Sign 8 of 12 · Honey and milk · Qur'an 16:68-69
The bee was inspired
Honey of many colours.
Signs · The bee was inspired
“Your Lord inspired the bee: build homes in the mountains, in the trees and in what people build… From their bellies comes a drink of many colours” (16:68-69, our rendering). The word for inspired, awḥā, shares its root with the word for revelation.
The science. A honeybee's waggle dance tells the hive the distance and direction of flowers. Honey resists microbes: most honeys make hydrogen peroxide, and its low pH and high sugar stop bacteria growing. A row of jars can run from pale gold to almost black, each the colour of its flowers.
Three faiths. Samson found “a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey” (Judges 14:8); God's words are “sweeter also than honey” (Psalm 19:11, JPS 1917).
Pause and ponder
Look again. What else have you looked past?
Wonder, not proof: we never say a verse “predicted” science. Why not? · Science: Biology · Index entry E01
