Sanurihim

Why does this verse point to the camel?

أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى ٱلْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ ﴿١٧﴾

Surah Al-Ghaashiya · 88:17

Meaning (M. Pickthall, 1930): Will they not regard the camels, how they are created?

The reflection

Of all creatures, why does this verse ask us to look at the camel?

In the chapter al-Ghashiyah, God asks: "Will they not regard the camels, how they are created?" Then the sky, the mountains and the earth.

Ibn Kathir writes: the camel is a wondrous creation. Immensely strong, yet it kneels for heavy loads and follows a weak leader. Its meat is eaten, its wool is used, its milk is drunk.

Ibn Kathir says the verse points the traveller to what he sees every day: the camel he rides, the sky above him, the mountain before him, the earth beneath him. Look around you. And God knows best.

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Sources

  • Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim
  • al-Sa'di, Taysir al-Karim al-Rahman
  • Quran text: Tanzil Project (tanzil.net)
  • English meaning: M. Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930)