Surah 16
An-Nahl
The Bee
النحل
Editorial study · not independently reviewed.
- 1Part absent
- 2From a layer
- 3Absent
- 4Part absent
- 5Part absent
- 6Absent
- 7Part absent
- 8From a layer
- 9From a layer
From a layerPart supplied, part absentAbsent
Name and conventional translation
Part absent
Arabic name
النحل
Source fact
Transliteration
An-Nahl
Source fact
English name
The Bee
Source fact as Tanzil metadata gives it; Tanzil names no translator for it
Verse count and position
From a layer
Verses
128
Derived link
Words
1844
Derived link whitespace-separated tokens of the Uthmani text, the rule the morphology layer uses
Position in the mushaf order
16 of 114
Source fact
Position in a revelation ordering
70 of 114
Revelation order as encoded by the Tanzil metadata · Tanzil publishes an "order" value for each surah and documents the field only as "revelation order". It does not name which ordering it encodes, cite a scholar, or reference an edition. We have therefore not established whose ordering this is, and we do not name one. The major orderings disagree about dozens of surahs, so naming the likeliest candidate would be a guess presented as a citation.
Source fact
Place of revelation, as Tanzil classifies it
Meccan
Source fact Tanzil's classification, carried without a named authority
Juzʾ
Within juzʾ 14
Source fact juzʾ start verses from the banked Tanzil metadata file, digest-checked against its source record
Opening formula (basmala) in this edition
stands before verse 1 and is not numbered
Derived link
What the surah says of itself
Absent
Major movements and sections
Part absent
Rukūʿ divisions
| Rukūʿ | Verses | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16:1-9 | أَتَىٰٓ أَمْرُ ٱللَّهِ فَلَا … |
| 2 | 16:10-21 | هُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ مِنَ … |
| 3 | 16:22-25 | إِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَٰحِدٌ فَٱلَّذِينَ … |
| 4 | 16:26-34 | قَدْ مَكَرَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن … |
| 5 | 16:35-40 | وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا۟ لَوْ … |
| 6 | 16:41-50 | وَٱلَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا۟ فِى ٱللَّهِ … |
| 7 | 16:51-60 | وَقَالَ ٱللَّهُ لَا تَتَّخِذُوٓا۟ … |
| 8 | 16:61-65 | وَلَوْ يُؤَاخِذُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّاسَ … |
| 9 | 16:66-70 | وَإِنَّ لَكُمْ فِى ٱلْأَنْعَٰمِ … |
| 10 | 16:71-76 | وَٱللَّهُ فَضَّلَ بَعْضَكُمْ عَلَىٰ … |
| 11 | 16:77-83 | وَلِلَّهِ غَيْبُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ … |
| 12 | 16:84-89 | وَيَوْمَ نَبْعَثُ مِن كُلِّ … |
Source fact rukūʿ start verses from the banked Tanzil metadata file, digest-checked against its source record; each runs to the verse before the next; opening words are the first 4 words of its first verse
Repeated words and themes
Part absent
Verses repeated word for word
No verse of this surah repeats another word for word.
Derived link verses of this surah whose Uthmani text is byte-identical to another verse of it
Phrases repeated word for word
| Times | Words | Phrase | Verses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 3 | إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ | 11-13, 65, 67, 69, 79 |
| 5 | 5 | إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَةً لِّقَوْمٍ | 11, 13, 65, 67, 69 |
| 3 | 3 | ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ | 26, 33, 35 |
| 3 | 3 | وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ | 63, 104, 117 |
| 3 | 3 | وَٱللَّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُم | 72, 80-81 |
Derived link runs of at least 3 consecutive words, inside one verse, occurring at least 3 times in this surah, kept only where no longer run has the same occurrences; a run that is only ever a whole repeated verse is listed above instead
Roots carried by the most words
1844 words630 with one root, counted139 conflicting roots333 no root recorded742 not analysed
| Root | Words, at least | Verses | Forms in this surah |
|---|---|---|---|
| ع.ل.م | 24 | 19 | تَعْلَمُونَ يَعْلَمُونَ يَعْلَمُ أَعْلَمُ عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ نَعْلَمُ وَعَلَٰمَٰتٍ يَعْلَمَ |
| ج.ع.ل | 13 | 9 | وَجَعَلَ جَعَلَ وَيَجْعَلُونَ جُعِلَ لَجَعَلَكُمْ |
| ث.م.م | 12 | 10 | ثُمَّ |
| ر.ب.ب | 12 | 9 | رَبَّكَ رَبِّكَ رَبَّنَا رَبَّهُم رَبُّكَ رَبِّكِ |
| ب.ع.د | 11 | 9 | بَعْدِ بَعْدَ بَعْدِهَا |
| خ.ل.ق | 11 | 9 | خَلَقَ يَخْلُقُ خَلَقَكُمْ خَلَقَهَا وَيَخْلُقُ يَخْلُقُونَ يُخْلَقُونَ |
| ق.و.ل | 10 | 9 | وَقَالَ يَقُولُونَ قَالَ قَوْلُنَا قُلْ قِيلَ وَقِيلَ وَيَقُولُ |
| ي.و.م | 10 | 9 | يَوْمَ وَيَوْمَ يَوْمَئِذٍ |
| أ.م.ن | 9 | 9 | يُؤْمِنُونَ أَفَأَمِنَ مُؤْمِنٌ |
| ك.ل.ل | 9 | 8 | كُلِّ كُلُّ |
| ن.ف.س | 9 | 7 | أَنفُسَهُمْ أَنفُسِهِمْ نَفْسٍ أَنفُسِكُمْ نَّفْسِهَا ٱلْأَنفُسِ |
| ح.س.ن | 8 | 8 | بِأَحْسَنِ حَسَنًا حَسَنَةً أَحْسَنُ حَسَنَةٌ |
106 more roots
| أ.م.م | 8 | 7 | أُمَّةٍ أُمَّةً أُمَمٍ أُمَّةٌ |
| ش.ي.أ | 8 | 7 | شَىْءٍ لِشَىْءٍ |
| ع.م.ل | 8 | 6 | تَعْمَلُونَ يَعْمَلُونَ عَمِلَ عَمِلَتْ نَعْمَلُ |
| ل.ك.م | 7 | 7 | لَكُمْ وَلَكُمْ |
| ه.د.ي | 7 | 7 | يَهْدِى تَهْتَدُونَ لَهَدَىٰكُمْ هَدَى وَيَهْدِى يَهْتَدُونَ |
| ب.ي.ن | 6 | 6 | لِتُبَيِّنَ بَيْنِ تِبْيَٰنًا لِيُبَيِّنَ وَلَيُبَيِّنَنَّ |
| ر.ز.ق | 6 | 6 | رِزْقًا رَزَقْنَٰهُمْ رِزْقُهَا وَرِزْقًا ٱلرِّزْقِ |
| س.ب.ل | 6 | 6 | سَبِيلِ سُبُلَ وَسُبُلًا ٱلسَّبِيلِ |
| ش.ر.ك | 6 | 6 | يُشْرِكُونَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ مُشْرِكُونَ |
| ع.ذ.ب | 6 | 6 | عَذَابٌ عَذَابًا |
| ل.ه.م | 6 | 6 | وَلَهُمْ لَهُمْ |
| ن.ع.م | 6 | 6 | نِعْمَتَ أَفَبِنِعْمَةِ بِأَنْعُمِ نِعْمَةَ وَبِنِعْمَتِ |
| ظ.ل.م | 6 | 5 | يَظْلِمُونَ بِظُلْمِهِم ظَلَمْنَٰهُمْ ظَٰلِمُونَ يُظْلَمُونَ |
| ك.و.ن | 6 | 5 | كَانَ فَيَكُونُ كَانَتْ مَكَانٍ |
| أ.ت.ي | 5 | 5 | تَأْتِى فَأَتَى يَأْتِ يَأْتِىَ يَأْتِيهَا |
| أ.خ.ذ | 5 | 5 | تَتَّخِذُونَ يَأْخُذَهُمْ يُؤَاخِذُ |
| ب.ع.ث | 5 | 5 | نَبْعَثُ بَعَثْنَا يَبْعَثُ يُبْعَثُونَ |
| س.م.و | 5 | 5 | ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ |
| ض.ل.ل | 5 | 5 | يُضِلُّ ضَلَّ وَضَلَّ ٱلضَّلَٰلَةُ |
| ك.ف.ر | 5 | 5 | ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ فَكَفَرَتْ كَفَرَ يَكْفُرُونَ |
| م.ث.ل | 5 | 5 | مَثَلًا بِمِثْلِ مَثَلُ |
| و.ه.م | 5 | 5 | وَهُمْ |
| خ.ي.ر | 5 | 4 | خَيْرٌ بِخَيْرٍ خَيْرًا |
| غ.ي.ر | 5 | 4 | أَفَغَيْرَ بِغَيْرِ غَيْرَ غَيْرُ لِغَيْرِ |
| ح.ر.م | 4 | 4 | حَرَّمْنَا حَرَامٌ حَرَّمَ |
| خ.ل.ف | 4 | 4 | يَخْتَلِفُونَ تَخْتَلِفُونَ مُخْتَلِفًا |
| س.ل.م | 4 | 4 | لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ تُسْلِمُونَ سَلَٰمٌ |
| ط.ي.ب | 4 | 4 | طَيِّبًا طَيِّبَةً طَيِّبِينَ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ |
| ع.ب.د | 4 | 4 | تَعْبُدُونَ عَبَدْنَا عَبْدًا وَيَعْبُدُونَ |
| غ.ف.ر | 4 | 4 | لَغَفُورٌ غَفُورٌ |
| ف.ر.ي | 4 | 4 | يَفْتَرُونَ تَفْتَرُونَ يَفْتَرِى |
| ف.ع.ل | 4 | 4 | فَعَلَ تَفْعَلُونَ وَيَفْعَلُونَ |
| ق.د.ر | 4 | 4 | قَدِيرٌ يَقْدِرُ |
| ك.ب.ر | 4 | 4 | أَكْبَرُ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ ٱلْمُتَكَبِّرِينَ ٱلْمُسْتَكْبِرِينَ |
| و.ح.د | 4 | 4 | وَٰحِدٌ أَحَدُهُم وَٰحِدَةً |
| أ.ل.م | 3 | 3 | أَلِيمٌ |
| أ.م.ر | 3 | 3 | يَأْمُرُ يُؤْمَرُونَ |
| أ.ن.ن | 3 | 3 | أَنَّهُمْ |
| ب.ش.ر | 3 | 3 | بُشِّرَ بَشَرٌ |
| ث.م.ر | 3 | 3 | ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ ثَمَرَٰتِ |
| ج.ر.م | 3 | 3 | جَرَمَ |
| ج.ز.ي | 3 | 3 | وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّ وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ يَجْزِى |
| د.و.ن | 3 | 3 | دُونِ دُونِكَ |
| ذ.ك.ر | 3 | 3 | ذَكَرٍ ٱلذِّكْرَ ٱلذِّكْرِ |
| ر.س.ل | 3 | 3 | أَرْسَلْنَا رَسُولٌ ٱلرُّسُلِ |
| ر.و.ح | 3 | 3 | بِٱلرُّوحِ تُرِيحُونَ رُوحُ |
| س.ر.ر | 3 | 3 | تُسِرُّونَ سِرًّا يُسِرُّونَ |
| ش.ع.ر | 3 | 3 | يَشْعُرُونَ |
| ش.ك.ر | 3 | 3 | تَشْكُرُونَ شَاكِرًا |
| ض.ر.ب | 3 | 3 | وَضَرَبَ ضَرَبَ |
| ف.ك.ر | 3 | 3 | يَتَفَكَّرُونَ |
| ق.ب.ل | 3 | 3 | قَبْلِكَ قَبْلُ |
| ك.ذ.ب | 3 | 3 | فَكَذَّبُوهُ كَٰذِبِينَ لَكَٰذِبُونَ |
| م.ن.ن | 3 | 3 | مَّن مِنَّا |
| ن.ز.ل | 3 | 3 | يُنَزِّلُ وَنَزَّلْنَا |
| ن.و.س | 3 | 3 | لِلنَّاسِ ٱلنَّاسَ ٱلنَّاسِ |
| و.ن.ي | 3 | 3 | أَنِ |
| ح.ي.ن | 3 | 2 | حِينٍ حِينَ وَحِينَ |
| ش.ه.د | 3 | 2 | شَهِيدًا |
| أ.ج.ر | 2 | 2 | أَجْرَهُم |
| أ.ك.ل | 2 | 2 | تَأْكُلُونَ كُلِى |
| ب.ط.ن | 2 | 2 | بُطُونِ بُطُونِهَا |
| ب.ك.م | 2 | 2 | أَبْكَمُ بِكُمْ |
| ب.ي.ت | 2 | 2 | بُيُوتًا |
| ث.ب.ت | 2 | 2 | ثُبُوتِهَا لِيُثَبِّتَ |
| ح.ق.ق | 2 | 2 | حَقًّا حَقَّتْ |
| ح.ل.ل | 2 | 2 | حَلَٰلًا حَلَٰلٌ |
| ح.ن.ف | 2 | 2 | حَنِيفًا |
| خ.ر.ج | 2 | 2 | أَخْرَجَكُم يَخْرُجُ |
| خ.ف.ف | 2 | 2 | تَسْتَخِفُّونَهَا يُخَفَّفُ |
| خ.و.ف | 2 | 2 | تَخَوُّفٍ يَخَافُونَ |
| د.م.ي | 2 | 2 | وَدَمٍ وَٱلدَّمَ |
| ر.أ.ف | 2 | 2 | لَرَءُوفٌ |
| ر.ب.و | 2 | 2 | رَبِّهِمْ |
| ر.ح.م | 2 | 2 | وَرَحْمَةً |
| س.ج.د | 2 | 2 | سُجَّدًا يَسْجُدُ |
| س.خ.ر | 2 | 2 | سَخَّرَ وَسَخَّرَ |
| س.م.ع | 2 | 2 | يَسْمَعُونَ ٱلسَّمْعَ |
| س.و.ع | 2 | 2 | سَاعَةً ٱلسَّاعَةِ |
| ش.ج.ر | 2 | 2 | شَجَرٌ ٱلشَّجَرِ |
| ش.ر.ب | 2 | 2 | شَرَابٌ |
| ش.ط.ن | 2 | 2 | ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ |
| ص.ب.ر | 2 | 2 | صَبَرْتُمْ صَبْرُكَ |
| ص.ر.ط | 2 | 2 | صِرَٰطٍ |
| ص.ل.ح | 2 | 2 | صَٰلِحًا ٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ |
| ظ.ل.ل | 2 | 2 | ظَلَّ ظِلَٰلًا |
| ع.ظ.م | 2 | 2 | عَظِيمٌ |
| ع.ق.ب | 2 | 2 | عَاقَبْتُمْ عَٰقِبَةُ |
| ع.ق.ل | 2 | 2 | يَعْقِلُونَ |
| ع.ل.ن | 2 | 2 | تُعْلِنُونَ يُعْلِنُونَ |
| ع.ه.د | 2 | 2 | بِعَهْدِ |
| ق.ل.ل | 2 | 2 | قَلِيلًا قَلِيلٌ |
| ك.ر.ه | 2 | 2 | أُكْرِهَ يَكْرَهُونَ |
| ل.ب.س | 2 | 2 | تَلْبَسُونَهَا لِبَاسَ |
| ل.ح.م | 2 | 2 | لَحْمًا وَلَحْمَ |
| م.ت.ع | 2 | 2 | مَتَٰعٌ وَمَتَٰعًا |
| م.ك.ر | 2 | 2 | مَكَرَ يَمْكُرُونَ |
| م.و.ت | 2 | 2 | أَمْوَٰتٌ يَمُوتُ |
| ن.ج.م | 2 | 2 | وَبِٱلنَّجْمِ وَٱلنُّجُومُ |
| ن.خ.ل | 2 | 2 | وَٱلنَّخِيلَ ٱلنَّخِيلِ |
| ن.ه.ر | 2 | 2 | وَأَنْهَٰرًا وَٱلنَّهَارَ |
| و.ص.ف | 2 | 2 | تَصِفُ وَتَصِفُ |
| و.ك.ل | 2 | 2 | يَتَوَكَّلُونَ |
| ز.و.ج | 2 | 1 | أَزْوَٰجًا أَزْوَٰجِكُم |
| س.ر.ب.ل | 2 | 1 | سَرَٰبِيلَ وَسَرَٰبِيلَ |
| و.ز.ر | 2 | 1 | أَوْزَارِ يَزِرُونَ |
Derived link a word counts toward a root only where every analysis Camel Morph kept for it names that one root and no analysis records none; words with no analysis, no root or conflicting roots are not counted anywhere. Roots on at least 2 words.
Not supplied
Words the analyser did not read
742 of this surah's 1844 words have no analysis, and a further 472 have no single root, so the root counts are minimums. Camel Morph MSA is a Modern Standard Arabic analyser meeting Qur'anic Arabic.
People and events named
Absent
Common claims the text does not itself establish
Part absent
Provisional stand-in: studies tagged a common misconception that cite this surah
- Does the Qur'an sanction slavery?16:75
- Does the Qur'an contradict itself - and what is 'abrogation'?16:101
- Did the Qur'an simply borrow its stories from the Bible?16:103
Derived link every current study that carries the common-misconception tag and cites a verse of this surah. That tag is a discovery aid, not a mark that the text does not establish the claim — that mark does not exist yet — so this list is provisional and not a complete account of the claims the text does not establish. The question is quoted; the answer is on the study.
Links to related topical studies
From a layer
Current studies citing a verse of this surah
36 current studies
Food, drink & dietary law7
- What does the Qur'an say about seafood and game?16:14
- How does the Qur'an describe the prohibition of wine - and does it present these four as stages?16:67
- What does the Qur'an say about gratitude for provision?16:114
- What does 'lawful and good' (halal and tayyib) mean in the Qur'an?16:114
- What does the Qur'an allow when eating forbidden food under necessity?16:115
- Why is pork forbidden in the Qur'an?16:115
- What does the Qur'an declare unlawful to eat?16:115
Angels, jinn & Satan4
The Qur'an about itself4
Knowledge, reason & reflection3
Nature & environmental responsibility3
Character & relationships2
Children & parenting2
Other faiths & interreligious relations2
Death & dying1
Justice & governance1
Mental wellbeing & hardship1
Money, work & economic ethics1
Muhammad in the Qur'an1
Questions the Qur'an does not directly answer1
Revelation & transmission1
Science claims1
War, peace & religious freedom1
Derived link every study whose current signature cites at least one verse of this surah, grouped by its /studies theme (largest first, ties by name, no theme last) and ordered by first verse cited. A citation is not a statement that the study is about this surah.
Source and review status
From a layer
Sources this page draws on
| Source | Licence | Attribution notice |
|---|---|---|
| Tanzil Qur'an text (Uthmani) Uthmani, Version 1.1 · cleared | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 | Qur'anic text from the Tanzil Project. Copyright (C) 2007-2026 Tanzil Project License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Source: tanzil.net · Updates: tanzil.net/updates/ https://tanzil.net/updates/ |
| Tanzil Qur'an metadata quran-data.xml v1.0 · cleared | Creative Commons Attribution — version not specified by the source | Surah metadata from Tanzil Qur'an metadata (quran-data.xml, version 1.0), Tanzil Project, tanzil.net. (C) 2008-2009 Tanzil.info. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution; the source does not state a version. Values are reproduced unchanged; this site selects and arranges them, and derives verse ranges from the division start points. https://tanzil.net/res/text/metadata/quran-data.xml |
| Camel Morph MSA v1.0, LREC-COLING 2024 release · cleared | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International | Morphological analyses from Camel Morph MSA (LREC-COLING 2024 release) by Christian Khairallah, Salam Khalifa, Reham Marzouk, Mayar Mohamadein Nassar and Nizar Habash, CAMeL Lab, New York University Abu Dhabi (Khairallah et al., 2024), https://github.com/CAMeL-Lab/camel_morph. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Modified: this site runs the analyser over its Qur'anic text, keeps only analyses whose vocalisation matches the text, removes duplicates and counts the result. https://github.com/CAMeL-Lab/camel_morph |
Source fact
Verse restatements signed for this surah
0
Derived link
Signed introduction to this surah
One hundred and twenty-eight verses that read as an inventory of what has been given: cattle, rain, the sea, the stars for navigation, night and day, and the bee — instructed to take from every fruit and to bring out a drink of varying colours in which there is healing. It takes its name from her.
AALAMIN Editor · signed 2026-08-29 · Editorial
Editorial