27. Surah An-Naml
النملThe Ant · 93 ayahsتفہیم القرآن انگلش
طٰسٓ١۫ تِلْكَ اٰیٰتُ الْقُرْاٰنِ وَ كِتَابٍ مُّبِیْنٍۙ Open ayah 27:1 in the Quran reader
Ta. Sin.
هُدًى وَّ بُشْرٰى لِلْمُؤْمِنِیْنَۙ Open ayah 27:2 in the Quran reader
These are the verses of the Qur'an and the lucid Book, 1 a guidance and good news 2 for those believers
1 Kitab-i-mubin has three meanings: (1) This book presents its teachings and instructions and injunctions plainly; (2) it distinguishes between the Truth and falsehood clearly; and (3) its being a Divine Book is obvious: whoever studies it with open eyes will realize that it has not been composed and forged by the Holy Prophet himself.
2 That is, the verses themselves are a "guidance" and "good news", because they give guidance and convey good news in a most excellent manner.
الَّذِیْنَ یُقِیْمُوْنَ الصَّلٰوةَ وَ یُؤْتُوْنَ الزَّكٰوةَ وَ هُمْ بِالْاٰخِرَةِ هُمْ یُوْقِنُوْنَ Open ayah 27:3 in the Quran reader
who establish the Salat and pay the Zakat; 3 and they are the ones who fully believe in the Hereafter. 4
3 That is, "These verses of the Qur'an give guidance and convey the good news of a good end only to those people who possess these two qualities: (1) They should affirm faith, that is, accept the invitation of the Qur'an and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings), believe In one God as their only Deity and Lord, accept the Qur'an' as the Book of AIlah, acknowledge the Holy Prophet as a true Prophet and their Leader, and also adopt the belief that after this life there is another life, in which man has to render his full account of deeds and be rewarded or punished accordingly. (2) They should not only profess faith verbally, but should also be inclined to follow and obey the Divine Commands practically, and the first indication of this inclination is that they should establish the Salat and pay the Zakat. The verses of the Qur'an will show the right way of life only to those people who fulfil these two conditions; they will explain to them the difference between the right and the wrong at every stage on the way, protect them against the wrong ways at every turn of the way, and bless them with the satisfaction that whatever be the consequences of following the Right Way in the world, in the Hereafter they will certainly attain the eternal and everlasting success and the good will of Allah only through it. For in order to derive full benefit from the teaching of a teacher, one has first to have faith in him, then accept to be his student, and then work according to his instructions. Similarly, a patient who wants to be benefited by a doctor has first to accept him as a physician, and then follow his instructions with regard tomedical dosage, prevention, etc. Then only he can assure the patient of the desired results. Some people have interpreted the words yu'tun-az-zakat in this verse to mean that they should adopt moral purity. But, wherever in the Qur'an the word ita-i-zakat has occurred along with the word iqamat-i-salat, it means payment of the Zakat, which is the second pillar of Islam after the Salat. Moreover, the Qur'an has used the word tazakka for adopting piety and purity and not ita' which is specifically used for the payment of the Zakat. In fact, what is meant to be impressed here is this: In order to benefit fully by the guidance of the Qur'an, it is imperative that one should adopt the attitude of submission and obedience in practical life as well after the affirmation of the Faith, and the establishment of the Salat and the payment of the Zakat is the first indication that one has actually adopted such an attitude. If there is no such indication, it will become obvious that one is rebellious: he might have acknowledged a ruler as such, but he is not inclined to carry out his commands.
4 Although belief in the Hereafter is an article of the Faith, and a believer will also believe in it along with believing in Tauhid and the Prophethood, here it has been specially mentioned separately in order to bring out its unique importance. The object is to impress that for those people who do not believe in the Hereafter, it is impossible to follow, even tread, the way taught by the Qur'an. For the people of this way of thinking naturally determine their criterion of good and evil by the results that appear, in this world. For them it is not possible to accept any admonition or guidance which seeks to determine the good and evil by the criterion of the gain and loss in the Hereafter. Such people in the first instance do not at all heed the teachings of the Prophets, but if for some reason, they also get included among the believers, they find it difficult to take even the initial steps on the way of the Faith and Islam because of the lack of faith in the Hereafter. For as soon as they will encounter the first situation where the demands of the worldly g ains and the losses of the Hereafter will pull them in opposite directions, they will freely allow themselves to be pulled towards the worldly gains without caring in the least for the losses of the Hereafter, even though they may be making all sons of claims to be the believers.
اِنَّ الَّذِیْنَ لَا یُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِالْاٰخِرَةِ زَیَّنَّا لَهُمْ اَعْمَالَهُمْ فَهُمْ یَعْمَهُوْنَؕ Open ayah 27:4 in the Quran reader
The fact is that We have made the misdeeds of those who deny the Hereafter seem fair to them; therefore, they stray about blindly. 5
5 That is. "This is God's Law of Nature and the natural logic of human psychology that when man thinks that the results of his life's struggle are confined to this world only when he dces not believe in the existence of any court where his life's work has to be scrutinized and judged finally for good and evil, and when he dces not believe in any life hereafter when he will be requited strictly in accordance with the real worth of his life's deeds, he will inevitably develop in himself a material outlook on life, and every kind of conflict between the Truth and falsehood, good and evil, morality and immorality, will appear utterly meaningless to him. Then, whatever earns him pleasure and enjoyment, material progress and prosperity, power and authority, will be the good for him, no matter it be any philosophy of life, any way of life and any system of morality. He will have no concern for truth and reality. His real ambition will be to win successes and earn adornments only of this worldly life, and their pursuit will lead him astray into every valley. Then, whatever he dces with this object in view. will be a thing of beauty for him, and he will regard all those others as foolish, who are not absorbed like him in seeking the world, and doing anything and everything without any moral qualm and inhibition.
اُولٰٓئِكَ الَّذِیْنَ لَهُمْ سُوْٓءُ الْعَذَابِ وَ هُمْ فِی الْاٰخِرَةِ هُمُ الْاَخْسَرُوْنَ Open ayah 27:5 in the Quran reader
They are the ones for whom there is an evil chastisement, 6 and in the Hereafter theyshall be the worst losers.
6 Nothing definite has been said about the form, time and place of this "evil chastisement." For it is imposed in this world also on different persons and groups and' nations in countless different ways; a part of it is also experienced by the wicked when they are about to leave the world; man experiences it also in the intermediary state between death and Resurrection; and then after Resurrection it will become endless and everlasting.
وَ اِنَّكَ لَتُلَقَّى الْقُرْاٰنَ مِنْ لَّدُنْ حَكِیْمٍ عَلِیْمٍ Open ayah 27:6 in the Quran reader
And (O Muhammad), you are most surely receiving this Qur'an from the One, Who is AllWise, All-Knowing. 7
7 That is, the things being mentioned in the Qur'an are not imaginary nor are they based on the presumptions and opinions of a man, but they are being revealed by the One Who is All-Wise and All-Knowing, Who is perfect in Wisdom and Knowledge, Who has full knowledge of the affairs of His creation and of its past and present and future, and Whose Wisdom devises the best schemes for the reform and guidance of His servants.
اِذْ قَالَ مُوْسٰى لِاَهْلِهٖۤ اِنِّیْۤ اٰنَسْتُ نَارًا١ؕ سَاٰتِیْكُمْ مِّنْهَا بِخَبَرٍ اَوْ اٰتِیْكُمْ بِشِهَابٍ قَبَسٍ لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَصْطَلُوْنَ Open ayah 27:7 in the Quran reader
(Tell them the story of the time) when Moses said to the people of his house, 8 "I have seen a fire: I may either bring some information from there or a burning brandso that you may warm yourselves." 9
8 This happened at the foot of Mount Tur when the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) was travelling along with his family in search of a suitable place for settlement, after passing eight to ten years in Madyan (Midian). From Madyan, whose territory lay on both sides of the Gulf of `Aqabah, on the sea-shores of Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula, he reached the place called Mt. Sinai and Jabal Musa in the southern part of the Peninsula, which at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an was well known as Tur. (See also The Meaning of Qur'an, Vol. VIII Ash-Shu'araa', E.N. 115). The details of this story have already been given in Surah Ta Ha: 9-24 above and will, follow in Surah Al-Qasas: 29-36 below.
9 The context shows that it was a cold wintry night and the Prophet Moses was passing through unfamiliar land. Therefore, he said to his family, "Let me go and fmd out what habitation it is where a fire is alight, and get some information about the travelling routes and the nearby habitations. I shall at least bring a few embers for you to light a fire and warm yourselves." The place where the Prophet Moses had seen a burning bush is situated at about 5,000 ft. above sea level at the foot of Mt. Tur. Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of the Roman Empire, had a church built in about 365 A.D. right at the spot where this event had occurred. Two hundred years later Emperor Justinian had a monastery built which included the church built by Constantine as well. Both the monastery and the church stand even today and are under the control of the monks of the Greek Orthodox Church. Some photographs of it are given on the opposite page.
فَلَمَّا جَآءَهَا نُوْدِیَ اَنْۢ بُوْرِكَ مَنْ فِی النَّارِ وَ مَنْ حَوْلَهَا١ؕ وَ سُبْحٰنَ اللّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِیْنَ Open ayah 27:8 in the Quran reader
When he came to it, a voice called out: 10 "Blessed is He Who is in the fire and the one who is around it. Glorified is Allah, Lord of the worlds. 11
یٰمُوْسٰۤى اِنَّهٗۤ اَنَا اللّٰهُ الْعَزِیْزُ الْحَكِیْمُۙ Open ayah 27:9 in the Quran reader
O Moses, this is I, Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise:
10 According to AI-Qasas: 30, the voice was calling out from a tree. What one understands from this is this: A sort of a fire was alight on the ground on the edge of the valley, but neither was anything burning nor any smoke arising. In the midst of the fire there stood a lush green tree from which a voice started calling out this all of a sudden. This is a strange thing which the Prophets of Allah have been experiencing. When the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may Allah's peace be upon him) was first blessed with Prophethood, an Angel appeared before him in the solitude of the Gave of Hira' and started delivering Allah's Message. A similar thing happened with the Prophet Moses also. A journeying person has halted at a place, sees a fire at a distance, approaches it in order to get some information abort the route, or to pick a burning ember, and suddenly Allah, Lord of the Worlds, the Infinite, the Inconceivable Being, starts speaking to him. On such occasions, there exists externally as well as within the Prophets' own selves an extraordinary state which fills them with the assurance that it is not a jinn or a satan or an illusion of their own mind, nor are their senses being deceived, but it is the Lord of the universe, or His Angel, who is speaking to them. (For further explanation, see E.N. 10 of An-Najm).
11 Here the use of the words Subhan -Allah (glorified is Allah) is meant to warn the Prophet Moses to this effect: "You should never think that Allah, Lord of the universe, is sitting in the tree, or has entered into it, or that His absolute Light hasconcentrated itself into the limited sphere of your sight, or some tongue is functioning in some mouth to produce speech, but it is Allah, Who is Pure and Free from all such limitations, Who is Himself speaking to you."
وَ اَلْقِ عَصَاكَ١ؕ فَلَمَّا رَاٰهَا تَهْتَزُّ كَاَنَّهَا جَآنٌّ وَّلّٰى مُدْبِرًا وَّ لَمْ یُعَقِّبْ١ؕ یٰمُوْسٰى لَا تَخَفْ١۫ اِنِّیْ لَا یَخَافُ لَدَیَّ الْمُرْسَلُوْنَۗۖ Open ayah 27:10 in the Quran reader
Just cast down your staff." No sooner did Moses see the staff writhing like a snake 12 than he turned about and fled, without even looking behind. "O Moses fear not: the Messengers never feel afraid in My Presence, 13
12 In Surahs Al-A`raf and Ash-Shu`araa', the snake has been called thu`ban (a large serpent) but here jaann, a small snake. The reason is that in physical size it was a serpent but in movement it was swift like a small snake. The same thing has been expressed by hayyatun tas `a (a running snake) in Ta Ha: 20.
13 That is, "In My Presence there is no danger of any harm to the Messenger. When I call someone into My Presence to appoint him to the high office of Prophethood, I Myself become responsible for his safety. Therefore, the Messenger should remain fearless and confident in every kind of unusual situation: it will never harm or hurt him in any way. "
اِلَّا مَنْ ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حُسْنًۢا بَعْدَ سُوْٓءٍ فَاِنِّیْ غَفُوْرٌ رَّحِیْمٌ Open ayah 27:11 in the Quran reader
unless, of course, someone has committed an offence." 14 Then, if after the evil, he changed (his act) into a good one, I am indeed AllForgiving, All-Merciful. 15
14 This exception can be contiguous as well as remote. In the first case it will imply that there can be a genuine cause of fear if the Messenger has committed an offence; in the second case it will mean: "None should have any cause of fear in My Presence, unless, of course, someone has committed an offence."
15 That is, "If even an offender repents and reforms himself and does good instead of evil, I will pardon him. ° This implied both a warning and a good news. The Prophet Moses had killed a Copt inadvertently and fled from Egypt. This was an offence to which a subtle reference was made. When this offence was committed un-intentionally by the Prophet Moses, he had immediately offered repentance to Allah, saying, "O my Lord ! I have sinned against myself, so forgive me." So, "Allah forgave him" there and then. (Al-Qasas: 16). Here the good news of the same forgiveness has been given him, as if to say, "O Moses, there could be a genuine cause for you to feel afraid in My Presence, because you had committed an offence, but when you have changed the evil into good, I have nothing but forgiveness and mercy for you. I have not called you here at this time to punish you, but I am going to send you on a great mission with wonderful miracles."
وَ اَدْخِلْ یَدَكَ فِیْ جَیْبِكَ تَخْرُجْ بَیْضَآءَ مِنْ غَیْرِ سُوْٓءٍ١۫ فِیْ تِسْعِ اٰیٰتٍ اِلٰى فِرْعَوْنَ وَ قَوْمِهٖ١ؕ اِنَّهُمْ كَانُوْا قَوْمًا فٰسِقِیْنَ Open ayah 27:12 in the Quran reader
And just put your hand into your bosom: it will come out shining, without any hurt. These (two Signs) are from among the nine Signs (you will take) 16 to Pharaoh and his people: they are indeed a very wicked people."
فَلَمَّا جَآءَتْهُمْ اٰیٰتُنَا مُبْصِرَةً قَالُوْا هٰذَا سِحْرٌ مُّبِیْنٌۚ Open ayah 27:13 in the Quran reader
But when Our clear Signs came before those people, they said, "This is plain magic."
16 According to Surah Bani Isra'il:101, the Prophet Moses had been granted nine clearly visible Signs, which according to the details given in AI-A`raf were the following: (1) The staff's turning into a serpent, 12) the shining hand when it was drawn out of the armpit, (3) public triumph over the magicians, (4) occurrence of a widespread famine in the land as foretold by the Prophet Moses, t5) the storm, (6) the locusts, (7) the incidence of weevils in the grain stores and of lice among human beings and animals, (8) the frogs, and (9) the rain of blood. (Far explanation, see E.N. 43 of Az Zukhruf)..
وَ جَحَدُوْا بِهَا وَ اسْتَیْقَنَتْهَاۤ اَنْفُسُهُمْ ظُلْمًا وَّ عُلُوًّا١ؕ فَانْظُرْ كَیْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُفْسِدِیْنَ۠ Open ayah 27:14 in the Quran reader
They rejected those Signs out of sheer injustice and vanity, whereas in their heart of hearts they were convinced. 17 See, then, what fate those mischief-makers met.
17 As mentioned at other places in the Qur'an, whenever a plague befell Egypt as foretold by the Prophet Moses, Pharaoh would say, "O Moses, pray to your Lord to remove this plague; then we shall submit to what you say." But as soon as the plague was removed, Pharaoh would break his promise. (Al-A'raf: 134, Az-Zukhruf: 49-50). The Bible also has mentioned it (Exod., chs. 8 to 10), and otherwise also it could not be imagined that the occurrence of a famine throughout the country and the coming of a violent storm and the incidence of the locusts and the frogs and the weevils in such abundance could be due to any trick of magic. The miracles were so manifest that even a stupid person could not help realizing that the occurrence of the plagues on such a large scale and their removal at the Prophet's prayer could be only due to Allah, Lord of all Creation's power and authority. That is why the Prophet Moses had told Pharaoh plainly: "You know it full well that none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth has sent down these Signs." (Bani lsra'il:102). But the reason why Pharaoh and his chiefs rejected Moses knowingly wa: "What! should we believe in these two men who are human beings like curselves and whose people are our bondsmen'?" (AIMu'minun: 47)
وَ لَقَدْ اٰتَیْنَا دَاوٗدَ وَ سُلَیْمٰنَ عِلْمًا١ۚ وَ قَالَا الْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ الَّذِیْ فَضَّلَنَا عَلٰى كَثِیْرٍ مِّنْ عِبَادِهِ الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ Open ayah 27:15 in the Quran reader
(On the other hand,) We gave knowledge to David and Solomon, 18 and they said, "Praise is for Allah Who exalted us above many of His believing servants." 19
18 That is, the knowledge of the Reality, the knowledge that whatever they have is not theirs but the gift of Allah and whatever rights they have been granted over those things should be used strictly according to Allah's will, for they will be held answerable before Allah, the real Owner, for the right and wrong use of those rights. This knowledge is the opposite of the ignorance in which Pharaoh was involved. The type of character built on the ignorance has been presented in the preceding verses. Now, in the following verses, the model of the character built on the knowledge is being presented. The sort of kingdom, wealth, power and grandeur were common on both the sides. The Pharaoh had been given these as well as the Prophets David and Solomon. But the distinction of the ignorance and the knowledge built and moulded them into entirely different personalities.
19 That is, "There were other believing, servants as well, who could be blessed with vicegerency. But it is only Allah's favour, not due to any special quality in ourselves, that He has chosen us to be rulers over this kingdom."
وَ وَرِثَ سُلَیْمٰنُ دَاوٗدَ وَ قَالَ یٰۤاَیُّهَا النَّاسُ عُلِّمْنَا مَنْطِقَ الطَّیْرِ وَ اُوْتِیْنَا مِنْ كُلِّ شَیْءٍ١ؕ اِنَّ هٰذَا لَهُوَ الْفَضْلُ الْمُبِیْنُ Open ayah 27:16 in the Quran reader
And Solomon succeeded David, 20 and he said, "O people, we have been taught the speech of the birds, 21 and we have been granted all sorts of things. 22 This is indeed a great favour (of Allah)."
20 Succession here dces not mean inheritance of wealth and properties, but the succession to the Prophet David in the Prophethood and vicegerency. For the wealth and possessions, if at aII transferred, could not be transferred to the Prophet Solomon only, because Prophet David had other children also. Therefore, this verse cannot be cited to refute the Hadith reported from the Holy Prophet, saying, "The inheritance left by us, the Prophets, is not divided as such. whatever we leave behind is charity." (Bukhari) And: "There is no heir to a Prophet. Whatever he leaves behind, is divided among the needy and the indigent of the Muslims." (Musnad Ahmad. Traditions from Abu Bakr, Ahadith No. 60 and 78). The Prophet Solomon was the youngest son of the Prophet David. His Hebrew name Solomon is a synonym of Salim (right-minded, affable). He succeeded the Prophet David in 965 B.C. and ruled his kingdom for forty years, till 926B.C. For other details of his life and works, see E. N.'s 74-75 of AIAnbiyaa in The Meaning of the Qur'an, Vol. VII). Our commentators have greatly exaggerated' the vastness of his kingdom, and have held that he ruled over a large part of the world. The fact, however. is that his kingdom comprised only the present Palestine and Transjordan and a part of Syria. (See Map: Kingdom of the Prophets David and Solomon, The Meaning of the Qur'an, Vol. II, Bani Israel E. N. 7).
21 There is no mention in the Bible that the Prophet Solomon had been taught speech of the birds and animals, though the Israelite traditions contain a reference to it. (Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. Xl.p. 598)
22 That is, "Allah has bestowed on us all sorts of things." This, however, should not be understood literally; it only means the abundance of the wealth and the means of life granted by Allah. This was not said proudly by Prophet Solomon but only to express his gratitude to Allah for His grace and bounty and favours.
وَ حُشِرَ لِسُلَیْمٰنَ جُنُوْدُهٗ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَ الْاِنْسِ وَ الطَّیْرِ فَهُمْ یُوْزَعُوْنَ Open ayah 27:17 in the Quran reader
For Solomon were gathered hosts of jinn and men and birds, 23 which were kept under strict discipline.
23 The Bible dces not either make any mention that there were jinns also in the Prophet Solomon's armies, and he took service from them; but the Talmud and the rabbinical traditions contain details of this. (Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. XI, p. 440). Some of the present-day writers have strained every nerve to prove that the words jinn and fair do not refer to the jinns and birds but to men who performed different duties in the Prophet Solomon's army. They say that the Jinn haply the people of the mountain tribes whom Prophet Solomon had subdued and who performed teats of great strength and skill under him; and fair implies cavalry which could move much faster than the infantry. But these are indeed the worst examples of misinterpreting the Qur'an. The Qur'an here mentions three distinct kinds of the army consisting of the men, the jinns and the birds, and all the three gave been qualified by the prefix a1 (alif-!am) to denote a class. Therefore, al jinn and al--tair could not be included in al-ins (the men), but could be two separate and different classes from the men. Moreover, a person who has a little acquaintance with Arabic cannot imagine that in this language the mere word a/ Jinn could ever imply a group of the men, or al--tair troops mounted on horses, nor could any Arab understand these meanings from these words. Calling a man a jinn only figuratively because of some supernatural feat of his, or a woman a fairy because of her beauty, or a fast moving person a bird dces not mean that the words Jinn and fairy and bird will henceforth be taken to mean a powerful man and a beautiful woman and a fast moving person respectively. These are only the metaphoric and not the real meanings of these words. In a discourse, a word is used in its figurative instead of its real meaning, and the listeners also will take it in that meaning, only when there exists in the context a clear pointer to its being figurative. What, after all, is the pointer in the context here from which one may understand that the words jinn and tair have been used not in their real and lexical meaning but in their figurative meaning? Contrary to this, the work and the state of a member each of the two groups that have been mentioned in the following verses, fall entirely against the purport of this interpretation. If a person dces not want to believe in something stated in the Qur'an, he should frankly say that he does not believe in it. But it would be moral cowardice and intellectual dishonesty if one should force the clear words of the Qur'an to give the meaning that he wants them to give, and tell the world that he believes in what the Qur'an says, whereas he dces not, in fact, believe in it but believes in his own distorted meaning.
حَتّٰۤى اِذَاۤ اَتَوْا عَلٰى وَادِ النَّمْلِ١ۙ قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ یّٰۤاَیُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُوْا مَسٰكِنَكُمْ١ۚ لَا یَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ سُلَیْمٰنُ وَ جُنُوْدُهٗ١ۙ وَ هُمْ لَا یَشْعُرُوْنَ Open ayah 27:18 in the Quran reader
(Once he was marching in an expedition with them) until when they came to the valley of the ants, an ant said, "O ants, get into your holes lest Solomon and his hosts should trample you down without even knowing it. " 24
24 This verse also has been greatly misconstrued by some commentators of the present day. They say that wad-in naml does not mean "valley of the ants", but it is the name of a valley that was in Syria, and namlah does not mean an ant but it is the name of a tribe. Thus, according to them, the verse means this: "When the Prophet Solomon reached the valley of the ants, a Namilite said, 'O people of the Naml tribe ......" But this also is an interpretation which is not supported by the words of the Qur'an. Even if we took wad-in-naml to be the name of a valley and supposed that it was inhabited by the tribe of Bani an-Naml, it would be against the Arabic idiom and usage to speak of a member of the tribe as namlah. Although there are many Arab tribes which have been named after the animals, e.g. Kalb (dog), Asad (lion), etc"., yet no Arab would ever say in respect of a member of the Kalb or the Asad tribe: "A dog said, or a lion said, etc. Therefore, it would be against the Arabic idiom to say in respect of a member of the Naml tribe: "A namlah (ant) said this." Then a member of the Naml tribe's warning the people of his tribe, saying, "O Namilites, get into your houses lest Solomon's hosts should trample you down without even knowing it," becomes meaningless, It has never happened that an army of men should have trampled down a group of men without knowing it. If the army has come with the intention of an attack, it would be useless for the other side to get into their houses, for in that case the invaders would follow them into their houses, and trample them more ruthlessly. And if the army is only on the routine march, it is just enough to clear off the way for it. Human beings may be harmed by the marching columns, but it can never happen that the soldiers on the march would trample down other men without knowing it. Therefore, if Bani an-Naml were a tribe of human beings, and one of its members were to warn his people, then in case of an attack, he would have said, "O Namilites, flee your houses and take refuge in the mountains lest Solomon's armies should destroy you. " And in case there was no danger of an attack, he would have said, "O Namilites, clear off the way lest one of you should be harmed by the marching columns of Solomon's armies." This error in the interpretation is on account of the Arabic idiom and the subject-matter. As for the name of the valley and the tribe of Bani an-Naml inhabiting it, it is a mere hypothesis for which there exists no scientific proof. Those who hold that wad-in -naml was the name of a valley have themselves pointed out that it had been so named because of the abundance of ants in it. Qatadah and Muqatil say, "It is a valley in the land of Syria where ants are found in abundance. But in no book of history and geography and in no archaeological research it is mentioned that it was inhabited by a tribe called Bani an-Naml. Thus, it is merely a concoction that has been invented to support one's own interpretation . This story is also found in the Israelite traditions but its latter portion falls against the Qur'an as well as against the regal dignity of the Prophet Solomon. According to it, when the Prophet Solomon was passing through a valley which abounded in ants, he heard an ant calling out to the other ants to say, "Get into your holes, otherwise you will be trampled down by Solomon's hosts." At this, Prophet Solomon displayed great vanity before the ant to which the ant rejoined, " What are you?-the product of a mere sperm-drop ! " Hearing this the Prophet Solomon felt greatly ashamed. (Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. X1, p. 440). This shows how the Qur'an corrects the wrong traditions of the Israelites, and cleanses the filthy spots with which they had themselves branded the characters of their Prophets. It is these traditions about which the Western orientalists shamelessly claim that the Qur'an has plagiarized them for its narratives. Rationally also it is not at all inconceivable that an ant should warn members of its' own species of an impending danger and tell them to get into their holes. As for the question as to how the Prophet Solomon heard it, the answer is: It is not all difficult to understand the crude speech of an ant for a person whose senses can comprehend and receive a subtle message like the Word of Revelation
فَتَبَسَّمَ ضَاحِكًا مِّنْ قَوْلِهَا وَ قَالَ رَبِّ اَوْزِعْنِیْۤ اَنْ اَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِیْۤ اَنْعَمْتَ عَلَیَّ وَ عَلٰى وَالِدَیَّ وَ اَنْ اَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضٰىهُ وَ اَدْخِلْنِیْ بِرَحْمَتِكَ فِیْ عِبَادِكَ الصّٰلِحِیْنَ Open ayah 27:19 in the Quran reader
Hearing its words, Solomon laughed smilingly and said "O My Lord, restrain 25 me so that I may render thanks to Thee for Thy favours which Thou hast bestowed upon the and my parents, and (enable me) to do such good works as may please Thee; and admit me, by Thy mercy, among Thy righteous servants. " 26
25 "Restrain me...thanks to Thee" means this: "O my Lord! the wonderful powers and abilities that You have given me are such that if I become even a little forgetful and heedless, I might transgress the bounds of service and be puffed up with pride and go astray. Therefore, O my Lord, restrain me so that I may remain grateful to You for all Your blessings instead of being ungrateful. "
26 "Admit me..righteous servants" probably implies this: "I should be included among the righteous in the Hereafter and should enter Paradise along with them." For a person who dces righteous acts will automatically be righteous, but one's entry into Paradise in the Hereafter cannot come about merely on the strength of one's good works, but it will depend on Allah's mercy. According to a Hadith, the Holy Prophet once said, "Merely the deeds of any one of you will not enable him to enter Paradise." It was asked, "In your case too, O Messenger of Allah?" He replied, "Yes, I also shall not enter Paradise only on the strength of my deeds, unless Allah Almighty covers me with His mercy." This prayer of the Prophet Solomon on this occasion becomes irrelevant if an Naml is taken to mean a vibe of human beings and namlah a member of that tribe. After all, there could be nothing extraordinary in the warning given by a member of a human tribe to the people of his vibe about the approaching troops of a powerful king that it should have induced the king to make such a prayer to Allah. However, a person's having such a wonderful power of comprehension that he may hear the speech of an ant from a distance and also understand it, is certainly something extraordinary, which can involve a person in self-conceit and vanity. In such a case only the prayer of the Prophet Solomon can be relevant.
وَ تَفَقَّدَ الطَّیْرَ فَقَالَ مَا لِیَ لَاۤ اَرَى الْهُدْهُدَ١ۖ٘ اَمْ كَانَ مِنَ الْغَآئِبِیْنَ Open ayah 27:20 in the Quran reader
(On another occasion) Solomon reviewed his birds 27 and said, "How is it that 1 do not see the hoopoe? Has he disappeared somewhere?
27 That is, the birds whose troops, as mentioned above, were included in the armies of Prophet Solomon like the troops of the men and jinns. It is just possible that the Prophet Solomon had employed them for communicating messages, hunting and performing other such services.
لَاُعَذِّبَنَّهٗ عَذَابًا شَدِیْدًا اَوْ لَاۡاَذْبَحَنَّهٗۤ اَوْ لَیَاْتِیَنِّیْ بِسُلْطٰنٍ مُّبِیْنٍ Open ayah 27:21 in the Quran reader
I will punish him severely, or even slaughter him, unless he presents before me a reasonable excuse”28
28 Some people of the modern time say that the hud-bud (hoopoe) does not mean the bird commonly known by this name, but is the name of a man who was an officer in the army of Solomon. This claim is not based on any historical research in which they might have found a person named hud-hud included in the list of the officers of the government of the Prophet Solomon, but they base their claim on the argument that the custom of naming human beings after animals is prevalent in Arabic as in other languages and was also found in Hebrew. Moreover, the, work that has been ascribed to the hud-hud in the following verses and its conversation with the Prophet Solomon, can, according to them, be only performed by a human being. But if one keeps in view the context in which this thing occurs in the Qur'an, it becomes evident that this is no commentary of the Qur'an but its distortion. After aII, why should the Qur'an put the intellect and intelligence of man to the test by using enigmatic language '? Why should it not clearly say that a soldier of the Prophet Solomon's cavalry, or platoon, or communication department, was missing, whom he ordered to be searched out, and who came and gave this news and whom he despatched on such and such a mission? Instead, it uses such language that the reader, from the beginning to the end, is compelled to regard it as a bird. Let us, in this connection, consider the tarts in their sequence as presented in the Qur'an. First of aII, the Prophet Solomon expresses his gratitude to AIIah for His this bounty: "We have been taught the speech of the birds." In this sentence, firstly, the word Lair has been used absolutely which every Arab and scholar of Arabic will take in the meaning of a bird, because there is nothing in the context that points to its being figurative; secondly, if tair implied a group of men and not a bird, the ward language or tongue would have been used concerning it and not speech. 'Then, a person's knowing the tongue of another people is not so extraordinary a thing that it should be specially mentioned. Today there are among us thousands of men and women, who can speak and understand many foreign languages. This is in no way an unusual achievement which may be mentioned as an extraordinary gift of God. Then the Qur'an says, "For Solomon were gathered hosts of jinns and then and birds." In this sentence, firstly, the words Jinn and ins (men) and tair have been used as names for three well-known and distinct species denoted by these words in Arabic. Then they have been used absolutely and there is nothing in the context that may point to any of them being used metaphorically, or as a simile. hecause of which one may take them in another meaning than their well- known lexical meaning. Then the word ins has occurred between the words jinn and Lair which does not allow taking it in the meaning that the Jinn and the tair were, in tact, two groups included in the species of ins (men). Had this been meant the words would have been: ul jinn wat-tair min-al-ins and not min-al- Jinn wal-ins W at-tair. A little further un the e Qur'an says that the Prophet Solomon said this when-during his review of the birds hr found the hud-hud missing. If the fair were human beings and hud-hud also was the name of a man, a word or two should Dave been there to indicate this so that cite poor reader should not have taken the word for a bird. When the group being mentioned is clearly of the birds and a number of it is called hud-hud. how can it be expected that the reader will of his own accord understand them to be human beings'? Then the Prophet Solomon says, "1 will punish him severely, or even slaughter him, unless he presents before me a reasonable excuse." A man is killed, or hanged, or sentenced to death, but never slaughtered. Some hard-hearted person may even slaughter another person out of vengeance, but it cannot be expected of a Prophet that he would sentence a soldier of his army to be slaughtered only for the offence of desertion, and Allah would mention this heinous act of the Prophet without a word of disapproval. A little further on we shall again see that the Prophet Solomon sends the same hud-hud with a letter to the queen of Sheba and tells him "to cast it before her". Obviously, such an instruction can be given to a bird but not at all to a man when he is sent as an envoy or messenger. Only a foolish person will believe that a king would send his envoy with a letter to the queen of another country and tell him to cast or throw it before her. Should we suppose that the Prophet Solomon was not aware of the preliminary social etiquette which even common people like us also observe when we send our servant to a neighbour? Will a gentleman tell his servant to carry his letter to the other gentleman and throw it before him? All these things show that the word hud-hud here has been used in its lexical meaning, showing that he was not a man but a bird. Now, if a person is not prepared to believe that a hud-hud can speak those things that have been ascribed to it in the Qur'an, he should frankly say that he does not believe in this narrative: of the Qur'an. It is sheer hypocrisy to misconstrue plain and clear words of the Qur'an according to one's own whims only in order to cover up one's lack of faith in it.
فَمَكَثَ غَیْرَ بَعِیْدٍ فَقَالَ اَحَطْتُّ بِمَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهٖ وَ جِئْتُكَ مِنْ سَبَاٍۭ بِنَبَاٍ یَّقِیْنٍ Open ayah 27:22 in the Quran reader
The bird did not take long when it came and said, "I have obtained knowledge of things of which you have no knowledge. I have brought sure information about Saba. 29
اِنِّیْ وَجَدْتُّ امْرَاَةً تَمْلِكُهُمْ وَ اُوْتِیَتْ مِنْ كُلِّ شَیْءٍ وَّ لَهَا عَرْشٌ عَظِیْمٌ Open ayah 27:23 in the Quran reader
There I have seen a woman ruling over her people: she has been given all sorts of provisions, and she has a splendid throne.
29 Saba' were a well-known commercial people of southern Arabia, whose capital city of Ma'rib lay about 55 miles to the north-east of San`a', the present capital of Yaman. They rose to power after the decline of the Minaean Kingdom in about 1100 B.C. and flourished for a thousand years in Arabia. Then in 115 B.C. they were replaced by the Himyarites, the other well-known people of southern Arabia, who ruled Yaman and Hadramaut in Arabia and Habash in Africa. The Sabaeans controlled the whole trade that passed between eastern Africa, India, the Far East and Arabia itself, on the one hand, and Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome on the other. That is why they were famous for their wealth in the ancient times; so much so that according to the Greek historians they were the richest people of the world. Besides trade and commerce, another great reason for their prosperity was that they had built dams here and there in their country to store rainwater for irrigation purposes, which had turned their whole land into a veritable garden. The Greek; historians have made mention of the unusual greenery of their country; and the Qur'an also refers to it in Surah Saba': 15.The statement of the hud-hud, `I have obtained knowledge of things of which you have no knowledge", does not imply that the Prophet Solomon was wholly unaware of Saba'. Obviously, the ruler of Syria and Palestine whose kingdom extended to the northern shores of the Red Sea (Gulf of `Aqabah), could not be unaware of a people who ruled the southern shores (Yaman) of the same Red Sea, and who also controlled an important pan of the international trade. Moreover, according to Psalms, Solomon's father, Prophet David, knew Saba' We lied the following words of his prayer in Psalms "Give the king thy judgement, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son (i.e. Solomon)... The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba (i.e. of Yaman's and Habash's branches) shall offer gifts." (72: 1-2, 10-11). Therefore, what the hud-hud means to say is this: "The knowledge of the things 1 have seen with my eyes in the central city of the Sabaeans. has not yet reached you."
وَجَدْتُّهَا وَ قَوْمَهَا یَسْجُدُوْنَ لِلشَّمْسِ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ وَ زَیَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّیْطٰنُ اَعْمَالَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِیْلِ فَهُمْ لَا یَهْتَدُوْنَۙ Open ayah 27:24 in the Quran reader
I saw that she and her people prostrate themselves before the sun instead of Allah. " 30 ---- Satan 31 made their deeds seem fair to them, 32 and hindered them from the highway: therefore, they do not find the right path
30 This shows that the people of Saba' at that lime followed the religion of sun-worship, which is also supported by the ancient traditions of Arabia. Ibn ishaq has cited the genealogists' saying to the effect that Saba' have in fact descended from an ancestor whose name was `Abd Shams (slave of the sun, or sun-worshipper) and title Saba'. This is supported by the Israelite traditions as well. According to these when the hud=hud arrived with the Prophet Solomon's letter, the queen of Sheba was going for the worship of the sun-god, and it threw the letter on the way before the queen.
31 The style shows that the sentences from here to the end of the paragraph are not a part of the hud-bud's speech but its speech ended with: "they prostrate themselves before the sun", and these words are an addition by Allah to its speech. 'I his opinion is supported by the sentence: "He knows all that you conceal and reveal." These words give the impression that the speaker and the addressees here are not he hud-hud and the Prophet Solomon and his courtiers respectively, but the speaker is Allah and the addressees the mushriks of Makkah, for whose admonition this story has been related. From among the commentators, 'Allamah Alusi;, the author of Ruh-al-Ma ani, also has preferred the same opinion.
32 That is, Satan has made them believe that earning the worldly wealth and making, their lives more and more grand and pompous is the only real and fit use of their mental and intellectual and physical powers. Apart from these, they need not think seriously on anything else: they need not bother themselves to see whether there was any factual reality behind the apparent life of the world or not, and whether the basis of their religion, morality, culture and system of life accorded with that Reality or went utterly against it. Satan satisfied them that when they were making adequate progress in respect of wealth and power and worldly grandeur, they had no need to see whether their beliefs and philosophies and theories were correct or not, for the only proof of their being correct was that they were earning wealth and enjoying life to their hearts content.
اَلَّا یَسْجُدُوْا لِلّٰهِ الَّذِیْ یُخْرِجُ الْخَبْءَ فِی السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ وَ یَعْلَمُ مَا تُخْفُوْنَ وَ مَا تُعْلِنُوْنَ Open ayah 27:25 in the Quran reader
that they may prostrate themselves before that God Who brings to light the hidden things of the heavens and the earth 33 and knows all that you conceal and reveal. 34
33 That is, He is bringing continuously into existence those things which before their ' birth were hidden here and there: He is bringing out continuously countless kinds of vegetation and minerals from the bowels of the earth: He is manifesting from upper space such things as could not even be conceived by Ruman mind before their manifestation.
34 That is, His knowledge embraces everything; the open and hidden are alike for Him; He is aware of everything. By citing these two attributes of AIIah the object is to impress that if they had not been deluded by Satan, they could have seen the right way clearly: they could have perceived that the hot burning sphere of the sun which has no sense of its own existence, did not deserve to be worshipped but worship was due to Him alone Who is the All-Knowing and the AlI-Wise Being, and Whose power is bringing into existence new and ever stew phenomena every moment.
اَللّٰهُ لَاۤ اِلٰهَ اِلَّا هُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِیْمِ۩ Open ayah 27:26 in the Quran reader
Allah: none but He is worthy of worship: He is the Owner of the glorious Throne. 35
قَالَ سَنَنْظُرُ اَصَدَقْتَ اَمْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الْكٰذِبِیْنَ Open ayah 27:27 in the Quran reader
Solomon said, "We shall just now see whether what you say is true, or that you area liar.
35 This is one of those verses of the Qur'an, whose recital makes it obligatory for one to perform a Sajdah (prostration), and there is a consensus on this of the Muslim jurists. The object of performing a Sajdah here is that a believer should set himself apart from the sun-worshippers and should decalre by his action that he does not regard the sun but Allah Almighty alone as his Deity and Lord.
اِذْهَبْ بِّكِتٰبِیْ هٰذَا فَاَلْقِهْ اِلَیْهِمْ ثُمَّ تَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ فَانْظُرْ مَا ذَا یَرْجِعُوْنَ Open ayah 27:28 in the Quran reader
Take this letter of mine and cast it before them; then get aside and see what reaction they show." 36
قَالَتْ یٰۤاَیُّهَا الْمَلَؤُا اِنِّیْۤ اُلْقِیَ اِلَیَّ كِتٰبٌ كَرِیْمٌ Open ayah 27:29 in the Quran reader
The queen said, "O chiefs, a very important letter has been cast before me.
اِنَّهٗ مِنْ سُلَیْمٰنَ وَ اِنَّهٗ بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِۙ Open ayah 27:30 in the Quran reader
It is from Solomon, and it begins with the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
36 Here ends the role of the hud-hud (hoopoe). The rationalists deny its being a bird for the reason that a bird could not possibly be endowed with such powers of observation, discrimination and expression that it should pass over a country and should come to know that it is the land of Saba`, it has such and such a system of government, it is ruled by a certain woman, its religion is sunworship, that it should have worshipped One God instead of having gone astray, and then on its return to the Prophet Solomon it should so clearly make a report of aII its observations before him. Due to these very reasons the open atheists object that the Qur'an is a book of fables and legends; then those who try to interpret the Qur'an rationally misconstrue its clear words in order to prove that the hud-hud was not at all a bird but he was a man. But the question is: What scientific information have these gentlemen got by which they could tell with absolute certainty what powers and abilities the different species of animals and their different individuals have got? The information that they possess only consists of the results interred froth the grossly insufficient observation made cursorily by them of the life and behaviour of the animals. In fact, man has not so far been able to know through any certain means what different animals know and what they see and hear. and what they feel and think and understand, and how the mind of each one of them works. Yet, whatever little observation has been made of the life of the different species of animals, it has revealed some of their wonderful abilities. Now, when AIIah, Who is the Creator of these animals, tells us that He had taught the speech of the birds to one of His Prophets and blessed him with the ability to speak to them, and the Prophet's taming and training had so enabled a hud-hud that it could make certain observations in the foreign lands and could report theta to the Prophet, we should, in fact, be prepared to revise our little knowledge about the animals in the light of Allah's statement. But, instead, we commit the folly of taking our this insufficient knowledge as the criterion and belie this statement of AIIah or distort it out of its true meaning.