27:1. Ta’. Seen.^{1Groups of letters (al-huroof al-muqatta‘ah) appear at the beginning of several soorahs. The most correct scholarly view states that we are required to believe in them as they appear to be, without delving into their meaning, knowledge of which we should leave to Allah. We believe that they were not revealed in vain, and that there is wisdom behind them of which we are not aware.} These are verses of the Qur’an and the clear Book,

27:2. guidance and glad tidings for the believers,

27:3. those who establish prayer and give zakah, and who believe with certainty in the hereafter.

27:4. As for those who do not believe in the hereafter. We have made their deeds fair-seeming to them, so they wander blindly [in their misguidance].

27:5. Such are the ones who will have a grievous punishment, and in the hereafter, it is they who will be the greatest losers.

27:6. Verily you [O Muhammad] are receiving the Qur’an from One Who is Most Wise, All-Knowing.

Here Allah te) draws the attention of His slaves to the greatness of the Qur’an:

﴾These are verses of the Qur’an and the clear Book﴿ that is, the most sublime and clear verses, which give the clearest explanation that is indicative of the most sublime aims, best goals, best deeds and purest characteristics. They are verses that speak of truthful stories, beautiful commands, and prohibition of all bad deeds and blameworthy characteristics. They are verses that are as clear as the light of day for people of insight. They are verses that call to faith and call for reaching the level of certainty. They speak of matters of the unseen, past and future, exactly as they happened or will happen. They are verses that call us to know the Almighty Lord by His beautiful names, sublime attributes and perfect deeds. They are verses that tell us of His Messengers and close friends, and describe them so that it is as if we can see them with our own eyes. Yet despite that, many people did not benefit from it and none of the stubborn were guided, so as to protect these verses from those in whom there is nothing good and in whose hearts there is no purity. Rather the only ones who are guided by them are those whom Allah singled out for faith and whose hearts were illuminated and purified by these verses.

Hence He says:

﴾guidance and glad tidings for the believers﴿ that is, it (the Qur’an) guides them to follow the straight path and shows them what they should follow and what they should shun, and it gives them glad tidings of the reward of Allah that results from guidance to this path.

Perhaps it may be said that there are many who claim to believe, so should this be accepted from everyone who claims to be a believer? Or is it essential that there should be evidence? This is true (that there should be evidence), therefore Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) describes the characteristics of the believers:

﴾those who establish prayer﴿ both obligatory and supererogatory; they perform the prayer with all its outward actions, essential parts, conditions and obligatory parts, and even those that are recommended. They also fulfil all the inward aspects of the prayer, which means performing prayer with humility - which is its very essence - bearing in mind that Allah is near and reflecting upon the words and actions of the prayer.

﴾and give zakah﴿ as is obligatory, to those who are entitled to it. ﴾and who believe with certainty in the hereafter﴿ that is, their faith has reached the level of certainty, which refers to complete knowledge that has entered the heart and prompts one to act. Their certainty of the hereafter dictates that they should strive fully for it and warns them against the causes that lead to punishment. This is the basis of all good.

﴾As for those who do not believe in the hereafter﴿ and they deny it and reject the one who was sent to confirm it to them,

﴾We have made their deeds fair-seeming to them, so they wander blindly [in their misguidance]﴿. They are confused and give precedence to that which incurs the wrath of Allah over that which earns His pleasure. They have turned facts on their heads, so they see falsehood as truth and truth as falsehood.

﴾Such are the ones who will have a grievous punishment﴿ that is, the most severe and dreadful punishment

﴾and in the hereafter, it is they who will be the greatest losers﴿ - the loss will be theirs alone, because they will have lost themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection, and they will have lost the faith to which the Messengers called them.

Verily you [O Muhammad] are receiving the Qur'an from One Who is Most Wise, All-Knowing﴿ that is, verily this Qur’an, that is coming down to you and you are receiving it and learning it, is coming down from ﴾One Who is Most Wise﴿ and does what is appropriate, ﴾All-Knowingb - He knows all secrets, and for Him the hidden aspects of things are like the visible aspects. As it is from ﴾One Who is Most Wise, All-Knowing﴿, it is known that all of it is wisdom and is in people’s best interests, for who knows better than He what is in their best interests?

27:7. [Remember] when Moosa said to his family: I see a fire. I will bring you some news from there, or I will bring you a burning brand so that you may warm yourselves.

27:8. But when he came to it, he was called: Blessed is the one who is at the fire and blessed are those who are around it,^{1Moosa was beside the fire, which was the burning bush, and the angels were surrounding him.} and glory be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

27:9. O Moosa, verily I am Allah, the Almighty, the Most Wise.

27:10. Throw down your staff. But when he saw it moving as if it was a snake, he turned and fled without a backward glance. [It was said:] O Moosa, do not be afraid; the Messengers need have no fear in My presence.

27:11. But whoever has done wrong, then after that substitutes good for evil, verily I am Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

27:12. Put your hand into your garment; it will come forth shining white, without harm, as one of nine signs to Pharaoh and his people, for they are indeed a rebellious and wicked people.

27:13. But when Our clear signs came to them, they said: This is obviously magic.

27:14. They rejected the signs, although in their hearts they were certain that they were true, out of wickedness and arrogance. So see what was the fate of those who spread mischief.

That is, remember this beautiful and noble story that speaks of Moosa ibn ‘Imran, and the beginning of revelation to him, when Allah chose him for His message and spoke to him directly. When he had stayed in Madyan for a number of years, he set out with his family from Madyan, heading towards Egypt, but when he was partway there, he lost his way on a cold, dark night. So he said to his family: ﴾fl see a fire﴿ that is, I have spotted a fire from afar ﴾fl will bring you some news from there﴿ of the road ﴾for I will bring you a burning brand so that you may warm yourselves﴿. This indicates that he and his family were lost and very cold.

﴾But when he came to it, he was called: Blessed is the one who is at the fire and blessed are those who are around it﴿ that is, Allah Ole) called him and told him that this was a sacred and blessed place, and part of its blessed nature was that Allah made it the location in which he spoke directly to Moosa, called him, and appointed him as His Messenger.

﴾and glory be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds﴿ and exalted be He far above being thought to have any shortcoming; rather He is perfect in His attributes and deeds.

﴾O Moosa, verily I am Allah, the Almighty, the Most Wise﴿ that is, Allah told him that He is Allah Who alone is deserving of worship, with no partner or associate, as He said elsewhere:

﴾Verily, I am Allah; there is no God but Me. So worship Me [alone] and establish prayer to remember Me.﴿ (Td Hd 20: 14)

﴾the Almighty﴿ Who has subjugated all things and to Whom all created beings submit

﴾the Most Wise﴿ in His command and creation. By His wisdom He sent His slave Moosa ibn Mmran, who Allah knew was qualified to convey His message, receive His revelation and be spoken to directly by Him. Because He is so mighty, you should rely on Him and not feel vulnerable because you are alone and you have many enemies, who are strong, for their forelocks are in the Hand of Allah, and all their movements are under His control.

﴾Throw down your staff﴿ so he threw it down ﴾But when he saw it moving as if it was a snake﴿ - the word translated here as ﴾snake﴿ refers to a male snake that moves quickly ﴾he turned and fled without a backward glance﴿ out of fear of the snake that he saw, which was a normal human reaction. But Allah said to him:

﴾O Moosa, do not be afraid﴿. Elsewhere, Allah tells us that He said:

((.. .come back, and do not be afraid, for you are quite safe.﴿ (al-Qasas 2H: 31)

﴾the Messengers need have no fear in My presence﴿ because all that may cause fear is subject to His will and decree, and is under His control and command. Those whom Allah chooses for His message and revelation should not fear anyone but Allah, especially when they are very close to Him and have been chosen to speak to Him.

﴾But whoever has done wrong, then after that substitutes good for evil﴿ that is, this is the one who may be subject to fear and vulnerability, because of what he has committed of wrongdoing and what he has done of sin. As for the Messengers, what did they have to do with vulnerability and fear? Nevertheless, if a person wrongs himself by disobeying Allah, then he repents and turns to Him, and substitutes good deeds for his bad deeds, and acts of obedience for his acts of disobedience, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. So no one should despair of His mercy and forgiveness, for He forgives all sins and He is more merciful towards His slave than a mother to her child.

4?ui your hand into your garment; it will come forth shining white, without harm﴿ that is, with no leprosy or disease; rather its gleaming whiteness will dazzle the onlookers.

﴾as one of nine signs to Pharaoh and his people﴿ that is, these two signs - the turning of the staff into a moving snake, and the hand coming out of the garment gleaming white - are among nine signs. Go with them and call Pharaoh and his people,

﴾for they are indeed a rebellious and wicked people﴿, who have committed evil by ascribing partners to Allah, rebelling and looking down on the slaves of Allah, and by their arrogant behaviour in the land.

So Moosa went to Pharaoh and his chiefs, and he called them to Allah and showed them the signs.

4But when Our clear signs came to them﴿ which evidently pointed to the truth and could be seen as clearly as the light of day,

﴾they said: This is obviously magic﴿ but they did not stop at merely saying that it was magic; rather they said that it was obviously magic, that was clear to anyone. This is something very strange, when clear signs and bright light are regarded as being the most obvious charlatanry and magic! Can this be anything but the utmost arrogance and most audacious waffle?

﴾They rejected the signs﴿ and disbelieved and denied the signs of Allah

﴾although in their hearts they were certain that they were true﴿ that is, their rejection was not based on doubt or uncertainty; rather they rejected them despite their certain knowledge that they were true ﴾out of wickedness﴿ and unfairness towards the truth of their Lord and towards themselves

﴾fand arrogance﴿ towards the truth and towards other people, and they were too arrogant to submit to the Messengers.

﴾So see what was the fate of those who spread mischief﴿ for it was the worst fate. Allah destroyed them and drowned them in the sea; He disgraced them and caused the weak and oppressed among His slaves to inherit their dwellings.

27:15. We bestowed knowledge upon Dawood and Sulayman, and they both said: Praise be to Allah, Who has favoured us above many of His believing slaves.

27:16. Sulayman succeeded Dawood. He said: O people, we have been taught the speech of birds and we have been given abundantly; this is indeed a manifest favour.

27:17. His armies of jinn, men and birds were assembled before Sulayman, and marched forth in orderly ranks.

In this Qur’an Allah mentions and highlights His blessings towards Dawood and his son Sulayman, whom He blessed with abundant knowledge, as He tells us elsewhere:

﴾And [remember] Dawood and Sulayman, when they gave judgement in the case of the field into which some people’s sheep had strayed at night and eaten the crops. We were witness to their judgement. We guided Sulayman to the right verdict, and to each of them We gave wisdom and knowledge...﴿ (al-Anbiva 21: 78-79)

﴾and they both said﴿, in gratitude to their Lord for His great blessings and bestowing knowledge upon them:

﴾Praise be to Allah, Who has favoured us above many of His believing slaves﴿. So they both praised Allah for making them believers and people who were blessed, for they were among the elite.

Undoubtedly the believers are of four degrees: the righteous, above whom are the martyrs, above whom are the strong and true in faith [siddeeqeen], above whom are the Prophets.

Dawood and Sulayman were among the elite of the Messengers. Even though they are below the ranks of the five Messengers of strong resolve, they are among the noble and virtuous Messengers whom Allah mentions by way of praise and commendation in His Book. So they praised Allah for having attained this status. This is a sign of a person being blessed: that he is grateful to Allah for His bounty, both spiritual and worldly, and he sees all blessings from his Lord, but he does not boast about them and he is not filled with selfadmiration because of them. Rather he sees that this requires him to give a great deal of thanks.

Having praised both of them together, Allah then singles out Sulayman by mentioning some of the exclusive blessings that were bestowed upon him, because Allah had given him great power and dominion, and he was blessed with things that his father did not have. May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon both of them.

﴾Sulayman succeeded Dawood﴿ that is, he inherited his knowledge and prophethood, and he added knowledge of his own to his father’s knowledge. Perhaps he learned from his father what he had of knowledge, in addition to what he already had of knowledge at the time of his father, as we have seen above that Allah says:

﴾We guided Sulayman to the right verdict...﴿ (al-Anbiya'21: 79)

Sulayman said - in gratitude to Allah and speaking of His favours: ﴾0 people, we have been taught the speech of birds﴿. He could understand what the birds said, as when he had a conversation with the hoopoe and the bird spoke back to him, and as he understood the words of the ant to its fellow ants, as we shall see below. This was not granted to anyone except Sulayman

﴾fand we have been given abundantly﴿ that is, Allah has bestowed upon us many blessings and means of power, authority and might that He did not bestow upon any other human. Hence he called upon his Lord and said:

t﴾.. .and grant me a dominion, the like of which will never be granted to anyone after me... ﴿ (Sad38: 35)

So Allah subjugated the devils to him, and they did whatever he wanted of works that others were unable to do. And He subjugated the wind for him; it would cover the distance of a month’s journey in the morning and a month’s journey in the evening (cf 34:12).

﴾this﴿ that Allah bestowed upon us, with which He has favoured us and for which He has singled us out, is indeed a manifest favour﴿ that is, a clear favour. Thus he fully acknowledged the blessings of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى).

﴾His armies of jinn, men and birds were assembled before Sulayman, and marched forth in orderly ranks﴿ that is, his huge and varied troops gathered before him, from among the jinn and devils, and from among the birds. They formed orderly ranks and behaved in a very orderly fashion when they marched and halted, and when theymoved on. He had made preparations for that and was well equipped. All of these troops were under his control and could not disobey him or rebel against him. Allah (te) says elsewhere:

e(...This is Our gift, so give freely or withhold, without [having to render] account. ﴿ (Sad 38: 39)

- that is, give without measure. So he set out with this huge army on one of his journeys.

27:18. And when they came to the valley of the ants, one ant said: O ants, enter your dwellings lest Sulayman and his armies crush you unwittingly.

27:19. Sulayman smiled, amused at the ant's words, and he said: O my Lord, inspire me to be constantly grateful for Your blessings that You have bestowed upon me and my parents, and to do righteous deeds with which You will be pleased, and include me, by Your mercy, among Your righteous slaves.

﴾And when they came to the valley of the ants, one ant said﴿, alerting its fellow ants:

﴾0 ants, enter your dwellings lest Sulayman and his armies crush you unwittingly:). This ant advised the other ants and made them hear, either by itself, in which case Allah gave the other ants extraordinary powers of hearing, because the alarm that was addressed to all the ants that filled the valley was raised by only one ant - and this would besomething most amazing; or that ant told the others around it, and the news was transmitted from one to another until it had reached them all, telling them to be careful and how to take precautions, which was by entering their dwellings.

That ant told them who Sulayman and his troops were and how great his authority was, and apologised to them on behalf of Sulayman and his troops, saying: If they crush you, it is not deliberate on their part and they would not realise what happened. Sulayman heard what the ant said, so he ﴾smiled, amused at the ant’s words﴿. He was amazed by its eloquence and advice, and how well-spoken it was. This is how the Prophets (peace be upon them all) were: they had perfect etiquette and showed amazement when appropriate, but they did not go beyond smiling. In the case of the Messenger (ﷺ), all his laughter was smiling. Laughing out loud is indicative of a lack of dignity and bad manners, but not smiling and not being amazed by what is amazing is indicative of a rough manner and hardheartedness. The Messengers were far above such attitudes.

Sulayman said, in gratitude to Allah Who had caused him to attain this level of honour:

﴾fO my Lord, inspire me﴿) and enable me ﴾to be constantly grateful for Your blessings that You have bestowed upon me and my parents﴿ for the blessing to the parents is a blessing to the child. So he asked his Lord to enable him to be constantly grateful for His blessings both spiritual and worldly, to him and to his parents.

C“(and to do righteous deeds with which You will be pleased﴿ that is, and enable me to do righteous deeds with which You will be pleased because they are in accordance with Your commands and are done sincerely, free from anything that may undermine them or spoil them, ﴾and include me, by Your mercy among Your righteous slaves)﴿ and admit me to paradise, for paradise is the lot of the righteous of all levels. This is a story that Allah tells us of how Sulayman reacted when he heard what the ant said.

Then He mentions another story, describing how Sulayman talked to the birds:

27:20. He checked on the birds and said: Why do I not see the hoopoe? Or is he among the absent?

27:21. I will surely punish him severely, or slaughter him, unless he brings me a valid excuse.

s(He checked on the birds﴿ - this is indicative of his perfect resolve and control, and his good way of managing his troops, and shows how he managed affairs both small and great, by himself, to the extent that he did not neglect this matter, which was checking on the birds and making sure whether they were all present or any of them were missing. This is what is highlighted by this verse. There is nothing valid in the claim of those who say that he checked on the birds to find out where the hoopoe was so that he could tell him whether water was near or far, because it was claimed that the hoopoe could see water beneath a thick layer of earth. There is no evidence to support this view; rather the rational and textual evidence indicates that this notion is false.

With regard to rational evidence, it is known on the basis of custom and experience that these animals were all present and none of them had that extraordinary vision that would enable it to see water beneath a thick layer of earth. If that had been the case, Allah would have mentioned it, because it would have been one of the greatest signs.

As for the textual evidence, if this is what had been meant, the text would have said: “He looked for the hoopoe so that he could search for water, then when he did not find him, he said what he said” or, “He looked for the hoopoe” or, “He searched for him” or similar phrases. Rather he checked on the birds to see which were present and which were absent, and whether they were staying in the positions he had appointed for them. Moreover, Sulayman (عليه السلام) was not in desperate need of water, such that he needed the skill of the hoopoe, because he had the devils and strong jinn at his disposal, who could have dug up water for him, no matter how deep it was. And Allah had subjugated the wind to him; it would cover the distance of a month’s journey in the morning and a month’s journey in the evening (cf 34:12). So why would he need the hoopoe?

These interpretations that are found in some commentaries and are widely narrated and widely known, were transmitted verbatim from the views of the Children of Israel, but those who narrated them did not realise that they are contrary to the sound meanings. They continued to be passed down from earlier narrators to later ones, to the point that they were thought to be true, and thus these corrupt views were included in some tafaseer (commentaries on Qur’an).

But those who are smart and intelligent realise that this clear Arabic Qur’an, in which Allah addresses all of humankind, knowledgeable and ignorant alike, instructs them to reflect upon its meanings and understand them according to the Arabic language which is well understood, of which true Arabs are not ignorant. So if there are views narrated from anyone other than the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), they are to be understood in light of that principle; if they are in harmony with it, then they may be accepted, because the wording of the text indicates that. But if both the wording and the meaning - or one of them - differ from that, then it is to be rejected and deemed false, because we have the well-known original reference text which says something to the contrary, and this is a conclusion that may be reached based on the meaning and indication of the text.

In conclusion, the fact that Sulayman (عليه السلام) checked on the birds and noticed that the hoopoe was absent indicates that he was in full control and was skilled in managing his dominion himself, and he was very smart and alert, as he noticed that this small bird was absent.

﴾fand said: Why do I not see the hoopoe? Or is he among the absent?﴿ that is, is the fact that I cannot see him because he is not visible, as he is hidden among these many communities, or is it because he is absent without permission and not on my instructions?

Then he got angry with him and threatened him, saying: ﴾I will surely punish him severely﴿, but not to the point of killing,

﴾for slaughter him, unless he brings me a valid excuse﴿ that is, a clear reason for his absence. This is indicative of his perfect piety and fairness; he did not simply swear to punish or kill him, because that could only be in the case of his having committed a sin or wrongdoing. But there could have been a clear excuse for his absence. Therefore he made this exception, because of his piety and smartness.

JLi S\ X 1

27:22. (Tl-TT

Before long the hoopoe came and said: I have learned about something of which you have no knowledge; I bring you reliable news from Saba’.

“ Saba': the land of Sheba in Yemen.

27:23. I found a woman reigning over them, who has been granted everything [that a ruler is expected to have], and she has a splendid throne.

27:24. I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of Allah. The Shaytan has made their deeds fair-seeming to them and has barred them from the right path, so they are not guided.

27:25. Rather they should worship Allah, Who brings forth what is hidden in the heavens and the earth,^{1((What is hidden in the heavens and the earth)* for example, rain in the heavens and the seeds that produce vegetation in the earth.} and Who knows what you conceal and what you disclose.

27:26. Allah: there is no god but He, Lord of the magnificent Throne.

﴾Before long the hoopoe came﴿ this is indicative of the awe in which Sulayman was held by his troops, and how great his control over them was. Even though this hoopoe who had failed to attend had a good excuse, he could not stay away for long.

﴾and said﴿ to Sulayman: ﴾fl have learned about something of which you have no knowledge﴿ that is, I have knowledge that you do not have, despite your vast knowledge and high level therein.

﴾I bring you reliable news﴿ that is, certain news

﴾from Saba’﴿ this is the name of a well-known tribe in Yemen.

Then he explained what that news was, and said:

I found a woman reigning over them﴿ namely reigning over the tribe of Saba’, and she is a woman ^fwho has been granted everything [that a ruler is expected to have]﴿ that is, everything that kings or rulers usually have of wealth, weapons, troops, fortresses, citadels and so on sfand she has a splendid throne﴿ on which she sits; it is huge and magnificent. The size of the throne is indicative of great dominion and power, and of the ruler having a large number of advisers.

df I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of Allah﴿ that is, they were polytheists who worshipped the sun﴾The Shaytan has made their deeds fair-seeming to them﴿ so they thought that what they were following was the truth ﴾fso they are not guided'﴿ because if a person thinks that what he is following is the truth, there is not much hope of him being guided until he changes his beliefs.

Then he said: ﴾Rather they should worship Allah, Who brings forth what is hidden in the heavens and the earth﴿ that is. He knows what is hidden and secret in all regions of the heavens and of the earth, including the tiniest creatures, seeds, and what is hidden in people’s hearts. He brings forth what is hidden on earth and in heaven by sending the rain and causing plants to grow, and He will bring forth what is hidden in the earth when the Trumpet is blown and the dead emerge from the earth so that He may requite them for their deeds. And He ﴾knows what you conceal and what you disclose﴿.

Allah: there is no god but He﴿ that is, no one should worship, turn to, humble himself before or love any but Him, for He is the only one to whom devotion should be shown, because of what He has of perfect attributes and because of the blessings He bestows, which make that pure devotion a must.

﴾Lord of the magnificent Throne﴿ which is the roof of creation, as vast as the earth and the heavens. The Sovereign, Who is possessed of great authority and might, is the One to Whom we should humble ourselves, prostrate and bow. The hoopoe was spared punishment when he delivered this important news, and Sulayman was amazed at how it had been hidden from him.

Because of his wisdom and mature thinking, he wanted to verify the news:

27:27. Sulayman said: We shall see whether you are telling the truth or you are a liar.

27:28. Take this letter of mine and deliver it to them. Then withdraw from them and observe how they respond.

﴾Sulayman said: We shall see whether you are telling the truth or you are a liar. Take this letter of mine﴿ - the text of which we shall see below

﴾and deliver it to them. Then withdraw from them﴿ that is, move away from them, but not too far

﴾and observe how they respond﴿ to you.

27:29. She said: O chiefs, an honourable letter has been delivered to me.

27:30. It is from Sulayman, and it starts: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

27:31. Do not be arrogant towards me, but come to me in submission.

So the hoopoe took the letter and delivered it to them, and she said to her people:

﴾an honourable letter has been delivered to me﴿ that is, a letter of great importance, from one of the greatest kings of the earth.

Then she highlighted the content of the letter, saying:

﴾It is from Sulayman, and it starts: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Do not be arrogant towards me, but come to me in submission﴿ that is, do not try to prove your superiorityover me; rather submit to my authority and obey my commands, and come to me in submission.

This is very concise, but at the same time it is perfectly clear, because it includes forbidding them to show arrogance towards him or remain as they are, as well as instructions to submit to his authority, obey him, come to him and accept his call to submit. This shows that it is encouraged to begin one’s letters by quoting the Basmalah (“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful”) in full and to include the name of the sender in the first line of the letter.

27:32. She said: O chiefs, advise me regarding this matter with which I am now faced, for I make no decision without your consent.

27:33. They said: We are powerful and great warriors, but you are in command. Consider, then, what orders you will give.

27:34. She said: Kings, when they invade a city, ravage it and humiliate its prominent leaders. That is what they always do.

27:35. But I shall send him a gift, then see with what response the envoys will return.

As a sign of her resolve and wisdom, she gathered together the senior and prominent figures of her kingdom and said:

chiefs, advise me regarding this matter with which I am now faced﴿ that is, tell me how we should respond. Should we obey him and submit, or what should we do?﴾for I make no decision without your consent﴿ that is, I do not make any decision without consulting you.

Ca(They said: We are powerful and great warriors﴿ that is, it you reject his call and do not obey him, we are strong and able to fight. It seems that they were inclined towards this view which, if they had followed it, would have led to their destruction. But they did not settle on that; rather they said:

﴾but you are in command﴿ that is, it is your decision, because they were aware of her mature thinking and resolve, and her sincerity towards them

﴾Consider, then﴿ that is, think the matter over and decide ﴾what orders you will give﴿.

She said to them, convinced by what they said and explaining the bad consequences of fighting:

﴾Kings, when they invade a city, ravage it﴿ killing, taking prisoners, plundering its wealth and destroying its buildings ﴾and humiliate its prominent leaders﴿ that is, they make the leaders and noblest people among the lowest. In other words, fighting is not a good idea. Moreover, I am not going to submit before finding out more and sending someone to learn about his situation, and then we will base our decision on that information.

Then she said: ﴾But I shall send him a gift, then see with what response the envoys will return﴿ from him: will he persist in what he says, or will he be swayed by the gift and change his mind? And how is his situation and that of his troops?

27:36. When [the envoy] came to Sulayman, he said: Do you seek to appease me with gifts? What Allah has given me is better than what He has given you. Rather it is you who take pleasure in gifts.

27:37. Go back to them [with your gift]. We will surely come to them with forces that they cannot resist. We will surely expel them therefrom, abased and humiliated.

So she sent a gift to him with envoys from among the wise men of her people.

﴾When [the envoy] came to Sulayman﴿ that is, when the envoys came to him with the gift, he said, denouncing them and expressing anger for their failing to respond and submit to him:

﴾Do you seek to appease me with gifts? What Allah has given me is better than what He has given you﴿. Your gift does not mean much to me, and I do not take pleasure in it, for Allah has sufficed me and bestowed many blessings upon me.

﴾Rather it is you who take pleasure in gifts﴿ because of your love for this world and because you have little in your possession compared to what Allah has given me.

Then he gave instructions to the envoy without putting it in writing, because of his mature thinking and because he was sure that he would transmit his words exactly. He said:

﴾Go back to them [with your gift]. We will surely come to them with forces that they cannot resist. We will surely expel them therefrom, abased and humiliated﴿. So the envoy went back to them and conveyed to them what Sulayman had said, and they made preparations to go to Sulayman.

27:38. He said [to his own court]: O chiefs, which of you can bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?

27:39. A strong jinni said: I will bring it to you before you rise from your seat. I am surely strong enough and may be trusted.

27:40. One who had knowledge of the scripture said: I will bring it to you in the twinkling of an eye. Then when he saw it set before him, Sulayman said: This is a favour from my Lord, to test whether I will be grateful or ungrateful. Whoever is grateful, his gratitude is to his own benefit, and whoever is ungrateful, then surely Allah is self-sufficient, most generous.

27:41. He said: Disguise her throne for her; let us see whether she will discover the truth or she will not recognise it.

Sulayman knew that they would inevitably come to him, so he said to the jinn and humans who were present with him: ﴾which of you can bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?﴿ That is, so that it will be permissible for me to dispose of it before they become Muslim, after which their wealth will not be lawful for me.

﴾A strong jinni said﴿ - the word translated here as ﴾strong jinni)﴿ refers to one who is strong and very active and energetic.

﴾I will bring it to you before you rise from your seat. I am surely strong enough and may be trusted﴿. What appears to be the case is that at that time Sulayman was in ash-Sham (Greater Syria), so between him and Saba’ there was a distance of four months’ travel, two months outward bound and two months on the return journey. Butdespite that, this strong jinni said: I commit myself to bring it, despite its great size and heavy weight, and despite the distance, before you can rise from your seat. Usually lengthy meetings take up most of the morning, approximately one third of the day; this is the maximum length, although they may be shorter or longer than that.

One of the subjects of this great king had all this power, but there was another who was able to surpass him.

﴾One who had knowledge of the scripture said﴿: he was a righteous and knowledgeable man who was with Sulayman; his name was Asif ibn Barkhiya. He knew the greatest name of Allah which, if He is called upon by it He will respond, and if He is asked by it. He will give. 4} will bring it to you in the twinkling of an eye﴿ by calling upon Allah by that name to bring it instantly. He called upon Allah and it was brought. And Allah knows best whether this is what is meant (that he knew the greatest name of Allah) or if he had some knowledge of the Book by means of which he was able to bring something from afar and achieve something that is difficult to achieve.

﴾Then when hep namely Sulayman ﴾saw it set before him﴿, he praised Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) for granting him this power and making things easy for him, and he said: ﴾This is a favour from my Lord, to test whether I will be grateful or ungrateful﴿ that is, it is a test or trial for me. He was not deceived by his dominion, authority and power, as usually happens with ignorant kings; rather he knew that this was a test from his Lord, and he was afraid that he would not thank Him for this blessing.

Then he explained that gratitude does not benefit Allah; rather it benefits the one who shows gratitude, as he said:

﴾Whoever is grateful, his gratitude is to his own benefit, and whoever is ungrateful, then surely Allah is self-sufficient, most generous﴿ - He is self-sufficient and has no need of that person’s deeds, and He is generous and bountiful, bestowing blessings upon both the grateful and the ungrateful, but gratitude for blessings will bring more blessings, whereas ingratitude will lead to a decrease in blessings.

Then Sulayman said to those who were with him: ﴾Disguise her throne for her﴿ that is, change it by adding to it or taking away from it, and so on

﴾let us see﴿ and test her smartness

﴾whether she will discover the truth﴿ and thus prove that she is intelligent and alert, and deserves to be a queen ﴾or she will not recognise it﴿.

27:42. So when she arrived, she was asked: Is your throne like this? She said: It is as if it were the same. We had come to know the truth before this [miracle] and we have already submitted [to Allah, in Islam].

27:43. That which she used to worship besides Allah had hindered her [from declaring her faith openly], for she came from a disbelieving people.

﴾So when she arrived﴿-) and came to Sulayman, he showed her her throne; to the best of her knowledge, she had last seen it in her homeland.

﴾she was asked: Is your throne like this?﴿. That is, we know that you have a splendid throne; is it like this throne that we have brought to show you?

﴾She said: It is as if it were the same﴿. This highlights her intelligence and smartness, because she did not say “it is the same”, because there were some changes and alterations to it, but she did not deny it either, because she recognised it. So she uttered some vague words thatcould mean either thing and would be true in either case. Sulayman was impressed at how she figured out the reality and how mature her thinking was.

What was meant by her words is: We were given knowledge about the dominion and authority of Sulayman, and his great power, before this incident (the bringing of her throne), in which we have seen his ability to bring the throne from a great distance. So we submit to him and we have come submitting to his authority.

﴾That which she used to worship besides Allah had hindered her [from declaring her faith openly]﴿ that is, from becoming Muslim, otherwise she had the smartness and intelligence to recognise the truth and distinguish it from falsehood. But false beliefs take away insight from the heart.

﴾for she came from a disbelieving people﴿ so she continued to follow their religion, because for one person to have a different religion when he can see that those around him are misguided and wrong, is something very rare. Therefore it is not strange that she had remained a disbeliever until that point.

Later on, Sulayman wanted to show her his dazzling power and might, so he told her to enter the palace, which was in a high and vast place, and was made of glass, under which rivers flowed.

27:44. It was said to her: Enter the palace.^{1The entire palace was made of glass, with water flowing beneath its floors.} But when she saw it, she thought that its [floor] was a pool of water, and she [lifted herhem], baring her legs. He said: This is a palace made of smooth glass. She said: O my Lord, verily I have wronged myself [by previously worshipping the sun] and I submit [in Islam] with Sulayman to the Lord of the worlds.

﴾flt was said to her: Enter the palace. But when she saw it, she thought that its [floor] was a pool of water﴿ because the glass was transparent, and the water could be seen beneath it, as if it was flowing by itself with nothing in between.

﴾fand she [lifted her hem], baring her legs﴿ in order to wade into the water. This was a further example of her smartness and etiquette, for she did not refrain from entering the place that she had been instructed to enter, because she knew that she had only been invited by way of honour, and that Sulayman’s dominion, and the system thereof, was built on the basis of wisdom. She did not have the slightest suspicion in her heart of any harm that could result from stepping into it, after all that she had seen.

When she was about to wade into it, it was said to her: ﴾This is a palace made of smooth glass﴿, so there is no need for you to bare your legs. At that point, having come to Sulayman and seen what she had seen, she realised that he was indeed a Prophet and Messenger, so she repented and gave up her disbelief.

﴾She said: O my Lord, verily I have wronged myself [by previously worshipping the sun] and I submit [in Islam] with Sulayman to the Lord of the worlds﴿.

This is what Allah has told us about the story of the Queen of Saba’ and what happened between her and Sulayman. All other details that are connected to this story, and the stories from Jewish sources, have nothing to do with the interpretation of the word of Allah; they come under the heading of things that one cannot be certain of, because there is no proof that it is narrated from the Prophet (ﷺ). Most, if not all, of the reports of this nature are not narrated from him, so we shouldbe diligent and turn away from these reports, and not introduce them into commentaries on the Qur’an. And Allah knows best.

27:45. We sent to Thamood their brother Salih, saying: Worship Allah. Then they divided into two parties [believers and disbelievers] disputing with each other.

27:46. He said: O my people, why do you seek to hasten on the evil [divine punishment] rather than the good [divine mercy]? Why do you not seek forgiveness from Allah, so that you may be shown mercy?

27:47. They said: We regard you and those who are with you as an evil omen. He said: Your ill fortune is only from Allah [because of your disbelief]; rather you are people who are being tested.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us that He sent to Thamood, the well-known tribe, their brother in lineage Salih, and he instructed them to worship Allah alone and to give up worshipping the idols and rivals.

﴾Then they divided into two parties [believers and disbelievers] disputing with each others some of them were believers and some were disbelievers, and the latter were the majority.

﴾He said: O my people, why do you seek to hasten on the evil [divine punishment] rather than the good [divine mercy]?j﴿ That is, why do you hasten to do evil deeds and why are you so keen to do them, rather than doing good deeds by means of which your affairs.both spiritual and worldly, will be put right? In fact there is no reason at all for you to commit evil deeds.

﴾Why do you not seek forgiveness from Allah﴿ by repenting from your polytheism and sins, and praying to Him to forgive you ﴾so that you may be shown mercy﴿ for the mercy of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) is close to the doers of good, and the one who repents from sin is one of those who do good.

﴾They said﴿ to their Prophet Salih, rejecting and objecting to the message:

﴾We regard you and those who are with you as an evil omen)﴿ - they claimed that they did not see any sign of good in Salih’s face and that he and the believers with him had become a cause of some harm that befell their worldly interests. So Ṣalih said to them:

﴾Your ill fortune is only from Allah [because of your disbelief]﴿ that is, it only befell you because of your sins

﴾rather you are people who are being tested﴿ with ease and hardship, good and bad, to see whether you will give up sin and repent, or not. Thus they persisted in rejecting their Prophet and this is how they responded to him.

27:48. There were in the city nine men who spread mischief in the land and never did anything good.

27:49. They said: Let us swear to one another by Allah that we will surely attack him and his family at night, then we will say to his next of kin that we did not witness the slaughter of his people, and we are indeed telling the truth.

27:50. They plotted and planned, and We also planned, but they were not aware of it.

27:51. So see what was the outcome of their plot: We destroyed them and their entire nation.

27:52. Now their houses lie desolate, because of their wrongdoing. Verily in that is a sign for people who have knowledge.

27:53. And We saved those who believed and feared Allah.

﴾There were in the city﴿ in which Salih and most of his people lived sfnine men who spread mischief in the land and never did anything good﴿ that is, their aim and goal was to spread mischief in the land, and they had no aim of doing good; rather they took a hostile stance against Salih, reviling his religion and calling their people to do likewise, as Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us elsewhere that Salih said:

﴾So fear Allah, and obey me, and do not obey the bidding of the transgressors, those who spread mischief in the land and do no good

This terrible state of affairs continued until, in their enmity, they swore amongst themselves, each one swearing to the other, ﴾we will surely attack him and his family at night﴿ that is, we will come to him and his family at night, and we will surely kill them, ﴾then we will say to his next of kin﴿ if they come after us and claim that we killed him, we will deny it and will say that we did not do it, and we will swear an oath to the effect that ﴾we are indeed telling the truth﴿, and they unanimously agreed to that.

c﴾They plotted and planned﴿ and they resolved to kill Salih and his family, keeping the plot secret even from their own people, for fear of his next of kin sfand We also planned﴿ to support Our Prophet Salih (عليه السلام) make things easy for him and destroy his people who disbelieved ﴾but they were not aware of it﴿.

﴾So see what was the outcome of their plot﴿ - did they achieve their goal by means of that plot, or did they fail to do so? Hence Allah says:

﴾We destroyed them and their entire nation﴿. We destroyed them and eradicated them utterly. The blast came upon them as a punishment, and every last one of them was destroyed.

﴾Now their houses lie desolate﴿ - their roofs fell in on their walls, and they are devoid of their inhabitants

﴾because of their wrongdoing﴿ that is, these are the consequences of their wrongdoing, ascription of partners to Allah and transgression in the land.

﴾Verily in that is a sign for people who have knowledge﴿ of the facts and they reflect upon how Allah dealt with His close friends and His enemies, thus they learn lessons from that and know that the outcome of wrongdoing is destruction and doom, whereas the outcome of faith and justice is salvation and triumph.

Hence Allah says: ﴾And We saved those who believed and feared Allah﴿ that is. We saved those who believed in Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and the divine decree, both good and bad, and they avoided ascribing partners to Allah and committing sin, and they obeyed Allah and His Messenger.

27:54. And [remember] when Loot said to his people: Do you commit this shameful deed, knowing [that it is shameful]?

27:55. Do you approach men with lust instead of women? Verily you are ignorant people!

sf And [remember] when Loot said to his people: Do you commit this shameful deed, knowing [that it is shameful]?﴿ That is, remember Our slave and Messenger Loot and the story of his virtue, when he said to his people, calling them to Allah and advising them:

﴾Do you commit this shameful deed﴿ that is, this repulsive deed that is abhorrent to sound minds and sound human nature, and it is regarded as abhorrent according to the teachings of all religions ﴾knowing [that it is shameful]﴿, yet you stubbornly persist in that, wrongfully on your part and out of audacity towards Allah.

Then he explained what this shameful deed was: Do you approach men with lust instead of women?﴿ That is, how has it come to this, that your desire is for men and their rear ends which are places of excrement and dirt, and you forsake that which Allah has created for you of wives and the proper place for intimacy, for which people are created with a natural inclination. But you have turned things upside down, and you think of evil as good and good as evil.

﴾Verily you are ignorant people﴿ who overstep the limits set by Allah and dare to transgress His sacred limits.

27:56. But the only response his people gave was to say: Drive the family of Loot out of your city, for they are indeed people who want to keep thems^ves clean and pure!

27:57. So We saved him and his family, except his wife; We decreed that she should be one of those who stayed behind.

27:58. And We let loose upon them a shower [of stones]. And evil was the shower that fell upon those who had been warned [but did not pay heed].

﴾But the only response his people gave﴿ - their reaction was not acceptance and they were not deterred, nor did they pay heed; rather their response was to oppose him, go against him and threaten their Prophet and Messenger, who was sincere and honest, with banishment from his homeland and expulsion from his city. The only response his people gave ﴾was to say: Drive the family of Loot out of your city ip.

It is as if it was said: Why are you angry with them, and what is their fault which dictates that they should be driven out? And they said: ﴾for they are indeed people who want to keep themselves clean and pure﴿. That is, they want to keep away from homosexuality and sodomy. May Allah curse them, for they regarded the best of good deeds as being the same as the worst and most abhorrent of evil deeds, and they did not stop at disobeying their Prophet when he exhorted them; rather they went as far as deciding to expel him and banish him. The punishment is implied in their last statement, for they are the people who said:

... Drive them out of your city, for they are indeed people who want to keep themselves clean and purely (al-A 'rdf?: 82)

What this implies is: “You are immersing yourselves in evil and filth, which dictates that the punishment will befall your city, and that those who leave it will be saved.”

Hence Allah says: ﴾So We saved him and his family, except his wife; We decreed that she should be one of those who stayed behind﴿. That was when the angels came to him in the form of human guests, and his people heard about them, so they came to him, intending ill towards them, and he shut the door so that they could not get in, and he was very distressed. Then the angels told him what was really happening, and that they had come to save him and bring him out from their midst; they intended to destroy them, and the appointed time for their destruction was dawn. They instructed Loot to leave by night with his family, except his wife, for she would suffer the same fate as the people. So he left with his family at night, and they were saved. The punishment came upon the people at dawn; Allah turned their houses upside down on them, and sent upon them a shower of stones of baked clay, one after another, specifically marked, and kept

Hence Allah says here: dAnd We let loose upon them a shower [of stones]. And evil was the shower that fell upon those who had been warned [but did not pay heed]﴿ that is, evil was the shower that rained down upon them, and how terrible was the punishment, because they had been warned but they were not deterred. Therefore Allah sent upon them this severe punishment.

27:59. Say: Praise be to Allah and peace be upon His slaves whom He has chosen.^{1This refers to the Prophets and their followers.} Is Allah better, or those they ascribe as partners to Him?

27:60. Is not He [better] Who created the heavens and the earth, and sends down for you water from the sky, with which We cause to grow gardens of delightful beauty? It is not in your power to cause the trees thereof to grow. Can there be another god besides Allah? But they are people who ascribe equals [to Him].

27:61. Is not He [better] Who has made the earth a stable place to live in, caused rivers to flow through it, placed therein mountains standing firm, and placed a barrier between two flowing bodies of water? Can there be another god besides Allah? But most of them have no knowledge.

27:62. Is not He [better] Who responds to the desperate one when he calls on Him and relieves his suffering, and Who has made you successive generations on earth? Can there be another god besides Allah? Little is it that you pay heed!

27:63. Is not He [better] Who guides you through the depths of darkness on land and sea, and Who sends forth the winds as harbingers of His mercy? Can there be another god besides Allah? Exalted be Allah far above the partners they ascribe to Him.

27:64. Is not He [better] Who originates creation then repeats it, and Who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? Can therebe another god besides Allah? Say: Produce your evidence if you are telling the truth.

﴾Say: Praise be to Allah﴿ Who is deserving of perfect praise because of the perfect nature of His attributes and the beautiful nature of His favours, gifts, justice and wisdom in punishing the disbelievers and wrongdoers. And send salutations of peace upon His slaves whom He chose and selected above the worlds, namely the Prophets and Messengers, those whom Allah has chosen from among all people. That is so as to raise their renown and highlight their high status and their being free of evil and abominations, and because what they said concerning their Lord was free of shortcomings and faults.

﴾ls Allah better, or those they ascribe as partners to Him?﴿ This is a question, the answer to which is already established and well known. In other words, is Allah, the Almighty Lord Who is perfect in His attributes and bountiful towards all of His creation, better - or the idols and images that they worship alongside Him, which are imperfect in all aspects, cannot bring benefit or ward off harm, and cannot do the slightest good for their own selves or for those who worship them? Verily Allah is better than those they ascribe as partners to Him.

Then Allah tells us the details through which it may be known and become clear that He is the only God Who is deserving of worship, and that worship of Him is the truth whereas worship of anything else other than Him is falsehood:

﴾Is not He [better] Who created the heavens and the earth, and sends down for you water from the sky, with which We cause to grow gardens of delightful beauty? It is not in your power to cause the trees thereof to grow. Can there be another god besides Allah? But they are people who ascribe equals [to Him]﴿ that is. Who created the heavens and all that is in them of the sun, moon, stars, and angels? Who created the earth and all that is in it of mountains, seas, rivers, trees and so on?

﴾and sends down for you﴿ that is, for your sake ﴾water from the sky, with which We cause to grow gardens of delightful beauty﴿ that is, they are beautiful to look at, with their many and varied trees, and they bear beautiful fruit.

﴾it is not in your power to cause the trees thereof to grow﴿ that is, were it not for the blessing that Allah bestows upon you by sending down the rain.

﴾Can there be another god besides Allah﴿ who does these things, such that he should be worshipped alongside Him and associated with Him?

﴾But they are people who ascribe equals [to Him]﴿ that is, they regard others as equal to Him even though they know that He alone is the Creator of the upper and lower realms, and is the One Who sends down provision.

﴾Is not He [better] Who has made the earth a stable place to live in, caused rivers to flow through it, placed therein mountains standing firm, and placed a barrier between two flowing bodies of water? Can there be another god besides Allah? But most of them have no knowledge﴿. That is, are the idols and images that are lacking in all aspects, that do not do anything or grant provision or anything good, better - or Allah Who ﴾has made the earth a stable place to live in﴿ so that people are able to settle and live on it, cultivate it and build on it, and come and go freely

(’(caused rivers to flow through it﴿ that is. He has caused rivers to flow throughout the earth, from which people benefit in their agriculture, growing trees, drinking their water and giving it to their flocks ﴾placed therein mountains standing firm﴿ that is, mountains that make the earth steady, so that it does not shake, and they act as pegs for it so that it does not become unstable

﴾and placed a barrier between two flowing bodies of water﴿ the salty water and the fresh water; He has placed a barrier between them to prevent the two types of water mixing, which would cause the benefits of each to be lost. Rather He has created a barrier of earth betweenthem, and has created channels for the rivers through the earth, far away from the seas. Thus they yield their benefits.

﴾Can there be another god besides Allah﴿ who does these things, such that he should be worshipped alongside Him and associated with Him? ﴾But most of them have no knowledge﴿, so they ascribe partners to Allah in imitation of their leaders. Otherwise, if they had true knowledge, they would not associate anything with Him.

﴾Is not He [better] Who responds to the desperate one when he calls on Him and relieves his suffering, and Who has made you successive generations on earth? Can there be another god besides Allah? Little is it that you pay heed!﴿

That is, does anyone answer the desperate one who is beset by distress, faces difficulty in attaining what he seeks and is desperate to be saved from what he is going through, except Allah alone? Who can relieve calamity, trouble and suffering except Allah alone? Who makes you successive generations in the earth, enables you to make use of the earth, grants you provision and bestows blessings upon you, so that you succeed those who came before you, as He will cause you to die and will bring other people after you? Can there be any god besides Allah who does these things?

No one does any of that alongside Allah, even by your admission, O polytheists. Hence, when harm befell them, they would call upon Allah, professing sincere devotion to Him alone, because they know that He alone is able to ward off that harm and remove it.

﴾Little is it that you pay heed﴿ that is, little is it that you remember and reflect upon matters by which, if you reflected on them and paid heed to them, you would be guided. But heedlessness has overwhelmed you and you turn away, therefore you never refrained from evil and you were not guided.

sf Is not He [better] Who guides you through the depths of darkness on land and sea, and Who sends forth the winds as harbingers of His mercy? Can there be another god besides Allah? Exalted be Allah farabove the partners they ascribe to Him﴿ that is. Who is it that guides you when you are in the depths of darkness on land or sea, when there is no guide, no visible landmark and no means of deliverance except H is guiding you, making the route easy for you and making available to you the means by which you are guided?

sfand Who sends forth the winds as harbingers of His mercy ﴿ that is, He sends the winds ahead of the rain; He sends the winds to stir up the clouds, then put them together, then collect them, then fecundate them, then the rain comes down. So the people feel cheered by the wind before the rain comes down.

﴾Can there be another god besides Allah﴿ who did that? Or is it He alone Who does that? Why do you ascribe others as partners to Him, and worship them instead of Him?

﴾Exalted be Allah far above the partners they ascribe to Him﴿ for He is far greater, far holier and far above their ascription of partners to Him and their regarding others as equal to Him.

cfls not He [better] Who originates creation then repeats it, and Who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? Can there be another god besides Allah? Say: Produce your evidence if you are telling the truth﴿ that is, Who is it that initiates and originates creation, and will repeat creation on the Day of Resurrection? Who provides for you from the heavens and the earth by means of rain and vegetation? ﴾Can there be another god besides Allah﴿ who does that or is able to do that?

﴾Say: Produce your evidence﴿ that is, your proof for what you say ﴾if you are telling the truth﴿, otherwise, assuming that you say that the idols have a share in all of that, this is a mere claim, so bring evidence to confirm it; if you cannot, then you should realise that you are people of falsehood, with no evidence or proof. So you should accept the certain proof and definite evidence which indicates that Allah is the only One Who does all of these things, and He is the only One Who deserves that all types of worship should be devoted to Him alone.

27:65. Say: No one in the heavens or on earth knows the unseen except Allah, and they do not know when they will be resurrected.

27:66. Rather their knowledge of the hereafter is confused; nay, they are in doubt about it; nay, they are blind to it.

27:67. Those who disbelieve say: What! When we have become dust, we and our forefathers, will we be brought forth [alive, from our graves]?

27:68. We and our forefathers have been promised this before; it is nothing but tales of the ancients.

Here Allah te) tells us that He alone knows the unseen in the heavens and on earth. This is like the verses in which He says:

With Him are the keys of the unseen; no one knows them but He. He knows all that is in the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but He knows it; there is no grain in the darkest bowels of the earth, nor anything fresh or dry, but it is [inscribed] in a clear record.﴿ (al-Anam 6: 59)

- and:

﴾Verily, Allah alone has knowledge of the Hour; it is He Who sends down rain and He knows what every womb contains. No soul knows what it will do on the morrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.﴿ (Luqman 31: 34)

These matters of the unseen and the like are known only to Allah; no angel who is near to Allah and no Prophet who was sent has anyknowledge of them. As He is the only One Who has knowledge of that, and Whose knowledge encompasses all that is in people’s hearts and all that is hidden and subtle, so He is the only One Who should be worshipped.

Then Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us about the lack of knowledge of those who denied the hereafter, moving from one thing to something that is more unknown than it.

﴾and they do not know when they will be resurrected﴿ that is, when they will be raised up and brought forth from their graves, therefore they have not prepared for it.

﴾Rather their knowledge of the hereafter is confused﴿ that is, their knowledge is weak and little, never certain, for they have no knowledge that is clear in their minds. This is the lowest level of knowledge, when it is weak and vague. Indeed they have no knowledge, either strong or weak; rather ﴾they are in doubt about it﴿ - namely the hereafter. It never occurs to them that it may happen, for it is not even a possibility in their minds; rather they deny it and think it unlikely. Hence Allah says:

﴾Those who disbelieve say: What! When we have become dust, we and our forefathers, will we be brought forth [alive, from our graves]?﴿ That is, this is far-fetched and impossible. They compared the power of the One Who is perfect in might with their own weak power.

﴾We and our forefathers have been promised this﴿ that is, the hereafter ﴾before﴿, and it did not come to us, and we never saw anything of it.

﴾it is nothing but tales of the ancients﴿ that is, stories that they told to pass the time, but which have no basis and are not true.

Here Allah tells us about the situation of these disbelievers by telling us that they do not know when the hereafter will come, then He moves on to telling us that their knowledge of the hereafter isweak, then He tells us that they are in doubt concerning it, then He tells us that they are blind to it, then He tells us that they deny it and think it unlikely to happen. Because of these doubts, fear of the hereafter left their hearts; as a result, they had the audacity to disobey Allah and it became easy for them to deny the truth and believe in falsehood, so they indulged in their physical desires and kept away from worshipping Allah. Thus they lost out both in this world and the hereafter.

Then Allah points out the truthfulness of the warning brought by the Messengers:

27:69. Say: Travel through the land and see what was the fate of the evildoers.

27:70. Do not grieve over them, and do not be distressed because of their plots.

27:71. They say: When will this promise come to pass, if you speak the truth?

27:72. Say: It may be that some of that which you seek to hasten is close at your heels.

﴾Say: Travel through the land and see what was the fate of the evildoers﴿ for you will not find any evildoer who persisted in his evildoing but his fate was the worst of fates, for Allah sent upon him the punishment that matched his evil deeds.

﴾Do not grieve over them, and do not be distressed because of their plots:﴿ that is, do not grieve, O Muhammad (ﷺ), for these disbelievers and their lack of faith, for if you knew what is in them of evil, and that they are not fit for anything good, you would not despair or grieve, and you would not feel distressed or worry about their plots, for their plots will backfire on them.

﴾...They plot and plan, and Allah also plans; but Allah is the best of planners. )﴿ (al-Anfal X: 30)

Those who disbelieve in the resurrection and in the truth that the Messenger (ﷺ) brought say, seeking to hasten the punishment:

When will this promise come to pass, if you speak the truth?﴿ They say this out of foolishness and ignorance, because the time when it will happen is something that Allah has already ordained and decreed.

Nevertheless, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says, warning them of that which they sought to hasten: ﴾Say: It may be that some of that which you seek to hasten﴿ of the punishment ﴾fis close at your heels﴿ and will soon befall you.

27:73. Verily your Lord is most gracious to humankind, but most of them are ungrateful.

27:74. Verily your Lord knows what their hearts conceal and what they disclose.

27:75. There is nothing hidden in heaven or on earth, but it is [inscribed] in a clear record.

Here Allah highlights His vast generosity and abundant bounty, and urges them to give thanks to Him. Yet despite that, most people turn away and fail to give thanks; they are distracted by the blessings from the Bestower of those blessings.

(﴾Verily your Lord knows what their hearts conceal﴿ that is, what is hidden in their hearts

﴾and what they disclose﴿, so let them beware of the Knower of all that is hidden and all that is disclosed, and let them remember that He is always watching them.

﴾There is nothing hidden in heaven or on earthy that is, there is nothing concealed or secret in either the upper or lower realm,

﴾but it is [inscribed] in a clear record﴿; that record encompasses all that has happened and will happen until the onset of the Hour. Every incident that occurs, whether it is manifest or hidden, happens in accordance with what is written in al-Lawh al-Mahfoodh.

27:76. Verily this Qur’an explains to the Children of Israel most of that wherein they differ.

27:77. And verily it is a guidance and mercy for the believers.

Here Allah tells us how the Qur’an confirms and supersedes the previous scriptures, and it explains and clarifies that which was ambiguous and unclear therein, and that concerning which the Children of Israel differed. The Qur’an speaks about that in such a way as to remove any confusion and explain the correct view concerning the matters in which they differed. As it is of such a majestic natureand very clear, and it dispels all differences and clarifies everything that is unclear, it is the greatest blessing that Allah has bestowed upon His slaves, but not everyone responds to the blessing with gratitude.

Hence Allah tells us that its benefit, light and guidance are only for the believers:

﴾And verily it is a guidance﴿ that saves one from misguidance and confusion

﴾and mercy﴿ that gives comfort and puts straight their religious and worldly affairs

﴾for the believers﴿ that is, those who believe in it and accept it, reflect on it, and ponder its meanings. They will attain through it guidance to the straight path and mercy that leads to happiness, triumph and success.

27:78. Verily your Lord will judge between them by His justice, for He is the Almighty, All-Knowing.

That is, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) will judge between the disputants and those who differ, with justice and fairness. Even though there are matters concerning which the two disputing parties may be confused, because the evidence is subtle and not clear, or for some other reason, Allah will explain the truth that reflects reality concerning these issues, when He judges concerning them.

﴾for He is the Almighty﴿ Who subjugates all creatures, so they submit to Him

﴾All-Knowing﴿ for He knows all views and what they are based on, and the aims and motives behind them, so He will requite each individual according to what He knows of him.

27:79. So put your trust in Allah, for you are on the path of clear truth.

27:80. Verily you cannot make the dead hear you, nor can you make the deaf hear your call, [especially] if they turn their backs and walk away;

27:81. Nor can you guide the blind out of their error. You cannot make anyone hear you except those who believe in Our revelations, for they are ready to submit [to the truth].

That is, put your trust in your Lord to attain that which will benefit you and ward off that which may harm you, to convey the message, establish the religion and strive in jihad against your enemies.

﴾for you are on the path of clear truth﴿ and for the one who is on the path of clear truth - calling people to it and supporting it - it is more appropriate that he should put his trust in Allah. For he is striving concerning a matter that is definitely sound and is known to be true, concerning which there is no doubt or confusion. Moreover, it is the truth that is very clear and manifest, with no ambiguity or uncertainty concerning it. If you do what you are charged with and you put your trust in Allah when doing so, you will not be harmed by the fact that some go astray, and you are not responsible for guiding them. Hence Allah says:

﴾Verily you cannot make the dead hear you, nor can you make the deaf hear your call﴿ when you call them, especially ﴾if they turn their backs and walk away﴿, for in that case it is more unlikely that you can make them hear.

﴾Nor can you guide the blind out of their error﴿. This is like the verse in which Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

Verily, you [O Muhammad] cannot guide whomever you like, but Allah guides whomever He wills, and He knows best who is rightly guided, j? (al-Qasas 28: 56)

﴾You cannot make anyone hear you except those who believe in Our revelations, for they are ready to submit [to the truth]﴿ that is, it is they who will submit to you and will believe in the revelations of Allah, put the teachings into practice and surrender. This is like the verse in which Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

﴾Only those who hear will respond; as for the dead, Allah will resurrect them, then to Him they will be brought back.﴿ (al-An'dm 6:36)

27:82. When the time for the fulfilment of the warning^{1The warning refers to the punishment of the Day of Resurrection; this verse speaks of one of the portents of that day.} comes. We will bring forth to them out of the earth a Beast that will tell them that humankind did not believe in Our signs.

That is, when the time for the fulfilment of the warning comes, which Allah has made inevitable and has ordained its time,

(fWe will bring forth to them out of the earth a Beast﴿ or one of the beasts of the earth, not of the heavens. This Beast c﴾will tell them﴿ that is, it will speak to the people and tell them that the people did not have certain faith in Our signs, the reason being that the people’s knowledge and faith in the signs of Allah is becoming weak. ThereforeAllah will cause this Beast to emerge as one of His wondrous signs to prove to the people what they were doubting.

This Beast is the famous Beast that will emerge at the end of time, and will be one of the portents of the Hour, as is mentioned in many hadiths. There is no sound evidence to describe it or say what kind of animal it will be; this verse only indicates that Allah will bring it forth to the people and that its speaking will be something extraordinary and will be one of the proofs of the truth of what Allah said in His Book. And Allah knows best.

27:83. And [remember] the day when We will gather from every nation a multitude of those who rejected Our signs, and they will be assembled [then driven],

27:84. Until, when they come [before their Lord at the place of reckoning]. He will say: Did you reject My signs even though you did not comprehend them fully? Or what is it that you were doing?

27:85. The warning [of punishment] will inevitably be fulfilled concerning them because of their wrongdoing, and they will be unable to speak.^{1That is, because they have no excuse to give that may save them from the punishment.}

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us of the situation of the disbelievers on the Day of Resurrection; He will gather them, and will gather from everynation a multitude and a group $(of those who rejected Our signs, and they will be assembled [then driven]﴿. They will be gathered, the first of them and the last of them, so that they may all be questioned, blamed and rebuked.

﴾Until, when they come [before their Lord at the place of reckoning], He will say﴿ to them, rebuking them:

﴾Did you reject My signs even though you did not comprehend them fully?﴿ That is, what you should have done was not to take a stance until the truth had become clear to you, and you should not have spoken except on the basis of knowledge, so how come you rejected something before you had full knowledge of it? ﴾Or what is it that you were doing?﴿ That is, He will ask them about their knowledge and their deeds, and He will find that their knowledge was rejection of the truth and their deeds were not done for the sake of Allah and were not in accordance with the Sunnah of their Messenger

﴾The warning [of punishment] will inevitably be fulfilled concerning them because of their wrongdoing﴿ that is, the punishment will become due for them because of their wrongdoing in which they persisted and because of the proof that is established against them ﴾and they will be unable to speak﴿ because they will have no argument.

27:86. Do they not see that We made the night for you to rest in, and the day for you to see? Verily in that there are signs for people who believe.

That is, have they not seen this great sign and immense blessing, which is that Allah has made the night and the day to be of service to them: the night with its darkness, so that they may settle down and rest therein from their labours and prepare to work again, and the day with its light, so that they may go about earning their living and running errands.

﴾Verily in that there are signs for people who believe﴿ that is, signs of the oneness of Allah and His great blessings.

27:87. And [remember] the day when the Trumpet will be blown, and all who are in the heavens and on earth will be struck with terror, except whomever Allah wills, and all will come to Him, utterly humbled.

27:88. You will see the mountains and think them firmly fixed, but they will be moving like clouds.^{1The commentators are of the view that this verse describes what will happen to the mountains during the cataclysmic events of the Day of Resurrection.} Such is the work of Allah, Who has perfected all things. Verily He is well aware of all that you do.

27:89. Whoever comes [on the Day of Resurrection] having done good will be rewarded with something better than it, and will be safe from the terror of that day.

27:90. And whoever comes having done evil will be flung down on their faces in the fire. [It will be said to them:] Will you be requited for anything other than what you used to do?

Here Allah te) alerts His slaves to what lies ahead of them on the Day of Resurrection, with all its trials and distress, which cause alarm.

﴾And [remember] the day when the Trumpet will be blown﴿, because of which (fall who are in the heavens and on earth will be struck with terror;) and filled with alarm, and they will surge like waves against one another (cf IS: 99), out of fear of what awaits them, (fexcept whomever Allah wills﴿ of those whom He will honour, make steadfast and protect from terror

﴾and all﴿ creatures, when the Trumpet is blown, (fwill come to Him, utterly humbled﴿). This is like the verse in which Allah says:

﴾There is no one in the heavens or on earth but he will come to the Most Gracious as a slave.﴿? (Maryam 19. 93)

On that day, leaders and followers will be equal in submission and humility before the Sovereign of all dominion.

Because of the terror of that awful day, (﴾You will see the mountains and think them firmly fixed﴿, as if nothing is missing from them and they are still as they always were, but they will have gone through such hardship and terror that they will be crushed and will vanish, becoming like scattered dust. Hence Allah says: ﴾but they will be moving like clouds﴿ because they will be so light, and as the result of that intense fear. That is ﴾the work of Allah, Who has perfected all things. Verily He is well aware of all that you do﴿ and He will requite you in accordance with your deeds.

Then He explains how He will requite them:

﴾Whoever comes [on the Day of Resurrection] having done good﴿ - this includes every good deed, word or belief in the heart﴾will be rewarded with something better than it, and will be safe from the terror of that day﴿ that is, they will be safe from that which terrified other people (namely hell), even if they were terrified along with them.

And whoever comes having done evil﴿ of any kind ﴾will be flung down on their faces in the fire﴿ that is, they will be thrown face-first into hell and it will be said to them: c:Will you be requited for anything other than what you used to do?﴿

27:91. [Say, O Muhammad:] I am commanded only to worship the Lord of this city Who has made it sacred and to Whom all things belong. And I am commanded to be one of those who submit to Allah [in Islam].

27:92. And [I am commanded] to recite the Qur’an. Then whoever is guided, is only guided for [the good of] his own soul; if anyone goes astray, then say: I am only a warner.

27:93. And say: Praise be to Allah. He will show you His signs, then you will acknowledge them. And your Lord is not unaware of what you do.

﴾[Say, O Muhammad:] I am commanded only to worship the Lord of this city﴿ namely Makkah al-Mukarramah, which He made sacred and blessed its people, so they should respond to that with gratitude and acceptance.﴾and to Whom all things belong﴿ in both the upper and lower realms. Allah mentions that lest anyone think that He is Lord of the Kaaba only.

﴾fAnd I am commanded to be one of those who submit to Allah [in Islam]﴿ that is, one of those who hasten to submit. And the Prophet (ﷺ) did that; he was the first of this Ummah to submit and was foremost in surrendering to Allah.

﴾And [I am commanded] to recite the Qur’an﴿ to you, so that you may be guided by it, follow its teachings, and learn its words and meanings. This is my duty and I have fulfilled it.

﴾Then whoever is guided, is only guided for [the good of] his own soul﴿ that is, it is to his own benefit and he will reap the fruits thereof, ﴾if anyone goes astray, then say: I am only a warner﴿ and I have no control over guidance.

﴾And say: Praise be to Allah﴿ to Whom be all praise in this world and the hereafter, from all of creation, especially the chosen elite, because they are the ones who are more expected to praise and extol their Lord than others, because of their high status and closeness to Him, and because of His great blessings to them.

﴾He will show you His signs, then you will acknowledge them﴿ in such a way that will show you what is true and what is false. So He will inevitably show you His signs, which will give you light in the depths of darkness,

((...so that those who chose to perish [by choosing disbelief] might do so after seeing clear evidence, and those who chose to live [by choosing faith] might do so after seeing clear evidence...﴿ (al-Anfdl 8: 42)

﴾And your Lord is not unaware of what you do﴿; rather He knows your deeds and circumstances, and He knows the extent of reward for those deeds. He will judge between you with a judgement forwhich you will praise Him, so you will have no argument against Him whatsoever.

This is the end of the commentary on Soorat an-Naml.

All praise and thanks are for Allah, and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), his family, and his Companions abundantly until the Day of Judgement.