Surah Al Baqarah (Section 7)

2-60      And when Moses prayed for water for his people, We said: March on to the rock with thy staff. So there flowed from it twelve springs. Each tribe knew their drinking-place. Eat and drink of the provisions of Allah, and act not corruptly, making mischief in the land.^a

 وَإِذِ ٱسۡتَسۡقَىٰ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوۡمِهِۦ فَقُلۡنَا ٱضۡرِب بِّعَصَاكَ ٱلۡحَجَرَ‌ۖ فَٱنفَجَرَتۡ مِنۡهُ ٱثۡنَتَا عَشۡرَةَ عَيۡنً۬ا‌ۖ قَدۡ عَلِمَ ڪُلُّ أُنَاسٍ۬ مَّشۡرَبَهُمۡ‌ۖ ڪُلُواْ وَٱشۡرَبُواْ مِن رِّزۡقِ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا تَعۡثَوۡاْ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مُفۡسِدِينَ (٦٠)

2:60a: ٱضۡرِب – ضرب is the striking of one thing on another, and the meaning of ضرب فی الارض means to walk on the earth (R). In the Taj al-Arus, the meaning of ضرب is ذھب , that is, went or gone away. Thus, ضرب الغائط means, has gone to answer the call of nature. Another meaning of ضرب is beating.

عصا – Leading lexicographers give the meaning of عصا as an assembly and socializing (LA). In fact, Asmai states that عصا refers to a staff because the fingers of the hand meet together in clasping it (L). It is for this reason, that the dictionary defines عصا  as a party and عصوت as I gathered together. A statement about the Khawarij says: سقوا عصا المسلمین , that is, the Khawarij created a schism in the party of Muslims. Similarly, the meaning of ایّاك دقتیل العصا is beware of those who create a schism in the party of Muslims. So the meaning of عصا can be either staff or party.

Therefore, there can be three meanings ofٱضۡرِب بِّعَصَاكَ ٱلۡحَجَر : strike your staff on the rock; march on to the rock with thy staff; and march on to the rock with thy party.

  ٱنفَجَرَت – It is from فَجر which means split asunder. And the break of dawn is called فَجر because the darkness of the night is split [with the light of the day] (R). The meanings ofتَفۡجِیر and انفجار are very expansive. In Surah Araf, the word used in the same context is: ٱنۢبَجَسَتۡ which means to flow out. However, it is spoken for the first trickle (which is small in amount) while تَفۡجِیر or انفجار is spoken when the flow increases, and surges out from its source. And فُجُور from which فَاجِر is derived means to tear the curtain of honesty (R).

عین – actually means eye, but a place from where water springs out is also called عین  because tears come out from the eyes. A spy is called عین because he looks at things very intensely. Gold is called عین because it is the best of metals for making jewelry, just as the eye is the best of organs. The substance or essence of a thing is also called عین (R).

أُنَاسٍ۬ – is another version of الناس . Sometimes, it is used for tribe or troupe (T). This is the meaning here. There were twelve tribes of Bani Israel. It can be gleaned from this that the twelve tribes had camped separately, one on each spring. The springs must have been at different locations and at some distance from each other.

  تَعۡثَوۡاْ – It is derived from عثیٰ and the meaning of both is strife (R), or its meaning is to exceed the limits, and later it refers to a strife that exceeds the limit.

Prayer in the early religions: In this verse, there is a mention of Bani Israel asking for water. In the next verse there is a mention of asking for food. In all early religions, prayers for food and water are found with great frequency, the most significant prayer of Jesus is for provision of daily bread.

The miracle of the twelve springs: The need for water in the wilderness was a dire necessity and the tribes could not settle without water. So Allah directed Moses to a mountain where they found twelve springs. Elim is a place where there are twelve springs (Exodus 15:25-27) and to this day, it is known as the عیون موسیٰ or the Springs of Moses (Bible Dictionary, Cambridge Press, Article: Wilderness). It is possible that this place or close to it is where Moses was asked to strike the rock with his staff and a spring burst forth which then became twelve springs. For a spring to burst forth when a rock is fractured is a common event, but for the twelve tribes to settle on the springs that were remote enough to accommodate each tribe is somewhat unlikely. So, instead of the common translation of strike the rock with thy staff, a better interpretation is to use the alternate meeting of عصا as people and interpret this part of the verse as strike a path to the rock with thy people. The narration by some that Moses kept a three-square yard rock with him and wherever he placed the rock in the wilderness and struck it with his staff, twelve springs would gush out, has no basis in the Quran or Hadith. The explanation given here is also more appropriate from the perspective that in the next verse, where mention is made of the demand for food, the direction given is to enter a city and cultivate. The juxtaposition of both events indicates that the nature of the two events is the same.

2-61      And when you said: O Moses, we cannot endure one food, so pray thy Lord on our behalf to bring forth for us out of what the earth grows, of its herbs and its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils and its onions.^a He said: Would you exchange that which is better for that which is worse? Enter a city, so you will have what you ask for.^b And abasement and humiliation were stamped upon them, and they incurred Allah’s wrath. That was so because they disbelieved in the messages of Allah and would kill the prophets unjustly. That was so because they disobeyed and exceeded the limits.^c

   وَإِذۡ قُلۡتُمۡ يَـٰمُوسَىٰ لَن نَّصۡبِرَ عَلَىٰ طَعَامٍ۬ وَٲحِدٍ۬ فَٱدۡعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُخۡرِجۡ لَنَا مِمَّا تُنۢبِتُ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ مِنۢ بَقۡلِهَا وَقِثَّآٮِٕهَا وَفُومِهَا وَعَدَسِہَا وَبَصَلِهَا‌ۖ قَالَ أَتَسۡتَبۡدِلُونَ ٱلَّذِى هُوَ أَدۡنَىٰ بِٱلَّذِى هُوَ خَيۡرٌ‌ۚ ٱهۡبِطُواْ مِصۡرً۬ا فَإِنَّ لَڪُم مَّا سَأَلۡتُمۡ‌ۗ وَضُرِبَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمُ ٱلذِّلَّةُ وَٱلۡمَسۡڪَنَةُ وَبَآءُو بِغَضَبٍ۬ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ‌ۗ ذَٲلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمۡ كَانُواْ يَكۡفُرُونَ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ وَيَقۡتُلُونَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ بِغَيۡرِ ٱلۡحَقِّ‌ۗ ذَٲلِكَ بِمَا عَصَواْ وَّڪَانُواْ يَعۡتَدُونَ (٦١) 

2:61a: بقل – The meaning of بَقَل is became manifest. Everything that is part of the greenery on the earth is بقل but the purport here is all the good quality vegetables that people eat.

فوم –  Garlic is one of the meanings of فوم  and the other is wheat. The meaning here appears to be garlic. Ibn Masud interprets this as garlic and it suits the context.

Bani Israel’s habit of asking for favors without making any effort and Muslims: In the entire narration of Bani Israel, the thing of note is that they ask for things without putting in effort to get them. When they were commanded to fight, they excused themselves: فَٱذۡهَبۡ أَنتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَـٰتِلَآ إِنَّا هَـٰهُنَا قَـٰعِدُونَ (…go therefore thou and thy Lord, and fight; surely here we sit) (5:24). Whether it was victory or kingdom, they wanted it given to them on a silver platter. The same mentality prevails among the Muslims today. Whether it is temporal dominance, spiritual ascendancy, or affluence, they want the Imam Mehdi to come and hand it to them. Allah’s response to this attitude is the same as the one to Bani Israel, namely that these things can be theirs if they pursued them according to the rules made by Allah. This is the instruction given in: ٱهۡبِطُواْ مِصۡرً۬ا (Enter a city). See the next note.

2:61b: أَدۡنَىٰ  – is derived from دنو  meaning nearness or proximity. The purport of أَدۡنَىٰ  at times is اصغر meaning a smaller thing as compared to a bigger thing, and sometimes ارذل  meaning a worse thing as compared to a better thing, and sometimes اقرب meaning nearer as compared to further away (R). The comparison here is with خیر (better) so the meaning is: ارذل (worse).

مِصۡرً۬ا  – The actual meaning of مصر is boundary or limit, and for this reason every city with limits is called مصر . مصر (Egypt) is also the name of a well-known country. In this verse مصر is used as a common noun and hence the meaning is city.

 Comparison of cultivation with conquest of country: The comparison of better and worse here appears to be a comparison of better or worse condition. Bani Israel desired vegetables and farm produce, which require cultivation. A nation that is occupied with agriculture cannot become a conquering nation. Thus, they were advised that their present condition was better for the long run even though with it came dietary constraints. If they engaged with agriculture, victories would elude them. However, if a varied diet was their priority, then the way to have that was to enter a city and adopt cultivation as their occupation. They would thus be able to get their heart’s desire. Their natural inclination for agriculture was also because this was the kind of work they did in Egypt. The meaning of مصر is city and the reference here is not to Egypt. The purport here is to settle in a city.

2:61c: ضُرِبَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمُ  – This idiom has been taken from: ضَرَبَ الۡخَیۡمَةَ , that is, he pitched a tent. The purport is that disgrace encompassed him like a tent encompasses a person on whom it is pitched.

ٱلذِّلَّةُ  – The meaning of ذُل and ذِلّة   are the same, that is, the state of being disgraced or subjugated, and ذِلّ  is the state that follows difficulty (R).  ذِلّة  is a state of subjugation that has associated with it killing and pillage as mentioned by commentators while commenting on Surah Al-Amran verse 112 because that is the lowest state of ذِلّة .

ٱلۡمَسۡڪَنَةُ  – is derived from سکن which is a stationary state after being in motion (R), and the meaning of سَکَنٌ  is decline of domination (R). Included in it is bowing down, disgrace and abject condition. Sometimes مَسۡڪَنَةُ means weakness (N). Thus, the state of مَسۡڪَنَةُ is one where no vitality remains to rise to the state of a ruler. It is the nadir of subjugation.

بَآءُوا – بواء is the levelling of the ground in parts of the house. And باء بغضب من اللّٰه means that he alighted at a place where the wrath of Allah was with him (R). For this reason, among the meanings of یتبوأ  (making place) is یاباء which means اِحۡتَمَل as if he had become the site of that sin or wrath (T). And باء sometimes means came back .

يَقۡتُلُونَ  – The meaning of قتل  is explained in 2:54a. In Ruh al-Maani while commenting on فَرِيقً۬ا تَقۡتُلُونَ (…others you would slay) the meaning of قتل is interpreted in the following way: والمراد من القتل مباشرة الاسباب الموجبة لزوال الحیٰوة سواء مرتب علیه اَولا. Translated, it means that by قتل is meant obtaining the means to end a life whether the life is ended or not.

Killing as a hyperbole for an attempt to kill: It is a fact that sometimes an attempted action is named for the action itself. There are many examples of this in the Quran. For example, فَبَلَغۡنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ (…reach their prescribed time…) (2:231) where بلغ does not actually mean reach but when they are near to reaching. So, يَقۡتُلُونَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ (kill the prophets) may mean that they sought to kill the prophets but could also mean that they killed the prophets.

ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ – is the plural of نبی  derived from نَبَاء meaning just news or news that contains information about a great benefit. It is a verbal noun but the hamzah has been left out. Hence نبئ اللّٰه is not correct and the correct way to write it is:نبی اللّٰه  as narrated in a hadith. According to some, نبی is derived from نَبُوَّة which means elevated or high and a prophet is called نبی because of his high status (R).  نَبُوَّة is ambassadorship (that is, delivering the message) of Allah to those of His creation possessing understanding (R). According to Al-Qamus, نبی (prophet) is the person who informs others about Allah, and this has been further detailed in Taj ul Arus as the person to whom Allah reveals information about His Oneness, reveals to him knowledge of the unknown and tells him that he is a prophet.

The literal meaning of نبی and its meaning in the terminology of the shariah: The literal meaning of نبی is just someone who gives news, but in the terminology of the shariah, the word is used for those exalted personalities who perform the duty of ambassadorship between Allah and humans, that is, who convey to humans the ways of seeking Allah’s pleasure and how to follow those ways. In its literal sense, the word نبی is used for people who have true dreams and for those who receive revelation.

A revealed Book is necessary for a نبی (Prophet): Because the word نبی (prophet) has a special meaning in the terminology of shariah, a person who has not been appointed to the role of ambassadorship cannot be called a نبی even if he has an abundance of revelations or true dreams. This is the reason why the Holy Prophet did not consider himself a prophet until he received the revelation “Read,” though he had an abundance of true dreams before that. The Divine commands that the prophet is appointed to convey to the people constitute his Book. Verse 2:213 states that Allah raises prophets as bearers of good news and as warners, and وَأَنزَلَ مَعَهُمُ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبَ (…and He revealed with them the Book) so that he may judge between people concerning that in which they differ. Hence, a prophet cannot be a prophet without a Book.

No prophet after the Holy Prophet: Because there is no need for a Book after the Quran, there is no prophet after the Holy Prophet.

The abasement and humiliation of Bani Israel: The abasement and humiliation of Bani Israel mentioned here relates to the prior narration of events to the extent that this was the ultimate result of their perverse ways. The mention does not mean that this necessarily happened during the time of Moses. In fact, this is a portrayal of their condition after the lapse of a long period of time. The reason for this is given not in the previous verse but in what follows, that is, they disbelieved in the messages of Allah and killed the prophets unjustly. They did not just disobey God but exceeded all limits in doing so.

Killing of prophets can also mean attempted killing or giving the lie to their messages: What is the meaning of killing the prophets? It appears from several references in the Bible that the Israelites literally killed some prophets. One of the meanings of قتل (killing) is giving the lie to their call, that is to cause their mission to fail. Accordingly, the narration: اذا بویع خلعفتیعن فاقتلو الٰاخر منھما  is explained by Ibn Kathir as: ای ابطلو دعوته و اجعلوہ کمن مات , that is, make his mission a failure and consider him to be like a person who has died. In Arabic, the word قتل is also used for a situation where all the factors come together that can cause death whether actual death occurs or not. The interpretation of the words of the Quran can be done in accordance with these two meanings, that is, frustrating the mission of prophets or attempting to murder them. According to the Ruh al-Maani, their (Bani Israel’s) condition was such that if there was no constraint, they would have killed the prophets. For further clarification see 2:53a and 2:73a.