34. Sūrat Sabaʾ

٣٤۔ سُورَةُ سَبَأ

Qurʾān > Chapter 34 > Section 3
القرآن > كتاب ٣٤ > باب ٣

34.3 The mountains and birds used to sing God's Rhymes with the Prophet David. God subjected the winds and jinns to Solomon. Claim of people that Jinns know the unseen, is wrong.

٣٤۔٣ مقطع في سُورَةُ سَبَأ

quran:34:10 –

And We certainly gave David from Us bounty. ˹We said˺, "O mountains, repeat ˹Our˺ praises with him, and the birds ˹as well˺." And We made pliable for him iron,  

And verily We bestowed on David a ˹great˺ favour from Us — prophethood and scripture — and We said: ‘O mountains, repeat with him ˹in praise˺, by making glorifications, and the birds ˹too˺!’ (read wa’l-tayra in the accusative as a supplement to the ˹syntactical˺ locus of jibāl, ‘mountains’, in other words, and We also called on them to glorify ˹God˺ with him). And We made iron malleable for him, so that it was as dough in his hands.
القرآن:٣٤:١٠ –

وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ مِنَّا فَضْلًا ۖ يَا جِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ وَالطَّيْرَ ۖ وَأَلَنَّا لَهُ الْحَدِيدَ  

{ولقد آتينا داود منا فضلا} نبوة وكتابا وقلنا {يا جبال أوّبي} رجعي {معه} بالتسبيح {والطير} بالنصب عطفا على محل الجبال، أي ودعوناها تسبح معه {وألنا له الحديد} فكان في يده كالعجين.
quran:34:11 –

˹Commanding him˺, "Make full coats of mail and calculate ˹precisely˺ the links, and work ˹all of you˺ righteousness. Indeed I, of what you do, am Seeing."  

And We said: ‘Fashion, from it, long coats of mail — complete suits of armour which the person wearing it drags behind him along the ground — and measure ˹well˺ the links’, that is, in the weaving of the coats (the maker of these is called sarrād). In other words, make them so that the rings thereof are arranged properly. And act, O family of David, together with him, righteously. Indeed I am Seer of what you do, and will requite you for it accordingly.
القرآن:٣٤:١١ –

أَنِ اعْمَلْ سَابِغَاتٍ وَقَدِّرْ فِي السَّرْدِ ۖ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا ۖ إِنِّي بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ  

وقلنا {أن اعمل} منه {سابغات} دروعا كوامل يجرها لابسها على الأرض {وقدر في السرد} أي نسج الدروع قيل لصانعها سراد، أي اجعله بحيث تتناسب حلقه {واعملوا} أي آل داود معه {صالحا إني بما تعملون بصير} فأجازيكم به.
quran:34:12 –

And to Solomon ˹We subjected˺ the wind - its morning ˹journey was that of˺ a month - and its afternoon ˹journey was that of˺ a month, and We made flow for him a spring of ˹liquid˺ copper. And among the jinn were those who worked for him by the permission of his Lord. And whoever deviated among them from Our command - We will make him taste of the punishment of the Blaze.  

And, We disposed, for Solomon the wind (the nominative reading of al-rīhu would be based on an implicit ˹missing verb˺ sakhkharnā, ‘We disposed’) its morning course, meaning its journey from the morning to the noon, was a month’s journey and its evening course, that is, its journey from the noon to sunset, was a month’s journey. And We caused a fount of ˹molten˺ copper to flow for him, in other words, We caused the copper to melt for him, and so the fount flowed for three days and nights like water, and to this day people have been using of that ˹copper˺ which was given to Solomon ˹at that time˺. And of the jinn ˹there˺ were those who worked before him by the leave, by the command, of his Lord. And such of them as deviated from Our command, to him to obey him ˹Solomon˺, We would make them taste the chastisement of the Blaze, the Fire in the Hereafter — but it is also said, ˹that their chastisement was˺ in this world, in which case an angel would smite one of them with a lash thereof that would scorch him.
القرآن:٣٤:١٢ –

وَلِسُلَيْمَانَ الرِّيحَ غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌ وَرَوَاحُهَا شَهْرٌ ۖ وَأَسَلْنَا لَهُ عَيْنَ الْقِطْرِ ۖ وَمِنَ الْجِنِّ مَنْ يَعْمَلُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِ ۖ وَمَنْ يَزِغْ مِنْهُمْ عَنْ أَمْرِنَا نُذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذَابِ السَّعِيرِ  

{و} سخرنا {لسليمان الريح} وقراءة الرفع بتقدير تسخير {غدوها} مسيرها من الغدوة بمعنى الصباح إلى الزوال {شهر ورواحها} سيرها من الزوال إلى الغروب {شهر} أي مسيرته {وأسلنا} أذبنا {له عين القطر} أي النحاس فأجريت ثلاثة أيام بلياليهن كجري الماء وعمل الناس إلى اليوم مما أعطي سليمان {ومن الجن من يعمل بين يديه بإذن} بأمر {ربه ومن يزغ} يعدل {منهم عن أمرنا} له بطاعته {نذقه من عذاب السعير} النار في الآخرة، وقيل في الدنيا بأن يضربه ملك بسوط منها ضربة تحرقه.
quran:34:13 –

They made for him what he willed of elevated chambers, statues, bowls like reservoirs, and stationary kettles. ˹We said˺, "Work, O family of David, in gratitude." And few of My servants are grateful.  

They fashioned for him whatever he wished: lofty shrines (mahārīb are high edifices which are ascended by stairs) and statues (tamāthīl is the plural of timthāl, which is any thing which you fashion as a likeness ˹of another˺), in other words, brass, crystal or marble figures — the use of figures was not prohibited according to his Law; and basins (jifān is the plural of jafna) like cisterns (jawābin is the plural of jābiya, which is a large basin) — around each ‘basin’ a thousand men would gather to eat — and cauldrons built into the ground, fixed with foundations, and cannot be moved from their places: these were made from the ˹rocks of the˺ mountains of Yemen, and to which one ascended by climbing up a ladder. And We said: ‘Work, O, House of David, in obedience to God, in thankfulness, to Him for what He has given you. And few indeed of My servants are thankful’, labouring in obedience to Me in thanks for My favours.
القرآن:٣٤:١٣ –

يَعْمَلُونَ لَهُ مَا يَشَاءُ مِنْ مَحَارِيبَ وَتَمَاثِيلَ وَجِفَانٍ كَالْجَوَابِ وَقُدُورٍ رَاسِيَاتٍ ۚ اعْمَلُوا آلَ دَاوُودَ شُكْرًا ۚ وَقَلِيلٌ مِنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ  

{يعملون له ما يشاء من محاريب} أبنية مرتفعة يصعد اليها بدرج {وتماثيل} جمع تمثال وهو كل شيء مثلته بشيء، أي صور من نحاس وزجاج ورخام، ولم يكن اتخاذ الصور حراما في شريعته {وجفان} جمع جفنه {كالجوابـ} ـي جمع جابية وهو حوض كبير، يجتمع على الجفنة ألف رجل يأكلون منها {وقدور راسيات} ثابتات لها قوائم لا تتحرك عن أماكنها تتخذ من الجبال باليمن يصعد إليها بالسلالم وقلنا {اعملوا} يا {آل داود} بطاعة الله {شكرا} له على ما أتاكم {وقليل من عبادي الشكور} العامل بطاعتي شكرا لنعمتي.
quran:34:14 –

And when We decreed for Solomon death, nothing indicated to the jinn his death except a creature of the earth eating his staff. But when he fell, it became clear to the jinn that if they had known the unseen, they would not have remained in humiliating punishment.  

And when We decreed for him, for Solomon, death, in other words, ˹when˺ he died — he remained supported against his staff an entire year, while the jinn continued to toil in hard labour as was customary, unaware of his death, until ˹finally˺ when a termite ate through his staff, he fell to the ground ˹and was seen to be˺ dead — nothing indicated to them that he had died except a termite (al-ard is the verbal noun from uridat al-khashaba, passive verbal form, in other words, ‘it ˹the piece of wood˺ was eaten away by a termite ˹al-arada˺’) that gnawed away at his staff (read minsa’atahu or minsātahu, replacing the hamza with an alif, meaning a ‘staff’, so called because ˹when describing it one would say˺ yunsa’u bihā, to mean it is used to repel or drive away ˹creatures˺’). And when he fell down, dead, the jinn realised, it became apparent to them, that (an, is softened, in other words, annahum) had they known the Unseen — comprising what was hidden from them in the way of Solomon being dead — they would not have continued in the humiliating chastisement, ˹in˺ that hard labour of theirs, ˹in which they continued˺ as they supposed him to be alive, which is in contrast to what they would have supposed had they known the Unseen and the fact that he had been there an entire year, judging by how much of the staff the termite had eaten through after his death; in other words, ˹they would not have continued in the humiliating chastisement˺ for a single day or even a single night ˹longer˺.
القرآن:٣٤:١٤ –

فَلَمَّا قَضَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ الْمَوْتَ مَا دَلَّهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَوْتِهِ إِلَّا دَابَّةُ الْأَرْضِ تَأْكُلُ مِنْسَأَتَهُ ۖ فَلَمَّا خَرَّ تَبَيَّنَتِ الْجِنُّ أَنْ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ الْغَيْبَ مَا لَبِثُوا فِي الْعَذَابِ الْمُهِينِ  

{فلما قضينا عليه} على سليمان {الموت} أي مات ومكث قائما على عصاه حولا ميتا والجن تعمل تلك الأعمال الشاقة على عادتها لا تشعر بموته حتى أكلت الأرضة عصاه فخرّ ميتا {ما دلهم على موته إلا دابة الأرض} مصدر أرضت الخشبة بالبناء للمفعول أكلتها الأرضه {تأكل منسأته} بالهمز وتركه بألف عصاه لأنها ينسأ يطرد ويزجر بها {فلما خرَّ} ميتا {تبينت الجن} انكشف لهم {أن} مخففة أي أنهم {لو كانوا يعلمون الغيب} ومنه ما غاب عنهم من موت سليمان {ما لبثوا في العذاب المهين} العمل الشاق لهم لظنهم حياته خلاف ظنهم علم الغيب وعلم كونه سنة بحساب ما أكلته الأرضة من العصا بعد موته يوما وليلة مثلا.