Verses 10–21
The verses tell a fragment of the stories of David and Solomon, both of whom God blessed. God made the mountains and birds act in unison with David, and softened iron for him. God gave Solomon control over winds making month-long journeys, and put the jinn under his employ to hew prayer-niches, statues, and other things, however he liked. God commands both of them to express gratitude through acting righteously; and both of them were grateful servants of God.
Then it turns to the story of Sabaʾ. God blessed Sabaʾ with two gardens, one on the right and one on the left, so that they could subsist comfortably on them. However, they denied God’s blessings and became ungrateful, so God set upon them a violent flood, shattering their dam and besetting their gardens, which never grew back the same. They had developed their land but denied God’s blessings. Therefore, God reduced them to mere legends and scattered them about, for they had denied the blessings of God and snubbed thankfulness. Thus, they were only paid back for their denial and ingratitude.
These two stories link with the previous content through mention of the resurrection. God looks after the affairs of His servants. They are swimming in an ocean of blessings, one after another. The blessed had ought to be thankful for their blessings. Furthermore, it is upon God to distinguish the grateful from the ungrateful. If these two groups are not distinguished in this world, there is another realm where they may be distinguished; and none can flee the resurrection.
Commentary
وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ مِنَّا فَضْلًا ۖ يَا جِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ وَالطَّيْرَ ۖ وَأَلَنَّا لَهُ الْحَدِيدَ١٠
(34:10) And We gave David bounty (faḍlan) from us. O mountains! Echo (awwibī) Allah’s praises with him. And O birds! [Do the same!] And We softened iron for him.
Faḍl means “a gift”. The verb awwibī comes from the root a-w-b which means “to return”; here, it means that their voices echo back with the glorification of God. This can be deduced from:
We made the mountains sing the glory [of Allah] with him at eventide and morn. And the birds flocked together—all turning to Him. ()
Birds and mountains are linked together with the conjunction “and”. This refutes the exegetical view that awwibī means “travel” and that the mountains used to physically follow David wherever he walked.
O mountains! Echo Allah’s praises with him. And O birds! [Do the same!]: This indirectly explains what was gifted to David. Instead of telling David, “We gave you control over the mountains and birds,” it tells the mountains and birds to emulate David. Stylistically, the cause is mentioned in place of the effect. It means: We gave him control over the mountains and birds so that they would emulate him. This is the main point behind giving him control over the mountains and birds, as is also indicated in:
We made the mountains sing the glory [of Allah] with him at eventide and morn. And the birds flocked together—all turning to Him. ()
And We softened iron for him: Meaning that We made it pliant for him despite its inherent stiffness.
أَنِ اعْمَلْ سَابِغَاتٍ وَقَدِّرْ فِي السَّرْدِ ۖ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا ۖ إِنِّي بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ ١١
(34:11) Fashion coats of mail (sābighāt), balancing the chain-links (sard), and work righteousness; I see what you do.
Sābighāt is the plural of sābighah, meaning “armor”. Sard are the chain-links in mail. Balancing the chain-links means to be measured in how he is shaping the links of the armor; that is, he should make a large coat of mail with appropriately-sized links. Work righteousness explains why iron was made to yield to him.
And work righteousness; I see what you do: In and of itself, the meaning of the sentence is apparent. In the context of these verses, this sentence explains why they were gifted these things. Recounting what they had been blessed with serves as a means of commanding them to be thankful. It is as if it is saying: “Be thankful for the blessings We have granted you and your people, and express this gratitude through working righteous deeds.”
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 ١٢
(34:12) And We (gave) Solomon the wind, whose morning course was a month and whose evening course was a month. And We made a fountain of molten copper flow for him. And some of the jinn worked before him, by the permission of his Lord. And those that deviated from Our command—We made them taste punishment of fire.
Meaning, We subjected the wind to Solomon; in the span of a morning—that is, from daybreak until noon—it used to travel a month’s distance; and then, in the span of an evening—that is, from noon until eventide—it would travel another month’s distance, thereby completing two month’s distance in the span of a day.
And We made a fountain of molten copper (qiṭr) flow (asalnā) for him: The verb asalnā is from the root s-a-l, meaning “to flow”. Qiṭr means “copper”. All in all, it means, “We melted copper for him, and it streamed like a flowing fountain.”
And some of the jinn (min al-jinn) worked before him (yaʿmal bayna yadayhi), by the permission of his Lord: Min al-jinn means “some of the jinn” or “a group of jinn”; this understanding of the meaning of min al-jinn is evident from They were making for him… ().
They worked before him [bayna yadayhi, lit. “between his hands”] by the permission of his Lord because they had been put under his control.
And those that deviated (man yazigh minhum): Meaning, “those that deviated” or “those that were diverted”.
From Our [Allah’s] command: Meaning, they did not obey Solomon.
We made them taste punishment of fire: The context indicates that this fire was worldly, not otherworldly. The wording of the verse (min al-jinn) also suggests that only some of the jinn were subjected to Solomon, not all of them.
يَعْمَلُونَ لَهُ مَا يَشَاءُ مِنْ مَحَارِيبَ وَتَمَاثِيلَ وَجِفَانٍ كَالْجَوَابِ وَقُدُورٍ رَاسِيَاتٍ ۚ اعْمَلُوا آلَ دَاوُودَ شُكْرًا ۚ وَقَلِيلٌ مِنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ ١٣
(34:13) They were making for him whatever he willed: places of worship (maḥārīb), images (tamāthīl), basins like reservoirs (jifānin kal-jawāb), and cauldrons firmly anchored (qudūrin rāsiyāt). Give thanks, O family of David! Although few of My servants are thankful.
Maḥārīb is the plural of miḥrāb (“prayer-niche”), which is a place that a person stands to worship in. Tamāthīl is the plural of timthāl (“statue”). Jifān is the plural of jafnah, which is a gargantuan serving-bowl. Jawāb is the plural of jābiyah, which is a pool or basin which water is kept in. Qudūr is the plural of qidr (“cooking-pot”, “kettle”). Rāsiyāt means “fixed”; that is, they were so big that they were fixed in their places and could not be moved.
Give thanks, O family of David!: This is addressed to Solomon and the other kin of David who were with him. It tells them to work and worship God out of gratitude towards Him.
Although few of My servants are thankful: Meaning, thankful to God, thanking Him again and again. This sentence either (a) exalts the status of those who are grateful by declaring them rare and unique, or (b) provides further explanation, as if it is saying, “The grateful are few, so increase their number!”
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 ١٤
(34:14) When We decreed death for him, naught showed them his death but an earth-creature (dābbat al-arḍ) nibbling on his staff (minsaʾatahu). When he fell, the jinn saw clearly [that he had died]. Had they known the unseen, they would not have tarried in humiliating punishment.
According to narrations, dābbat al-arḍ here means “termite (arḍah)”. Minsaʾah means “staff”.
When he fell (kharra): Kharra means “to fall to the ground”.
From the verses, it can be understood that when Solomon died, he had been leaning on his staff. He remained in that position, upright and leaning on his staff, for some time, and so no one—neither man nor jinn—realized that he had died. Then, God, the Mighty and Glorious, sent a termite to munch away at his staff. After it had eaten, the staff broke, and Solomon fell. Then, they knew that he had died, and it became clear that if the jinn had known the unseen, they would have known that Solomon had died and they would not have continued working for him, from the time he died until the time he fell over; they would have not remained in such tortuous, humiliating drudgery. However, his death was veiled from them.
لَقَدْ كَانَ لِسَبَإٍ فِي مَسْكَنِهِمْ آيَةٌ ۖ جَنَّتَانِ عَنْ يَمِينٍ وَشِمَالٍ ۖ كُلُوا مِنْ رِزْقِ رَبِّكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لَهُ ۚ بَلْدَةٌ طَيِّبَةٌ وَرَبٌّ غَفُورٌ ١٥
(34:15) There was a sign for Sabaʾ in their abode: two gardens to the right and left. Eat of the sustenance of your Lord and thank Him—a fair land and a forgiving Lord.
The Sabaʾ were pure-blooded Arabs (al-ʿarab al-ʿāribah) from Yemen. They are said to have been named Sabaʾ after their progenitor Sabaʾ ibn Yashjub ibn Yaʿrub ibn Qaḥṭān.
To the right and left means to the right and left of their dwellings.
Eat of the sustenance of your Lord: This instructs them to eat from the two gardens; this is a figure of speech for living off the gardens. Then it instructs them to thank God for His blessings and sustenance.
A fair land and a forgiving Lord: Meaning, a suitable, wholesome place to live and a Lord who is oft-forgiving, and does not take them to account for their shortcomings.
فَأَعْرَضُوا فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَيْلَ الْعَرِمِ وَبَدَّلْنَاهُمْ بِجَنَّتَيْهِمْ جَنَّتَيْنِ ذَوَاتَيْ أُكُلٍ خَمْطٍ وَأَثْلٍ وَشَيْءٍ مِنْ سِدْرٍ قَلِيلٍ ١٦
(34:16) But they turned aside, so We sent upon them a dam-breaking flood (sayl al-ʿarim), and replaced their gardens with gardens yielding bitter fruit, tamarisk, and a smattering of lote-trees (ukulin khamṭin wa athalin wa shayʾin min sidrin qalīl).
ʿArim means “dam”. Some say that it means “torrential rain”. There are other views.
Ukul refers to any fruit which is eaten. It is said that khamṭ refers to any edible, bitter herb or vegetable. Athal is tamarisk; some say that it refers to a tree that looks similar to tamarisk but which is larger and does not bear fruit. Sidr has its conventional meaning [of lote-tree]. Athal and shayʾ are appended to ukul not khamṭ.
It means: The people of Sabaʾ ceased to be grateful, even though they had been commanded to do so. Therefore, God flooded their lands. Their gardens perished, and God replaced them with plantations yielding bitter fruit and tamarisk and a handful of lote-trees.
ذَٰلِكَ جَزَيْنَاهُمْ بِمَا كَفَرُوا ۖ وَهَلْ نُجَازِي إِلَّا الْكَفُورَ ١٧
(34:17) We requited them (jazaynāhum) with this (dhālik) because they disbelieved, and We only punish the ungrateful.
The pronoun this refers to what was said about sending the flood and replacing the gardens. It is in the accusative and acts as a second object to We requited. According to exegetes, the difference between jazāʾ (“requital”, “repayment”) and al-mujāzāh (“requital, “punishment”) [both from the root j-z-y] is that mujāzah is only used for negative consequences, whereas jazāʾ can be used more broadly.
It means: (a) We requited Sabaʾ thusly because they were ungrateful and turned away from being thankful, or (b) We never requite anyone with evil unless they have been extremely ungrateful for God’s blessings.
وَجَعَلْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ الْقُرَى الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا قُرًى ظَاهِرَةً وَقَدَّرْنَا فِيهَا السَّيْرَ ۖ سِيرُوا فِيهَا لَيَالِيَ وَأَيَّامًا آمِنِينَ ١٨
(34:18) And We set between them (baynahum) and the towns We had blessed [other] towns easily seen, and We apportioned the journey therein. Travel through them for nights and days, secure.
Them in [the clause] between them refers to Sabaʾ. This is said in the context of elaborating upon the conclusion of their story and links back to There was a sign for Sabaʾ in their abode (). The towns We had blessed refers to the towns of Syria. Easily seen (ẓāhirah) means that they were close enough to each other that one could be seen from the other.
And We apportioned the journey therein: Meaning, We spaced them out equally at a distance suitable to travel between.
Travel through them for nights and days, secure: It is implied that God is telling them this. That is, it is as if God is telling them, “Travel through these towns by day, if you wish, and by night, if you wish.” It means that God made them safe enough to travel through whenever they wanted without any fear or apprehension.
فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا وَظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ فَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَحَادِيثَ وَمَزَّقْنَاهُمْ كُلَّ مُمَزَّقٍ ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ ١٩
(34:19) And they said, O Lord! Increase the distance of our journeys. They wronged themselves, so We made them into but tales, and We scattered them completely. In that, there is a sign for everyone who is patient and grateful.
Meaning, We blessed them with abundant fruits and nearby way-stations and safe roads and ease of travel and an affluent living, but they grew bored of that and said, O Lord! Increase the distance of our journeys—meaning, “make our journeys longer so that we can cut across the deserts and wilds on our animals.” This was wrong of them and was ungrateful, just like how the Israelites asked for garlic and onions instead of manna and quail.
In short, God completed His blessings upon them by making their waystations close and secure. He showered His blessings upon them when they were on the road, just as He had in their settlements. He wanted them to be thankful for that. However, they refused to acknowledge how God had blessed them on their journeys, just as they refused to acknowledge how that God had blessed them in their settlements. So God hastened to give them what they wanted: He destroyed their lands and scattered their population.
And they said, O Lord! Increase the distance of our journeys: Implicitly, they were asking for their cities to be destroyed.
They wronged themselves: Meaning, through sins.
So We made them into but tales, and We scattered them completely: God made them and their ruins vanish. Only their names remained. Nothing survived of them except legends in people’s imaginations. God scattered them so wholly that no trace of them remained. They disappeared despite the strength and glory they had built in their society such that they became proverbial: “To be separated like the people of Sabaʾ,” meaning, to split apart with no hope of return.
In that, there is a sign for everyone who is patient and grateful: Meaning, in the part of their story that was mentioned, there are signs for all who are abundantly patient in the way of God and abundantly thankful for His countless blessings. From the verses, it can be understood that it is the duty of the human being to worship His Lord out of gratitude for His blessings, and that before the human being lies a day on which he will be resurrected and recompensed for his deeds.
وَلَقَدْ صَدَّقَ عَلَيْهِمْ إِبْلِيسُ ظَنَّهُ فَاتَّبَعُوهُ إِلَّا فَرِيقًا مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ٢٠
(34:20) And Iblīs proved his opinion of them to be true, so they followed him, apart from a group of the believers.
This refers to when Iblīs said: I shall deceive them and misguide them; You shall not find most of them to be grateful (; ). It means that either Iblīs was able to deceive and misguide them, or else that he discovered that his words held true for them.
So they followed him, apart from a group of the believers: This clarifies what it meant for his opinion to be found true.
From this, it is clear that the pronoun them here and in the next verse refers to people in general, not just the people of Sabaʾ, although the verse applies to them.
وَمَا كَانَ لَهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ إِلَّا لِنَعْلَمَ مَنْ يُؤْمِنُ بِالْآخِرَةِ مِمَّنْ هُوَ مِنْهَا فِي شَكٍّ ۗ وَرَبُّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَفِيظٌ ٢١
(34:21) And he had no authority over them, save that We might distinguish the one who believes in the hereafter from the one who is in doubt. And your Lord preserves all things.
Since Iblīs was unable to force them to follow him, they chose to follow him out of their own free will. Therefore, they have no excuse. They cannot say they were compelled, for they were the ones who made the bad decision to give him power over themselves. He could not have done that on his own. God told Iblīs: “You shall have no control over My servants except for the misguided who follow you (). And Iblīs will tell them on the day of resurrection: “I had no power over you all except that I called to you and you responded to me. So do not blame me; rather, blame yourselves” ().
Ultimately, they followed him because they doubted the hereafter. This doubt was rooted in their hearts, and one of the ways that it manifested was through following Iblīs. God allowed Iblīs to control them to the degree that they ceded control to him, so that those who doubt the hereafter would be distinguished from those with faith in it. This does not in any way lift the responsibility from them for their choice to follow him, for it was a choice.
And he had no authority over them: He had no control over them at all.
Save that We might distinguish (li-naʿlama): Meaning, to distinguish one group from the other [not literally to “know”, which is the conventional meaning of naʿlama].
The one who believes in the hereafter from the one who is in doubt: This is an exception to the statement that he had no authority over them. It means that he had no authority over them unless they gave him authority over them through their own free will. In this expression, the ultimate goal of “We might distinguish” is used in place of “he had authority.” [That is, conventionally, the expression might read, “He had no power over any of them except those who let him control them”; but, instead, it is phrased as, “He had no power over them, except that We willed to distinguish one group from another.”]
Faith and doubt in the hereafter, as opposed to faith and doubt in God Himself, are specified here since faith in the hereafter alone bars a person from sinning and pushes them to obey God. Faith in God and His Messenger alone would not do that, were there no hereafter. God says:
Those who stray from the path of Allah shall have a severe torment, for they forgot the Day of Accounting. ()
And your Lord preserves all things: Meaning, He is the Knower whose knowledge escapes him not—neither through forgetting nor absentmindedness nor some other way. This phrase implicitly warns against ingratitude and evildoing, and implicitly warns those who do such things.
Examining Narrations
- In Kamāl al-Dīn, with a chain of narration from Hishām ibn Sālim from Imām al-Ṣādiq, in a narration about the story of David, Imām al-Ṣādiq says:
He would go outside reciting the Psalms, and whenever he recited the Psalms, all of the mountains, rocks, and birds would reply.
- RegardingFashion coats of mail (sābighāt), balancing the chain-links (sard), and work righteousness; I see what you do (), Tafsīr al-Qummī relates:
Fashion coats of mail (sābighāt, ): Sābighāt means “armor”.
Balancing the chain-links (wa qaddir fī al-sard, ) speaks of pinning the mail-links together.
And We [gave] Solomon the wind, whose morning course was a month and whose evening course was a month (): The wind used to carry the throne of Solomon, and so, in one morning, he would travel a month’s distance, and then, in the evening, another month’s distance.
- In al-Kafī, via a chain of narration from Dāwūd ibn al-Ḥāṣīn and Abān ibn ʿUthman, it is related that al-Faḍl Abū al-ʿAbbās said:
I asked Imām al-Bāqir about They were making for him whatever he willed: places of worship, images, basins like reservoirs… ().
He replied, “These were not statues of men and women; rather, they were statues of trees and similar things.”
- In al-Kāfī, it is related from some of the author’s companions in a marfūʿ manner from Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam:
Imām al-Kāẓim said, “O Hishām! God has praised the minority.” Then he recited, “Few of My servants are thankful ().”
Author’s comments: This meaning recurs in some other narrations and relates one of the two possible meanings mentioned for the end of verse .
- In ʿIlal al-Sharāʿiʾ, it is related via a chain of narration that Imām al-Bāqir said:
Solomon, the son of David, commanded the jinn to build him a domed alcove out of glass. One day, he was leaning on his staff under this dome and keeping an eye on the jinn to see how they were regarding him, when something startled him: a man was in the dome. Solomon asked him, “Who are you?”
The man said, “I am the one who takes no bribe and fears no king. I am the Angel of Death.”
Then the Angel of Death took his soul while he was leaning on his staff in the dome and the jinn were watching him.
For a year, the jinn kept working for him, until God—the Mighty and Glorious—sent a termite to eat his staff (mansaʾah)—and mansaʾah means “staff”. When he fell, it became clear that if the jinn had known the unseen, they would not have remained in that humiliating drudgery.
Author’s comments: A number of Sunni and Shiʿi narrations say that he remained standing upright, leaning on his staff, for a year.
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, a narration from Farwah ibn Masīk says:
I asked the Messenger of God about Sabaʾ—is it the name of a man of a woman?
He [the Prophet] said, “He was an Arab who sired ten sons. Six of them settled in Yemen (tayāmin), and four of them settled in Syria (tashāʾam). The tayāmin were [the forebears of the tribes of] al-Azd, Kindah, Madhḥaj, al-Ashʿarūn, Anmār, and Ḥumayr.
A man asked, “Who were the Anmār?”
He [the Prophet] said, “The ones who the [tribes of the] Khathʿam and the Bajīlah come from. The tashāʾam were the [forebears of the tribes of the] ʿĀmilah, the Judhām, the Lakhm, and the Ghassān.”
Author’s comments: This is also related in al-Durr al-Manthūr from some authors of jāmiʿ and sunan collections of narrations. Tayāman and tashāʾam mean that they lived in Yemen or Syria (Shām), respectively.
- In al-Kāfī, via a chain of narration from Sudayr, it is related that Sudayr said:
A man asked Imām al-Ṣādiq about And they said, O Lord! Increase the distance of our journeys. They wronged themselves… ().
He said, “These were a people who had towns connected with one another, such that you could look from one to the other; flowing rivers; and obvious wealth. However, they became ungrateful for the blessings of God—the Mighty and Glorious—and cast off the well-being and security that God had granted them. So God inverted these blessings. And Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is inside themselves (). God flooded their lands, scattered their towns, ruined their homes, destroyed their wealth, and replaced their gardens with gardens yielding bitter fruit, tamarisk, and a smattering of lote-trees.” Then he recited, “We requited them with this because they disbelieved, and We only punish the ungrateful ().”
Author’s comments: Some narrations say that “the towns which God had blessed” are the family (ahl al-bayt) of the Prophet, and the “towns easily seen” are the intermediaries between them and the people, such as those who relate their narrations, or others. This is one of the deeper meanings of the Qur’an and is not an actual exegesis in any way.
Meaning that the birds and mountains were commanded to do the same thing together, even though there are intervening words between “mountains” and “birds”. (Trans.) ↩︎
ʿAllāmah clarifies this because the pronoun “min” in Arabic can be understood multiple ways. (Trans.) ↩︎
In classical Islamic literature, the Arabs are divided into two groups: the “pure” Arabs (ʿarab al-ʿāribah, who were considered to be descendants of Qaḥṭān), and the “Arabicized” Arabs (who were considered to be descendants of ʿAdnān). The Arabs of Yemen were considered descendants of Qaḥṭān. (Trans.) ↩︎
In English, it is often just referred to as the “flood of ʿArim”. (Trans.) ↩︎
Because, after they were scattered abroad, they had vast distances between each other. [Trans.] ↩︎
He is asking this because statue-making is forbidden in Islamic law, so the implied question is “why was he building statues?” or “what were these statues of?” (Trans.) ↩︎
That is, without an intervening chain of narration. (Trans.) ↩︎
Some people take tayāman to mean “auspicious” or “fortunate” and tashāʾam to mean “inauspicious” or “unfortunate”, although ʿAllāmah does not present this meaning. (Trans.) ↩︎