النص المفهرس

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Surah al-Aņzab : 33 : 72 - 73
وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الْإِنْسَانُ ﴿ إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُوْمًا جَهُوْلاً ﴿٧٣﴾
لِيُعَذِّبَ اللهُ الْمُنْفِقِينَ وَالْمُنْفِقْتِ وَالْمُشْرِكِيْنَ وَالْمُشْرِكْتِ وَيَتُوُبَ
اللّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ وَالْمُؤُمِنْتِ ﴿ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا ﴿٢٣﴾
We did offer the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the
mountains, but they refused to bear its burden and were
afraid of it, and man picked it up. Surely, he was unjust
(to himself), unaware (of the end), [72] with the result that
Allah will punish the hypocrites, men and women, and the
Mushriks, men and women, and will accept the repentance
of the believing men and women. Surely Allah is
Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful. [73]
Commentary
Emphasis has been placed in this entire Surah on the reverence of the
Messenger of Allah and on the obligation of obeying him. Now in the later
part of the Surah, the great station and rank of this obedience has been
identified. Here, the obedience to Allah and His Messenger and the
implementation of their commands has been expressed through the word:
amanah: (Trust), the reason of which will appear later.
What does "amanah" mean?
What is meant by the word: amanah at this place? many views of the
leading exegetes among Şahabah and Tabi'in, and others, have been
reported to answer this question. Different things have been held to be
the 'amanah', such as, Islamic Legal Obligations, Protection of Chastity,
Properties held under Trust, Removal of Impurity through having bath,
Salah, Zakah Fasting, Hajj etc. Therefore, the majority of commentators
have said that all areas of religious conduct are included in it. (Qurțubi)
In Tafsir Mazhari, it was said: The whole package of all obligations
and prohibitions set by the Shari'ah is amanah. In Al-Bahr-ul-Muhit,
Abu Hayyan said:
الظَّاهِرُ أَنَّهَا كُلُّ مَايُؤْتَمَنُ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَمْرٍ وَنَهٍُ وَشَانُ دِيْنٍ وَدُنْيَا وَالشَّرُعُ كُلُّهُ، أَمَانَةٌ
وَهَذَا قَوْلُ الْجَمُهُوْرِ
Apparently every thing one is trusted with (by the Shari'ah)
from obligations and prohibitions, and every state of life which
relates to this world or the Hereafter - in fact, the Shari'ah, all

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of it, is amanah. And this is the position the majority of
Muslim scholars has taken.
In short, amanah (trust) means to be obligated with the precepts and
injunctions of the Shari'ah and being under command to carry these out.
Once this is accomplished to the best of one's ability, the eternal blessings
of Jannah (Paradise) have been promised, and on any contravention or
shortcoming, there shall be the punishment of Jahannam (Hell). Some
early commentators have said that amanah (trust) refers to the capability
of fulfilling the heavy responsibility placed by Divine injunctions,
something that depends on a particular degree of reason and awareness -
and moving forward therein and deserving Divine vice-regency depends
on this very capability. The species of creation that do not have this
capability, no matter how high or superior their placement, simply cannot
advance from their given place. For this reason, the skies and the earth,
even angels, have no inherent ability to go forward from the place they
are in. Everything from these creatures is restricted to whatever station
of nearness (to the Creator) it has. Their state is aptly pointed to in a
verse of the Qur'an where it was said: ◌ٌمَامِنَّا إِلَّا لَهُ مَقَامٌ مَّعُلُوم (There is no one
among us who does not have a known station - As-Saffat, 37:164)
Under this sense of amanah (trust), all narrations of Hadith about
amanah turn out to be symmetrical and the sayings of the majority of
commentators also converge on almost a mutual agreement.
In the Sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and in the Musnad of
Ahmad, there is a narration from Sayyidna Hudhaifah & saying that,
the Holy Prophet
had told us about two things. One of these we have
already witnessed with our own eyes. The unfolding of the other is still
awaited. The first thing was that, "First of all, amanah was sent down
into the hearts of the men of faith. Then, the Qur'an was revealed and
then the people of faith acquired knowledge from the Qur'an, and practice
from the Sunnah".
After that, he narrated the other Hadith as follows: "A time will come
when no sooner does a man rise from sleep, amanah (trust) will be
confiscated from out of his heart leaving some of its traces behind, just
like you would roll down an ember from the fire on your feet (and this
ember will certainly roll away but) its traces will survive in the form of

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inflammation or blister - although, no constituent element of the fire itself
is left out there. So much so that people will enter into mutual
transactions and contracts, but no one will fulfill the obligations of
amanah due against him and (there will be such a dearth of trustworthy
men that) people will be found saying that there is a trustworthy man in
such and such tribe!"
In this Hadith amanah has been declared to be something which
relates to the heart and this alone has the ability of fulfilling the
obligations and duties imposed by the Shari'ah of Islam.
And according to a narration of Sayyidna 'Abdullah Ibn 'Amr de
appearing in the Musnad of Ahmad, the Holy Prophet 25 has been
reported to have said, "There are four things which, if you come to have
them, and you have nothing out of so many worldly things, you are still
no loser. (Those four things are): Guarding of trust, telling the truth, good
morals and lawful sustenance. (From Ibn Kathir)
An investigation into the way the 'trust' was'offered'
In the cited verse (72), it was said that Allah Ta'ala placed this
amanah (trust) before the heavens, the earth and the mountains and all
of them refused to bear the burden of this responsibility shrinking from it
out of the danger of not being able to fulfill its due right - but, man did.
Here, it is worth pondering that the heavens, the earth and the
mountains that are inanimate and, obviously devoid of knowledge and
consciousness, how then would it be possible to rationalize the
presentation of such an offer before them and that of their response to it?
Some early commentators have taken this to be a figure of speech - as the
لَوْأَنْزَلْنَا هَذَا الْقُرَانَ عَلى :noble Qur'an has said elsewhere by way of comparison
Had We sent down this Qur'an to a) جَبَلِ لََّايْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُتَصَدِّعًا مِّنُ خَشْيَةِ اللهِ
mountain, you would have seen it humbled, burst apart out of awe for
Allah - Al-Hashr 59:21). It is obvious that this example has been given as a
matter of supposition - not that it was really revealed to or on a mountain.
So, these commentators have taken the 'offer' of 'trust' to the heavens etc.
also in a figurative or metaphorical sense.
But, in the sight of the majority of Muslim scholars, it is not correct,
because in the verse of Surah Al-Hashr, the Qur'an has itself made it
clear, by initiating the statement with the word: 'if,'that it is just a

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hypothetical statement. On the contrary, the present verse is an
affirmation of an incident in a descriptive style, and it is not permissible to
take it in figurative or metaphorical sense without any proof. And if it is
argued that these things have no senses and therefore no question can be
asked from them and no answer is expected from them, then this
argument stands rejected on the basis of other express statements of the
وَإِنُ مِّنُ شَىْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ :Qur'an. The reason is that the Qur'an has explicitly said
' (And there is not a single thing that does not extol His purity and
praise - Al-Isra', 17:44). And it is obvious that knowing Allah Ta'ala,
realizing that He is the Creator, the Master, the highest and the best, and
glorifying Him consequently is something not possible without knowledge
and consciousness. Therefore, it stands proved from this verse that
knowledge and consciousness do exist in all elements of creation to the
extent that these are also there in what is considered to be inanimate. On
the basis of this knowledge and consciousness, these can be addressed and
a response can be expected from them. Their response could take different
forms. It could take the form of words and letters and - it is not rationally
impossible - that Allah Ta'ala could bestow on the heavens and the earth
and the mountains the functional ability to verbalize and speak.
Therefore, in the sight of the majority of the learned among the Muslim
Ummah, the phenomenon of this 'ard of amanah (the placement or offer
of trust) came to pass in reality and these entities expressed their inability
to bear the burden of this responsibility - also in reality. There is no simile
or metaphor at work here.
The acceptance of the offer of the 'trust' was optional, not
mandatory
A question may be asked here. When Allah Ta'ala personally made
the offer of this great trust before the heavens and the earth and the
mountains, how could they dare refuse it? If they had contravened the
Divine order, they would have been destroyed totally. In addition to that,
the obedience of the heavens and the earth to divine orders is also proved
from the verse: su Gsi (we come in obedience - Fussilat, 41:11) which
means: When Allah Ta'ala ordered the heavens and the earth to come to
implement His command, be it willingly or unwilling, both of these
responded by saying that they were pleased to come to obey His
command.
The answer is that, in the cited verse (41:11), the command given had a

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mandatory command with it where it was also said that they were to come
with pleasure, or without it but, no matter what is the case, they had to
obey the command. This is contrary to the present verse featuring the
offer of the trust where following its presentation, they were given the
choice of taking or not taking this awesome responsibility.
Ibn Kathir has, with the support of various authorities, reported from
several Şahabah and Tabi'in - Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbas, Hasan al-Başri,
Mujahid and others - the following details of this offer of the trust:
'What Allah Ta'ala offered first to the heavens, then to the earth, and
then to the mountains as a matter of choice was: Would you undertake to
carry out the responsibility imposed by this trust (obedience to given
injunctions) from Us against a return fixed for it?' Everyone asked, 'What
is the return?' It was said, 'If you fulfill the demands of this trust
(obedience to given injunctions) to the best of your ability, you will have
the best of reward, and particularly the honor of having nearness to
Allah, and if you failed to implement these injunctions, or fell short in it,
you will be punished.' Hearing this, all these huge big bodies responded
by saying, 'O our Lord, we are operating under Your command even now.
But (now when we have been given a choice), we find ourselves weak and
unable to bear the burden of this heavy responsibility. As reward, we do
not want it, and as for punishment, we cannot bear it.' And Tafsir
Qurțubi, with reference to Hakim Tirmidhi, has reported from Sayyidna
Ibn 'Abbas se that the Holy Prophet said: '(After the offer of the trust
to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and after their
response), Allah Ta'ala addressed Sayyidna 'Adam &dl and said: 'We
offered Our trust to the heavens and the earth but they expressed their
inability to bear the burden of this responsibility. Now, would you assume
this responsibility knowing that which goes with it?' 'Adam &dl asked, 'O
Lord, what is it that goes with it?' The answer was: 'If you succeeded in
fulfilling the demands of this trust to your best (that is, remained obedient
to your best), you will be rewarded (which will be in the form of the
nearness and pleasure of Allah and the eternal bliss of Jannah
(Paradise), and if you let this trust go to waste, you will be punished.'
'Adam &dal (eager to advance towards nearness and pleasure of Allah
Ta'ala) went ahead and assumed this responsibility. However, from the
moment he assumed the burden of this heavy trust, not much time had
passed, not even that much as is between the Salah of 'Asr and Zuhr,

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within which the Satan snared him into that well-known slip and he was
made to leave Jannah.
During which period of time did this event of the offer of trust
take place?
From the narration of Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbas de which has appeared
immediately above, it seems that this offer of trust made to the heavens
and the earth and the mountains was made before the creation of 'Adam.
Then, following the creation of Sayyidna 'Adam Hall, it was also said
before him that this trust was also offered to the heavens and the earth
earlier, and that they did not have the ability to bear the burden of this
responsibility, therefore, they excused themselves out of it.
And what is apparent here is that this event of the offer of trust came
before the Covenant of Eternity, that is, the Covenant of 'Alast because
the Covenant of , Cuill (Am I not your Lord?) is a phase of this very
acceptance to carry out the responsibility of fulfilling the trust - and
stands for taking a solemn pledge to hold and discharge the
responsibilities enjoined by an office.
For vicegerency on the earth, the ability to bear the
responsibilities of the great trust was necessary
As eternally predestined, Allah Ta'ala had already decided to appoint
Sayyidna 'Adam && His Khalifah (vicegerent) on the earth and this
Khilafah (vicegerency) could only be entrusted with one who bears the
responsibility of upholding the essential obedience to Divine injunctions -
because, it is the very objective of this Khilafah that the Law of Allah be
implemented on the earth and that the creation of Allah be induced to
obey Divine injunctions. Therefore, as a matter of creational imperative,
Sayyidna 'Adam Ml agreed to bear the burden of the responsibility of
this trust - although the inability of other humongous units of creation to
bear it was already in his knowledge. (Mazhari and Bayan-ul-Qur'an).
In the last sentence of verse 72: ◌ًإِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُوُمًا جَهُولا :Surely, he was unjust
(to himself) unaware (of the end), the word: "Zalum' means one who is
unjust to himself, and 'jahul' means one who is unaware of the end. From
this sentence, it is generally assumed that it has appeared here blaming
man in an absolute sense, that is, so ignorant was man that he went
ahead inflicting injustice upon himself by accepting to carry such a big
burden of responsibility, something beyond his power. But, in the light of

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explicit statements in the Qur'an, this is not actually so because 'man'
may mean either Sayyidna 'Adam Hall or whole mankind. Now Sayyidna
'Adam &all is, as a prophet, protected by Allah from committing sins. The
burden of responsibility which he had assumed was carried out by him
duly and certainly. As a result of this, he was made a vicegerent of Allah
(Khalifatullah) and sent to the earth. He was made the object of
prostration by angels and, in the Hereafter, his station is far higher than
that of the angels. And if 'man' must mean mankind, then, in this class,
there are several hundred thousands of noble prophets JI Ale and
several millions of the righteous and the men of Allah (awliya' Allah)
even angels emulate - those who proved by their conduct in life that they
were capable of handling and deserving this Divine trust. It was because
of the basis laid out by these very noble souls, who duly vacated the
rights and demands inherent in the great trust, that the Holy Qur'an
declared mankind to be the noblest of Divine creation: ◌َوَلَقَدُ كَرَّمُنَا بَنِىٌ أدَم (And
We bestowed dignity on the Children of 'Adam - Al-Isra', 17:70). This proves
that neither is Sayyidna 'Adam Sell blameworthy, nor the mankind as a
whole. Therefore, commentators have said that this sentence is not there
to impute a blame, rather, it appears there as the description of the actual
event with regard to the most of individuals in the class. As such, the
sense is that the majority of human kind proved to be zalum (one who
inflicts injustice upon himself) and jahul (one who is unaware of the end)
that failed to fulfill the rights and demands of this trust and fell into the
abyss of loss. And since this was the state of affairs with the majority,
therefore, it was attributed to humankind.
In short, in the verse, the two words (Zalum and Jahul) mentioned
above have been used for those particular individuals among human
beings who did not obey the injunctions of the Shari'ah as they were
expected to, and failed to fulfill the right entailed by the amanah or trust
placed with them - that is, the disbelievers, hypocrites, transgressors, the
wicked, and sinning Muslims of the community. This Tafsir has been
reported from Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbas 4ce, Sayyidna Ibn Jubayr dee, Hasan
Al-Basri رحمه الله تعالى and others. (Qurtubi)
And there are others who have said that Zalum and Jahul has been
used at this place in the sense of 'naïve', as an affectionate form of
address carrying the thought that man, brimming with love for his
Creator and in quest of the station of nearness to Him, simply forgot the

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end of the whole thing. Similarly, these words could also be taken to have
been spoken for the entire humankind. In Tafsir Mazhari, details of this
aspect have been reported from Mujaddid Alf Thani and other noble
Șufīs.
with the result that Allah will punish the) لِيُعَذِّبَ اللهُ الْمُنْفِقِيْنَ وَالْمُنفِقْتِ
hypocrites, men and women, and the Mushriks, men and women, and will
accept the repentance of the believing men and women. Surely Allah is
Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful. [73]) The letter 'lam' used in the beginning
of this verse is not for mentioning the cause or aim, as generally
understood in common usage, but it is the lam of 'aqibah in the
terminology of Arabic linguistics. It points out to the end of something, as
it appears in a line of Arabic poetry which reads:
لِدُوا لِلْمَوْتِ وَابْنُوا لِلْخَرَابِ
'Be born only to be dead and build only to be ruined'
It does not mean that the aim of one's birth was to be dead or that the
aim of constructing of a building was that it could be ruined, but it simply
means that the end of everyone born is death and the end of every
building is falling into ruins.
The sense of the verse is that, as a result of man's assumption of
responsibility for the trust, mankind will split in two groups: (1) Dis-
believers, hypocrites and others who will rebel against Divine orders and
become wasters of the great 'trust'. They will be punished. (2) There will
be believing men and believing women who, through their obedience to
Divine injunctions, will fulfill the dictates of the trust reposed in them.
They will be treated with mercy and forgiveness.
The Tafsir of the two words: Zalum and Jahul that has been reported
above from most Tafsir authorities finds additional support in this last
sentence as well - that these words are not meant for the whole mankind.
In fact, they particularly refer to those individuals who wasted away the
Divine trust reposed in them. And Allah, Pure and High, knows best.
The Commentary on
Surah Al-Ahzab ends here
With the help of and praise for Allah Ta'ala

259
Sūrah Saba' : 34 : 1 - 9
Surah Saba'
(Sheba)
Surah Saba' is Makki. It has 50 Verses and 6 Sections
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
With the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful
Verses 1 - 9
اَلْحَمُدُ لِلْهِ الَّذِىُ لَهُ مَافِى السَّمْوَتِ وَمَا فِى الْأَرْضِ وَلَهُ الْحَمُدُ فِى
الْآخِرَةِ * وَهُوَ الْحَكِيْمُ الْخَبِيْرُ ﴿١) يَعْلَمُ مَا يَلِجُ فِى الْأَرْضِ وَمَا
يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا وَمَا يَنْزِلُ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ وَمَا يَعْرُجُ فِيْهَا * وَهُوَ الرَّحِيمُ
الْغَفُورُ ﴿٢﴾ وَقَالَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوا لَا تَأْتِيْنَا السَّاعَةُ﴿ قُلُ بَلَى وَرَبِّىُ
لَتَأْتِيَنَّكُمُ " غِلِمِ الْغَيْبِ لَا يَعْزُبُ عَنْهُ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ فِى السَّمْوَاتِ وَلَا
فِى الْأَرْضِ وَلَآ أَصُغَرُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ وَلَا أَكْبَرُ إِلَّا فِىُ كِتْبٍ مُّبِيْنٍ ﴿٢﴾
لِيَجْزِىَ الَّذِيْنَ امَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصُّلِحْتِ * أُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ مَّغْفِرَةٌ وَّرِزُقٌ
كَرِيمٌ ﴿٤﴾ وَالَّذِيْنَ سَعَوْا فِىِّ الْتِنَا مُعْجِزِيْنَ أُولَئِكَ لَهُمُ عَذَابٌ مِّنْ
رِّجْزٍ اَلِيُمٍ ﴿٥﴾ وَ يَرَى الَّذِيْنَ أُوْتُوا الْعِلْمَ الَّذِىِّ أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ رَّبِّكَ
هُوَ الْحَقَّ ا وَيَهْدِىٌ إِلَى صِرَاطِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَمِيْدِ ﴿٦﴾ وَقَالَ الَّذِيْنَ
كَفَرُوا هَلْ نَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى رَجُلٍ يُنِئُكُمْ إِذَا مُزِقْتُمْ كُلَّ مُمَزَّقٍ " إِنَّكُمْ
لَفِىُ خَلْقٍ جَدِيْدٍ ﴿٢﴾ أَفْتَزِى عَلَى اللهِ كَذِبًا أَمْ بِهِ جِنَّةٌ ◌ُ بَلِ الَّذِيْنَ
لَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِالْآخِرَةِ فِى الْعَذَابِ وَالصَّلَلِ الْبَعِيْدِ ﴿٨﴾ آَفَلَمُ يَرَوْا إِلَى

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مَابَيْنَ أَيْدِيُهِمُ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمُ مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ وَالْأَرُضِ ﴿ إِنُ نَّشَأْ نَخْسِفُ
بِهِمُ الْأَرْضَ أَوْ نُسُقِطُ عَلَيْهِمُ كِسَفًّا مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ * إِنَّ فِىُ ذَلِكَ لَايَةً
لِكُلِّ عَبْدٍ مُنِيبٍ ﴿٩﴾
Praise be to Allah, to whom belongs all that is in the
heavens and all that is on the earth. And for Him is the
praise in the Hereafter. And He is the Wise, the
All-Aware. [1] He knows all that goes into the earth and
all that comes out therefrom, and all that comes down
from the sky and all that ascends thereto. And He is the
Very-Merciful, the Most-Forgiving. [2] And said those
who disbelieve, "The Hour (i.e. the Day of Judgment)
will not come to us." Say, "Why not? By my Lord, the
knower of the Unseen, it will come to you. Nothing in
the heavens and in the earth, even to the measure of a
particle, can escape Him, nor is there anything smaller
than that or bigger, that is not recorded in a manifest
book. [3] (The Hour will come,) so that He rewards those
who believed and did righteous deeds. For such people,
there is forgiveness (from Allah) and a noble provision.
[4] And those who strived against Our signs to defeat
(the messenger), for such people there is a painful
punishment of the divine wrath. [5] And those blessed
with knowledge see that what is sent to you from your
Lord is the truth and it guides (people) to the path of
the All-Mighty, the All-Praised. [6] And the disbelievers
said," Shall we point out to you a man who informs you
that, when you are totally torn into pieces, you will
certainly be (raised) in a new creation? [7] Has he forged
a lie against Allah, or is there a madness in him?" No,
but those who do not believe in the Hereafter are in
torment and far astray from the right path. [8] Have
they not, then, looked to the sky and the earth that lies
before them and behind them? If We so will, We would
make the earth swallow them up, or cause pieces of the
sky fall upon them. Surely, in this there is a sign for a
slave of Allah who turns to Him. [9]
Commentary
- Ju (the knower of the unseen). This is an attribute of the Rabb
(Lord ) in whose name an oath has been taken in verse 3. At this place,
out of the many attributes of Allah Ta'ala, the attribute of
all-encompassing knowledge and the knowledge of the unseen has,

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perhaps, been mentioned particularly because the text is dealing with the
matter of the deniers of the day of Resurrection. The major reason why
the disbelievers rejected the inevitability of Qiyamah, the day of doom,
was their inability to comprehend how the whole thing would work out.
When all human beings die, and become dust, and the particles of this
dust get scattered all over the world, they wondered, how would it be
possible to collect all these particles, separate the particles belonging to
each human being from the particles of all others, and then go on to put
the relevant particles back into the frame of everyone's existence? And
they took it as impossible because they had very conveniently taken the
knowledge and power of Allah Ta'ala on the analogy of their own
knowledge and power! Allah Ta'ala has told them that His knowledge
encompasses the entire universe in a manner that He knows everything
in the heavens and the earth to the extent that He also knows where and
in what state it is. Not a single particle of what has been created remains
outside His knowledge - and this comprehensive and all-encompassing
knowledge is hallmark of Allah Ta'ala. No created entity, whether an
angel or prophet, can ever have such an all-encompassing knowledge that
no particle of this universe remains outside it. Then, for a Being that has
such an all-encompassing knowledge, why would it be difficult to reclaim
the scattered particles of a human being from all over the universe, each
separate from the other, and reconstitute their bodies from these once
again?
لِيَجْزِىَ الَّذِيْنَ امَنُوا
(So that He rewards those who believed - 4)
This sentence is connected with the earlier one: " that is,
al-Qiyamah or the Doomsday is bound to come and its purpose will be to
reward believers and to provide for them the best sustenance from
Jannah (Paradise). And in contrast to them stand: 5) الَّذِينَ سَعُوا فِيٌّ ايتِنَا) i.e.
those who made efforts to find faults with Our verses and tried to stop
people from believing in them.
The word: Brei which appears immediately after the verse cited
above means that this effort by them was as if they would render Us
helpless in seizing them and would thus go scot-free from having to be
present on the last day of Qiyamah.

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أُولَئِكَ لَهُمُ عَذَابٌ مِّنُ رِّجُزِ اَلِيمِ :The sentence that follows immediately after
means that these people shall receive punishment, a severe punishment
that will be painful.
Verse 6:َ34:6) وَيَرَى الَّذِيْنَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْم) talks about believers in contrast with
those who denied the coming of the Qiyamah. The former had put their
faith in it and became the beneficiaries of the knowledge given by Allah
Ta'ala to the Holy Prophet by revelation.
Reported in verse 7:
وَقَالَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوا هَلْ نَذُلُّكُمْ عَلَى رَجُلٍ يُنبِئُكُمْ إِذَا مُزِقْتُمُ كُلَّ مُمَّقِ "
Shall we point out to you a man ... ). There is a statement) إِنَّكُمْ لَفِیُ خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ
of disbelievers who denied the coming of Qiyamah. In an exercise of
mockery, they used to say, 'come, let us identify an unusual person for
your benefit, a person who loves to tell you how, when you die and
become dust, totally powdered into countless particles, even after all that,
you will be brought into a new creation - and that you, all reshaped into
the form you once were, will be made to stand up alive!'
It is obvious that the person alluded to here is no other but the Holy
Prophet who used to tell people that Qiyamah will come when the dead
will become alive once again, and exhorted people to put their faith in it.
All these people who were deriding him knew him perfectly well, but in
the present context, they have mentioned him in a manner as if they
knew nothing else about him - nothing else but that he tells people about
the dead rising alive on the day of Qiyamah. They had purposely elected
to refer to him in that manner just to mock and deride him.
The word: y (when you are totally torn into pieces) is a derivation
from: 3y (mazq) which means splitting apart and rendering to pieces,
and: " js (kulla mumazzaq: (totally torn) means the disintegration of
the human body in a manner that all its particles get dispersed
separately. Onwards from here, they take up another mode to comment
on his statement relating to the Qiyamah.
They say: ◌ٌاقْتَزِى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا امُ بِهِ جِنَّة (Has he forged a lie against Allah, or is
there a madness in him?"- 34:8). The drive of their remark is that the idea
that all totally disintegrated particles of the body will stand reassembled
together, turn into the human body once again and be alive as well, is so
unreasonable, to start with, that there remains practically no question of
entertaining or accepting it. Therefore, this claim of the Holy Prophet

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is either a deliberate attempt to fabricate a lie against Allah Ta'ala, or the
person who says so is insane and no premise of his statement is correct.
The last verse (9): ◌ُأَفَلَمْ يَرَوْا إِلى مَابَيْنَ أَيْدِيْهِمُ وَمَا خَلْفَهُم (Have they not, then,
looked to the sky and the earth that lies before them and behind them? )
carries two chastening messages:
(1) It proves that one can come to believe in the coming of the
Qiyamah by pondering over what has been created in the heavens and
the earth, and once the perfect power of Allah Ta'ala becomes visible
through observation, the element of improbability which prohibited its
deniers from accepting it could stand removed.
(2) Then, right along with this positive invitation to see and learn on
their own, the deniers have also been served with a warning of
punishment. They have been told that should they continue to hold firmly
to their attitude of rejection and denial, then, they should also realize that
it is within this power of Allah Ta'ala which could make the very same
blessings to become a punishment for them, such as, the earth swallows
them, or that the sky cracks apart and falls on them.
Verses 10 - 14
وَلَقَدُ أَتَّيْنَا دَاؤُدَ مِنَّا فَضْلَاء يَجِبَالُ أَوِّبِىُ مَعَهْ وَالطَّيْرَةَ وَ الَنَّا لَهُ
الْحَدِيْدَ ﴿٢﴾ آَنِ اعْمَلُ سبِغْتٍ وَقَدِّرُ فِى السَّرُدِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا ﴾
إِنِىُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيْرٌ ﴿١١﴾ وَلِسُلَيُمْنَ الْرِّيْحَ غُدُوُّهَا شَهُرٌ
وَّرَوَاحُهَا شَهُرٌٌّ وَاَسَلْنَا لَهْ عَيْنَ الْقِطْرِ * وَمِنَ الْجِنِّ مَنْ يَّعُمَلُ بَيْنَ
يَدَيْهِ بِذْنِ رَبِّهِ * وَمَنْ يَّزِعُ مِنْهُمُ عَنْ أَمْرِنَا نُذِقُهُ مِنْ عَذَابِ السَّعِيْرِ
﴿١٢﴾ يَعُمَلُونَ لَهُ مَا يَشَاءُ مِنْ مَّحَارِيُبَ وَتَمَاثِيْلَ وَجِفَانٍ
كَالْجَوَابٍ وَقُدُورٍ رُّسِيْتٍ * إِعْمَلُوا الَ دَاؤَدَ شُكُرًا وَقَلِيْلٌ مِّنْ
عِبَادِىَ الشَّكُوُرُ ﴿١٣﴾ فَلَمَّا قَضَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ الْمَوْتَ مَادَلَّهُمُ عَلَى مَوْتِهَ
إِلَّا دَابَّةُ الْأَرْضِ تَأْكُلُ مِنْسَأَتَهُ، فَلَمَّا خَرَّ تَبَيِّنَتِ الْجِنُّ أَنْ لَّوْكَانُوا

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يَعُلَمُونَ الْغَيْبَ مَالَبِتُوا فِى الْعَذَابِ الْمُهِيْنِ ﴿١٤﴾
And surely We bestowed grace from Us on Dawud." O
mountains, pronounce with him Allah's purity
repeatedly -- and you too O birds!" And We made the
iron soft for him [10] (saying to him,)" Make coats of
armour, and maintain balance in combining (their)
rings, and do, all of you, righteous deeds. Surely I am
watchful of what you do." [11] And for Sulayman (We
subjugated) the wind; its journey in the morning was
(equal to the journey of ) one month, and its journey in
the afternoon was (equal to the journey) of another
month. And We caused a stream of copper to flow for
him. And there were some Jinns who worked before
him by the leave of his Lord. And whoever of them
would deviate from Our command, We would make him
taste the punishment of the blazing fire. [12] They used
to make for him whatever he wished of castles, images,
basins as (large as) tanks and big cook-wares fixed (in
their places). " Do good, O family of Dawud , in
thankfulness. And few from My slaves are thankful." [13]
So, when We decided (that) death (should come) upon
him, nothing gave them any indication of his death,
except a creature of the earth that had eaten up his
sceptre. So, when he fell down, the Jinns came to know
that if they had the knowledge of the Unseen, they
would not have stayed (so long ) in the humiliating
punishment. [14]
Commentary
The preceding verses have addressed the arguments of those who
denied the possibility of the life after death, and believed it to be irrational
that a person may be revived after he has died and the parts of his body
are decomposed and turned into dust. Now the stories of Sayyidna Dawud
and Sulayman && have been narrated in the present verses to show
that Allah Ta'ala has already demonstrated His power by the miraculous
acts that were deemed by people to be impossible, like making iron as soft
as wax, subjugating the wind and making copper as liquid as water.
وَلَقَدُ أَتَيْنَا دَاؤُدَ مِنَّا:10 fadl) in the opening sentence of verse) فضل :The word
Sus (And surely We bestowed grace from Us on Dawud) means excess,
favor or grace. The reference is to particular attributes bestowed on him
in excess of others. Allah Ta'ala has blessed every prophet with some

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unique attributes that are considered to be their distinctive excellence.
Sayyidna Dawud Ma was given a few of his own. Besides being a
prophet and messenger of Allah, he was also blessed with power over the
world of his time. Then there was his gifted voice. When he was busy with
the dhikr of Allah or the recitation of Torah, the birds flying above would
converge over him to listen. He was blessed with similar other miracles
which find mention a little later.
يَا جِبَالُ أوّبِى :awwibi) in the direct address appearing next) أوّبى :The word
(ya jibalu awwibi) is a derivation from: ,t (ta'wib) which means to
return or repeat. The sense is that Allah Ta'ala had commanded the
mountains that once Sayyidna Dawud &&hel starts making Dhikr and
Tasbih (the glorification of Allah), the mountains too should start reciting
the same words after him.
Similar to this is the tafsir of Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbas asse who has
explained: 3 (awwibi: return, or repeat after) as being in the sense of:
(sabbihi: glorify, recite the praise of Allah). (Ibn Kathir)
This Tasbih (glorification of Allah) the mountains used to do along
with Sayyidna Dawud Ma is in addition to the universal Tasbih done by
the entire creation of Allah that goes on everywhere, all the time, in every
وَإِنُ مِّنُ شَىْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمُدِهٍ وَلكِنُ لَا تَفْقَّهُوُنَ تَسُبِيحَهُمْ : age - as said in the noble Qur'an
(And there is not a single thing that does not extol His purity and praise,
but you do not understand their extolling - 17:44). The tasbih mentioned
here has the status of a miracle shown at the hands of Sayyidna Dawud
el. For this reason, it is obvious that common listeners would be hearing
and understanding this Tasbih. Otherwise, it would have just not been a
miracle.
From here we also learn that the mountains synchronizing their voice
with the voice of Sayyidna Dawud & dl and repeating the Tasbih after
him was not in the manner sound reverberates, something commonly
heard when someone calls inside a dome or well or elsewhere and the
voice reverberates or returns. The reason is that the noble Qur'an has
mentioned the manifestation of this phenomenon as a special gift and
grace bestowed upon Sayyidna Dawud & . The reverberation of sound
is a physical thing. It has nothing to do with someone's excellence. It will
work for anyone, even for a disbeliever. At a place where sound

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reverberates, his or her voice too will shoot back.
The word: , (wattair: and you too O birds) refers to the
phenomenon of birds joining up in the air at his voice and doing tasbih
like the mountains - as it has been mentioned in another verse of the
Qur'an : ◌ًإِنَّا سَخَّرُنَا الْجِبَالَ مَعَه، يُسَبِّحُنَ بِالْعَشِيّ وَالْإِشْرَاقِ وَالطَّيْرَ مَحْشُورَة (We had subjugated
the mountains to join him (in) making tasbih (i.e. pronouncing Allah's
purity) at evening and sunrise, and the birds as well mustered together
38:18).
In the last sentence of verse 10 and the first sentence of verse 11, it
was said: ◌ِوَالَنَّالَهُ الْحَدِيدَ ان اعْمَلُ سبِعْتٍ وَّقَدِّرُ فِى السَّرْد (And We made the iron soft for
him (saying to him,)" Make coats of armour, and maintain balance in
combining (their) rings,' - 34:10). This is another miracle that iron was
made soft for him. Early tafsir authorities - Hasan Basri, Qatadah,
A'mash, and others - said that Allah Ta'ala had, by way of a miracle,
turned iron soft as wax for him. To make something out of it, he needed
no fire, or hammer, or any other tools. The part of the statement
appearing in verse 11 goes on to state that the iron was made soft for him
so that he could easily make coats of mail with iron. In another verse, it
has also been mentioned that Allah Ta'ala had Himself taught him the
making of coats of mail: ◌ْوَعَلَّمُنُهُ صَنْعَةَ لَبُوُسٍ لَّكُم (And We taught him making of
armour as dress for you - 21:80). And what appears later in this very verse
and maintain balance in combining (their) rings) also leads) قَدِّرُ فِى السَّرْدِ : 11
to the final stage of training in this craft. The word: j&t (qaddir) is derived
from: ja (taqdir) which means making on a certain measure while the
word: (sard) literally means to weave. The sense thus released is to
make a coat of mail in a manner that its links come out balanced and
proportionate without one being small and the other being big, so that it
turns out strong as well as looks good when seen. This tafsir of: 'Jist
(and maintain balance in combining (their) rings) has been reported from
Sayyidnā 'Abdullah Ibn 'Abbas "e. (Ibn Kathir)
Special Note
1. This also tells us that the consideration for apparent beauty in
man-made things is desirable, since Allah Ta'ala has given a particular
instruction for it.
2. Some early commentators take taqdir in :ِقَدِّرُ فِى السَّرْد (qaddir fi
's-sard: and maintain balance in combining (their) rings) to mean that

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there should be a fixed measure of time devoted to this craft, lest most of
the time is consumed in that single pursuit causing disruption in duties of
'ibadah and responsibilities of the office and state. In the light of this
tafsir, we come to know that people in areas of industry and labor should
also spare some time for 'ibadah and personal enrichment while
remaining duly organized as far as the necessary management of time is
concerned. (Rūp ul-Ma'ani)
The merit and grace of inventing, making and producing things
The verse under study proves that making and manufacturing things
of need is so significant that Allah Ta'ala has taken it upon Himself to
teach its mores to His great prophets. That Sayyidna Dawud ds was
trained to make coats of mail already stands proved from this very verse.
Then, this is how Sayyidna Nuh Sell
was inducted into boat building. He
was told:وَاصُنَع الْفُلْكَ بِاَعُيُنِنَا :"Build the boat before Us" [literally, 'with Our
Eyes' or 'under Our Eyes'] - 11:37. 'Build before Us' simply means 'build
the way We tell you to.' That some other prophets were also taught the
making of different things in a similar manner stands proved from some
narrations of Hadith. There is a published book with the title of al-tibb
al-nabawii attributed to Hadith authority, Hafiz Shamsuddin
adh-Dhahabi. It contains a narration to the effect that the making of
almost all important and necessary things in human life - such as,
house-building, cloth-weaving, tree-planting, food-processing and
wheel-based conveyances for transportation etc. - was taught by Allah
Ta'ala to His prophets
through the medium of wahy (revelation).
It is a sin to take the labourers as low in rank
In Arabia, different people used to go in different professions. No
profession or occupation was considered low or disgraceful and no one was
taken to be any better or worse on the basis of work, trade, or occupation,
nor would brotherhoods and communities rise solely on the basis of
occupation. The promotion of the idea of such communities as based on
occupation and the attitude of taking some professions low and mean as
such was alien there. This was a product of Hindu India. Having lived
there with them, Muslims too were influenced by it.
The wisdom of having Sayyidna Dawud &os trained into the
making of coat of mail
From a narration of the Hadith authority, Hafiz Ibn 'Asakir, it has

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been reported in Tafsir Ibn Kathir that during the period of his rule,
Sayyidna Dawud Ma used to visit bazaars and public places while in
disguise and would ask people coming in from different sides as to what
they thought about Dawud. Since, justice reigned in the kingdom of
Sayyidna Dawud, people were living a good life, no one had any
complaints against the government of the time, therefore, whoever he
asked, the addressee would have words of praise for him and express his
gratefulness for the prevailing equity and justice.
It was for his education and grooming that Allah Ta'ala sent an angel
in the shape of a man. When Sayyidna Dawud all came out on his
routine quest for truth, this angel met him. As usual with him, he put the
same question to him. The angel said, 'Dawud is a very good man and as
compared to everyone, he is doing better for himself and better for his
people and subjects too. But, he has one habit which, if it were not there,
he would have been perfect.' Sayyidna Dawud & asked, 'What habit is
that?' The angel said, 'He takes the expenses on himself and his family
from the property of Muslims, that is, from the Baytul-Mal (The Public
Treasury of a Muslim State).'
Hearing this, Sayyidna Dawud &dl made it a point to immediately
turn to Allah subhanahu wa Ta'ala with self-reproach, lamentation and
prayer, saying, 'Teach me to do something for which I have to work with
my own hands and support myself and my family with wages from it
while working gratis (free, without compensation) to serve Muslims and
run their state.' Allah Ta'ala answered his prayer and taught him the art
of making coats of mail and the honor, befitting a prophet, He bestowed
on him was that iron was made wax for him so that it became unusually
easy for him to earn his sustenance within a short period of time and thus
use the rest of his time for 'Ibadah (worship) and obligations of state
management.
Ruling
For a Khalifah (Muslim head of an Islamic state) of the time, or a
king, or ruler who spends all his time in taking care of state affairs, it is
permissible in the Shari'ah of Islam that he takes his average living
expenses from Baytul-Mal. But, should there be some other means of
livelihood available, then, that would be more desirable - as it was with
Sayyidna Sulayman all. Allah Ta'ala had put the treasures of the whole

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world at his disposal. Gold, precious stones and everything needed was
available to him in abundance. Then Allah Ta'ala had also allowed him to
expend whatever he wished from the holdings of the Baytul-Mal, and
according to the verse: ◌ٍفَامُنُنُ أَوْ أَمُسِكُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَاب (So, do favour (to someone) or
withhold (it) with no (requirement to give) account - 38:39), he was also
given the assurance that he could spend in whatever manner he wished
and that he did not have to account for it. But, this event came to pass
because Allah Ta'ala, in His wisdom, would have the noble prophets
occupy a very high station and, it was after that, that Sayyidna Dawud
Xtkell - despite being the ruler of an empire - used to earn his living with
his own hands, and was always satisfied with it.
'Ulama' (religious scholars) who serve the religious cause of education
and communication (Ta'lim and Tabligh) without remuneration, and the
Qadi (judge) and Mufti (juri-consult, Muslim jurist highly trained to
deliver authenticated rulings on problems and issues for the benefit of the
community at large) who spend their time in public service are also
governed by the same injunction, that is, they can take their living
expenses from the Baytul-Mal. But, should there be some other way to
eke out a living - which does not hinder the ongoing religious service
being performed - then, that would be better.
Special Note
From this conduct of Sayyidna Dawud &gel, whereby he
demonstrated the great concern he had to find out the informal, free and
totally unfettered opinions of people about his ways of doing things, it is
proved that one usually does not know his own shortcomings, therefore,
this should be found out from others. The well-known jurist of Islam,
Imam Malik رحمه الله تعالى also paid particular attention to find out what
common people thought about him.
We can now turn to verse 12:ٌوَلِسُلَيُمْنَ الرِّيْحَ غُدُوُّهَا شَهُرٌ وَّرَوَاحُهَا شَهُر (And for
Sulayman: (We subjugated) the wind; its journey in the morning was
(equal to the journey of) one month, and its journey in the afternoon was
(equal to the journey) of another month). After having mentioned the
blessings bestowed upon Sayyidna Dawud & 9, the text refers to
Sayyidna Sulayman El. It was said that the way Allah Ta'ala had
subjugated mountains and birds for Sayyidna Dawud &ya, similarly, the
Wind was subjugated for Sayyidna Sulayman &C. It would take the

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throne of Sayyidna Sulayman aus on which he was seated with a large
number of his courtiers to wherever he wished always under his
command. Early exegete, Hasan al-Basri has said that the miracle of the
subjugation of the Wind was bestowed upon Sayyidna Sulayman Meal in
return for what he had done once while inspecting his stable of horses. So
engrossed he became in this activity that he missed the Salah of al-'asr.
Since the horses became the cause of this negligence, Sayyidna Sulayman
Stell decided to eliminate the very cause of negligence. He sacrificed these
horses by slaughtering them (since the sacrifice of horses was also
permissible in the law of Sayyidna Sulayman a very much like the
cows and oxen) and since these horses were owned by Sayyidna
Sulayman Sell, the question of bringing loss to the Baytul-Mal simply
does not arise, and the doubt of wasting personal property because of the
sacrifice also does not hold good. Full relevant details about it will appear
in the commentary on Surah Sad (38:30-40, appearing later in this very Volume
VII). In short, because Sayyidna Sulayman das sacrificed the horses he
rode, Allah Ta'ala blessed him with a better ride. (Qurțubi)
In the other part of the verse taken up immediately earlier: "La Lo gle
ghuduww) means moving in the morning) غُدُوّ:the word , (34:12) وَّرَوَاحُهَا شَهُرٌ
and the word: ¿ lys (rawah) means moving in the evening. Thus, the sense
of the verse comes to be that this throne of Sulayman perched on the
wings of the wind from the morning to the afternoon would cover the
travel distance of one month, and then, from early evening to late night,
that of another one month. In this way, it used to cover the travel
distance of two months in one full day.
العلية Sayyidna Sulayman ,رحمه الله تعالى According to Hasan al-Basri
would leave Baytul-Maqdis in the morning, reach Istakhr by afternoon
and had his lunch there. Then he would leave after Zuhr and by the time
he got to Kabul, it would be night. The travel distance between
Baytul-Maqdis and Istakhr is something a swift rider could cover in a
month. Similarly, the travel distance from Istakhr to Kabul is also what a
swift rider could cover in a month. (Ibn Kathir)
To explain the next sentence of verse 12: ◌ِوَأَسَلْنَا لَه عَيْنَ الْقِطْر (And We
caused a stream of copper to flow for him), it can be said that Allah Ta'ala
made a metal as hard as the copper turn into a liquid flowing like water,
even gushing forth like a stream of water, and was not hot either - so