1. “Kitab Mubin”, a Clear Book, means the following: (i) That this Book expounds its teachings, instructions and commands in clear terms. (ii) That it clearly indicates the difference between Truth and falsehood. (iii) That it is also clear in that it is evidently the Book of God. Anyone who reads it with an open mind can see that it is not something that Muhammad (peace be on him) could have authored.
2. These verses are themselves “guidance” and “good news”. Note the subtlety here. Instead of saying that these verses lead to “guidance” and “give good news”, the verses, themselves, are called “guidance” and “good ‘news”. This, in itself, demonstrates the utmost potential of the Qur’an to guide people. Perhaps this can best be appreciated by the following example.
If one wants to pay tribute to someone’s generosity or beauty one would simply say that he or she is generous or beautiful. However, the effect is greatly enhanced if one were to say: “He or she is generosity itself” or that “He or she is beauty personified”.
3. These verses, however, provide guidance and give good news only to those who are possessed of the following characteristics: (i) they have faith, which means that they accept the invitation of the Qur’an and Muhammad (peace be on him) to believe in the One True God as their only Lord and as their sole object of worship and service; they accept the Qur’an as the Book of God and recognize the Prophet (peace be on him) as the true Prophet and, hence, their guide and leader, and believe in the After-life and in their accountability to God on the Day of Judgement. (ii) They not only recognize these truths but are also inclined to obey and follow them. The first sign of their wholehearted acceptance of these teachings is that they establish Salah and pay Zakah.
Those who fulfil these two requirements are guided by the verses of the Qur’an to the Straight Path. These verses show them the difference between the right and the wrong at each step of their lives. They save them from taking wrong turns in their lives and provide them with the certitude that, regardless of the consequences of following the Right Path in this world, ultimate success and everlasting prosperity depend, in any case, on following this Right Path for it leads to God’s pleasure.
To say that one can benefit from the Qur’an only if one fulfils certain conditions is similar-to what a teacher tells his students if they ask for guidance: that they can benefit from his instruction only if they fully trust him and work according to his instructions. We can also consider another analogy: that of a patient who goes to a doctor for treatment and the latter tells him that he can only benefit if he follows the instructions regarding the dosage of various medications and preventive measures that he, the doctor, prescribes.
Some Qur’anic commentators have interpreted the phrase yu ’tun al-zakah to mean that they should develop purity in their moral character. But wherever the word ita’ al-zakah occurs in the Qur’an alongside Salah it always means “payment of Zakah” which is a pillar of Islam next to Salah. As for adopting purity of conduct, the expression is tazakki rather than ita’ al-zakah. (Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-‘Arab, q.v. ZK A — Ed.) In fact, what is being stressed here is that in order to benefit from the guidance of the Qur’an, it is necessary to have, along with Faith, the attitude of obedience, of faithfully following the directives that are given, Establishment of Salah and. payment of Zakah are the first practical manifestations of such an attitude. As soon as these outward signs vanish, it becomes evident that the person concerned is defiant and rebellious. He might have accepted God as his Sovereign, but he has not gone so far as to submit himself in practice to the commands of that Sovereign.
4. Though belief in the Hereafter is an article of faith, and whenever any reference is made to those “who believe” or “have faith”, the people meant are those who believe in the Hereafter as well as in tawhid (the Oneness of God) and in Prophet hood. But here faith in the Hereafter is mentioned separately in order to emphasize its unique importance in the context of the present discourse. Its purpose being to highlight that those who do not believe in the Hereafter cannot walk along the path prescribed by the Qur'an. Indeed, they cannot even embark on that path because they are only able to decide about standards of good and evil in the light of tangible results observable in this world, as opposed to what will ensure in the Hereafter. Not only do such people not heed the teachings of the Prophets, but if, because of some ulterior motives, they join the ranks of the believers, they still cannot walk the path of True Faith because they are devoid of, belief in the Hereafter. As soon as they face their very first trial in which they are pulled in two opposite directions, where they trade the good of this world for loss in the Hereafter, they hasten to grab the former, totally impervious to the enduring loss they will suffer in the After-life. They do so notwithstanding their verbal! insistence on Faith.
5. This is the Law of Nature devised by God. Such is, human psychology that when a man thinks that the results of the struggle in this life are limited to this world only, when he is not convinced that there is another Court of Law in which the whole of his life will be judged and a final verdict passed on his performance, when he is not sure that there will be another life following the present.one — a life wherein he will receive the true measure of reward and punishment in consideration of his deeds — he is bound to develop a materialistic worldview. All discussion concerning the conflict between Truth and falsehood, between God’s Unity and polytheism, between good and evil, and between morality and immorality appear to him as meaningless. Whatever can bring him pleasure, enjoyment, material betterment and luxuriant living, and whatever can endow him with power and authority will seem good to him, regardless of all moral and philosophical considerations. He will, in fact, be scarcely concerned with Truth and Reality. His only goal will be the pursuit of worldly advantage and this will make him wander around in every direction. Whatever he does to achieve. this goal seems to him worthwhile and he will think that those who do not similarly pursue the good of this world are nothing but fools. Such a person is willing to do anything conducive to that end with impunity and is likely to be impervious to all moral considerations.
Seized with this behavior a man’s evil deeds become attractive and charming. Making evil deeds attractive is sometimes attributed to God and sometimes to Satan. When it is attributed to God, it means, as in the above context, that whoever accepts such an attitude to life, naturally becomes infatuated with it. By contrast, when it is attributed to Satan, it means that Satan presents: those people who subscribe to a materialistic worldview with an imaginary picture of a seductive heaven and continually prods him, saying: “Go ahead, you are doing well.” (See, for instance Surah al-‘Ankabut 29:38 ~ Ed.)
6. The form, time, and place of this “grievous chastisement” has not been specified because it comes to different people, groups and nations in this world in a variety of ways. A part of this chastisement comes to the unjust and evil at the time of their departure from this world, at the threshold of death.
After death, they also encounter this chastisement in barzakh — that state in which all men remain from the time of their expiry from the present life to the beginning of the Next. Above all, they will: confront chastisement in the Next Life: it will commence with the Day of Resurrection and will then endure as an abiding torment.
7. These are not imaginary things that are mentioned in the Qur’an, nor are they mere figments of the human imagination. Rather, such things are being revealed by a Wise God Whose Knowledge encompasses everything; by One Who is perfect in His Knowledge and Wisdom, Who is fully aware of the affairs of His creation and is ever making plans for the good of His creatures.
8. This refers to the time when Moses (peace be on him) had already spent eight years in Midian (Arabic, Madyan). He was travelling with his family in search of a suitable place to settle down. Midian was located at the mouth of the Gulf of “Aqabah, on the shores of Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula. (See al- Shu‘ara’ 26: n. 115 above.) Moses (peace be on him) reached the place variously called Mount Sinai and Jabal Musa. in the southern part of the Sinaitic peninsula which, at the time of the Qur’an’s revelation, was known as Tur. It was at the foot of this mountain that this event occurred. Its details have already been mentioned in Surah Ta Ha (20:9-24) and are likewise found in the next surah, Surah al-Qasas (28:29-36).
9. The context shows that it was a cold winter's night and the Prophet Moses (peace Le on him) was passing through an unfamiliar area. Hence why he said to his family that he would go and find out what place it was that the fire burned as also obtain information about various routes and directions to other localities. If the place where the fire was burning was just a halting place for travelers, he would at least be able to return with some embers to start their own fire and so provide warmth for them all.
The place where Moses (peace be on him) saw the burning bush lies at the foot of Mount Sinai, about 5,000 feet above sea level where the first Christian Emperor of Rome, Constantine later built a church, this around 365 CE. (The Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 4, pp. 69-71, q.v. “Constantine” — Ed.) Two hundred years later, Justinian built a monastery on that very spot, incorporating Constantine’s Church.
(Ibid., Vol. 8, pp. 219-20, q.v. “Justinian” - Ed.) Both of these are still standing and are under the control of the Greek Orthodox Church. (Ibid.,Vol. 6, pp. 95-9, q.v. “Greek Orthodox Church” — Ed.) I visited them in January 1960.
10. According to Surah al-Qasas, this voice came from a tree in the hallowed ground. It seems that there was something like fire somewhere towards one end of the valley, but nothing was burning. There was no smoke.
It was a strange kind of fire within which there stood a green tree from where, suddenly, this voice emanated. - Similarly, strange things were observed by other Prophets. For instance, when Prophet hood was conferred on Muhammad (peace be on him), an angel suddenly appeared before him in the solitude of Hira’ and began to recite a Message from God. As regards Moses (peace be on him), he stopped and observed the fire from a distance, and then advanced to obtain information about routes leading to different places from what he assumed were travelers. Then, God Himself, Who is beyond all human conception, suddenly addressed him.
When Prophets are confronted with such inner experiences combined with observing something extraordinary in its outside manifestation, it instils -in them the firm conviction that their experience was neither a product of their imagination, nor the contrivance of any jinn or Satan, nor even a hallucination. Instead, they know for sure that it is indeed the Lord of the Universe Himself or an angel who has conversed with them. (For more detail, see Tafhim al-Qur’an, Surah al-Najm 53: n. 10.)
11. Use of the words Subhan Allah (“Glory be to Allah”), was in fact meant to warn Moses (peace be on him) that even though his experience was of a sensory nature, it did not provide any grounds for anthropomorphism. In other words, he should not entertain the notion that God was seated on a particular tree, or had entered into it or that his eyes had captured the absolute luminosity of God, or that the conversation that took place consisted of a tongue moving about in. someone’s mouth. The fact of the matter is that although God, Who is above all the limitations which characterize His creatures, Himself spoke to Moses.
12. In Surah’s al-A ‘raf 7:107 and al-Shu‘ara’ 26:32 the snake is identified as thu ‘ban (a large snake; a python), but here it is called jann, a word used for a small snake. The reason is that though in physical size it was a large python, its movement was swift like that of a small snake. The same idea has been expressed in Sarah Ta Ha where it has been described as: ‘hayyatun tas‘a, a rapidly-moving snake (20:20). (See also al-Shu ‘ara’ 26:32, n. 27 above — Ed.)
13. With God watching over him, there is no danger of any harm coming to a Messenger. When God summons someone in order to appoint him to the high office of Prophet hood. He ensures his safety. Therefore, a Messenger should not worry but rather remain fearless even when confronted with circumstances that would ordinarily cause alarm. He should remain unperturbed regardless of the gravity of the situation for no harm will come to him.
14. This exception could be considered to apply either specifically to the Messengers who have just been mentioned, or to all human beings. Thus, it could mean that no Messenger need have any fear in God’s presence unless that Messenger has committed an offence. But, if it is understood in a more general sense, it would mean that no human being need entertain any fear in God’s presence unless he is guilty of an offence.
15. However, if an offender repents and reforms himself and does good deeds, the door of God’s Mercy is wide open for him. To mention this in the present context serves a dual purpose: to warn as well as to give good news. Moses (peace be on him) had left Egypt after unintentionally killing a Copt. (The word “Copt” derives from the Greek “Aiguptioi” meaning Egyptians — Ed.) This was an offence to which an oblique reference was made in a rather subtle way. Soon after committing this act, Moses repented, saying: “‘My Lord! I have indeed inflicted wrong on myself, so do forgive me.’ Wherefore Allah forgave him for He is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (al-Qasas 28: 16). Since Moses had sought forgiveness from God, he was forgiven. The present verse thus conveys good news to Moses since it virtually tells him that God had forgiven him because He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. In this way, then, Moses was not summoned for punishment, but rather, to be entrusted with a great mission and to be strengthened by a number of miracles.
16. It is mentioned in Sarah Bani Isra’il that Moses (peace be on him) was given nine clear signs or miracles. (17:101). In Surah al-Al-ara‘f (see verses 107-8, 119-20, 130 and 133 ~ Ed.) these miracles were mentioned in some detail: (i) the staff which could turn into a serpent; (ii) Moses’ hand which, when he took it out of his armpit, shone like the sun; (iii) Moses’ public triumph over the magicians; (iv) a great famine across the whole country as foretold by Moses; (v) a violent storm; (vi) locusts swarming all over the country; (vii) weevils destroying the stored grain and lice pestering human beings and animals; (viii) a storm of frogs, and (ix) the rain of blood.
17. As mentioned in other verses of the Qur’an, whenever a calamity hit Egypt in accordance with the prophesy of Moses (peace be on him), Pharaoh would say: “O Moses, pray for us.to your Lord on the strength of the prophet hood He has best owed upon you. Surely, if you remove this scourge from us, we will truly believe in you” (al-A ‘raf7: 134.) But as soon as the calamity was removed, Pharaoh would break his promise (al-A ‘raf 7:135; and al-Zukhruf 43:49-50).
The Bible also mentions this (see Exodus, Chapters 8-10).
These were clearly miracles for it is inconceivable that a whole country could be plagued with storms, locusts, frogs and weevils simply by magic. The manner in which Moses (peace be on him) foretold these calamitous plagues and the way in which they were removed in response to his prayers made it abundantly clear to everyone that these took place for no other reason than that the Lord of the Universe willed them to take place. “Moses replied: ‘You know well that no one but the Lord of the heavens and the earth has sent these as eye-opening proofs. I truly think, O Pharaoh, that you are indeed doomed’” (Bani Isra’il 17: 102). However, behind Pharaoh’s and his chiefs’ denial was this: “They said: ‘Shall we put faith in two mortals like ourselves when their people are slaves to us?’” (al-Mu'miniin 23:47).
18. This refers to the knowledge of Reality: to the knowledge that whatever people have is a gift from God and that the power over the things entrusted to man by God should be used in a manner that pleases Him; to the knowledge that people are responsible before God in their right or wrong exercise of this.
This knowledge was in sharp contrast to Pharaoh’s ignorance. The kind of character that this ignorance produced has been depicted in the previous verses. In the verses that follow a different character is being depicted — the character of a morally upright person which arises from this knowledge. The Prophets David and Solomon (peace be on them) had been granted dominion, wealth, power and glory and so was Pharaoh. But David and Solomon (peace be on them) were altogether different in their attitudes from Pharaoh and this because the Prophets had been endowed with true knowledge while Pharaoh wallowed in ignorance.
19. The conferment of political authority on David and Solomon (peace be on them) did not make them arrogant. They recognized that God alone could confer this authority on any of His servants. They were quite conscious that the conferment of political authority on them was an act of God’s favor rather than something to which they were entitled because of any intrinsic merit.
20. To say that Solomon succeeded or inherited David does not mean that he received the wealth and property left behind by David; rather, it means Solomon’s succession to David’s Prophet hood and his caliphal office.
For even if there had been wealth and property, it could not have been given solely to Solomon for David also had other children. Therefore, this verse cannot be cited as a negation of the following tradition narrated from the Prophet (peace be on him): “We Prophets do not leave behind any inheritance; whatever we leave behind is charity (sadaqah).” (See Bukhari, ‘K. Abwab al-Khums’, ‘Bab Fard al-Khums’ — Ed.) Nor can similar claim be made in regard to the following tradition: “Whatever he [i.e. a Prophet] leaves behind is divided among. the needy, the believers, and the wayfarers.” (See Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, Vol. 1, p. 13.)
Solomon was David’s youngest son. His Hebrew name was Solomon, which is equivalent to the Arabic word salim (one who is affable, one who is endowed with wisdom and understanding). Solomon succeeded the Prophet David (peace be on him) in 965 B.C. and ruled over his kingdom for about 40 years until 926 B.C. (For more details see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, Vol. V, al-Anbiya’ 21:.nn. 74-5, pp. 285~7.) Commentators on the Qur’an- have exaggerated the extent of Solomon’s kingdom and have depicted him as the ruler of a very large area of the world.
In fact, however, his kingdom was limited to Palestine, Transjordan and a ‘part of Syria. (See the map of the Kingdom of the Prophets David and Solomon, Towards Understanding the Qur'an, Vol. V, p. 18.)
21. The Bible does not mention that Solomon was given the knowledge of the speech of birds and animals though Israeli traditions do specifically refer to it. (See The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. XI, p. 439.)
22. That is, God bestowed on them a great many favors. This, however, should not be understood literally. The statement simply denotes an abundance of wealth and other material resources which God had granted to Solomon. Solomon (peace be on him) did not say this in order to make a show of his wealth; rather, it was an expression of gratitude to God and was mentioned in a spirit of humility.
23. The Bible does not mention that Solomon had jinn working for him, but the Talmudic and Rabbinical traditions mention this in some detail. (See The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. XI, p. 440.) Some contemporary writers have gone to great lengths to prove that the jinn and tayr mentioned here do not mean jinn and birds. They claim that these were simply human beings in the service of Solomon (peace be on him). They also contend that the word jinn signify those mountainous area tribesmen who had been subdued by Solomon (peace be on him) and who performed wondrous feats requiring extraordinary physical prowess and skill. They also contend that tayr means cavalry which could move much faster than infantry.
These represent some of the worst examples of interpreting the Qur’an arbitrarily. The Qur’an mentions three distinct armies: those comprising men, those comprising jinn, and those comprising birds. Each of these has been prefixed by the article “al” which indicates that each was a separate genre. Therefore, al-jinn and al-tayr cannot be contained in al-ins; they are two distinct categories apart from, i.e. separate to, al-ins. Further, anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Arabic knows that in Arabic one cannot say al-jinn and mean a group of human beings or say al-tayr and mean mounted troops. No native speaker of Arabic will accept such meanings. To ° call someone a jinn figuratively, because of his extraordinary strength, or to call a woman a fairy because of her beauty, or to call a fast-moving person a bird does not mean that the words jinn, fairy and bird will, henceforth, mean powerful men, beautiful women and fast-moving people. For these uses are only figurative, and do not embrace the real meanings of these words.
When a word is occasionally used in a discourse in its figurative sense — and the reader or the listener understands it in that sense — it is considered to be figurative only if the context clearly indicates that it has been used in such a sense. In the present case, however, there is no indication that leads one to understand that the words jinn and tayr are used figuratively rather than literally. On the contrary, the description of one member of each of these groups in the verses that follow (verses 16 ff.) indicate that a figurative interpretation of these words would be quite erroneous. If someone does not want to believe in what the Qur’an says regarding a matter he should say so clearly. But to extract from the Qur’an’s clear ‘statements which are not corroborated by the Qur’anic text is an act of intellectual dishonesty and moral cowardice. Such people distort the meaning of the Qur’an and impose their fabrications on the Qur’anic Message. They do so all the while pretending that they subscribe to the Qur’an’s statements whereas in actual fact they believe in their own fancies.
24. This verse has also been grossly misinterpreted by some contemporary commentators. They say that wādī al-naml does not mean the "valley of the ants", but is rather the name of a valley in Syria. They also say that the word namlah does not mean "an ant", but is the name of a tribe. Thus, according to them, the verse means: "When the Prophet Solomon reached the valley of the tribe called Naml, one of the Namlites said: 'O people of the Naml tribe'..." But this, too, is an interpretation which is not at all supported by the words of the Qur'ān. Even if we were to accept that wãdī al-naml refers to a valley where a tribe by the name of Banu al-Nami lived, it is still totally against Arabic usage to call a member of that tribe "Namlah".
There are many Arab tribes that are named after animals - for instance, Banū Kalb and Banū Asad. But no Arab will say “qāla al-kalb" (“the dog said") if he wanted to state that a member of the Kalb tribe said something. Nor will he say qāla asadun ("a lion said") when he wants to state that a member of the Asad tribe said something. Therefore, to use the expression qālat namnlatun (literally, "an ant said") to mean that it was a member of Banu al-Naml who said something, is altogether against Arabic usage.
Further, it would be utterly meaningless for a member of this so-called tribe to say: "O Namlites, rush into your houses lest Solomon's troops trample you down without knowing it." No army of men can trample a group of human beings under their feet without knowing it. Hence, if Banū al-Naml.were a tribe of human beings and a member of that tribe wanted to warn his tribesmen against the danger of an attack from Sołomon's army, he would simply have said: "O Namlites, flee, lest one of you is harmed by Solomon's troops." This shows the error of this interpretation in terms of Arabic idiom and literary usage. As for the contention that wadi al-naml was in fact a valley where a tribe called Banū al-Nam! lived, it is merely an assumption which is not supported by any evidence. Some scholars have indeed expressed the view that the valley in question was called wādī al-naml. Those who hold this view, however, also admit that it was so called because of the abundance of ants in that valley. Qatādah and Muqātil contend that: "It is a valley in Syria where there is an abundance of ants." (Rāzī mentions this without referring to Qatādah and Muqātil. See Rāzī, Tafsīr, comments on Surah al-Naml, verse 18. See also Ãlūsī, Rūh al-Ma'ānī, comments on Surah al-Naml 27, verse 18 - Ed.) But no book of history or geography, nor any archaeological inquiry has so far come forth with the finding that this was a valley wherein there lived a tribe called Bani al-Naml. This is no more than a fanciful fabrication with the specific purpose of supporting an erroneous interpretation.
The event in question is mentioned in Israelite traditions but the last part of their account is contrary to its Qur’anic version. Furthermore, that account does not go along with the Prophet Solomon’s exalted position. According to Israelite traditions, when Solomon (peace be on him) was passing through a valley where there was an abundance of ants, he heard an ant saying to others that they should get into their holes, or else Solomon’s troops would trample on them. Upon hearing this, Solomon (peace be on him) showed much arrogance and vanity, whereupon the ant said, to quote from the Israelite tradition: “The king greatly angered, threw her down, saying, Dost thou know who I am? I am Solomon, the son of David! She (the ant answered): I know that thou art created of a corrupted drop; therefore, thou oughtest not to be proud.” (The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. XI, p. 440.)
Amazingly, these are the traditions, according to Orientalists’ claims, from which the Qur’an has drawn its content. So far as reason is concerned, there is nothing antithetical to reason in one ant informing other ants about an impending danger. As for how the Prophet Solomon (peace be on him) “heard” this, the answer is simple. If one believes in Revelation from God, then a Prophet who can “hear” something as subtle and fine as the Message communicated to him through Revelation — and this is what belief in Revelation means — can surely hear the speech of an ant.
25. Rabbi awzi‘ni, “My Lord, hold me under [Your] control ...” The root w z‘literally means “to restrain” “to keep under control”. (Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-‘Arab, q.v. WZ‘ ~ Ed.) We think that Solomon’s words, “awzi‘nain ashkura ni‘mataka ...” (... hold me, under [Your] control that I may render thanks for the favor which You have bestowed on me ...) actually mean the following: “O my Lord; the great gifts and abilities and powers that You have bestowed on me are such that if I succumb to negligence even for a moment, I am likely to transgress the bounds of my servitude and fal] prey to excessive arrogance and vanity. So, restrain me, my Lord, from it so that I may remain grateful to You for all Your bounties.”
26. “Include me, out of Your Mercy, among Your righteous servants” is a Prayer that one’s end in the Hereafter may be with the righteous in Paradise. This prayer is a necessity even when someone acts righteously. This because righteous conduct does not necessarily guarantee admission to Paradise, that being entirely dependent on God’s Mercy. Once the Prophet (peace be on him) said: “None of you will enter Paradise by dint of his deeds.” The Companions asked, “You, too, O Messenger of God?” The Prophet (peace be on him) replied: Yes, I too will also not enter Paradise merely on the basis of my deeds. [I will not enter Paradise] ... except that God covers me with His Mercy.” (See Bukhari ‘K. cal-Rigaq ’, ‘Bab al-Qasd wa al-Mudawamah ‘ala al- ‘Amal’. See also Muslim, K. Sifat al-Qiyamah wa al-Jannah wa al-Nar’, ‘Bab Lan Yadkhul Ahad Al-Jannah bi ‘Amalihi bal bi Rahmat Allah Ta ‘ala’.)
It should also be pointed out that Solomon’s prayer would be quite meaningless if the word al-naml meant a tribe of humans or a member of that tribe. After all, what-is so extraordinary in one member of a tribe warning his kinsmen that the king’s army is on its way to invade them that it should prompt someone as powerful as Solomon (peace be on him) to make this unusual prayer! On the other hand, a person endowed with the ability to understand the speech of an ant is surely something extraordinary, so much so, that it might, indeed give rise to pride and arrogance in him hence Prophet Solomon’s prayers is so very relevant here.
27. Solomon inspected the troops of those birds who, like men and jinn armed part of his armed forces, as mentioned in the verse above. It is possible that Solomon (peace be on him) used them for communicating messages, for hunting, and for other tasks of this kind.
28. Some contemporary writers say that the word hud-hud does not denote the hoopoe bird but was rather the name of an officer in Solomon’s army. This contention is not based on any historical record documenting such a person but has been erected merely on the grounds that there is a tradition in Arabic and Hebrew, like other languages, where humans are named after birds and animals.
This whole line of argument is based on the premise that the task performed by the hud-hud, as well as the conversation that took place between him and the Prophet Solomon (peace be on him) mentioned in the verse that. follows, is conceivable only in respect of a human being rather than a bird. But if we consider the context, it is quite obvious that this is not at all a plausible line of interpretation. In fact it constitutes a misinterpretation, even distortion of the Qur’an. After all, why would the Qur’an use such a complicated and involved language merely to say that an officer of Solomon’s battalion or cavalry or intelligence was absent, and that Solomon frantically searched for this officer and the officer eventually reported for duty! What grudge does the Qur’an hold against human reason and intelligence to have recourse to such an enigmatic style which leaves the reader thinking that the one in question is a bird! Let us now look at the sequence of the Qur’anic statements: First of all, the Prophet Solomon (peace be on him) expresses his gratitude to God for having taught him the speech of the birds (verse 16.) In this verse, the word tayr is used in the absolute sense so that it is quite evident to every Arab, in fact to everyone who knows Arabic, that the word could only mean “bird” because there is nothing in the context which indicates that it has been used figuratively. Second, if tayr really meant a tribe rather than a bird, then the Arabic word that would have been used about their speech would have been lisan or lughah rather than mantiq. For someone to know the language of another tribe is not something so extraordinary that it would have been mentioned in this most unusual manner. There are thousands of people among us to-day who speak the languages of other nations. There is nothing so very special about it to be mentioned as an extraordinary gift from God.
Solomon’s statement thanking God for teaching him the speech of birds is followed by the verse: “Hosts of jinn and men and birds were marshalled for Solomon” (verse 17). The words jinn, ins and tayr in this verse are used to mean three ‘well-known and distinct species, each expressed by a specific word in Arabic. Additionally, these words are used in an unqualified manner and there is nothing in the context to indicate a figurative connotation, whether simile or metaphor. Since there is no such indication there remains no reasonable basis to believe that they should be taken in any other form than their ordinary lexical meaning. Further, ins occur in between jinn and tayr which does not permit us to believe that jinn and tayr were, in fact, two groups of people who were included in the species of ins (human beings). Had this been the intention, the words would have been al-jinn wa al-tayr min al-ins rather than min al-jinn wa al-ins wa al-tayr.
Further, the Prophet Solomon (peace be on him) says: “I will inflict a severe punishment on him or maybe even slaughter him unless he comes forth with a convincing reason for his absence” (verse 21.) A human being is killed, hanged, or done to death, but who punishes someone by slaughtering him? True, a cruel-hearted person. when blinded with rage, may slaughter another.
But can we expect a Prophet to declare his intention to “slaughter” a member of his army merely because he was absent? Would God not have something to say by way of condemnation? Later, Solomon sends a letter to the Queen of Sheba through this same hud-hud and tells it to “cast” it or “throw” it towards them (alqihi ilayhim). Obviously such a directive could be given to a bird, but not to a human being, for it is highly unlikely that an emissary would be required to carry out such an instruction. Only someone whose mind is completely deranged would believe that a king would send an emissary to the queen of another country with the instruction to throw his letter in front of her. This would mean Solomon (peace be on him) did not even possess the basics of refinement or social etiquette which even ordinary people observe. Is it conceivable that anyone would ask his servant to take a letter and throw it in front of its addressee?
All these things show that, here, the word hud-hud is used in its lexical meaning; that is, as the name of a bird and not of a human being. Now, if someone has qualms about this, then he may clearly say that he is not willing to accept what the Qur’an says on this matter. He should not try, however, to hide his lack of faith behind a facade of figuratively interpreting the Qur’anic verse in question. This seems to be the worst kind of hypocrisy.
29. Saba’ was the renowned trading nation of southern Arabia. Their capital city was Ma’arib, located 55 miles north-east of San‘a’, the present capital of Yemen. The Sabaeans rose to power after the decline of the Minaean kingdom around 1100 B.C. and for about one thousand years they remained predominant in Arabia. Then, around 115 B.C., they were replaced by the Himyarites, another renowned people of southern Arabia who ruled over Yemen and Hadramawt in Arabia and Abyssinia in Africa.
The Sabaeans controlled the trade between East Africa, India, the Far East and Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome, a fact which explains their affluence. Greek historians have called them the richest nation of the world. In addition to their trading skills, another reason accounting for their prosperity was their excellent irrigation system which dotted the length and breadth of the country with dams. Their land was unusually fertile and lush. This is also mentioned by Greek historians and the Qur’an alludes to it too in Surah Saba’ 34:15. (For a detailed account by Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (80 B.C.-20 B.C.) see Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, translated by C.H. Old Father, London, William Heinemann Limited, 1968, Vol. II, Book 3, 46-7, pp. 225-33 - Ed.)
The hud-hud’s statement that: “I have obtained a knowledge which you could not” (verse 22), does not mean that Solomon (peace be on him) was unaware of the existence of Saba’. It is obvious that the King of Palestine and Syria whose kingdom stretched from the northern shores of the Red Sea to the Gulf of ‘Aqabah could not have been unaware of a nation on the southern shores of the very same Red Sea and which controlled an important segment of the international trade route. Further, according to the Psalms, Solomon’s father, the Prophet David (peace be on them) also knew about Saba’ for we find the following prayer in Psalms: “Give the king thy justice, O God, and thy righteousness to the royal son!” (72:1). “May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts” (72:10).
What the hud-hud, therefore, wants to say here is that the details of the splendor that he had observed in the Sabaeans capital had not yet reached them.
30. This tells us that at that time those people worshipped the sun. Ancient Arabian traditions also say the same. Ibn Ishaq quotes genealogists while stating that the people of Saba’ were the descendants of ‘Abd Shams (“the Servant of the Sun”) and their title was Saba’. (Ibn Hisham, Sirah, Vol. 1, p. 10.) Israelite traditions also support this for they tell us that when hud-hud arrived with Solomon’s letter, the Queen of Sheba was on her way to worship the sun-god and hud-hud cast the letter down in her path.
31. The style of this and the next verse suggest that this was not part of the hud-hud’s speech. Rather, the hud-hud concluded his statement with the words: “I found that she and her people prostrate themselves before the sun” (verse 24). What follows is God’s own statement, made additionally to that of the hud-hud. This view is supported by the last part of the verse: “...and [He] knows all what you conceal and all what you reveal” (verse 25). It would also appear that these words are addressed to the Makkan unbelievers, for whose instruction this story was being narrated, rather than to Solomon and his courtiers. Among the Qur’anic commentators, Alusi, the author of Ruh al-Ma‘ani, prefers this opinion. (See Alusi, Ruh al-Ma ‘ani, comments on Surah al-Naml 27:25.)
32. Satan prompted them to believe that their obsessive preoccupation with worldly goods and with obtaining the appurtenances of a luxurious life were the only true and befitting use of their mental, intellectual and physical abilities; that nothing else deserved their attention; that they should not bother themselves with finding out the ultimate Reality underlying the phenomenon of the present life and whether or not their religion, morality and culture were in conformity with that Reality. Satan had gratified them with the idea that because their worldly possessions were increasing and their power and glory were constantly on the rise, they did not need to worry about whether or not their ideas, philosophies and beliefs were true. The fact that they were making money and that their lives were becoming increasingly. comfortable and luxurious was, in itself, sufficient proof that everything was all right with them.
33. God constantly reveals new things; things which were hidden until brought out by Him. For example, the myriad of vegetation and minerals from " the bowels of the earth and. the varieties descending from the sky which were previously beyond man’s imag8i nation.
34. God’s knowledge encompasses everything. For Him, the “hidden” and “the manifest” are all the same for He knows it all.
By citing these two attributes of God, it is emphasized that if people were not deluded by Satan, they easily could have seen the Truth. They could have appreciated that the sun was merely a burning sphere, which was not even aware of its own state, and quite unworthy of worship. It is God, the All-Knowing and the Most Wise, Whose infinite power constantly shows us the pageant of ever new phenomena, it is He Alone Who deserves to be worshipped.
35. According to the unanimous opinion of Muslim scholars, sajdah (prostration) is obligatory on whoever recites this verse. The real objective of this sajdah is to distinguish the true believer from the sun-worshipper. The believer by his action testifies that God alone should be worshipped and it is before Him alone that a person should prostrate himself.
36. This brings to an end the role assigned to the hud-hud. People with rationalist pretensions deny that the hud-hud was a bird because, in their opinion, a bird cannot possess those great faculties of observation, discernment and speech that enable it to establish that it was the land of the Sabaeans , as also know the system of government obtaining there; nor to learn that the inhabitants of the country were being ruled by a woman who held erroneous beliefs and worshipped the sun. In their opinion, it is impossible for a bird to find out all this and then to report it to Solomon (peace be on him) so clearly and eloquently.
Such people try to interpret the Qur’an within the parameters of rationalism and, hence, impose their own meanings upon it. Atheists, on the other hand, call the Qur’an a book of myths and legends. One may, however, ask what scientific information do these people have which can truly tell them about the faculties of various species and about each member of the different species of animals and birds? What they consider to be knowledge about these species is merely a superficial understanding of animal life based on insufficient observation. Man has not been able to conclusively find out what various animals and birds really know, what they see and hear, what they feel and think, und how their minds work.
Whatever little information we have about the various species of wild life, however, tells us of their extraordinary abilities. Now God, Who is the Creator of these animals and birds, tells us here that He endowed one of His Prophets with the ability to understand the speech of birds and to communicate with them. So, do we take our own insufficient knowledge as the criterion of judgement and either’ decry that statement as false or distort its meaning or do we re-evaluate our own knowledge of birds in the light of this revealed information?
37. This letter was important to Queen Sheba for several reasons: (i) It had arrived in an unusual fashion; delivered and dropped in front of her by a bird (it) It was from Solomon the magnificent, the ruler of Palestine and Syria. (iii) It commenced with the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful even though this formula was not used anywhere in the world in diplomatic state correspondence. (iv) To write a letter in the name of Almighty God in disregard of all deities was something uncommon for them. (v) The letter contained a clear message to Queen Sheba to give up defiance, to commit her allegiance to Solomon and to go to him in the state of submission “as a Muslim” To come as a “Muslim” can have two meanings: (i) to come in the state of submission, or (ii) to accept Islam and come to him in that capacity. The first accords with Solomon’s position as a ruler, the second, with his position as a Prophet. Perhaps this word, which is pregnant with meaning, was used to convey both things at the same time. Islam has always extended the invitation to sovereign governments and nations either to become equal partners in administering the Islamic system by accepting Islam or to part with their political over lordship and live under the suzerainty of Islam, symbolically expressed by the payment of a capitation tax.
38. The expression hatta tashhadun (“until you are present” or “until you witness”) means that at the time of deciding about important matters, Solomon considered their presence to be of vital importance, and also that whatever decision he made, they testified it to be correct. This shows that although monarchy was the system of government in Saba’, it was neither dictatorial nor tyrannical; rather, the sovereign decided matters through consultation with the nobility.
39. This one sentence contains a pervasive observation about imperialism, about its impact and its wide-ranging consequences. No king invades another country out of good-will. Occupation of the territories of others, the encroachments of conquering nations on others’ lands is not motivated by any intent to do good.
The purpose of conquest is simply to enable the conquering nation to exploit the economic resources of the vanquished, to so thoroughly suppress other nations that they lose the courage to demand their rights. To facilitate this, the conquerors see to it that the vanquished nations are stripped of material prosperity and of all appurtenances of power and feelings of self-respect. They also crush those who have any pride in or sincere concern for their collective identity. Furthermore, they try to develop ignominious attitudes within the community of the defeated, encouraging them to behave slavishly, to act as sycophants, to work against and spy on each other; to ape, admire and venerate the civilization of the conquering nation and hold their own in contempt. Gradually, they make the vanquished so accustomed to this state of abject servility that they become bereft of all other ability and so render, in return for monetary compensation, whatever service is required of them, howsoever dishonorable or contemptible.
40. There are two possibilities with regard to this verse: (i) the verse could either be the saying of Queen Sheba which she might have added on to her previous sentence so as to emphasize her statement; or (ii) it could be from God, in parenthesis, to reinforce the Queen’s statement.
41. The purpose of this sentence is not to give vent to pride and arrogance, but rather to emphasize that Solomon (peace be on him) did not have his eyes on their wealth. All he desired was that they should embrace the true faith or at least submit to the system based on righteousness. If they were not amenable to either of these two options, then it was impossible for him to accept their gift of wealth, it being little more than a bribe, nor could he allow them to live as polytheists under an unrighteous system of life. Solomon (peace be on him) took the view that the wealth that God had given him was far too abundant to make him covet that of others.
42. There is a subtle gap between this and the previous sentence, which is understood with a little reflection. What is being said here is this: “Envoy, take this gift back to those who sent it to us; they will either have to come to us in submission or we will mount an attack on them with our army.”
43. Some points of the story have been left out here, namely, that the envoys returned to the Queen with her gift and reported what they had seen, whereupon Queen Sheba decided to go to Jerusalem personally and visit Solomon (peace be on him). So she left Saba’ in royal splendor and sent word to Solomon (peace be on him) that she wanted to visit his court, to become directly acquainted with his message, and to exchange views with him in person. Leaving all these details aside, the narrative resumes the story from the point of the Queen’s approaching Jerusalem, at a distance of only one or two days’ journey.
44. This is the same throne about which the hud-hud had reported as mighty (see verse 23 above).
Some Qur’anic commentators have erred grossly in their interpretation of this verse. They say that Soloman (peace be on him) wanted to obtain the Queen’s throne before her arrival because he was afraid that if she became a Muslim, he would not be able to take it from her without her willing consent. Before her arrival, the Queen was not a Muslim and, hence, her possessions were lawful for Solomon, What a strange image of a Prophet! Why do not these commentators realize that, in addition to sending a verbal message, the Prophet Solomon (peace be on him) also wanted to confront the Queen and her courtiers with a miracle so that they could witness the extraordinary powers that God grants to His Prophets. All this was done in order that they may recognize Solomon (peace be on him) a true Prophet.
Some contemporary commentators of the Qur’an have committed even greater offence and translate the present verse as follows: “Who among you can bring a throne for the Queen?” They do so even though the Qur’an uses the phrase ya 'tini bi ‘arshiha and not ya’tini bi ‘arshin laha. Bi ‘arshiha means “her throne” and not a “throne for her”. They mistranslate these words merely to get over the extraordinary character of the requirement mentioned in the Qur'an whereby Solomon wanted to have the Queen’s throne brought to him, that is, brought over from Yemen to Jerusalem and this too before her arrival.
45. This shows that the jinn in Solomon’s service were truly jinn and not “human beings with extraordinary powers”, as some rationalistically-inclined scholars of our time believe. For, obviously, Solomon (peace be on him) would hold his court for three or four hours at the most and Jerusalem was at least 1,500 miles from Ma ‘arib, the capital of Saba’. It would have been impossible for anyone to bring Queen Sheba’s throne in such a short time no matter how strong and powerful he might have been. This task could not have been accomplished even with the help of the jet planes of our own time. Further, the throne was not unattended, lying in some wilderness; it was within a palace which must have been heavily guarded. In fact, in the absence of the Queen, it must have been stored in a secure place. If a human were to try to bring it, he would have needed a force of commandos. How could all of this have been done while Solomon (peace be on him) was still holding his court? This could only be the work of a real jinn.
46. This was said by the jinn to assure Solomon that he was fully trustworthy; that there was no question of his running away with the throne, or of stealing any valuables from it.
47. It is not clear who this person was, or what kind of special knowledge he had. Nothing is known about this Book either. The Qur’an does not provide these specifics and Hadith too is silent about the details. As for the Qur’anic commentators, they have expressed different opinions on these questions. Some say that this was an angel. Others believe that he was a human being and there are even differences of opinion among those who think him a human. Some say that - he was Asaph ben Berechiah who, according to the Jewish rabbis, was the prince of men. (For more details about Asaph ben Berechiah, see The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. ll, pp. 162-3 - Ed.) Some say that he was Khidr and some identify him with still others. Razi insists on his being none other than Solomon (peace be on him) himself. (See Razi’s Tafsir, comments on verse 40 of this Sarah — Ed.) But none of these opinions has any solid basis to support it and Razi’s opinion seems to be in contradiction with the context in which the statement occurs.
Likewise, there are different opinions about the “Book” as well. Some say it means al-Lawh al-Mahfuz (the Preserved Tablet); others think that it means the Book of Law. But all of these are conjectures. Similar conjectures have been made about the knowledge which this person had derived from the Book. We only accept whatever has been said in the Qur’an or which is evident from its words. That person was definitely not a jinn, and it is not improbable that he was a human being. He had some kind of extraordinary knowledge which was derived from one of the Scriptures. The jinn had claimed, trusting his physical prowess, that he would bring the throne in a few hours; this person brought it in the twinkling of an eye, with the help of his knowledge.
48. The Qur’anic statement is quite clear. Both the gigantic jinn and this person claimed to have the ability to bring the throne. But unlike the claim of the jinn, this person actually brought the throne within a moment of his claim being made, thus showing himself to be right. Just reflect on these words: “I will bring it before the twinkling of your eye. When Solomon saw the throne placed firmly beside him, he cried out ...” (verse 40).
Anyone who reads this sentence without any preconception, will be led to the view that no sooner had this person made his claim than he actually brought the throne. There is no need here to have recourse to complicated interpretations.
Solomon’s saying, “This is by the grace of my Lord so that He may test me whether give thanks for [His bounty] or act with ingratitude” (verse 40), also makes sense if the accomplishment was of some extraordinary nature. Had one of his clever servants made arrangements to bring, expeditiously, the Queen’s throne, there would have been no reason for Solomon (peace be on him) to exclaim: Hadha min fadli Rabbi (“This is by the grace of my Lord!”’) Nor would he have entertained the fear that the arrangements to obtain the throne would make him ungrateful. How could a believing king be susceptible of arrogance merely because of the efficiency of one of his servants, especially when he was not an ordinary believer but a Prophet? It may well be asked how the throne was carried over the distance of 1500 miles, appearing in Solomon's court within the twinkling of an eye. In this regard, it must be stated that our notions of time and space, of matter and motion, are based on our limited observation and experience, are applicable only to us and not to God, Thanks to His Infinite Power, God can cause anything — be it the sun or a planet immensely greater than the sun — to travel at a speed of millions of miles per second. When we are talking of God with such power, what difficulty is there in believing that a throne was carried to a distance of a few thousand miles within the twinkling of an eye? Imagine, just one command of God brought this vast universe into existence. God’s mere gesture would suffice to make the Queen’s throne travel at the speed of light! After all, the same Qur’an contains the ‘statement that one-night God took His servant Muhammad (peace be on him) from Makka to Jerusalem and brought him back, all within one night. (See Bani Isra’il 17:1 - Ed.)
49. God is not in need of anyone’s thanks; His Might and Power neither increase by anyone’s gratitude nor diminish by anyone’s ingratitude. He is God by Himself, because of Himself, and not because of anyone's acceptance of His Divinity. This is stated in the Qur’an through the words of Moses (peace be on him): “Moses said: ‘Were you to disbelieve you and all those who live on the earth — Allah is still Self-Sufficient, Innately Praiseworthy’ (Ibrahim 14:8).
According to a hadith qudsi, God says: “O My servants. if all of you — men and jinn — were to become like the heart of the most pious person among you, it will not add anything to My Kingdom. O My servants, if all of you — men and jinn — were to become like the heart of the most wicked among you, it will not diminish anything from My Kingdom. O My servants, these are your own deeds which I credit to your account and then reward you for them. So, whosoever receives good, he should thank God and whosoever receives something otherwise should blame himself” (Muslim, ‘K. al-Birr wa al- Silah,wa al-Adab’, ‘Bab Tahrim al-Zulm’.)
50. The details of the Queen’s visit to Jerusalem and her initial welcome have been omitted. Now, the narration turns to the events after her arrival at Solomon’s palace.
51. This sentence has two meanings: (i) whether, on finding her throne in Jerusalem, so far away from her own place she would be able to recognize it as her own or not, and (ii) whether she would be led, by witnessing this miracle, to embrace the Truth? This should also dispel the misunderstanding of those who say that Solomon (peace be on him) wanted to take the Queen’ s throne for himself.: For, here, he himself says that he did this in order that she may be led to true guidance.
52. This also refutes the opinion of those who have interpreted these verses to mean that Solomon (peace be on him) wanted to have a throne made for his guest, the Queen, and that he had invited tenders for it, and that one robust artisan offered to make it within a certain time but another, more skilled craftsman, offered to make it instantly. The verse leaves no scope for any such fancies. For, as this verse categorically states, Solomon (peace be on him) had asked who would bring the Queen’s throne (ayyukum ya’tini bi ‘arshiha). And when the Queen came, Solomon (peace be on him) ordered his servants to disguise her throne for her (nakkirit laha ‘arshaha), where after she was asked if that was her throne (a-hakadha ‘arshuki) and she said (ka-annahu huwa): “It seems as if it is the same” (verse 42). These unambiguous verses exclude all such interpretations and if any doubt remains, the verse that follows should be enough to dispel it: * Alternatively: instead of “had submitted ourselves” read: “had become Muslims”.
53. Queen Sheba made it clear that even before observing this miracle, she and her nobles were convinced, on the basis of what they had heard about Solomon (peace be on him), that he was a Prophet, not just a King. Her statement: “It seems as if it is the same”, after seeing the throne, makes it abundantly clear that this would have been a meaningless sentence if Solomon (peace be on him) had had the throne made for her and it were not her own. Were we to assume that this was some replica of the Queen’s throne, even then there was no point in a sun-worshipper exclaiming: “We had already come to know this and we had submitted ourselves [or, had become Muslims].”
54. This statement is from God and is meant to explain the position of Queen Sheba. It identifies that she was born into an unbelieving nation and her denial of the Truth was because of this rather than because of any stubbornness on her.
part. She was misguided because as she grew up the only deity she saw being worshipped was the sun. However, as soon as she came into contact with Solomon (peace be on him), her eyes opened and she did not hesitate for a moment to leave her old ways.
55. This was the last convincing proof which served as an eye-opener for the Queen. The first impression was created by Solomon’s letter with its unusual beginning: “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.” The second incident that impressed the Queen was Solomon’s rejection of her expensive gifts, which told her that she was dealing with a different kind of King. The third impression was created by reports of the Queen’s own envoys who informed her of Solomon’s piety and wisdom, and of the mission espoused by him. All this prompted the Queen to make the journey to Jerusalem. (She refers to it in her sentence: “We had already come to know this and we had submitted ourselves.”) The fourth impression was created by the sudden arrival of the royal throne from Ma’arib which made it clear to her that Solomon (peace be on him) enjoyed God’s support. To cap it all, the extent of Solomon’s God-consciousness and piety and of his feelings of immense gratitude to God were obvious and all this in spite of availability, in abundance, of the means for a life of ease and luxury. Thus the difference between Solomon’s way of living and of those obsessed with worldly goods and pleasures was blatantly clear, these were the things which made her say the words contained in the verses that follow.
56. This story of Solomon and Queen Sheba is found both in the Old and the New Testaments as well as in Rabbinical traditions. But the Qur’anic account is different from these. A succinct account of this story as told in the Old Testament is as follows: Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, having a very great retinue and camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from Solomon which he could not explain to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, and their clothing, his cupbearers, and their clothing, and his burnt offerings which he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.
And she said to the king, “The report was true which I heard in my own land of your affairs and of your wisdom, but I ‘did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it; and behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me; you surpass the report which I heard.
Happy are your wives! Happy are these your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you ‘and set you on his throne.as king for the Lord your God! Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness.” Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones: there were no spices such as those which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Moreover, the servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum wood and precious stones. And the king made of the algum wood steps for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, lyres also and harps for the singers; there never was seen the like of them before in the land of Judah. And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what she had brought to the king. So she turned and went back to her own land, with her servants. (2 Chronicles 9:1-12.)
In the New Testament we find only the following sentences of Jesus about Queen Sheba: “The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” (Matthew 12:42 and Luke 11:31.)
In the Rabbinical traditions of the Jews, the account is similar to that of the Qur’an. The absence of the hud-hud, its return and its report about Sheba and its Queen, Solomon’s letter to her, the hud-hud’s manner of delivering that letter to her, the Queen’s holding a meeting of her ministers’ council her dispatch of an expensive gift to Solomon (peace be on him), her arrival in Jerusalem and her meeting with Solomon (peace be on him), her thinking that Solomon (peace be on him) was surrounded by a pool of water and her lifting up her skirt to enter the pool — all of. this is similar to the Qur’anic account. Where there are differences they pertain to Solomon’s response upon receiving the gift, the account of how the Queen’s throne was brought over from Jerusalem, and in Solomon’s gratefulness to God at every step, and in the eventual acceptance of the true faith by the Queen. A major difference is that in the Rabbinical traditions we find no reference to Solomon’s tawhid and God-consciousness and the worst detraction is the allegation that Solomon slept with the Queen of Sheba and begot an illegitimate child and that it was in this illegitimate lineage that Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, who would destroy Jerusalem, was born. (See The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. XI, p. 443.)
The truth is that a group of Jewish scholars have harbored enmity towards Solomon (peace be on him). They have accused him of violating the Commandments of the Torah, of his arrogance on account of his kingdom, of pride in his wisdom, of being a hen-pecked husband, of a luxuriant life-style and even of polytheism and idol-worship (See The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. XI, pp. 439-41.) Because of such propaganda, the Bible presents Solomon as a king rather than as a Prophet and that too as a king who, in violation of God’s command, loved several polytheistic women, and whose heart turned to other gods. (See | Kings 11:1-11.) The Qur’anic account, however, restores Solomon (peace be on him) to his rightful position. Such a shift should have been gratefully received by the Israelites for the Qur’an has removed all the filth that had been flung at these most venerable personages of Israel. How ungrateful then it is that the Israelites remain inimical to the Qur’an and to the Prophet (peace be on him) who brought it.
57. Cf. al-A ‘raf 7:73-9; Hid 11:61-8; al-Shu‘ara’ 26:141-59, al-Qamar 54:23-32 and al-Shams 91:1 1-15.
58. From the very moment Salih (peace be on him) embarked on his mission, his people were divided into two groups: believers and deniers of his Message. As mentioned elsewhere in the Qur’an, a conflict ensued between these two groups: “The haughty elders of his people said to those believers who had been oppressed: ‘Do you know that Salih is one sent forth with a message from his Lord?’ They replied: ‘Surely we believe in the message with which he has been sent.’ The haughty ones remarked: ‘Most certainly we disbelieve in that which you believe’ (al-A ‘raf 7:75-6). It should be remembered that when the Prophet (peace be on him) embarked on his mission, an identical situation arose in Makka: people were split into two groups and conflict ensued. This historical account, therefore, has a direct relevance to the situation in which these verses were revealed.
59. Why do not they ask God to hasten in bestowing good upon them rather than to hasten in seizing. them with His wrath? In Sarah al-A ‘raf, the Qur’an mentions that the chiefs of Salih’s nation said: “O Salih! Bring upon us the scourge with which you threatened us if you are truly a Messenger [of Allah]’” (7:77).
60. This has two meanings. First, that Salih’s movement had proven to be an evil omen for them. From the outset of Salih’s and his companions’ rebellion against their ancient religion, a series of calamities had befallen them: the assumption being that they had infuriated their deities. This was similar to the notion entertained by most other unbelieving nations; they regarded their Prophets as ill-omens. For example, there is mention of a people in Surah Ya Sin who said to their Prophets: “You are an ill-omen for us” (36: 18).
Pharaoh's people said the same about Moses (peace be-on him): “But whenever prosperity came their way, they said: ‘This is our due.’ And whatever hardship befell them, they attributed to the misfortune of Moses and those who followed him. Surely, their misfortune had been decreed by Allah — but most of them do not know that” (al-A ‘raf 7:131). Similar things were being said about the Prophet (peace be on him) in Makka.
The second meaning is that Salih’s coming had caused a schism among his people. Prior to his preaching, they were one united nation following one religion — the religion of their forefathers. But as soon as Salih (peace be on him) started his mission, brothers became enemies of each other and sons became enemies of their fathers. Thus a new nation had arisen from their ranks and they were extremely unhappy about it.
The same remark was also hurled at the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) in Makka, over and over again. The delegation which visited Abu Talib at the outset of the Prophet’s mission said to him: “Let us deal with this nephew of yours who has risen against your and your forefathers’ religion; he has divided our nation and has declared us fools.” (See Ibn Hisham, Sirah, Vol. 1, p. 265 — Ed.) On the occasion of Hajj, the Makkan unbelievers were afraid that outsiders would be attracted to the Prophet’s call. Hence, they held deliberations, and what they said to the various tribes of Arabia is significant: “He is a magician and the effect of his magic is that it separates a son from his father, a brother from his brother, a wife from her husband, and a man from his family.” (Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 270 - Ed.)
61. Salih (peace be on him) retorted that things were not as they thought.
The reality was that with the commencement of his mission, they had been put to the test. Until his mission started. they had followed the path of ignorance, they did not have any criteria to distinguish between Truth and falsehood, and furthermore, the worst among them enjoyed high stature whilst those with the best abilities rolled in the dust. Now a criterion had been established and they would all be judged accordingly; a balance had been placed and everyone would be judged according to his merits. The distinction between Truth and falsehood had been clearly delineated.
Whoever would accept the Truth would’ succeed. no matter how worthless he had previously been perceived to be, and whoever would insist on adhering to falsehood, would have no value whatsoever, no matter how vast his riches might be. Now the criterion for determining a person’s worth would not be lineage, possession of worldly means and power; the basis of such determination would rather be the acceptance of Truth or falsehood.
62. That is, nine tribal chiefs, each of whom had a band of followers.
63. This refers to the chief of Salih’s tribe who, according to the ancient tribal usage, would have had the right to claim retaliation for his blood. This was the same position which Abu Talib, the Prophet’s uncle found himself in.
The Makkan unbelievers had refrained from killing the Prophet (peace be on.
him) because if they had done so, Abu Talib, the chief of Bani Hashim, would have demanded blood revenge on behalf of his clan.
64. This was exactly the kind of plot which the Makkan unbelievers hatched against the Prophet (peace be on him) on the eve of his Hijrah from Makka. The plot ran as follows: a group of people representing members from all the tribes would attack the Prophet (peace be on him) so that Bani Hashim would not be able to blame any single tribe for the crime. Additionally, it would be impossible for Bani Hashim to fight all the tribes at the same time.
65. Before they could launch an attack on Salih’s. place at the appointed time, God struck the whole nation with His punishment and they were totally annihilated. It seems that they had plotted to kill Salih (peace be on him) after they had done away with the she-camel. It is stated in Surah Hud that when they killed the she-camel, Salih (peace be on him) told them that they had three days’ respite after which God’s punishment would come upon them: “Thereupon Salih warned them: ‘Enjoy yourselves in your homes for a maximum of three days. This is a promise which shall not be belied’ (11:65). They may or may not have believed that the punishment with which Salih (peace be on him) had threatened would come to pass but no matter for they could still get rid of Salih once and for all. So, it is probable that they chose the same night for their ambush which was the night appointed for their punishment by God. For before their hand could reach Salih (peace be on him), they were struck by God.
66. The ignorant would say that there is no relationship between Salih, the she-camel, and the earthquake which destroyed Thamud. They say that earthquakes are a natural phenomenon which occur at their time, and which have nothing to do with levels of piety, virtue and justice obtaining in a nation. They argue that it is merely the trickery of preachers to say that a certain nation had become so wicked and sinful that a flood or earthquake or other such calamity destroyed them.
Contrary to this is the view of those who truly know the reality of things.
They know that it is not a deaf and blind God Who rules over this universe; rather, He Who decides the fate of individuals and nations is One Who is Wise and All-Knowing. His decisions are not bound by natural laws; rather, the laws of nature are under His command. He does not decide the fates of nations blindly: instead, He decides on grounds of justice and wisdom.
Furthermore, in His Book, there is a Law of Retribution which operates at all levels. According to this law, the wicked are punished even in this world if they are guilty of grave infractions of morality. Those who are aware of this law, will not dismiss earthquakes as merely the result of certain physical laws; they will take them as a warning and learn lessons from them. They will try to grasp the moral reasons in consideration of which God destroyed one of the most prosperous and blooming of nations, all members of which were His creatures. In fact, if they consider this seriously, they will give up those things which invite God's wrath on wicked nations and instead follow the path which brings His Mercy.
67. Cf. al-A ‘raf 7:8054, Had 11:74-83; al-Hijr 15:57-77, al-Anbiya’ 21:71-5; al-Shu‘ara’ 26:160-74; al-“Ankabiit 29:28-75; al-Saffat 37:133-8, and al-Qamar 54:33-9.
68. Several meanings can be attributed to this verse and probably all are meant. (i) That they were not unaware of the fact that this was an immoral and obscene act and that they committed it knowingly. (ii) That they were not unaware of the fact that males were not created to fulfil the sexual desires of other males.
The difference between males and females was quite evident to them and still they indulged in the abominable act of sodomy. (iii) That they committed this abominable act publicly, as mentioned in Sarah al-’Ankabut: “... and you indulge in indecencies in your assemblies” (29:29),
69. The word jahalah is used here in the sense of folly and imprudence, even as it has been used in Surah al-Furqan: “And when the foolish ones address them, they simply say: ‘Peace be to you’” (25:63). But even if we were to take this word to mean “lack of knowledge”, its use here would signify that they did not know the evil consequences of their deeds. All that they knew was that they were engaging in an immoral act merely for the sake of sensual pleasure, but they did not know what the consequences of that perverted pleasure would be. For God's scourge was ready to strike them while they heedlessly immersed themselves in their filthy games.
70. Lot (peace be on him) was told not to take his wife along for she was destined to be annihilated along with her people.
71. The second discourse of this surah starts with this verse as its prologue. It tells Muslims how to begin their speech. This is why truly Islamic-minded people always start their speech with God’s praise and by sending peace and greetings to His noble servants. It is sad that in our days some of us have begun to consider starting speeches with the mention of God’s Name as an act of religious bigotry. Many contemporary Muslims have no idea as to what is the right manner of starting their speech or if they know, they are shy about it.
72. This seems to be a very strange question to ask: who is better — Allah or the gods that they associate with Him as His partners? For quite obviously there can be no goodness in false gods. Even the polytheists knew that. But the question is posed here so as to warn people against the mistake they were committing. It 1s also quite clear that no one does anything in which he does not find some kind of benefit. If the polytheists worshipped deities other than the One True God, and if they asked those deities to fulfil their needs and made offerings to them, then they must be convinced that they were doing something good, otherwise all this would be a meaningless activity. Hence why they are confronted with this question in no uncertain terms: “Who is better: Allah or the gods that they associate with Him as His partners?” The polytheists did not have the courage to face the question in this manner, for even the most hardened among them would not say that his deities were better than God. And if they accepted that God was better, the very foundation of their religion would be undermined and it would be unreasonable for them, thereafter, to say, that they preferred that which was inferior to that which was superior.
By posing this question the Qur'an immediately disarms its opponents. In what follows, a series of miraculous and extraordinary elements in God’s creation are mentioned, in succession, each accompanied by the question: “Is there any God associated with Allah in these tasks?” (verses 60 ff). If the answer is “no”, then how could they worship anyone other than Him? According to various traditions, whenever the Prophet (peace be on him) recited this vers2, he instantly added the following words in response: “Nay, Allah is Better, Everlasting, and Most Exalted and Most Honorable.” (Cited by Alusi in the course of his comments on this verse in Ruh al-Ma‘ani = Ed.)
73. None of the polytheists could reply that any of the acts mentioned were of any other than God’s, or that anyone had a share in them. Elsewhere, the Qur’an says the following about the Makkan unbelievers and the polytheists of Arabia:
If you ask them Who has created the heavens and the earth, they will say: The All-Mighty, All-Knowing has created them (al-Zukhruf 43:9).
If you ask them who has created them, they will say, “Allah” (al-Zukhruf 43:87). If you ask them who sends down rain from the sky and revives the dead earth, they will say “Allah” (al- ‘Ankabut 29:63).
Ask them: “Who provides you with sustenance out of the heavens and the earth? Who holds mastery over your hearing and sight? Who brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living? Who governs all affairs of the universe?” They will surely say: “Allah” (Yunus 10:31). .
Not only Arab polytheists, but polytheists everywhere have usually believed and continue to believe that it is God Alone Who created the Universe and it is He Who oversees the system on which it operates. Hence, none could answer the question posed by the Qur’an as to who was the Creator and Overseer of the Universe by saying, even if it be for the sake of argument, that it was any other than God. For if anyone would have said so, his fellow tribesmen would have categorically refuted his assertion and stated clearly that that was not what they believed.
This and the following questions not only refute the polytheists’ worldview, but also that of the atheists. For example, let us reflect on the question asked here: “Who it is that has… sent down for you water from the sky and then We caused to grow therewith orchards full of beauty ...” (verse 60). Now, as we know, the growth of vegetation is dependent upon a large number of topographical factors, as also that water be available at the right levels, and that its properties be in accordance with the needs of the animal and plant kingdoms. All these make sense only if there is an extremely Wise and All-Knowing Creator. The water cycle and the patterns of rainfall in different parts of the world, the balance among various universal constants, the inner properties of various entities such as the earth, air, water and the temperature of various things — all of this could not be there without the planning of a Wise and All-Knowing Creator. Nature in its multi-faceted forms could not be merely the outcome of an accident. Could something which has been repeating itself for hundreds and thousands, and millions and billions of years be simply an accident? Only a very closed-minded person, blinded by prejudice, can claim that it is all the result of an accident. It would be impossible for any rational and truth-loving person to accept such a senseless claim.
74. The fact that the earth supports such a vast variety of living creatures is not a simple matter. If one ponders over it, human intellect is overawed by the complexity of the whole chain of factors and reaches the conclusion that it is impossible to have such a system unless there be an All-Wise and All-Mighty Being.
The earth is not stationary but revolves in an orbit, where it moves so smoothly that nothing is disturbed. It revolves around the sun with perfect regularity, creating day and night. If it were to face the sun at a particular angle all the time, it would be impossible for life to exist because one part would be extremely cold, the other extremely hot, both rendering it impossible for life to exist. To take another case, there is a thick ozone layer up to five hundred miles around the earth which keeps it safe from falling meteoroids; without this protective layer, the twenty million odd meteoroids which dart towards the earth daily at about thirty miles per second would have played such havoc with life that nothing would have survived: trees, animals, human beings, all would have perished.
The same layer helps maintain a constant temperature, lifts water from the oceans and acts as a conduit for an extraordinary water cycle system around the world.
The same layer of air provides necessary gases for the sustenance of human, animal and vegetational life; without it, life of any kind would be impossible.
Let us consider another case: just under the surface of the earth, there are vast amounts of minerals and chemicals which are required for various forms of vegetation, as also for the survival of animals and human beings. Wherever these minerals and chemicals are not present, life becomes impossible. Then there is a huge amount of water present on the earth in the form of oceans, rivers, springs and underground reservoirs. Another huge reservoir of water has been placed on the mountains in frozen form and, according to a well-determined system, it melts in consonance with our multifarious requirements for water with absolute precision.
But for this precision and but for this elaborate planning, life would be impossible.
Moreover, to keep all these things contained and in check, a gravitational force maintains a perfect balance between air, water, the atmospheric pressure and other constants. Without this, only a small part of the earth would be inhabitable. Further, the earth is located at a certain distance from the sun; even a slight variation in this distance would make it too hot or too cold for human life to exist.
These are merely some of the things which allow and sustain life on this - planet. Anyone with even a modicum of intelligence and ability to reflect would simply refuse to believe that all of this has come to exist by itself without a Creator. In like manner, no sensible person can believe that any angel, god, goddess, jinn, Prophet or saint has any share in the creation and sustenance of this wonderful, complex and marvelous plan of creation.
75. Reservoirs of sweet and saline water are present on this earth but do not mix with each other even when the underground channels carry them in the same area. Even in the oceans, there are springs of sweet water which flow in such manner that sea-faring passengers can obtain drinking water from them. (For details see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, al-Furqan 25, n. 68 above.)
76. The polytheists of Arabia acknowledged that only God could avert disasters and calamities. The Qur’an draws their attention to the fact that whenever there is a calamity, they call upon God but when the calamity is removed, they start to associate others with Him. (For details see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, Vol. Il, al-An‘am, 6: nn. 29-41, pp. 231-40; Vol. IV, Yunus 10:21-2; n. 31, p. 28; al-Nahl 16: n. 46, p. 337; and Vol. V, Bani Isra’il 17; n. 84, p. 60.)
This is not limited to the polytheists of Arabia; it is common to all polytheists, so much so that even the atheists of Russia, who have been waging a war against God, were forced to invoke God when they were surrounded by German forces during the Second World War.
77. This has two meanings: (i) that God raises one generation after another and one nation after another; and (ii) that God grants some people the power and authority to rule over the earth.
78. God has made it possible for people to find their way even in the darkness of night with the help of stars. This is, indeed, one of the multifarious means made available to man by the All-Wise God to guide him in his journeys on land and on the oceans. He has set guideposts which help him move about and determine the direction of his destination. During the daylight, it is the sun and its movement which guides man and at night it is the stars which help him fix his direction. In Surah al-Nahl, all of these have been counted as God’s favors: and He has set other landmarks in the earth. And by the stars too do people find their way” (16: 16).
79. “Mercy” here means rain which is foretold by the wind.
80. This simple statement has such implications that when one reflects on it, one finds proof after proof of God’s existence and of His Oneness. Look at the act of creation itself: Man, despite his knowledge, has not been able to discover how and from where life originated. The only scientific certainty that we have so far is that the mere arrangement of inanimate matter does not produce life.
True, atheists believe that life originated as a result of the accidental combination in right proportions of the elements required to produce life. This, however, is no more than a hypothesis which in scientific and rational terms, is untenable.
For were we to apply the Law of Probability to this situation, we would find that the probability of the emergence of life by itself is no more than zero. All efforts to produce “life” in laboratories have failed and what could be produced so far is merely the re-arrangement of DNA which is present in living cells, which is the essence of life, not life itself. Life is still a miracle which cannot be explained except by attributing it to the Command, Will and Plan of the Creator.
Further, life is present in numerous forms and shapes. Scientists have so far discovered one million species of animals and two hundred thousand species of plants on earth. These numerous forms of life have maintained their special characteristics and identities from time immemorial. This could not have been possible without the Design of the One True God. No Darwin can explain this.
Until now, we have not found any proof for the existence of a species which represents the transitional stage of evolution between two forms of life and which can be said to be struggling to transform itself into another species. There is no such example in the whole treasury of fossils that we have, nor in the existing species of animals. From time to time, what we hear about the “discovery of the missing link” always proves to be a chimera. So, we have nothing that can Justify denying the fact that God Alone has designed, shaped and formed these numerous forms of life.
So much for the beginning of creation. Now, let us reflect on the act of reproduction. The Creator has established an astonishing mechanism which propagates animals and plants. Each one of the millions of reproductive cells produce exactly the same kind of species. It has never happened that one kind of genetic make-up has produced a different kind of species. Modern genetics have amassed an extraordinary amount of data. Each and every plant contains within itself a mechanism to replicate its genes and to propagate its own kind. This reproductive mechanism is present in just one cell of a plant, one hardly visible even with the help of powerful microscopes. This tiny mechanism puts the plant on the regenerative path which enables it to produce itself. This is why a grain of wheat always produces wheat and under no circumstances, has a grain of wheat ever produced a grain of barley. The same is true for humans and animals.
This reproductive activity exists on a gigantic scale all over the world. If we look at the tiny cells within which lie the whole reproductive mechanism with its complete genetic code, with its complete map of the characteristics and features of that species, and if we reflect on the means and mechanisms of reproduction, and on the complexity of the emergence of these mechanisms, then we cannot possibly entertain, even for a moment, the idea that it could be the result of mere chance. Clearly, this could only be the handiwork of the All-Wise Creator, thanks to Whom not only does this mechanism exist, but has sustained itself over the course of time in millions of species. All this requires a Wise and Powerful Creator not only for its creation but also for its continuation and propagation. It is dependent upon an Ever-Living and Ever-Present Creator Who is constantly watching and guiding this whole mechanism.
These facts undermine the bases of both denying the existence of God and of believing in a multiplicity of gods. Only a fool can imagine that an angel, a saint, a Prophet, or a jinn could have contributed to God’s work. And no rational being can claim that this complex mechanism of creation and reproduction started by itself, without any Creator.
81. The question of providence and sustenance is also not simple. There are millions of animal and plant species on this earth and billions of members of each of these species, each with its own peculiar food requirements. The Creator has set up a mechanism for providing food to every one of these millions of species in such a manner that it is within the reach of them all. Additionally, there are countless forces working to maintain these mechanisms. If heat, light, air and water do not function in harmony with various elements on the earth, not even an atom of food would grow.
Who can imagine that this intelligent and complex mechanism could have come into operation without there being a One who regulates and controls; who can claim that any jinn, angel or saint had a share in its creation?
82. They were asked to produce proof that any other being has a share in _ this creation. If they failed to do so, then they should at least explain how it stands to reason that when God created all these things that people worship aught beside Him.
83. In the previous verse, the Oneness of God was argued for on the bases of creation, sustenance and design. Now, another of God’s Attributes, His Knowledge, is being mentioned in order to emphasize that even in this respect, none can be associated with God. God has no partner. All creatures in the heavens and the earth: — angels, jinn, Prophets, saints, or other human beings — all have only limited knowledge. One thing or another is hidden from each of them. It is only God Who knows everything; it is only He from Whom nothing is hidden; itis only He Who knows the past, the present, and the future.
The word ghayb means hidden, covered, concealed. (Ibn Manzur, Lisan al- ‘Arab, q.v. GH YB — Ed.) As a term, it means al] that is unknown and is not accessible to man by the means of knowledge available to him. There are numerous things in the world which, as we are aware, are known to some individuals but not to others. But there are also a number of things which have never been known to the human species as a whole, and which will never be known in the future. The same is true for the jinn and angels and certain other species of beings. There are things which one species knows and the other does not; and there are things which are known to none of them. All these are various forms of ghayb and they are all known only to God; nothing is hidden from Him, instead to Him, all is apparent.
The interrogative mode employed in the above verses to build an argument from creation, design and sustenance, has not been employed here. The reason being that God’s Attributes mentioned above were’ apparent to everyone, to believers as well as to unbelievers and polytheists. All recognized that the tasks mentioned here were the handiwork of God Alone. Hence why the argument expressed there was in the form of a question. If they accepted that these were the work of God and that no one has any share with Him in it, then how can they set-up partners with God in worship? But the Attribute of Knowledge did not possess any visual manifestation to which attention could be drawn; His Attribute could only be grasped by means of reflection. Therefore, instead of posing a question, a declaration is made here and it is left to the reflecting mind to decide whether there could be any other who shares with God in the Knowledge of the Unseen. Can there be any other who knows all that was, all that is, and that will be? If not — and the answer surely is in the negative — then is it possible that those deities that have no knowledge of the innumerable conditions and states through which people pass, be in a position to fulfil the requirements of all those people or answer their prayers-and supplications? Divinity and knowledge of the Unseen have enjoyed an intimate relationship from the very beginning, this with the result that man has associated knowledge in its totality with his deities. Anyone whom man has ever perceived to have anything to do with Godhead, has inevitably been considered to have full knowledge of everything. Man seems to be so conditioned to this that he thinks that only He Who knows everything has the power to answer supplications and prayers, and only He can make or mar their destinies. Only He Who knows fully everyone and everything can provide help. Hence why man considers that anyone with Divine Attributes has complete knowledge of the Unseen; in other words, because his intellect is convinced that knowledge and authority, go hand in hand.
Now if it is true that the Creator, Designer and Sustainer of the Universe is none other than God —~ as the previous verses show — then it follows that the Knower of the Unseen is none other than the One True God. Who in his right mind can think that any angel, jinn, Prophet, saint, or any created being for that matter, would know how many species of animals there are on, under and above the earth, in the oceans and in the air? Who can claim to have knowledge of the countless galaxies and stars in the heavens and what kind of creatures exist on each of these? Who can know where each and every member of these species is at a given time and what its needs are? But all of this is bound to be known to’God for He is the One Who has created them all and He is the One Who takes care of their needs and provides for their sustenance. How can anyone else — given his limitations — encompass all this? After all, what has anyone to do with this whole question of creation and sustenance so as to be able to know these things? Knowledge is also not something which can be divided into smaller units.
For example, it is not possible for a human being to know the Unseen, say, about all the human beings living on the earth. This is indivisible in the same manner as God’s Attributes of Creativity, Providence, and Self-Subsistence are indivisible. After all, how can it be possible for any human being to know all the conditions and states of all human beings — from their conception to their last breath — and these too of all those who have been created until now and who will be created until the Day of Resurrection? How can any human being know all that? Is he the creator of these countless people? Did he fashion them in the wombs of their mothers? Did he arrange that they be born as living beings rather than as the dead? Has he determined the fate-of anyone of these millions? Is he the one who decides about their life and death, their health and sickness, their prosperity and adversity, their rise and fall? And since when has he assumed this role? Did he assume it before or after he was born? And is it possible that this responsibility is merely limited to human beings? He ‘Who is administering the whole Universe and the affairs of all human beings, He Alone can be responsible for their life and death, their prosperity and adversity, and for the making and marring of their-fates.
Hence, one of the basic articles of faith in Islam is the belief that God Alone is the Knower of the Unseen. He Alone decides how much of His Knowledge He wants to impart to each individual and which of the Unseen He makes available to one particular individual but none else. But knowledge of the Unseen has not been given to any human being in its totality; it is only God Who is the Knower of the Unseen.
He has the keys to the realm that lies beyond the reach of human perception; none knows them but He (al-An‘am 6:59).
Allah is He Who has the knowledge of the Hour, and it is He Who sends down rain; it is He Who knows what is in the wombs [of the mothers} and no living being knows what will he earn tomorrow nor in which place will his death overtake him (Luqman 31:34).
He knows what lies before men and what is hidden from them, whereas they cannot attain to anything of His knowledge save what He wills them to attain (al-Baqarah 2:255).
The Qur'an not only categorically denies the possibility of possession of knowledge of the Unseen by created beings, but also specifically states that the Prophets, including the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him), are not the “Knowers of the Unseen”. In other words, they were only given that, much knowledge of the Unseen which was necessary for their Prophetic mission. See Sarah al-An‘am 6:50; al-A ‘raf 7:187; al-Tawbah 9:101; Hid 11:31; al-Ahzab 33:63; al-Ahqaf 46:9, al-Tahrim 66:3 and al-Jinn 72: 26-8. These verses are quite categorical and leave no doubt in this regard.
' All these Qur’anic statements corroborate and elucidate the verse in question.
They leave no doubt that to consider anyone to be a partner of God in ‘His Knowledge of the Unseen is an un-Islamic doctrine. Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Tabari and Ibn Abi Hatim report, through sellable narrators, on the authority of ‘A’ishah that the Prophet (peace be on him) said: “Whoever claimed that the Prophet (peace be on him) knows what is going to happen tomorrow, accuses God of lying for He has said: ‘Say: None in the Heavens and on the earth has knowledge of the Unseen save Allah’” (al-Naml 27:65). (A number of traditions with slight variations have been reported. See for instance, Muslim, ‘K. al-iman’, ‘Bab Ma‘na Qawl Allah ‘azza wa jalla: “wa laqad Ra’ahu Nazlatan Ukhra”; Tirmidhi, ‘K. Tafsir al-Qur’an’. ‘Bab wa min Surah al-An ‘am’.
— Ed.) Likewise, Ibn al-Mundhir reports from ‘Ikrimah, the renowned pupil of ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abbas, that once a man asked the Prophet (peace be on him): “O Muhammad, when will the Day of Resurrection be? Our land is suffering from famine, when will rain fall? My wife is pregnant; will she give birth to a boy or a girl? I know what I have earned today, but what will I earn tomorrow? I know where I was born, but where will I die?” The Prophet (peace be on him) recited to him the following verse: “Surely with Allah lies the knowledge of the Hour [of Resurrection] and He it is Who sends down rain; He it is Who knows what is in the wombs [of the mothers] and no living being knows what he will earn tomorrow nor in which place will his death overtake him” (Luqman 31:34). (See Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, comments on Luqman 31:34 — Ed.) The famous tradition of Gabriel, in both Bukhari and Muslim, also corroborates this. According to this tradition, Gabriel came to the Prophet (peace: ‘be on him) in the form of a man and asked, among other questions, the following: “When will be the Day of Resurrection?” The Prophet (peace be on him) replied: ““The one questioned knows no better than the questioner. This is among those five things about which no one knows except God.” Then the Prophet (peace be on him) recited this same verse. (See Bukhari, ‘Kitab al-Iman’, ‘Bab Su’ al Jibril al-Nabi ‘an al-Iman wa al-Islam wa al-Ihsan’; Nasa’i, ‘K. al-Iman wa al-Islam wa al-Ihsan’. See also Anmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, Vol. 2, p. 426. Ahmad has reported the hadith of Jibril with a slight variation of words. See also Muslim, ‘K. al-Iman’, ‘Bab Bayan al-Iman wa al- Islam wa al- Ihsan ... wa Ighlaz al-Qawl fi Haqqih’ - Ed.)
84. Others, who are supposed to have knowledge of the Unseen and who are considered to be God's partners in His Divinity, know nothing about their own future; they do not even know when the Day of Resurrection will be and when, they will be raised up.
85. After alerting people to their mistaken notions of Godhead, it is now being stated that those who associated others with God in His Divinity did not succumb to their erroneous beliefs after due reflection, and after considering the arguments relevant to the question. Rather, their beliefs were gained by their not giving serious thought to these issues. They were impervious to the Next Life, skeptical about it, or blind to it, and this resulted in irresponsible attitudes towards their own lives, about the Universe, and about those issues which truly confront human existence. They are oblivious to the question of Ultimate Reality and whether or not their own philosophy of life conforms with it. They believe that ultimately all — atheists, polytheists, believers and sceptics — will die and crumble to dust and that this will be the end of things.
This discussion of the Hereafter has emerged from the following words of the previous verse: “‘... they do not know when they will be raised to life”. There it was stated that none, not even their deities — the angels, jinn, Prophets and saints — know anything about the time of Resurrection. Now, the following statements are being made about the polytheists and unbelievers. (i) That they did not know whether Resurrection would take place at all; (ii) that their lack of awareness did not arise from the fact that they were uninformed about it; they were indeed informed about it but refused to believe in it, and (iii) that they had never reflected over the arguments which had been put forward about the Hereafter; rather they turned a blind eye to them.
86. In this brief sentence there are two solid arguments in support of the Hereafter along with a piece of sincere advice. The first argument is that every nation which denied the Hereafter in the past inexorably became criminal, immoral, unjust, oppressive and corrupt, which in turn brought about their complete destruction. This is a consistent pattern of human history and the ruins of past civilizations testify to the vital relationship between belief in the Hereafter and good conduct. Belief in the Hereafter provides the right direction to human life and its denial, being contrary to Reality, leads to its derailment.
The second argument is historical: past records show that the nations which engage in criminal behavior, and which become enmeshed in injustice, oppression and corruption are always destroyed. This means that this Universe is not governed by forces that are blind and impervious to facts; it rather functions in accordance with a wise and immutable law of just reward and punishment which deals with nations purely on the moral plane. This universal law has no room for a state of affairs in which immoral and corrupt nations are given free rein. This law does not allow those nations which exceed a certain limit of iniquity and high-handedness to survive.
For when that happens, some invisible but powerful hand appears and removes them from the pinnacle of their glory and casts them into the abyss of disgrace and degradation.
Anyone who understands this reality cannot doubt that this is the Law of Just Retribution which demands belief in the Next Life wherein both nations and individuals will be fully called to account for their deeds. It will be seen that the destruction that visits a nation in this world does not fulfil all the requirements of justice. Such a destruction fails to provide any relief to those upon whose dead bodies the tyrants-had risen to the heights of their worldly glory. Nor does it provide adequate punishment to those who had reaped a bumper crop of worldly advantages before being destroyed by God’s punishment. This destruction also did not mete out adequate punishment to those wicked people who left behind a heritage of waywardness and moral corruption which’ continue to poison the lives of countless people, generation after generation. The punishment which strikes down an iniquitous nation only terminates the chain of injustice and. tyranny at a certain stage of time, by inflicting punishment on the last of the several ' generations who were guilty. There remains, however, for the ultimate Court of Law to give due measure of punishment to all who acted with injustice, to provide due relief to all those who have suffered loss. It also has to recompense those who held their ground against the flood of corruption and injustice and who suffered throughout their lives. All of this must happen because the evidence of the Law of Retribution in this world suggests that this is how the Universe functions: that human deeds are weighed and people are rewarded and punished accordingly. Additionally, the verse advises us to look at the way previous criminals were destroyed and to learn the right lesson from their destruction. They should do this rather than persist in denying the Hereafter which had led people to iniquitous conduct and criminal behavior.
87. The Prophet (peace be on him) had done his duty and had duly explained things to people. If they still did not believe and persisted in their ignorance, thereby inviting Divine punishment upon themselves, why should the Prophet (peace be on him) torment himself on their account? He is told not to. worry about the mean and petty plots which people hatched in order to thwart the Truth and frustrate his efforts to bring about reform; rather, he should feel reassured because God stands behind him and, hence, his opponents are unable to harm him.
88. This refers to the same threat which is implied in the previous verse.
What they meant was this: When will that scourge, with which you have been threatening, overtake us? Why are we not being punished when we have rejected you and have done whatever we could to defeat you and your mission?
89. This is a majestic manner of speech. When words like “maybe” occur in Divine discourse, they do not imply any doubt but are an indication of God’s exalted position. He is neither in need of anything nor anyone. His Power and Might are such that the fact of His willing something and its actual occurrence are one and the same thing. It cannot even be imagined that God would will something and it not happen. Therefore, His saying that... maybe a part of it might have drawn quite near to you” simply means that unless they mend their ways, they are bound to meet their doom. If an ordinary police officer were to tell someone that he was in trouble, that person would perhaps spend the night sleeplessly. That being the case, how can someone remain unmoved after hearing from the Almighty that maybe their doom had drawn quite near to them?
90. Itis the Mercy of the Lord of the Universe that He delays His punishment and gives respite to people. But most people do not give thanks to God for this favor nor do they care to use this respite to reform themselves. Rather, they infer from this delay in retribution that there is none who will hold them to account, and that they can do whatever they please. While doing so they disregard the words of those who tender sincere advice to them.
91. God is not only aware of these apparent deeds, but also knows the malignity-and spite that deniers of the Truth harbor in their hearts as also their conspiratorial designs. Therefore, when the time comes, nothing will be left untouched and they will be punished for every evil that they committed. This statement is couched in words which have the ring of an administrator’s warning to a miscreant in his realm: “I am well aware of ail your deeds.” The purpose of the statement is not so much to inform a criminal that all his misdeeds are known, but rather to urge him to give up his criminal behavior or else he would be brought to book.
92. The expression “Clear Book” here does not mean the Qur’an; rather, it means the Record of man’s deeds, with God, which contains all that he has done.
93. This statement is connected both with what precedes it as well as with what follows. Its relation with what has been said above is that it is a wondrous manifestation of God’s Knowledge of the Unseen that the historical events of the Israelites are being narrated in the Qur’an through an unlettered Prophet (peace be on him). This contrasts with the fact that Israelite scholars disagreed among themselves about these events. Some examples of these are mentioned in the earlier sections of this surah. (See verse 7-15 and the relevant notes above.)
The verse connects to the subject matter subsequently discussed insofar as God Who has decided about those disputes, He will also decide about this one between Muhammad (peace be on him) and his opponents, He will make it clear as to who is following the Truth and who is opposed to it. Just a few years after the revelation of these verses, God’s Judgement became absolutely clear. In the same land, Arabia, and amongst the same tribe, the Quraysh, there remained no one who was not convinced that it was Muhammad (peace be on him) rather than Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab who was the standard-bearer of the Truth. Even the children of those who had once bitterly opposed the Prophet (peace be on him) admitted that their fathers’ belief was-wrong.
94. That is, those who accept the Message of the Qur’an and who believe in what it expounds will find the Truth. Such people will save themselves from the errors and sins in which their nation was immersed. Through the Qur’an they will find the True and Straight Path; they will be blessed by God with the bounties which the Quraysh were even unable to imagine. This shower of blessings also became apparent to the whole world within a few years. The same people who had lived in the desolate sands of Arabia and who could do no more than become highway robbers in their state of disbelief became rulers and leaders of a large part of the earth and served as beacons for the whole world. This as a result of their embracing the teachings of the Qur’an.
95. That is, God will issue His judgement regarding the dispute between the Qurayshite unbelievers and the believers.
96. Neither is there any possibility of any error in God’s Judgement, nor can any power prevent its enforcement.
97. These people are such that their conscience is dead, and they have been rendered incapable of differentiating between Truth and falsehood. This because of their obduracy and their propensity to blindly follow inherited customs and usages.
98. Such people not only seal their ears against the Prophet's Message. they even move out of the vicinity for fear that they will be within its reach.
99. It is not the Prophet's task to forcibly bring people to the Right Path. He can only explain the Truth by his tongue and reinforce it by his own life-example, thereby demonstrating which path is right and which is wrong. But how could he guide those who had closed their eyes and who refused to see?
100. That is, when the Day of Resurrection, with which they are promised, will approach.
101. According to “Abd Allah ibn “Umar, this will happen when there would remain none on the earth who bid people to do good and forbid them from evil. Ibn Mardawayh has reported a hadith from Aba Sa ‘id al-Khudri _ in which he says that he, himself, heard this from the Prophet (peace be on him). (See Aba ‘Abd‘Allah Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Hakim, al- Mustadrak ‘ala al-Sahihyn fi al-Hadith , Vol. 4, p. 485, see also al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-Manthur fi al-Tafsir bi al-Ma'thur, Vol. 5, p. 115 — Ed.)
This shows that when people stop exhorting others to do good and cease to forbid them to do evil, God will bring forth a beast just before the Resurrection.as a final warning. It is not clear whether it will be one animal or a whole species of animals whose members will spread all over the earth. Dabbah ‘min al-ard could mean both. In any case, what that beast will say is that people did not believe in those verses in which the news about the Day of Resurrection was given. And now, Jo and behold, the time-of Resurrection has drawn near and, hence, everyone should know that the verses pertaining to the subject were true. The sentence that “people did not believe in Our Signs” [meaning here “verses” — Ed.] is either a reproduction of what the animal will say or it is from God Himself. If the first option is correct, then the word “our” is used in the same sense in which a spokesman uses it when he talks on behalf of a whole government and uses the plural noun “we”, i.e. the statement is taken as one representing the opinion of a collectivity rather than simply that of an individual. Alternatively, if one accepts that the statement was from God Himself, there remains no ambiguity in the usage “Our Signs”.
The time of the coming of this creature was mentioned by the Prophet (peace be on him) in his saying: “The sun-will rise from the west and this beast will arise in the broad light of the day; whichever of these two signs will come first, will be close to the other.” (See Muslim, ‘K. al-Fitan wa Ashrat al-Sa‘ah', Bab Fi Khurij al-Dajjal wa Mukthihi fi al-Ard ... wa Ba‘th man fi al-Qubur — Ed.)
In other traditions reported by Muslim, Ibn Majah, Tirmidhi and by Ahmad ibn Hanbal in Musnad, the Prophet (peace be on him) is reported to have said that close to the time of the Resurrection, Dajjal, dabbat al-ard (the beast of the earth), smoke, and the rising of the sun from the west will follow each other in rapid succession. (There are a number of Traditions to this effect except that we could not find that these signs will “follow each other in rapid succession”. For these Traditions see Muslim, ‘K. al-lman’, ‘Bab Bayan al-Zaman alladhi la Yuqbal fihi al:Iman’; Ibn Majah, ‘K. al-Fitan’, ‘Bab al-Ayat’; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, Vol. 2, pp. 324, 337, and Tirmidhi, ‘K. Tafsir al-Qur’an’, ‘Bab wa min Surah al-Naml’— Ed.) There are many traditions relating to this beast’s form, size and the place where it will appear, etc. These traditions vary from each other and there is little in them which is worth mentioning because the purpose for which the Qur’an mentions this creature has little to do with these details.
As for the question of an animal talking to human beings in their language: this is one of the manifestations of God’s Power. God can grant the power of speech to whomsoever He wills. Before the Day of Resurrection, He will grant this power to a beast. but after the Resurrection, He will grant this power to the eyes, ears and skins of human beings and they will call out: “And the Day when the enemies of Allah will be gathered to the Fire will be sorted out until when they reach it, their ears and their eyes and their skins will bear witness against them concerning what they did. And they will say to their skins: ‘Why do you bear witness against us?’ They will say: ‘Allah has given us speech. It is Allah Who makes everything speak, He Who created you in the first instance and to Whom you will be returned’” (Ha Mim al-Sajdah 41:19-21.)
102. The reason for their calling the lie to God’s signs was not that they had come to know through scientific means that those signs were false. In fact, they had rejected them quite arbitrarily, there being no worthwhile ‘reason in doing so.
103. If that was not so, could they prove that they had discovered, after thorough research, that what had been expressed it in these verses was contrary to Reality.
104, Out of countless signs, there were two which they always witnessed and from which they constantly benefited. These were known even to those who were deaf, dumb and blind. Why did they think that the night, which provides them with comfort and repose, and the day, from which they derive numerous practical benefits, were not part of a Wise Designer’s plan? A Designer Who established a certain relationship between the sun and the earth and that.it was not Something that happened by accident? All this shows wisdom, purpose and planning which could ensue neither from any blind laws nor be the work of several gods. This whole system was established by God, Who is the sole Creator, Owner and Designer of the entire Universe and it is He Who governs and controls the earth, the moon, the sun, the stars and the planets. Had people pondered, they would have found that what God had told them through His Prophet (peace be on him) and the Book was, in fact, being corroborated and reinforced by the alternation of day and night.
105. This was not at all difficult because others among them who were just like them — their own kith and kin, their own fellow tribesmen, their compatriots — had accepted the Truth after observing these signs and had reached the conclusion that the doctrine of tawhid (holding God to be One and Unique) to which the Prophet (peace be on him) invited them, was true.
106. For a detailed discussion of the blowing of the Trumpet, see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, Vol. II, al-An‘am 6: n. 48, p. 244, Vol. V, Ta Ha 20: n. 78, pp. 223-4 and Vol.VI, al-Hajj 22: n. 1, pp. 5-6.
107. Do not fancy that God, Who gave you the intelligence and the ability to discern and the power to exercise the authority given to you, will be unaware of your deeds and how you used the powers bestowed upon you.
108. The reward will be better in two ways: (i) it will be better than what a person actually deserves-for his good deeds, and (ii) it will be forever although the good deeds were circumscribed by time and their effects limited to a certain period.
109. The horrors of the Resurrection will stun and confound the unbelievers but the believers will remain calm and satisfied because what will happen will be in accordance with their expectations. They would have already known, as told by God and His Prophets, that the Resurrection and the Next Life are a reality, and, therefore, they will neither be bewildered nor alarmed like those who denied these as long as they lived. They will also be calm and satisfied because, having believed in it, they will have prepared themselves for this Day and would have carried some provision for it. They would be unlike those who did not believe in it and who spent all they had in pursuit of worldly gains and never even thought that there would be a Hereafter for which they should prepare themselves. Unlike the unbelievers, these believers will also be satisfied because the Day for which they had been preparing and for which they had sacrificed the pleasures and unlawful advantages and benefits and for whose sake they had endured so many difficulties during their worldly life had eventually arrived. They will feel reassured that their hard work has not gone to waste.
109a. The Qur’an mentions, over and over again, that in the Hereafter the reward for an evil deed will be equal to that evil deed itself but the reward for good deeds will be multiplied many fold. For more examples, see Yunus 10:26- 7; al-Qasas 28:84; al-‘Ankabut 29:7; Saba’ 34:37-8 and al-Mu'min 40:40.
110. Since this surah was revealed at a time when the Prophet’s mission was still limited to Makka and the audience were Makkans, the words of this verse are: “I have been commanded only to serve the Lord of this city.” This is followed by one of the Attributes of this Lord ~ that He made this city inviolate. This carries a warning for the Makkan unbelievers, who are in effect told: “You are ungrateful to God Who favored you with a city of peace in the midst of a strife ridden land. If you so wish, you may give thanks.to Him; thanks to Whose favor your city has become the center of veneration throughout Arabia. As for me, I will not be ungrateful to Him; I will worship Him and glorify Him. I have been commanded to bow down before Him. None of your deities had the power to make this city inviolate or to force the rebellious tribes of Arabia to hold it in due respect it. It is also impossible for me to bow down before those deities who have done me no favor in disregard of my True Benefactor.”