The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 289
PT. 18 AL-MU'MINÜN CH. 23 وَشَجَرَةً تَخْرُجُ مِنْ طُورِ سَيْنَاء And a tree which springs. 21 forth from Mount Sinai; it produces oil and a sauce for those who eat. 2525 تَنْبُتُ بِالدُّهْنِ وَصِبْغٍ لِلْآكِلِينَ وَإِنَّ لَكُمْ فِي الْأَنْعَامِ لَعِبْرَةٌ نُسْقِيكُمُ And in the cattle also there. 22 is a lesson for you. We give you مِّمَّا فِي بُطُونِهَا وَلَكُمْ فِيْهَا مَنَافِعُ to drink of that which is in their bellies and you have in them 6:143; 16:6; 36:72-73; 40:80-81. favours which He has bestowed on man. It also contains a subtle illusion to the fact that the garden of Islam will, forever, remain full of fruit- bearing trees of various kinds which will yield fresh fruits in plenty in every season. 2525. Commentary: The verse embodies yet another instance of God's bountiful provision for the physical needs of man. The words 'Mount Sinai', however, draw attention to the fact that if God has made provision for man's physical needs, He has not neglected to make similar provision for his spiritual needs and He has been doing so from time immemorial. The verse reminds us of the great prophecy of the Bible which is to the effect: "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them; He shined forth from Mount Paran and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them" (Deut. 33:2). The prophecy refers to the advent of Moses, the appearance of Jesus from Seir and to the coming of the Holy Prophet of Islam with a fiery Law. The Holy Prophet actually had ten thousand Companions with him when he entered Mecca as a conqueror. As to the identity of Paran see 2:130. About the tree referred to in the verse which springs from Mount Sinai and produces oil the following extract may be read with interest: The well lying to the east of the Church, and traditionally that from which Moses drew up for the daughters of Jethro, was sufficient to supply the domestic needs of the monks and their guests; the water of the other, led by channels in the rock and carefully disposed pipes down through the sloping garden, made that a fertile and pleasant place, with grass and vegetable plots, rows of salad herbs, and the shade of many fruit trees-apple and pear, grapevines, oranges, figs and almonds, as well as so great a number of olive trees that, together with those in a more distant garden, they produced enough oil for the culinary use of the monastery, and for the multitude of lamps which hung in their Church. ("Once To Sinai" by H. F. M. Prescott). 2203