narrated, that Sa'd bin Zayd said that the Messenger of Allah said,

الْكَمْأَةُ مِنَ الْمَنِّ وَمَاوُهَا شِفَاءٌ لِلْعَيْن
Kam'ah (truffles) is a type of manna, and its liquid is a remedy for the eyes.

This Hadith was also collected by Imam Ahmad.

The group of Hadith compilers, with the exception of Abu Dawud, also collected it, and At-Tirmidhi graded it Hasan Sahih.

At-Tirmidhi recorded Abu Hurayrah saying that the Messenger of Allah said,

الْعَجْوَةُ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ وَفِيهَا شِفَاءٌ مِنَ السُّمِّ

وَالْكَمْأَةُ مِنَ الْمَنِّ وَمَاوُهَا شِفَاءٌ لِلْعَيْن

The Ajwah (pressed, dried date) is from Paradise and it cures poison,
Al-Kam'ah (truffles) is a form of manna, and its liquid heals the eye."

At-Tirmidhi is the only one of them who recorded this Hadith.

As for the quail (Salwa) in question, Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas said,

"The (Salwa) is a bird that looks like the quail."

This is the same opinion reported from Mujahid, Ash-Sha`bi, Ad-Dahhak, Al-Hasan, Ikrimah and Ar-Rabi bin Anas, may Allah have mercy upon them.

Also, Ikrimah said that;

the Salwa is a bird in Paradise about the size of a sparrow.

Qatadah said ;

"The Salwa is a bird that is similar to a sparrow. During that time, an Israelite could catch as many quails as was sufficient for that particular day, otherwise the meat would spoil. On the sixth day, Friday, he would collect what is enough for the sixth and the seventh day, the Sabbath, during which one was not allowed to depart his home to seek anything."

Allah said,

كُلُواْ مِن طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ

Eat of the good lawful things We have provided for you,

this form of command is a simple order of allowance, guiding to what is good.

This Ayah is similar to Allah's statement,

كُلُواْ مِن رِّزْقِ رَبِّكُمْ وَاشْكُرُواْ لَهُ

Eat of the provision of your Lord, and be grateful to Him. (34;15)

Allah said,

وَمَا ظَلَمُونَا وَلَـكِن كَانُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ



And they did not wrong Us but they wronged themselves,

means, `We commanded them to eat from what We gave them, and to perform the acts of worship (but they rebelled).'

Yet, the Children of Israel rebelled, disbelieved and committed injustice against themselves, even though they saw the clear signs, tremendous miracles and extraordinary events.
The Virtue of Muhammad's Companions over the Companions of all Other Prophets

Here it is important to point out the virtue of Muhammad's Companions over the companions of the other Prophets. This includes firmness in the religion, patience and the lack of arrogance, may Allah be pleased with them.

Although the Companions accompanied the Prophet in his travels and battles, such as during the battle of Tabuk, in intense heat and hardship, they did not ask for a miracle, though this was easy for the Prophet by Allah's leave. And when the Companions became hungry, they merely asked the Prophet - to invoke Allah - for an increase in the amount of food. They collected whatever food they had and brought it to the Prophet, and he asked Allah to bless it, told each of them to take some food, and they filled every pot they had.

Also, when they needed rain, the Prophet asked Allah to send down rain, and a rain cloud came. They drank, gave water to their camels and filled their water skins. When they looked around, they found that the cloud had only rained on their camp. This is the best example of those who were willing to accept Allah's decision and follow the Messenger of Allah