Verse 57 – General Meaning of the Verse – Connection with Previous Verses

Verse 57
Verse 57 of Surah Al-Baqarah is as follows: “I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan; 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.’ And they wronged Us not, but they were wronging themselves.”

General Meaning of the Verse
As usual, we provide a translation and a brief explanation of this verse, followed by an analysis of its terms and then its interpretation. The meaning of the verse is that Almighty Allah says: We sent down clouds for you as a shade, and thereafter, We sent down manna and quails upon you. These two divine blessings are recalled here for the Children of Israel, during the time they were wandering in the wilderness of Sinai. They had neither anything to protect them from the harsh sunlight and heat nor anything to eat. Hunger and heat had placed them in severe distress. This was when they were heading toward Jerusalem or the Holy Land to fight the Amalekites who were there, but they refused to engage in battle with the Amalekites and said to Moses, “You and your Lord go and fight them, and we will stay here and wait.” Consequently, in response to this defiance, ingratitude, and disobedience, Almighty Allah caused them to wander in confusion in the Sinai Desert for forty years. This affliction came after their deliverance from the Nile. They then requested Moses to ask Allah to save them from the intense heat. Allah says: We provided clouds for you as a shade. After they were saved from the heat, they complained of perishing from hunger. So, Allah sent down manna and quails for them. We will discuss manna and quails further in the analysis of the verse’s termssgiving and interpretation. For now, as a general explanation, it is necessary to note that manna was something akin to tragacanth gum, which Allah sent down upon that desert, settling like dew on stones and objects in the wilderness, hardening, andbuilding and they ate it—a sweet substance resembling honey. Quails are small birds, translated in some texts as quails, smaller than doves, which they used as food.
Allah reminds them that We sent clouds as a shade for you, saving you from the heat. These clouds had the unique quality of providing cool breezes without rain; they shielded from the sun’s rays while also creating a cooling breeze to relieve them from the heat. They prevented heat and produced coolness without raining. Almighty Allah saved them from the heat and provided them with food. Then He said: “Eat of the good things We have provided for you.” This command was to caution them against hoarding or wasting. The instruction to eat meant not to store or squander. However, they did both—they wasted and hoarded, failing to appreciate the blessing. “And they wronged Us not, but they were wronging themselves”—their actions did not harm Us, but they harmed themselves.
This is a general explanation and summary of the verse.

Connection with Previous Verses

The connection of this verse with the preceding ones, which we always highlight, is that in this verse, Almighty Allah reminds the Children of Israel of His blessings upon them. Some commentaries, such as Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, count this as the seventh blessing after those mentioned in the previous verses, referring to it as the seventh favor of Allah. Almighty Allah had previously enumerated these blessings one by one, then mentioned this as the seventh. Some commentaries consider it the eighth or ninth blessing. Since several verses prior, Allah had been recounting His blessings upon the Children of Israel one by one. We discussed in detail last year why Allah reminds them of these blessings and what these blessings are. Whether we count these as the seventh, eighth, or ninth blessing depends on how they are enumerated. For instance, some commentaries suggest that providing shade with clouds and sending down sustenance are a single blessing, as they saved a group wandering in the desert from perishing—delivering them from both heat and hunger. However, others consider these two separate blessings, and indeed, they are two distinct blessings: one preserving them from heat, the other from hunger. Each of these could be fatal to humans. A hungry person may survive in good weather but lack the strength to continue living. A satiated person living in extremely harsh, scorching heat cannot survive either. Thus, each is an independent blessing. Therefore, these are two blessings, which Allah mentions alongside the other blessings bestowed upon the Children of Israel. Whether this is the seventh or eighth blessing depends on how the previous blessings are counted. A similar perspective was noted in earlier verses, where some counted two blessings as one, while here, each can be independently considered a blessing due to their distinct significance.
Thus, since Allah was in the process of reminding the Children of Israel of His blessings, He mentions these two blessings here as well. I briefly mentioned these two blessings in the general explanation of the verse. Providing shade through clouds in the scorching Sinai Desert, where they wandered for forty years without shelter, food, or terrain to shield them from the sun’s direct rays, was significant. They would walk from morning to night, only to find themselves back at their starting point, or travel from night to morning, finding themselves in the same place they began. Their wandering was literal, lasting forty years until Allah delivered them. Food was also necessary for their survival, and Allah provided it. All this was due to their disobedience. Prior to this, Allah had bestowed numerous blessings upon them. It was mentioned earlier that when Pharaoh and his followers pursued Moses and his companions to the Nile, Allah parted that great, wide river to save Moses and his companions, while Pharaoh and his followers drowned. Despite all these favors, when they were to enter Jerusalem to fight the Amalekites, they said, “Go, you and your Lord, and fight. We are sitting here.” When they were victorious, they would join in Jerusalem. This disobedience provoked Allah’s wrath, resulting in their forty-year wandering. After forty years, they entered Jerusalem. Even during their wandering in the desert, Almighty Allah protected them from hunger, heat, and direct sunlight. They once complained to Moses about the heat, asking him to request Allah to resolve it. Moses sought Allah’s help, and Allah provided a cloud as a shade. This cloud neither brought rain nor allowed direct sunlight, while also producing a cooling breeze. After this blessing, they requested food, saying, “O Allah, save us from hunger; we have nothing to eat.” Thus, Allah sent down manna and quails. These two blessings are listed among others. Yet, as before, they resorted to ingratitude, disobedience, and squandering; for Allah says He told them, “Eat of the good things We have provided for you,” but they did not comply and wronged themselves. Thus, the connection of this verse with the preceding ones is clear.

Discussion for the Next Session
Thus far, we have provided a general explanation and summary of this verse and its connection with the previous verses. As usual, before delving into the interpretation of this verse in various aspects, we will provide a brief explanation of its terms. This is our standard approach to interpreting the verses discussed here. God willing, in the next session, we will address the terms of the verse.