وَشَجَرَةً تَخْرُجُ مِن طُورِ سَيْنَآءَ تَنۢبُتُ بِٱلدُّهْنِ وَصِبْغٍ لِّلْءَاكِلِينَ
The verse does not give the name of the tree. In the classical exegetical tradition it is widely said to be the olive tree, and two grounds are given for this:
| Ground | Verse |
|---|---|
| 1 | al-Nūr 24/35 — shajaratin mubārakatin zaytūnatin — the blessed tree named for its oil |
| 2 | al-Tīn 95/1-2 — wa'l-tīni wa'l-zaytūni · wa ṭūri sīnīn — the olive and Sinai in the same oath |
This oath was treated in al-Tīn, where it was recorded that Sinai is the mountain on which Moses received revelation, and that the fig and the olive may stand for a region. I rely on that treatment.
I pass on the explanation that the tree is the olive as it is transmitted; since the verse gives no name, I do not present it as a settled ruling.
طُور — mountain. The word was treated in al-Ṭūr on the occasion of that sūra's name. I do not repeat it here.
سَيْنَآء — there is a variant reading in the pronunciation of the word: saynāʾ and sīnāʾ. It does not change the meaning; both readings point to the same place.
The lexicographers differ over the origin of the word — whether it is an Arabic adjective (rocky/wooded) or a place name. I pass the disagreement on; I do not impose a preference.
And an entry on context: the sūra will name Moses twenty-five verses after this one (45). The name Sinai occurs, before the narrative, in a passage about a plant. I record this as an observation and build no claim upon it.
| Reading | Pattern | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| tanbutu | Form I, intransitive | "It grows with oil" — the tree grows together with its oil |
| tunbitu | Form IV, transitive | "It brings forth oil" — the tree produces oil |
| Reading | The work of the bāʾ | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Attachment / accompaniment (mulābasa / muṣāḥaba) | "It grows together with its oil" |
| 2 | Redundant (required by the parsing, adding no meaning) | "It brings forth its oil" |
| 3 | Transitivising (taʿdiya) | "It yields oil" |
All three explanations are transmitted; I do not impose a preference. In all three the outcome is close: the tree is a tree whose produce is oil.
The root ص-ب-غ: to dye, to dip a thing into a liquid. Ṣibgha — dye, colour (al-Baqara 2/138 — ṣibghata'llāh).
The lexicographers give the meaning of the word here as follows: the thing bread is dipped into, a relish. The "dipping" sense of the root, that is, is applied to an act at the table.
I record this as an observation about the language: the word names the way olive oil is used at the table — not the produce but the work done with the produce. And the qualification li'l-ākilīn reinforces this: "for those who eat".