Social Quranevery verse · a conversation
Sign in
سُورَةُ النَّحۡلِ · 16:66
MeccanRevelation order ٧٠Juzʾ ١٤Page ٢٧٤

وَإِنَّ لَكُمْ فِى ٱلْأَنْعَٰمِ لَعِبْرَةًۭ ۖ نُّسْقِيكُم مِّمَّا فِى بُطُونِهِۦ مِنۢ بَيْنِ فَرْثٍۢ وَدَمٍۢ لَّبَنًا خَالِصًۭا سَآئِغًۭا لِّلشَّٰرِبِينَ

٦٦
Saheeh International · EN

And indeed, for you in grazing livestock is a lesson. We give you drink from what is in their bellies - between excretion and blood - pure milk, palatable to drinkers.

Bio

Introduction

This is āyah 66 of Sūrat An-Nahl (The Bee), the 70th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 14. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

Bio

Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Meccan
Order revealed
70 of 114
Surah
An-Nahl (16)
Occasion of revelation · Al-Wahidi

And surely in the cattle there is a lesson for you: We give you to drink of that which is in their bellies, between feces and blood, pure milk, delicious for the drinkers. Two impurities came together, one feces and the other blood. God with His power made pure milk appear between the two. In the same way, two drops came together in the womb. God's determi- nation and form-giving made a form of such beauty appear from the two! He formed you, so He made your forms beautiful [40:64]. He brings together two difficult tasks for the servant, one the burden of disobedience, the other shortcoming in obedience. Then God's bounty makes mercy and forgiveness appear between the two: He will make your deeds wholesome for you and forgive you your sins [33:71]. In what preceded all precedents and began all beginnings, the Pen wrote in the Tablet that the candle of the Shariah and the lamp of faith and certainty would light up in someone's breast. It does not matter if he falls asleep. When he wakes up he will see the lit candle next to his pillow. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, do You know what has made me happy? I did not fall to You by myself. You wanted-it was not I who wanted. I saw the Friend at my pillow when I woke up from sleep.” By way of allusion God is saying, “I took milk, which is your nourishment and your share, and passed it over feces and blood, preserving it from both. As for tawḤīd, it is My rightful due, so it is much more deserving of being preserved by Me. It will pass over this world and the afterworld and not receive any trace. Were the trace of this world or the afterworld to sit on tawḤīd, it would not be worthy of Me. TawḤīd is pure of this world and the afterworld. The light of tawḤīd is the destruction of water and dust. Turning the eye of the heart away from self is to perceive the finding of tawḤīd.”

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

And there is indeed a lesson for you in the An'am (cattle). We have made a drink for you out of what is in its belly, from between excretions and blood, pure milk; palatable to the drinkers (66)And from the fruits of date palms and grapes, you derive strong drink and a goodly provision. There is indeed a sign in this for those of reason (67) Lessons and Blessings in Cattle and the Fruit of the Date-palm and Grapevine وَإِنَّ لَكُمْ (there is for you) - O mankind - فِي الْأَنْعَامِ (in the cattle) - meaning camels, cows and sheep, لَعِبْرَةً (a lesson) meaning a sign and an evidence of the wisdom, power, mercy and kindness of the Creator. نُّسْقِيكُم مِّمَّا فِي بُطُونِهِ (We have made a drink for you out of what is in its belly) meaning its singular forms refers to one cattle, or it could refer to the whole species. For cattle are the creatures which provide a drink from what is…
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

The wall

And now — what do you think?

The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.

Sign in to add your voice to this verse.
No reflections yet — be the first.
Provenance

Community resources

No community resources for this verse yet.