Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (5/414)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

“Then We produced for you thereby gardens of date palms and grapevines, in which you have abundant fruits, and from which you eat; and a tree issuing from Mount Sinai, producing oil and a relish for those who eat.” (19–20)

His saying, Most High: “Then We produced for you thereby”—that is, by means of the water—“gardens of date palms and grapevines, in which you have”—that is, in the gardens—“abundant fruits, and from which you eat,” in winter and summer. Date palms and grapevines are mentioned specifically because they were the most plentiful fruits among the Arabs.

“And a tree”—that is, We produced for you a tree—“issuing from Mount Sinai”: namely, the olive tree. The people of the Hijaz and Abu Amr read it as Sīnāʾ, with the letter sīn pronounced with kasrah. The others read it with fathah, Saynaʾ. They differed concerning its meaning, as well as that of Sinīn in His saying, “By Mount Sinai” (al-Tin 95:2).

Mujahid said: “It means blessing; that is, from a blessed mountain.” Qatadah said: “It means beauty; that is, from the beautiful mountain.” Al-Dahhak said: “It is in the Nabataean language, and it means beauty.” Ikrimah said: “It is in the Abyssinian language.” Al-Kalbi said: “It means trees; that is, a mountain containing trees.” It was also said that, in Syriac, it means “intertwined with trees.” Muqatil said: “Every mountain containing fruit-bearing trees is called sīnā, and sinīn is [the same] in the Nabataean language.” It was also said that it is a morphological form derived from sanāʾ, meaning elevation.

Ibn Zayd said: “It is the mountain from which Moses was called, between Egypt and Aylah.” Mujahid said: “Sinai is the name of particular stones; the mountain was ascribed to them because they are found near it.” Ikrimah said: “It is the name of the place in which this mountain stands.” (1)

“Producing oil”: Ibn Kathir, the people of Basrah, and Yaqub read it as tunbitu, with the letter tāʾ pronounced with dammah and the letter bāʾ with kasrah. The others read it as tanbutu, with the letter tāʾ pronounced with fathah and the letter bāʾ with dammah. According to the reading with fathah on the tāʾ, its meaning is that it grows and yields oil—namely, olive oil. It was also said: it grows along with oil.

As for the reading with dammah on the tāʾ, they differed concerning it. Some said that the letter bāʾ is superfluous, its meaning being: “It produces oil,” just as one may say, “I took his garment,” or “I took hold of his garment.” Others said that nabata and anbata are two expressions with one meaning, as Zuhayr said:

“I saw the needy around their houses, ...
Dwelling there with them, until the herbage sprang forth.” (2)

That is, until the herbage grew.

“And a relish for those who eat”: sibgh and sibbagh mean a condiment that colours bread when it is dipped into it and absorbs it. A condiment is anything eaten with bread, whether the bread absorbs it or not. Muqatil said: “He has made

(1) Al-Tabari cites these views in his Tafsir, 18:13-14, then gives preference to the following: “The sound view is that Sinai is a name attached to al-Tur by which it is identified, just as one says ‘the two mountains of Tayyi,’ both being associated with Tayyi. Had its meaning been, as some claim, ‘a blessed mountain,’ or, as others claim, ‘beautiful,’ then al-Tur would have taken tanwin and Sinai would have been its adjective. Moreover, Sinai is not known in Arabic to mean ‘blessed’ or ‘beautiful,’ so that it could be made an attribute of the mountain. Rather, the correct view, Allah willing, is that of Ibn Abbas: it is a mountain known by this name, and it is the mountain from which Musa, peace be upon him, was called. It is indeed blessed, but Sinai does not itself mean ‘blessed.’” (2) See Sharh Diwan Zuhayr, p. 111; Tafsir al-Tabari, 18:14; and Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-Arab, root n-b-t.

﴿فَأَنْشَأْنَا لَكُمْ بِهِ جَنَّاتٍ مِنْ نَخِيلٍ وَأَعْنَابٍ لَكُمْ فِيهَا فَوَاكِهُ كَثِيرَةٌ وَمِنْهَا تَأْكُلُونَ (١٩) وَشَجَرَةً تَخْرُجُ مِنْ طُورٍ سَيْنَاءَ تَنْبُتُ بِالدُّهْنِ وَصِبْغٍ لِلْآكِلِينَ (٢٠) ﴾ قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿فَأَنْشَأْنَا لَكُمْ بِهِ﴾ أَيْ: بِالْمَاءِ، ﴿جَنَّاتٍ مِنْ نَخِيلٍ وَأَعْنَابٍ لَكُمْ فِيهَا﴾ فِي الْجَنَّاتِ، ﴿فَوَاكِهُ كَثِيرَةٌ وَمِنْهَا تَأْكُلُونَ﴾ شِتَاءً وَصَيْفًا، وَخُصَّ النَّخِيلُ وَالْأَعْنَابُ بِالذِّكْرِ لِأَنَّهَا أَكْثَرُ فَوَاكِهِ الْعَرَبِ. ﴿وَشَجَرَةً﴾ أَيْ: وَأَنْشَأْنَا لَكُمْ شَجَرَةً ﴿تَخْرُجُ مِنْ طُورِ سَيْنَاءَ﴾ وَهِيَ الزَّيْتُونُ، قَرَأَ أَهْلُ الْحِجَازِ وَأَبُو عَمْرٍو "سِينَاءَ" بِكَسْرِ السِّينِ. وَقَرَأَ الْآخَرُونَ بِفَتْحِهَا وَاخْتَلَفُوا فِي مَعْنَاهُ وَفِي "سِينِينَ" فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: "وَطُورِ سِينِينَ" (التَّينِ -٢) قَالَ مُجَاهِدٌ: مَعْنَاهُ الْبَرَكَةُ، أَيْ: مِنْ جَبَلٍ مُبَارَكٍ. وَقَالَ قَتَادَةُ: مَعْنَاهُ الْحُسْنُ، أَيْ: مِنَ الْجَبَلِ الْحَسَنِ. وَقَالَ الضَّحَّاكُ: هُوَ بِالنَّبَطِيَّةِ، وَمَعْنَاهُ الْحُسْنُ. وَقَالَ عِكْرِمَةُ: هُوَ بِالْحَبَشِيَّةِ. وَقَالَ الْكَلْبِيُّ: مَعْنَاهُ الشَّجَرُ، أَيْ: جَبَلٌ ذُو شَجَرٍ. وَقِيلَ: هُوَ بِالسُّرْيَانِيَّةِ الْمُلْتَفَّةُ بِالْأَشْجَارِ. وَقَالَ مُقَاتِلٌ: كُلُّ جَبَلٍ فِيهِ أَشْجَارٌ مُثْمِرَةٌ فَهُوَ سِينًا، وَسِينِينَ بِلُغَةِ النَّبَطِ. وَقِيلَ: هُوَ فَيْعَالُ مِنَ السَّنَاءِ وَهُوَ الِارْتِفَاعُ. قَالَ ابْنُ زَيْدٍ: هُوَ الْجَبَلُ الَّذِي نُودِيَ مِنْهُ مُوسَى بَيْنَ مِصْرَ وَأَيْلَةَ. وَقَالَ مُجَاهِدٌ: سَيْنَا اسْمُ حِجَارَةٍ بِعَيْنِهَا أُضِيفَ الْجَبَلُ إِلَيْهَا لِوُجُودِهَا عِنْدَهُ. وَقَالَ عِكْرِمَةُ: هُوَ اسْمُ الْمَكَانِ الَّذِي فِيهِ هَذَا الْجَبَلُ (١) . ﴿تَنْبُتُ بِالدُّهْنِ﴾ قَرَأَ ابْنُ كَثِيرٍ وَأَهْلُ الْبَصْرَةِ وَيَعْقُوبُ "تُنْبِتُ" بِضَمِّ التَّاءِ وَكَسْرِ الْبَاءِ، وَقَرَأَ الْآخَرُونَ بِفَتْحِ التَّاءِ وَضَمِّ الْبَاءِ، فَمَنْ قَرَأَ بِفَتْحِ التَّاءِ فَمَعْنَاهُ تَنْبُتُ تُثْمِرُ الدُّهْنَ وَهُوَ الزَّيْتُونُ. وَقِيلَ: تَنْبُتُ وَمَعَهَا الدُّهْنُ، وَمَنْ قَرَأَ بِضَمِّ التَّاءِ، اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَالَ: الْبَاءُ زَائِدَةٌ، مَعْنَاهُ: تُنْبِتُ الدُّهْنَ، كَمَا يُقَالُ: أَخَذْتُ ثَوْبَهُ وَأَخَذْتُ بِثَوْبِهِ، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَالَ: نَبَتَ وَأَنْبَتَ لُغَتَانِ بِمَعْنًى وَاحِدٍ، كَمَا قَالَ زُهَيْرٌ: رَأَيْتُ ذَوِي الحَاجَاتِ حَوْلَ بُيُوتِهِمْ ... قَطِينًا لَهُمْ حَتَّى إِذَا أَنْبَتَ البَقْلُ (٢) أَيْ: نَبَتَ، ﴿وَصِبْغٍ لِلْآكِلِينَ﴾ الصِّبْغُ وَالصِّبَّاغُ: الْإِدَامُ الَّذِي يُلَوِّنُ الْخُبْزَ إِذَا غُمِسَ فِيهِ وَيَنْصَبِغُ، وَالْإِدَامُ كُلُّ مَا يُؤْكَلُ مَعَ الْخُبْزِ، سَوَاءٌ يَنْصَبِغُ بِهِ الْخُبْزُ أَوْ لَا يَنْصَبِغُ. قَالَ مُقَاتِلٌ: جَعَلَ

(١) ذكر هذه الأقوال الطبري: ١٨ / ١٣ - ١٤ وقال مرجحا: "والصواب من القول في ذلك أن يقال: إن سيناء اسم أضيف إليه الطور يعرف به، كما قيل جبلا طيئ، فأضيفا إلى طيئ، ولو كان القول في ذلك كما قال من قال: معناه: جبل مبارك، أو كما قال: من قال: معناه حسن، لكان الطور منونا، وكان قوله سيناء، من نعته، على أن سيناء بمعنى: مبارك وحسن، غير معروف في كلام العرب، فيجعل ذلك من نعت الجبل، ولكن القول في ذلك إن شاء الله، كما قال ابن عباس من أنه جبل عرف بذلك، وأنه الجبل الذي نودي منه موسى ﷺ، وهو مع ذلك مبارك، لا أن معنى سيناء: معنى مبارك". (٢) انظر: "شرح ديوان زهير" ص (١١١) ، "تفسير الطبري" ١٨ / ١٤، "لسان العرب" لابن منظور، مادة (نبت) .