This Ramadan, MuslimMatters is pleased to host the Institute Of Knowledge‘s daily Ramadan series: Keys to the Divine Compass. Through this series, each day we will spend time connecting with the Qur’an on a deeper, more spiritual, uplifting level.

Previous in the series: Juz 1 Juz 2 Juz 3 Juz 4 Juz 5 Juz 6 Juz 7 Juz 8 Juz 9 Juz 10 Juz 11 Juz 12 Juz 13 Juz 14 Juz 15

Juzʾ 16: Shake the Trunk of the Tree

فَأَجَآءَهَا ٱلْمَخَاضُ إِلَىٰ جِذْعِ ٱلنَّخْلَةِ قَالَتْ يَـٰلَيْتَنِى مِتُّ قَبْلَ هَـٰذَا وَكُنتُ نَسْيًۭا مَّنسِيًّۭا

Then the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. She said, “Oh, I wish I had died before this and was long forgotten.”

Meaning, the pains of childbirth, her contractions, and all of the difficulties she was experiencing forced her to seek physical support from the trunk of a date palm. She leaned against the trunk of the date palm or held on to it in order to relieve some of the physical pain she was experiencing. This is a very vivid and powerful description of how Maryam (as) was feeling. The pains of childbirth, the pain felt by a mother when giving birth, her contractions, are indescribable. Anyone with children, particularly mothers, knows how painful and difficult this process is. She was also experiencing emotional pain as well as understood from the previous verse.

The culmination of all of this physical and emotional pain caused her to say, “Oh, I wish I had died before this and was long forgotten.” I wish I could have been taken from the life of this world before all of this pain and difficulty and before people would accuse me and question my modesty, chastity, and morality. I wish that I could die before people accuse me of this sin and look down upon my family and me. This is an extremely powerful expression that captures her feelings and emotions. This is how important modesty, honor, and chastity were to her. She’d rather be dead than be accused of illicit relations and have that as a stain on her and her family. “And was long forgotten.” Meaning, not only dead but completely forgotten and erased from people’s memories. Immediately after expressing her deep emotions and exposing her vulnerability before Allah ﷻ, He sent His unique and infinite mercy upon her.

Verse 24

فَنَادَىٰهَا مِن تَحْتِهَآ أَلَّا تَحْزَنِى قَدْ جَعَلَ رَبُّكِ تَحْتَكِ سَرِيًّۭا

So he called her from below her, “Do not grieve! Your Lord has provided a stream at your feet.

“So he called out from below her, ‘Do not grieve.’” Meaning, someone called out from below her telling her not to be worried, grieved, anxious, or sad. The scholars of tafsīr mention two different explanations here. The first is that Jibrīl (as) called out to her consoling and comforting her; telling her not to be sad. The second is that Allah ﷻ allowed ʿIsā (as) to miraculously speak at that moment comforting his mother and telling her not to be sad. “Your Lord has provided a stream at your feet.” Allah ﷻ caused a small stream to flow at her feet so she could drink water, quench her thirst, cool off, and wash up. 

Verse 25

وَهُزِّىٓ إِلَيْكِ بِجِذْعِ ٱلنَّخْلَةِ تُسَـٰقِطْ عَلَيْكِ رُطَبًۭا جَنِيًّۭا

And shake the trunk of this palm tree towards you, it will drop fresh, ripe dates upon you.

ٓ As another sign that everything will be alright, that the help and mercy of Allah ﷻ are with her, as a source of comfort, reassurance, and consolation, she was told to shake the trunk of the date palm that she was leaning against and getting support from. Once she shook the trunk, the date palm would drop fresh, ripe dates upon her. It’s mentioned in a few narrations that this particular date palm was dry, devoid of fruit and fonds and was in the middle of the desert. However, when she shook the trunk, fresh ripe dates miraculously fell upon her. 

Here it is important to note that according to the majority of scholars, Maryam (as) is not considered to be a prophet. However, we find that Allah ﷻ used her to display several miraculous things as a sign of His infinite might and power. Generally speaking, in English, all unusual and supernatural events are referred to as miracles. However, within our Sharīʿah and system of belief we differentiate between different types of “miracles”. The Arabic language marks the subtle differences that exist between each type. A miracle, muʿjizah, is an unusual event that occurs at the hands of a prophet but is purely an act of Allah ﷻ; the prophet has no role in its creation whatsoever. A miracle is defined as “a clear interruption in God’s normal pattern of creating things – one that is inimitable (such that no other can perform the like) and is granted to someone who claims to be a prophet sent by God, the exalted.” In other words, a miracle is a divine act that defies and transcends universal norms and laws, which Allah ﷻ grants to His prophets and messengers in order to convince people of the truth of their message.

A saintly miracle, or karāmah, is also something extraordinary. It’s an act of Allah ﷻ but it appears at the hands of someone close to Allah ﷻ. It is an “act of God ﷻ that contradicts His customary norm, with the consequence that the servant realizes the fruit of his worship, and [as a result], his insight regarding the validity of his religion may increase.” This incident of ripe dates falling on her lap after shaking a dry barren tree and a stream flowing at her feet are classified as saintly miracles. 

Another interesting point to note is that If Allah ﷺ had willed, He could have caused the dates to fall in her lap without having her shake the tree. Allah ﷻ commanded her to shake the tree to show how important it is to use the means that we have available to us. The amount of sustenance, food, drink, and water each of us is going to receive throughout our lives has already been determined and decreed by Allah ﷻ. However, that doesn’t mean that we will receive our sustenance automatically without any effort; money, food, drink, and clothes will not just fall into our laps. We still have to work hard and strive for it using all of the available resources at our disposal. Planning, preparing, and putting forth our best efforts is not contrary to the concept of yaqīn (certainty in Allah’s promise) or tawakkul, having trust in Allah ﷻ. All of this is an essential aspect of placing our absolute trust in Allah ﷻ.