بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Honey in the Qur’an
A verse cited for over fourteen centuries — presented here exactly as revealed, alongside its meaning in English. No interpretation is added.
Among the many things the Qur’an describes with precision, the bee and what it produces receive a dedicated passage — one of the few instances where an entire surah takes its name from a single subject. Surah An-Nahl, “The Bee,” is the sixteenth surah, revealed in Makkah. What follows is that passage, exactly as revealed, with its meaning rendered in English beside it. We offer no interpretation of our own here; the words are left to speak for themselves.
Surah An-Nahl — Verses 68 & 69
وَأَوْحَىٰ رَبُّكَ إِلَى النَّحْلِ أَنِ اتَّخِذِي مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا وَمِنَ الشَّجَرِ وَمِمَّا يَعْرِشُونَ ﴿٦٨﴾ ثُمَّ كُلِي مِن كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ فَاسْلُكِي سُبُلَ رَبِّكِ ذُلُلًا ۚ يَخْرُجُ مِن بُطُونِهَا شَرَابٌ مُّخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهُ فِيهِ شِفَاءٌ لِّلنَّاسِ ۗ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ ﴿٦٩﴾
“And your Lord inspired the bee: ‘Take for yourself among the mountains, houses, and among the trees and in that which they construct. Then eat from all the fruits and follow the ways of your Lord, made easy [for you].’ There emerges from their bellies a drink of varying colours, in which there is healing for people. Indeed, in that is a sign for a people who reflect.”
Surah An-Nahl (16), Verses 68–69
A Hadith Often Cited Alongside This Verse
Classical commentators on this passage — among them Ibn Kathir — record a hadith connected directly to it, found in both Sahih al-Bukhari (5716) and Sahih Muslim (2217), on the authority of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri:
عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ رضي الله عنه أَنَّ رَجُلًا أَتَى النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ: أَخِي يَشْتَكِي بَطْنَهُ، فَقَالَ: «اسْقِهِ عَسَلًا» ثُمَّ أَتَى الثَّانِيَةَ فَقَالَ: «اسْقِهِ عَسَلًا» ثُمَّ أَتَاهُ الثَّالِثَةَ فَقَالَ: «اسْقِهِ عَسَلًا» ثُمَّ أَتَاهُ فَقَالَ: قَدْ فَعَلْتُ، فَقَالَ: «صَدَقَ اللَّهُ، وَكَذَبَ بَطْنُ أَخِيكَ، اسْقِهِ عَسَلًا» فَسَقَاهُ فَبَرَأَ.
“A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: ‘My brother’s stomach is troubling him.’ He said: ‘Give him honey to drink.’ The man returned a second time, and he said: ‘Give him honey to drink.’ He returned a third time, and he said the same. He came again and said: ‘I have done so.’ The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Allah has spoken the truth, and it is your brother’s stomach that has lied. Give him honey to drink.’ So he gave him honey, and he was cured.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 5716 · Sahih Muslim 2217
The Prophet’s ﷺ phrase — “Allah has spoken the truth” — refers directly back to the verse above it: fihi shifa’un lil-nas, “in it there is healing for people.” The connection between the two texts is made by the hadith itself, not by later interpretation.
اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ النَّاسِ أَذْهِبِ الْبَأْسَ، اشْفِ أَنْتَ الشَّافِي، لَا شِفَاءَ إِلَّا شِفَاؤُكَ، شِفَاءً لَا يُغَادِرُ سَقَمًا
Allaahumma rabban-naas, adh-hibil-ba’s, ishfi antash-shaafee, laa shifaa’a illaa shifaa’uk, shifaa’an laa yughaadiru saqamaa
“O Allah, Lord of mankind, remove the affliction. Heal, for You are the Healer. There is no healing except Your healing — a healing that leaves no illness behind.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 7:131 · Sahih Muslim 4:1721