"And We made you peoples and tribes" [Hujurat 49:13]. He said, "The 'peoples' are the great tribes, and the 'tribes' are the subdivisions."
{وجعلناكم شعوبا وقبائل} قال: الشعوب: القبائل العظام والقبائل: البطون.
Bukhari narrated it in the Chapter on Virtues (3489), from Khalid bin Yazid Kahili, who said, Abu Bakr narrated to us, from Abu Husayn, from Saeed bin Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas, who said, then he mentioned it.This meaning applies to the saying of Allah Almighty, "And We divided them into twelve tribes, as communities" [Araf 7:160], and to His saying, "And We appointed from among them twelve leaders" [Maidah 5:12], for the peoples of Banu Israil are made up of a collection of clans.It has also been said that peoples are not attributed to any single ancestor, but rather trace their identity to towns and villages, while tribes trace their lineage to their forefathers.