Quranic theme
Palm
النخل
21 verses
Water falls from the sky, and from the earth emerge grains, vines, olives, and the towering date palm (an-nakhl). Mentioned in 21 verses, the palm stands as the agricultural anchor of the Quran’s gardens and a recurrent measure of human wealth. It does not merely serve as background scenery; the text draws attention to its biological specificities—its low-hanging clusters, varied tastes, and sturdy trunk—using the tree to frame parables of sudden ruin, financial obligation, and intense physical suffering.
How does the Quran describe gardens of palms?
The Quran frequently pairs date palms with grapevines, detailing exactly how these crops were planted together. In the parable of the two men, an estate features two gardens of grapevines specifically "surrounded by date palms," with cornfields growing in the spaces between them (18:32). This enclosing function was central to regional agriculture; as al-Wahidi notes (Al-Tafsir al-Basit, 17/274), walled gardens were essentially defined by these perimeters of palms and enclosing trees.
The text insists that the existence of these orchards defies simple material logic. Neighboring plots of land hold vineyards, cornfields, and palm trees—growing either in clusters or standing alone—all absorbing the exact same water from the same soil, yet God causes some to taste decidedly better than others (13:4). The heavy, low-hanging clusters of dates (6:99) and the diverse flavors produced across trellised and untrellised gardens are presented as biological signs demanding human reflection (6:141).
What provisions and obligations come from the harvest?
The yield of the palm is both a physical provision and a test of ownership. From the fruits of date palms and grapes, people extract sweet juice and wholesome daily sustenance (16:67). Classical scholars emphasized the absolute utility of the species; as al-Shinqiti points out, every part of the palm offers material benefit, extending far beyond the fruit to the leaves and fronds used for crafted goods (Al-Adhb al-Namir, 2/24).
Because this provision is so abundant, the harvest carries immediate obligations. When the palms and crops bear their diverse fruits, the owners are commanded to eat from them but must pay what is due to others on the very day of the harvest, strictly avoiding wastefulness (6:141). The expectation of such wealth was so ingrained that skeptics demanded the Prophet produce a personal garden of date palms and vines, complete with gushing rivers, as proof of his authority (17:91).
How does the palm trunk appear in moments of crisis?
Beyond the fruit, the physical trunk of the palm anchors narratives of extreme vulnerability and brutal power. When Pharaoh's magicians defy him, Pharaoh vows to amputate their alternate hands and feet and crucify them upon the trunks of palm trees, utilizing the massive wood as a public instrument of terror (20:71).
The tree is equally central to parables about the fragility of worldly security. God asks if anyone would wish to own a lush garden of palms, vines, and flowing streams, only to have a fiery whirlwind burn it entirely to the ground just as they reach old age and their children are too feeble to assist them (2:266).
Yet the most intimate interaction with the palm tree occurs in absolute isolation. Driven by the agonizing pains of childbirth, Maryam is forced to cling directly to the trunk of a palm tree, wishing she had been dead and forgotten long before the ordeal (19:23). In that state of utter physical exhaustion, she is not told to wait for a passive delivery of food; she is commanded to physically shake the heavy trunk toward herself, so that the tree will deliver fresh, ripe dates for her to eat (19:25).
Verses
All 21 verses, in mushaf order.
أَيَوَدُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن تَكُونَ لَهُۥ جَنَّةٌ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَأَعْنَابٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ لَهُۥ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ وَأَصَابَهُ ٱلْكِبَرُ وَلَهُۥ ذُرِّيَّةٌ ضُعَفَآءُ فَأَصَابَهَآ إِعْصَارٌ فِيهِ نَارٌ فَٱحْتَرَقَتْ ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمُ ٱلْـَٔايَـٰتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ
Would any of you like to have a garden of palm trees and vines, graced with flowing streams and all kinds of produce, which, when you are afflicted with old age and feeble offspring, is struck by a fiery whirlwind and burnt down? In this way God makes His messages clear to you, so that you may reflect on them.
وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءً فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِۦ نَبَاتَ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ فَأَخْرَجْنَا مِنْهُ خَضِرًا نُّخْرِجُ مِنْهُ حَبًّا مُّتَرَاكِبًا وَمِنَ ٱلنَّخْلِ مِن طَلْعِهَا قِنْوَانٌ دَانِيَةٌ وَجَنَّـٰتٍ مِّنْ أَعْنَابٍ وَٱلزَّيْتُونَ وَٱلرُّمَّانَ مُشْتَبِهًا وَغَيْرَ مُتَشَـٰبِهٍ ۗ ٱنظُرُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ ثَمَرِهِۦٓ إِذَآ أَثْمَرَ وَيَنْعِهِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكُمْ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ
It is He who sends down water from the sky. With it We produce the shoots of each plant, then bring greenery from it, and from that We bring out grains, one riding on the other in close-packed rows. From the date palm come clusters of low-hanging dates, and there are gardens of vines, olives, and pomegranates, alike yet different. Watch their fruits as they grow and ripen! In all this there are signs for those who would believe.
۞ وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنشَأَ جَنَّـٰتٍ مَّعْرُوشَـٰتٍ وَغَيْرَ مَعْرُوشَـٰتٍ وَٱلنَّخْلَ وَٱلزَّرْعَ مُخْتَلِفًا أُكُلُهُۥ وَٱلزَّيْتُونَ وَٱلرُّمَّانَ مُتَشَـٰبِهًا وَغَيْرَ مُتَشَـٰبِهٍ ۚ كُلُوا۟ مِن ثَمَرِهِۦٓ إِذَآ أَثْمَرَ وَءَاتُوا۟ حَقَّهُۥ يَوْمَ حَصَادِهِۦ ۖ وَلَا تُسْرِفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُسْرِفِينَ
It is He who produces both trellised and untrellised gardens, date palms, crops of diverse flavours, the olive, the pomegranate, alike yet different. So when they bear fruit, eat some of it, paying what is due on the day of harvest, but do not be wasteful: God does not like wasteful people.
وَفِى ٱلْأَرْضِ قِطَعٌ مُّتَجَـٰوِرَٰتٌ وَجَنَّـٰتٌ مِّنْ أَعْنَـٰبٍ وَزَرْعٌ وَنَخِيلٌ صِنْوَانٌ وَغَيْرُ صِنْوَانٍ يُسْقَىٰ بِمَآءٍ وَٰحِدٍ وَنُفَضِّلُ بَعْضَهَا عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ فِى ٱلْأُكُلِ ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ
There are, in the land, neighbouring plots, gardens of vineyards, cornfields, palm trees in clusters or otherwise, all watered with the same water, yet We make some of them taste better than others: there truly are signs in this for people who reason.
يُنۢبِتُ لَكُم بِهِ ٱلزَّرْعَ وَٱلزَّيْتُونَ وَٱلنَّخِيلَ وَٱلْأَعْنَـٰبَ وَمِن كُلِّ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ ۗ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
With it He grows for you grain, olives, palms, vines, and all kinds of other crops. There truly is a sign in this for those who reflect.
وَمِن ثَمَرَٰتِ ٱلنَّخِيلِ وَٱلْأَعْنَـٰبِ تَتَّخِذُونَ مِنْهُ سَكَرًا وَرِزْقًا حَسَنًا ۗ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ
From the fruits of date palms and grapes you take sweet juice and wholesome provisions. There truly is a sign in this for people who use their reason.
أَوْ تَكُونَ لَكَ جَنَّةٌ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَعِنَبٍ فَتُفَجِّرَ ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرَ خِلَـٰلَهَا تَفْجِيرًا
or until you have a garden of date palms and vines, and make rivers pour through them;
۞ وَٱضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلًا رَّجُلَيْنِ جَعَلْنَا لِأَحَدِهِمَا جَنَّتَيْنِ مِنْ أَعْنَـٰبٍ وَحَفَفْنَـٰهُمَا بِنَخْلٍ وَجَعَلْنَا بَيْنَهُمَا زَرْعًا
Tell them the parable of two men: for one of them We made two gardens of grape vines, surrounded them with date palms, and put corn fields in between;
فَأَجَآءَهَا ٱلْمَخَاضُ إِلَىٰ جِذْعِ ٱلنَّخْلَةِ قَالَتْ يَـٰلَيْتَنِى مِتُّ قَبْلَ هَـٰذَا وَكُنتُ نَسْيًا مَّنسِيًّا
and, when the pains of childbirth drove her to [cling to] the trunk of a palm tree, she exclaimed, ‘I wish I had been dead and forgotten long before all this!’
وَهُزِّىٓ إِلَيْكِ بِجِذْعِ ٱلنَّخْلَةِ تُسَـٰقِطْ عَلَيْكِ رُطَبًا جَنِيًّا
and, if you shake the trunk of the palm tree towards you, it will deliver fresh ripe dates for you,
قَالَ ءَامَنتُمْ لَهُۥ قَبْلَ أَنْ ءَاذَنَ لَكُمْ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ لَكَبِيرُكُمُ ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَكُمُ ٱلسِّحْرَ ۖ فَلَأُقَطِّعَنَّ أَيْدِيَكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُم مِّنْ خِلَـٰفٍ وَلَأُصَلِّبَنَّكُمْ فِى جُذُوعِ ٱلنَّخْلِ وَلَتَعْلَمُنَّ أَيُّنَآ أَشَدُّ عَذَابًا وَأَبْقَىٰ
Pharaoh said, ‘How dare you believe in him before I have given you permission? This must be your master, the man who taught you witchcraft. I shall certainly cut off your alternate hands and feet, then crucify you on the trunks of palm trees. You will know for certain which of us has the fiercer and more lasting punishment.’
فَأَنشَأْنَا لَكُم بِهِۦ جَنَّـٰتٍ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَأَعْنَـٰبٍ لَّكُمْ فِيهَا فَوَٰكِهُ كَثِيرَةٌ وَمِنْهَا تَأْكُلُونَ
with it We produced for you gardens of date palms and vines, with many fruits there for you to eat,
وَزُرُوعٍ وَنَخْلٍ طَلْعُهَا هَضِيمٌ
fields, palm trees laden with fruit-
وَجَعَلْنَا فِيهَا جَنَّـٰتٍ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَأَعْنَـٰبٍ وَفَجَّرْنَا فِيهَا مِنَ ٱلْعُيُونِ
We have put gardens of date palms and grapes in the earth, and We have made springs of water gush out of it
وَٱلنَّخْلَ بَاسِقَـٰتٍ لَّهَا طَلْعٌ نَّضِيدٌ
and tall palm trees laden with clusters of dates,
تَنزِعُ ٱلنَّاسَ كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ مُّنقَعِرٍ
it swept people away like uprooted palm trunks.
فِيهَا فَـٰكِهَةٌ وَٱلنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ ٱلْأَكْمَامِ
with its fruits, its palm trees with sheathed clusters,
فِيهِمَا فَـٰكِهَةٌ وَنَخْلٌ وَرُمَّانٌ
With fruits- date palms and pomegranate trees.
مَا قَطَعْتُم مِّن لِّينَةٍ أَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا قَآئِمَةً عَلَىٰٓ أُصُولِهَا فَبِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ وَلِيُخْزِىَ ٱلْفَـٰسِقِينَ
Whatever you [believers] may have done to [their] palm trees–– cutting them down or leaving them standing on their roots––was done by God’s leave, so that He might disgrace those who defied Him.
سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَـٰنِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومًا فَتَرَى ٱلْقَوْمَ فِيهَا صَرْعَىٰ كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ
that God let loose against them for seven consecutive nights, eight consecutive days, so that you could have seen its people lying dead like hollow palm-trunks.
وَزَيْتُونًا وَنَخْلًا
olive trees, date palms,