Surah An-Nahl
Surah 16 · The Bee · 128 verses · meccan
The Bee — from verses 68–69, where Allah reveals to the bee where to build, and from its bellies comes a drink of varying colours in which there is healing.
The story
Allah taught the bee how to build its home and how to make honey, and inside that honey there is healing. This surah is full of gifts Allah gives us — rain, milk, fruit, the sea, the stars — so many that nobody could ever count them all.
How it unfolds
AYAH 1-23
Count, if you can
Cattle, rain, night and day, the sea, the mountains — and the impossibility of counting the favours.
AYAH 66-70
Milk and honey
Two signs given their own verses: pure milk from between waste and blood, and the bee taught by revelation.
AYAH 57-64
What people invent
Daughters attributed to Allah and buried by men — the Quran holding up the contradiction.
AYAH 90-97
The verse of justice
Justice, excellence, kin — and against indecency, wrong and oppression. Plus the promise of a good life to whoever works righteousness.
AYAH 125-128
How to invite
With wisdom and good instruction; and if you punish, punish only in equal measure — but patience is better.
Verses to carry
- 16:90The verse that closes Friday sermons across the world: justice, excellence, and giving to relatives.
- 16:18"If you tried to count the favours of Allah, you could not enumerate them."
- 16:97"Whoever does righteousness, male or female, while a believer — We will surely give them a good life."
- 16:125"Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue in the best manner."
Remember this
Allah gives you more than you could ever count. Try naming five right now.
Talk about it
Allah taught a tiny bee how to make honey. What is your favourite gift from Allah?