Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 27 An-Naml, Ayat 39-39

قَالَ عِفۡرِيۡتٌ مِّنَ الۡجِنِّ اَنَا اٰتِيۡكَ بِهٖ قَبۡلَ اَنۡ تَقُوۡمَ مِنۡ مَّقَامِكَ​ۚ وَاِنِّىۡ عَلَيۡهِ لَـقَوِىٌّ اَمِيۡنٌ‏ ﴿27:39﴾

(27:39) A stalwart of the jinn said: "I will bring it to you before you rise from your council.45 Surely I have the power to do so and I am trustworthy."46


Notes

45. From this it becomes obvious whether the jinns under the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) were, according to the interpretation of some rationalist commentators of the modern times, from among mankind or from among the hidden creation commonly known as jinns. Obviously, the sitting of the Prophet Solomon's court would at the most be of three to four hours, and the distance of Marib, capital of Saba, from Jerusalem was, even as the crow flies, not less than 1500 miles. To fetch a splendid throne of a queen from such a distant place in such a short time could not be possible for a man, even if he be a very strong and robust person. This task cannot be performed even by a jet plane of today. The throne was not lying in a jungle from where it had just to be fetched. It lay in a queen’s palace, which must have been well-guarded, and in the absence of the queen it must have been kept in a secure place. If a man had gone to fetch it, he should have been accompanied by a commando force so that he could overwhelm the guards and snatch away the throne. How could all this be accomplished before the rising of the court? This thing can be conceived only in connection with a real jinn!

46. That is, “You can trust me in that I will not carry it away, nor steal any valuable thing from it.”