Session Three, Verse 57, the Three Parts, Part One

Session Three

Verse 57 – The Three Parts – Part One: “And We Shaded You with Clouds…” – The Special Nature of the Two Blessings – A View Held by Certain Scholars and Its Examination

October 7, 2024

Summary of the Previous Session

Following the procedure we have observed with regard to the verses, we offered a brief explanation of this verse and discussed its relationship and connection to the preceding verses. We then went on to explain, in summary fashion, certain words and individual terms that required clarification.

The Three Parts

As for the exegesis of this verse, we may, as with the preceding verses, divide it into several parts. This verse contains three parts:

Part One: “And We shaded you with clouds and sent down upon you manna and quails.”

Part Two: “Eat of the good things We have provided for you.”

Part Three: “And they did not wrong Us; rather, it was themselves that they were wronging.”

We shall now explain, in summary, the points pertaining to each of these three parts.

Part One: “And We Shaded You with Clouds…”

In the first part, God Almighty refers to two of His special blessings bestowed upon the Children of Israel. This is counted among the blessings mentioned previously—now either as the seventh blessing, according to one possibility, or as the eighth and ninth. Whether we count the shading by clouds and the sending down of manna and quails together as a single blessing naturally affects the enumeration; but if we separate them, they constitute two blessings, and this, of course, also depends on how the preceding blessings were enumerated.

The Special Nature of the Two Blessings

In any case, these two blessings are among the special and particular blessings of God, Blessed and Exalted. Typically, when the Children of Israel are addressed and God’s blessings to them are recalled, God refers to His special blessings. This becomes a special blessing precisely in light of the situation of the Children of Israel in that desert and wilderness. When they wandered in that wilderness—the Sinai Desert, a waterless, vegetation-less, and scorching desert with nothing to eat and no shade to protect them from the intense heat of the sun, and where even water could not be found—here the verse does not refer to the matter of water, though in that case too, in response to their request and through God’s grace and the action taken by the Prophet Moses, water was likewise provided for them. In these two matters mentioned in this verse, no reference is made to the question of water, though that too was secured for them in that wilderness.

Thus, the special nature of the blessing becomes clear both from their situation and from what was granted to them under those circumstances. There are times when food is provided for someone under ordinary conditions; that, too, is a blessing. A means of protection from heat and cold in a place where securing it is not particularly difficult does not prevent us from regarding it as a blessing. But the particular situation in which they found themselves caused these two blessings to be seen as special blessings. That particular situation was one of bewilderment and wandering in a barren, uncultivated wilderness where no shade existed for them at all.

1. The Placement of Clouds as a Source of Shade

Under those circumstances, when they had truly reached the limit of their endurance, God Almighty provided a source of shade for them possessing several distinct characteristics. At times, the sky may be clouded yet not cool; or it may rain, which brings its own difficulties; or clouds may form in a manner that blocks out light altogether. But the cloud that God placed as a shade for them under those circumstances, firstly, prevented the intensity of the heat, while at the same time not blocking the light, and—more importantly—did not produce rain; yet at the same time, it brought about a cool breeze. In the words of some exegetes, it was like a moist breeze that brought about coolness. This point is referred to in a narration recorded in Majma’ al-Bayan.

Naturally, such a situation was a special one, and what God did for them was a special act. It is for this reason that it is mentioned here as a special blessing. The blessings that God sent down for the Children of Israel were all special blessings. God has not mentioned general blessings here; all of these seven or eight blessings that have been mentioned were all special ones. Here too, the placement of the cloud as a source of shade makes clear why it is regarded as a special blessing.

2. The Sending Down of “Manna” and “Quails”

Another blessing recalled here, which is likewise special, is: “and sent down upon you manna and quails.”

There is, of course, a discussion regarding manna and quails as to whether this refers specifically to material blessings and food, or whether it encompasses both—both material blessing and spiritual blessing. Some exegetes have appealed here to indications and evidence suggesting that these two, and especially quails, refer in an absolute sense to matters and things that bring about contentment of the heart and tranquility of the soul; hence they encompass both material and spiritual matters. For naturally, material benefit brings about human contentment, and spiritual benefits likewise bring about this same contentment in another way; some have therefore regarded this as encompassing both material and spiritual blessing.

The material sense is clear; we have already discussed the meaning of manna, with all the disagreement that exists regarding it—that it is either taranjabin (a sweet exudate), or honey, or a syrup resembling taranjabin. Quails likewise refer to that bird which, in Turkish terminology, is called bildirchin (quail), and which was something resembling it—larger than a sparrow and smaller than a dove.

A View Held by Certain Scholars

The late Mr. Mustafawi, author of al-Tahqiq fi Kalimat al-Qur’an, holds, particularly with regard to quails, that this term carries a stronger sense of spiritual meaning. Given that manna pertains to a foodstuff—being the same syrup or taranjabin-like substance that descended in the form of dew and settled upon rocks and the desert floor, then hardened, and which they were able to make use of during a specific hour—he holds that this second term carries more of a sense of spiritual meaning.

Examination

It appears, however, that this view is not correct, for the following reasons:

First: the terms manna and quails themselves, despite the disagreement that exists regarding them, are predominantly applied, from a linguistic standpoint, to one of the material blessings—whatever that may be taken to mean. Whatever specific thing manna or quails may be applied to, there is nevertheless near-unanimous agreement that both of these terms refer to a material matter—both manna and quails alike.

Second: moreover, the second part of this verse, in which God, Blessed and Exalted, says: “Eat of the good things We have provided for you,” the very command to eat from the good things that God provides as sustenance for human beings strongly suggests that these were material in nature. Otherwise, what reason would there be for God to immediately follow the mention of the sending down of manna and quails with a command to eat—but only to the extent of need, lest they engage in extravagance and lest they hoard? This is, in effect, an allusion and indication pointing to a prohibition against hoarding and extravagance with regard to these two.

In any case, the apparent meaning of manna and quails is that these were two foods provided for the Children of Israel under those circumstances in which they had complained to the Prophet Moses of hunger and thirst. Hence, the view held by some that this encompasses both material and spiritual matters, or that one of the two carries the apparent sense of a spiritual matter, has no sound basis.

Third: this view runs contrary to the position held by the overwhelming majority of exegetes. Even the historical and hadith-based works that have addressed this episode in some fashion—although the narrations or historical accounts that relate these events carry little authority and cannot truly be relied upon—nevertheless, in none of them is there any indication that what God sent down was a spiritual matter.

It thus becomes clear what the particular nature of these two blessings—namely, the shading by clouds and the sending down of manna and quails—consists of. As has become evident, the manna and quails that God sent down for the Children of Israel were material blessings, not spiritual ones.

I should also note the following point: according to one possibility, were manna to carry a more general meaning (rather than referring to one specific kind of food)—even if still material in nature—its relationship to quails would then be one of general to specific; that is, quails would constitute a case of mentioning the specific after the general, and indeed certain narrations lend support to this meaning. However, certain verses of the Qur’an are not entirely consistent with this possibility, for according to verse 61 of Surat al-Baqarah, the Children of Israel complained to Moses, and their complaint was: “O Moses, we cannot endure a single food forever”—in other words, they were ultimately seeking variety in food and sustenance. This portion of verse 61 is therefore inconsistent with the possibility we have mentioned, namely, that manna be understood in a general sense. It thus appears that manna and quails each refer to a specific instance of God’s blessings.

Topic of the Next Session

God willing, we shall address the second and third parts in the coming session.