16: Bees

This sixteen-section chapter consists of 128 late Meccan verses. except for the last
three which date from Madina. It was revealed after The Cave 18 and before
Noah 71, and belongs to a new group of chapters dating from the late Meccan
period. The chapter is slightly longer than the others in this part and quite
beautiful, containing many elevated thoughts.
The theme includes exhortations which give a clue to good behavior and
commendable conduct. Pagan practices and beliefs are condemned in sections V-VII.
The Bee appears in v. 68 (IX). Agriculture has been mentioned first in II, and
the food which God provides us with in ix and XV. Parables like The Slave, the
Master and the Dumb Man (X) and The Disbelieving Town (XV) also form
part of this chapter. The advantage of keeping one's word or oaths and avoiding
mutual deceit appears in section XIII, where we are instructed on how to recite the
Qur'an.