'Abasa · Makki · ayah 31 of 42

'Abasa 80:31

وَفَـٰكِهَةً وَأَبًّا

“And fruit and grass -”

Saheeh International

Essence

Fruit for our delight and pasture for our animals: the list of gifts ends with sweetness, and with a word even ʿUmar did not know.

A reflection

Delight, not only survival

The word fākiha, fruit, comes from a root whose first meaning, the lexicons say, is sweetness and relish. It is well established. Fākiha is what is eaten for delight, beyond the staple meal. The same root gives fukāha: light, pleasant talk and jesting. A fakih man was good-humoured, and made his companions laugh.

One commentator explains the fruit here as everything eaten fresh, like figs and peaches. Several early voices add that abb, pasture, is to the animals what fruit is to people.

So at the end of this list of provisions, after grain and oil and dates, Allah names delight. Not only what keeps us alive, but what makes life sweet.

That is worth pausing on. A Creator who only wanted us to survive could have made every food grey and functional. Instead He made the fig, the apricot, the pomegranate, the mango. He made colour, fragrance and a thousand tastes. He made the pleasure of biting into a ripe peach on a hot day.

Picture an old man in a hospital bed, recovering from a long illness. For weeks he has had no appetite. Then his granddaughter brings in a small box of cherries from the market. He eats one, then another. He closes his eyes. He says quietly that he had forgotten food could be a joy. The nurse notices it is the first time he has smiled in a fortnight.

That is fākiha: food as joy, given by a Lord who did not need to give it.

The ego takes pleasure for granted, as though sweetness were owed to it. This ayah treats each sweet thing as a deliberate gift from above. The humble response is to taste with thanks.

Someone may ask why Allah draws attention to such small pleasures. He does not need our gratitude. But we need to feel it, because a heart that notices small gifts is a heart that stays soft towards the Giver.

The full entry has 4 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.