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wa-min thamarāti n-nakhīli wa-l-ʾaʿnābi tattakhidhūna minhu sakaran wa-rizqan ḥasanan ʾinna fī dhālika la-ʾāyatan li-qawmin yaʿqilūna
From the fruits of date palms and vines you draw wine and goodly provision. There are indeed signs in that for people who exercise their reason.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah An-Nahl – Verse 67
67. “And of the fruits of the palm and the vines, you get out therefrom (drinks of) intoxication and (also) goodly sustenance. Verily there is a sign in that for a people who understand.”
The Arabic term /sukr/ signifies ‘losing one’s mind’ and the word /sakar/ refers to its origin. In the past two verses, the issues in question were water and milk both of which are natural and direct drinks. This verse deals with those drinks which are obtained by extraction. Once Allah Himself is in action, there is always grace and blessings involved, namely, rainwater and pure milk. But, once man is involved, one finds that at times, provisions are good and at times the issue involved is intoxicating drinks which are the source of devastation and corruption.
Therefore, following the discussion of the animals and their milk, this noble verse refers to a part of the merits of plants, implying that Allah provided you with a kind of blessed nutrition for you out of the fruits of palm-trees and vines which you sometimes turn into detrimental forms and use it in the form of intoxicating substances and liquids, and sometimes use it in their tidy and clean forms. There is an evident clue in it for those who ponder.
The verse says:
“And of the fruits of the palm and the vines, you get out therefrom (drinks of) intoxication and (also) goodly sustenance. Verily there is a sign in that for a people who understand.”