The Shade, the Manna, and the Quail
(Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 2003, p.233-236)
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(The Gathering of the Manna (Manna Ioroli) by James Tissot)
“And We shaded you with clouds, and sent down on you Al-Manna and the quail, (saying): “eat of the good lawful things We have provided for you,” (but they rebelled). And they did not wrong Us but they wronged themselves.” [Surah 2. Al-Baqarah 57, Al-Quran)
During the days when the Children of Israel used to roam in the deserts, in hardship, Allah (swt) blessed them with countless, miraculous favors. Clouds, better and cooler than the ones we know (commented by Ibn Jarir), used to shade them from the sun. As they roamed the wilderness, a sweet, nutritious truffle-like food called the Manna used to rain down on them like snow. They used to collect it in baskets, enough to last for the day. Manna from the Heaven was different from that which we have, it was whiter than milk and sweeter than honey. This collection was a daily chore, because the Manna used to spoil the next day. On Friday; however, they collected for two days because of observing the Sabbath the next day when nobody left to gather food or any other purpose.
According to Prophet Muhammad (saww), “Kam’ah (truffles) is a type of manna, and its liquid is a remedy for the eyes.” (Fath al-Bari 8:14).
Terfeziaceae, the sweet fruit-like, desert truffles are scientifically classified as fungus (Zur and Roth-Bejerano, 2008). is called Kama in Arabic and is sold as two varieties: (1) Khalasi (oval, black skin, ivory-pink interior), and (2) Zubaidi (cream colored). It generally grows in desert areas.
The Israelites would also catch Salwa (quails), as much to last for the day, along with collecting Manna. Scholars unanimously agree that the Salwa (bird) in Paradise is about the size of a sparrow, and bears resemblance to the quail. The catching routine was similar to the collection of Manna, i.e. they caught quails every day for the day’s share and on Friday they caught enough to last for the Sabbath.
Briefly mentioning, the Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, Saturday, and was a day of rest and religious observance among Jews and some Christians (“Sabbath,”, 2012).
Allah (swt) speaks in the Quran about the ungratefulness, the rebellion, and disbelief of the Children of Israel despite witnessing and prospering from these miracles.
References
Sabbath. (2012). Dictionary.com. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sabbath
Zur, V.K. & Roth-Bejerano, N.R. (2008). Desert Truffles. FungiMag.com. Retrieved from http://www.fungimag.com/Truffle-Issue-08-articles/desert-truffles.pdf
