Quranic Name: Al-Mann. Common Names: Turanjabin, Kazanjbin, (Arab.), Turanjibin, Gazangbin (Pers.), Kudset helvasi (Turk.) Manna (Eng., Gr., It), Manne (Fr.), Manna (Russ.), Man (Heb.), Mana (Sp.), Kshiri (Hindi), Gazanjbin, Turanbjbin (Urdu), and Makanandr Sorga (Indonesian, Malay).
Botanical Names: 1. Alhagi maurorum Medic. (Family: Leguminosae) 2. Tamarix mannifera (Ehrenb.) Bunge (Family: Tamaricaceae).
Qur’ānic References:
1. SURAH II (Al-Baqarah-the Heifer). V: 57
And We gave you the shade of clouds and sent down to you manna and quails, saying: “Eat of the good things We have provided for you:” (But they rebelled); to Us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls.
2. SURAH VII (Al-A’raf-The Heights). V: 160
We divided them into twelve Tribes or nations. We directed Moses by inspiration, when his (thirsty) people asked him for water: “Strike the rock with thy staff:” Out of it there gushed forth twelve springs: Each group knew its own place for water. We gave them the shade of clouds, and sent down to them manna and quails. (Saying): ”Eat of the good things we have provided for you” (But they rebelled); to Us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls.
3. SURAH XX (Ta-Ha-Mystic Letters T.H.). V: 80-81
O ye Children of Israel! We delivered you from your enemy, and We made a Covenant with you on the right side of Mount (Sinai) and We sent down to you manna and quails: (Saying): ”Eat of the good things We have provided for your sustenance, but commit no excess therein, lest My Wrath should justly descend on you: and those on whom descends My Wrath do perish indeed!
Although the meaning of Mann in Arabic is ‘favour’ or ‘reward’, yet in general usage it means a saccharine food that God provided for the Children of Israel when they were wandering in the Sinai desert after their exile from Egypt. Mr. Abdullah Yusuf Ali has stated that ‘Mann’ (English, Manna) was a sweet gum obtained from the Tamarisk trees of Sinai (Note No. 71). In Lughat al-Qur’ān, ‘Mann’ is described as something like the Honey-Dew found deposited on leaves of certain trees and collected early in the morning.
Several authors of the Commentaries of the Qur’ān, like those of Qartabi, Tabari, Kathir, Abul Kalam Azad, Thanvi, Abdul Haque Haqqani, Maudoodi, Abdul Majid Daryabadi, and Undulusi, have described ‘Mann’ as a plant product but no one has ventured to identity the actual plant (Botanical) source. Of course, some of them have written that the present day Turanjbin (a sweet exudate) was the real Mann. The main reason for this lack of information about the correct identity of the plant from which Mann was obtained, is probably the fact that no purposeful scientific work was available earlier on the systematic botanical identification of the flora of various regions, including Sinai.
Abu Rehan Mohammad Ibn Albairuni (973-1050 C.E.) was probably the first person to indicate that the Turanjabin obtained from the plant known as ‘Al-Haj’ in Arabic, was the real Mann of the Qur’ān. He also reported that some tiny insects living on certain plants were responsible for producing Mann. The word Turanjabin is the Arabianised form of the Persian word ‘Tar-Angbin’. (Tar means fresh and Angbin means honey).
After Albairuni, for several centuries, not much progress was made to identify the plants and plant products of the Middle East. It was only in 1822 C.E. that J.L. Burckhard, the author of the famous book Travels in Syria and Holy Land, stated that insects found on certain trees of Palestine and Syria were responsible for the production of a sweet gum. According to Burckhard, who was also known as Sheikh Barkat in Egypt, these insects punctured the bark of the host plant through which a liquid oozed out during the intense heat of sunny days and hardened into the form of a gum during cool nights.
Soon after the publication of Burckhard’s book, two well-known botanists of that time, Ehrenberg and Hemprich, published a report of their survey in 1829 and identified the Manna producing insect as Coccus manniparus. They observed the production of Manna by these insects on Sinai trees, which they identified as Tamarix. Thus, by the middle of the 19th century, it became amply clear that Sinai trees did yield a saccharine exudate. Later on, it was also reported that people living around Sinai collected Manna from the trees and used them in sweet preparations. As a matter of fact, for certain tribes of the area, this plant exudate was the only source of sweetness.
On the basis of scientific investigations carried out till now, it may be stated that the ‘Mann’ referred to in the Qur’ān was in fact obtained from two different types of plants. One was the plant known as Al-Haj or ‘Aqul in Arabic and botanically identified as Alhagi maurorum. It is a thorny shrub and good fodder for camels, and, therefore, called Shauk al-Jamal (Camel’s Thorn). In Persian it is known as Khare-Shutr. It does not normally grow beyond three feet in height but has very long roots, sometimes reaching 15 to 20 feet deep in the ground. Camel’s Thorn is a perennial shrub that grows 2 to 3 feet tall. The small, pea-like flowers are produced during the period from June to August. These brown to maroon flowers extend from sharp yellow spines of 1 to 2 inches in length located along the plant’s rigid branches. The plant rapidly colonises an area by producing new plants from its creeping roots. It is a native of the Mediterranean region and Western Asia.
Besides Sinai, Syria and other Arab countries, A. maurorum is also found in Iran, Pakistan and India, mainly on alkaline soils. At present Iran is the source of Manna called Turanjbin from this plant. In India, the plant is known as Jawasa, but the presence of Mann has never been reported from anywhere in the country, the reason being the absence of the insects responsible for the production of exudate.
Apart from ‘Haj’, which must have been a very common plant in Sinai during the time of Prophet Moses, there was another Mann-producing plant, botanically identified as Tamarix mannifera (Arabic, Gaz) in the same region. Several other plant species belonging to the genus Tamarix are known as ‘Athl’ or Tarfa in Arabic and occur in Arabia quite frequently but these do not yield any gummy (sweet) substance. The only Manna-producing Tamarix i.e. T. mannifera is generally found in Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Since in Iran this plant is known as ‘Gaz’ its Mann is called Gazanjabin (Arabic, Kasanjabin). Few species of Tamarix also occur in India but none of them have been reported to yield Mann.
Manna from Alhagi maurorum and Tamarix mannifera named Turanjbin and Gazanjbin respectively, are still traded in many parts of the world. Since sugars from sugarcane and sugar beet have been introduced throughout the world as the main sweetening agent, the use of sweet ‘Mann’ is now restricted to medicine only. Turanjbin is mostly supplied from the Khorasan area of Iran whereas the Tamarisk Manna (Gazanjbin) is still being collected in some northern parts of Africa. The sweetness of these Mann is due to sugars and sugar alcohols present in them. It has nutritional value as well as medicinal properties.
Mann has been mentioned thrice in the Qur’ān, and in all these Verses, it has been referred to with Salva i.e. the bird Quail. These Verses clearly imply that a food consisting of a sweet carbohydrate (from Mann) as well as protein and fat (from Salva) was provided for Bani Israel (Children of Israel), and which by all standard was a balanced diet. Otherwise by eating only sweet Manna, so many of people (Bani Israel) could not sustain life for 40 years (1491 to 1451 B.C.).
The Qur’ānic reference of ‘shade of clouds’ in Surah ‘Araf and Ta-Ha is very significant and meaningful. This indicates that millions of trees, which provided Mann in sizeable amount for so many people, were not shady and the Almighty provided cloud shade to protect them from the scorching sun. It may be pointed out that Alhagi maurorum (Al-Haj) is a small shrub and hence cannot provide shade for human beings. Similarly, Tamarix mannifera is also a small tree with scaly leaves and hence not suitable for this purpose. Thus, these trees must have been occurring in large numbers in the areas of Sinai but were unfit to provide shade for Bani Israel during their wanderings. However, these plants in general, and A. maurorum in particular should have been very suitable shelter for the breeding and rearing of the birds i.e. Salva (quails) which were available to them in large numbers.
Manna has also been mentioned in the Bible 11 times but without reference to Salva. According to Moldenke (Plants of Bible), it is very unlikely that the Children of Israel were provided with only sweet Manna for 40 years. In his opinion, the Manna referred to in the ‘Book of Baruch’ was definitely a sweet substance of plant origin but the Manna mentioned in ‘Book of Numbers’ was most likely a starchy or proteinous material, as it is stated therein that Manna ‘rained’ from Heaven and people collected it and made bread from it. Obviously, bread cannot be made out of any sweet gum and, therefore, the Manna of ‘Numbers’ must have been some Lichen which, when fully dried, is very light and can be flown to long distances and can settle down (rain) at a certain place.
(to be concluded)