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wa-shajaratan takhruju min ṭūri saynāʾa tanbutu bi-d-duhni wa-ṣibghin li-l-ʾākilīna
and a tree that grows on Mount Sinai, which produces oil and a seasoning for those who eat.
— Ali Quli Qarai
23Al-Mu’minūnالمؤمنونVerse 20 of 118
The Believers23. Al-Mu’minūnالمؤمنون
Al Mu’minūn
The Believers
MeccanVerse 20 of 118
Surah al-Mu’minun - Verse 20
20. “And a tree springing out of Mount Sinai, which produces oil and seasoning for those who eat.”
Every climatic and geographical area is suitable for a special type of vegetation,
“...a tree springing out of Mount Sinai...”.
Some places are spiritually and materially blessed. Mount Sinai, for example, is the place where Divine revelation had descended and where the olive tree grows, the oil of which is a Divine blessing. The verse refers to a blessed tree, the olive that grows because of this very rain. It implies that in addition to gardens of date palm, grapevines and other fruits, Allah has created a tree that grows on Mount Sinai. The verse says:
“And a tree springing out of Mount Sinai, which produces oil and seasoning for those who eat.”
The interpreters of the Qur’an suggest two probabilities why Mount Sinai is mentioned:
1) It refers to Mount Sinai itself in the desert of Sinai. The Holy Qur’an has described the olive tree as a tree that grows on Mount Sinai because when the Arabs of Hijaz traveled through the dry deserts of this area going towards the north, the first area where they saw the olive tree laden with fruit was on Mount Sinai, which is in the south of the Sinai desert. Studying a map makes this matter quite obvious.
2) Mount Sinai (Tur) is a descriptive word meaning a ‘blessed, wooded or scenic mountain’ (for ‘Tur’ means mountain and ‘Sina’ means blessed, scenic and full of tree)
The Arabic word /sibq/ originally means colour, but since when man eats his bread with a sauce he usually makes it colourful, all kinds of loaves of bread eaten with sauce have been called /sibq/. Anyway, the word /sibq/ may refer to the very olive oil that is eaten with bread and to all kinds of bread whose sauce is made from other plants. The question that comes up here is why among all the various kinds of fruit the emphasis is especially placed on these three fruits: date, grape and olive?
When we look at the research done by nutritionists, we see that there are few fruits as beneficial and effective for the human body as these three fruits are. Olive oil is very valuable for the metabolism of the body. It is high in calories and beneficial for the liver. It removes illnesses of the kidneys, is good for gallstones, and renal colic. It strengthens the nerves and is the elixir of health. There are so many beneficial effects of the date that we can only mention some of them briefly here. Nutritionists say that the date is abundant in sugar, which is one of the healthiest sugars available.Eating dates can prevent cancer and scientists have discovered thirteen vital materials and five vitamins in it, which make it a very valuable source of nutrition.
In the opinion of some scientists the grape is a natural pharmacy. It has properties like those of milk, it produces twice as much heat in the body as meat. It refines the blood. It removes poisons from the body and its various vitamins give power and strength to the body.