Al-Kalbī and Muqātil related: Allah sent down bread, fish, and five loaves. They ate as much as Allah Most High willed, and they numbered a thousand and more. When they returned to their villages and spread the report, those who had not witnessed it mocked them, saying, “Woe to you! He has only bewitched your eyes.” Whoever Allah intended good for, He kept firm upon his insight; but whoever He intended to put to trial returned to his disbelief. They were transformed into swine; there was neither child nor woman among them. They remained in that state for three days, then perished. They neither reproduced, nor ate, nor drank. Such is the case with every creature that is transformed.
Qatādah said: It would descend upon them morning and evening, wherever they were, just as manna and quails descended for the Children of Israel.
Aṭā ibn Abī Rabāḥ narrated from Salmān al-Fārisī: When the disciples asked for the table, Jesus, peace be upon him, put on woolen garments and wept, saying, “Our Lord, send down to us a table from heaven,” to the end of the verse. Then a red tablecloth descended between two clouds, one above it and one below it. They watched as it fell swiftly until it landed before them. Jesus wept and said, “O Allah, make me among the grateful. O Allah, make it a mercy, and do not make it a punishment.” The Jews were looking upon something the like of which they had never seen, and they had never smelled anything more pleasant than its fragrance.
Jesus, peace be upon him, said, “Let the one among you with the best deeds rise, uncover it, and mention the name of Allah Most High.” Simon the Dyer, the chief of the disciples, said, “You are more worthy of this than we are.” Jesus then rose (1), performed ablution, prayed a lengthy prayer, and wept profusely. Then he removed the cloth covering it and said, “In the name of Allah, the Best of providers.” Thereupon, there was a roasted fish, without scales or bones, dripping with fat. Salt lay by its head and vinegar by its tail, while around it were various kinds of greens, except leeks. There were also five loaves: on one were olives, on the second honey, on the third clarified butter, on the fourth cheese, and on the fifth dried meat.
Simon said, “O Spirit of Allah, is this food from this world or ⦗115⦘ from the Hereafter?” He replied, “Nothing that you see is from the food of this world or from the food of the Hereafter. Rather, it is something Allah Most High brought into being through His irresistible power. Eat from what you asked for; He will provide for you and increase you from His bounty.”
They said, “O Spirit of Allah, be the first to eat from it.” Jesus, peace be upon him, said, “Allah forbid that I should eat from it. Rather, those who asked for it should eat from it.” Yet they were afraid to eat from it. So he called the needy, the sick, those afflicted with vitiligo and leprosy, the disabled, and the afflicted, and said, “Eat from the provision of Allah. Its wholesome enjoyment is for you, while its trial is for others.”
They ate from it, and one thousand three hundred poor, sick, disabled, and afflicted men and women departed from it, all fully satisfied. Then the fish was as it had been when it first descended, and the tablecloth flew upward as they watched it until it disappeared from sight. No disabled person, sick person, or afflicted person ate from it without being cured, and no poor person ate from it without becoming well-off. Those who had not eaten from it regretted it.
For forty mornings, it descended in the forenoon. Whenever it descended, the rich and poor, young and old, men and women gathered around it, and it would remain set out, to be eaten