In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Conclusion from Al-Tabari’s interpretation
It was summarized by Dr. Aqeel bin Salem Al-Shammari
Surah An-Naml
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
He said, "We will see if you are telling the truth or are you a liar."
Go with this letter of mine and give it to them, then turn away from them and see what they return
Solomon said to the hoopoe, “We will look into what excuse you made.”
Did you believe in all of that or were you one of the liars about it?
Go with this book of mine and give it to them
Then turn away from them and be close to them and see what they return
She said, O eminent people, a noble letter has been given to me
So the hoopoe took Solomon's letter to her and gave it to her
When she read it, she said to the nobles of her people
O eminent ones, a noble letter has been delivered to me
She described it as cream because it was sealed
It was said that it was from a king, so she described it due to the generosity of its owner
It is from Solomon and it is in the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Don't you be superior to me and come to me as Muslims
She said, O eminent people, a book has been given to me in which it is written
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Do not be arrogant and do not become proud of what I have called you to do
And come to me submitting to God in oneness and obedience
She said, O eminent persons, give me a fatwa regarding my matter. I will not decide on a matter until you bear witness
They said, “We are men of strength and men of mighty might.”
They are of great force, and the matter is up to you, so see what you command
She said to the nobles of her people
Advise me about the matter that has come to my attention regarding the matter of the author of this book that was presented to me
I will not decide a matter until you witness me and I consult with you about it
The eminent people of the Queen of Sheba's people said:
We are strong in fighting and very brave in war
The matter, O Queen, is up to you regarding fighting and abandoning it
So see what you see, and we will follow your command
She said that if kings enter a town, they ruin it and humiliate its most honorable people, and that is what they do
The owner of Sheba said that if kings entered a town by force and force, they destroyed it and made its most honorable people humiliated by enslaving the free people.
The news about the kings in this place was limited, so God said
As the owner of Sheba said, what kings do if they enter a village by force
And I am sent to them with a gift, so we will see what the messengers will return
It was mentioned that she said that I was sent to Solomon with a gift to test him whether he was the mother of a prophet
So if I look at any of his experience and actions regarding the gift that I sent to him, my messengers will be returned
Should he accept and leave us, or return the gift and remain steadfast in our demand that he follow his religion?
When Solomon came, he said, “Do you provide me with money? For what God has given me is better than what He has given you. Rather, you will rejoice in your gift.”
Return to them, and let us bring them forces that they will not accept, and let us bring them out of it humiliated and submissive
Solomon said, when the Messenger came from the woman with her gifts, “Do you provide me with money, for God has given me more money and the world than what He has given you?”
I am not happy with the gift you gave me, but you are happy with the gift given to you, because you are people who brag about the world and gloat about it, and the world and its money are not my need.
Solomon said, “Go back to them, and we will bring them soldiers that they have no strength to hold, nor will they have the ability to repel them from what they wanted from them. And we will expel those who sent you humiliated, and they will be submissive if they do not come to me as Muslims.”
He said, O eminent ones, which of you will bring me her throne before they come to me as Muslims?
Solomon said to the nobles of those who attended him, among his soldiers, both jinn and humans
O eminent ones, which of you will bring me her bed from among her possessions before they come to me willingly?
The reason for which Solomon singled out the bringing of the woman’s throne was to make that an evidence for her in his prophecy and to make her know of God’s power and greatness.
She left her throne in a house in Jawf Abyat that was closed and locked
So God brought it out without opening any closures or locks until He delivered it to His guardian among His creation and handed it over to Him
In that, she had the greatest evidence for the truth of what Solomon had called her to and for Solomon’s truthfulness in what he had taught her about his prophecy
A demon from among the jinn said, “I will bring it to you before you get up from your place, and I am strong and trustworthy over it.”
A strong, rebellious leader of the jinn said, “I will bring you her throne before you rise from this seat of yours, and I am strong upon it, faithful to the jewels in it, and I will not betray it.”
As mentioned, he was sitting among the people to judge, and he mentioned that he used to sit until midday
He who has knowledge of the Book said, “I will bring it to you before your thoughts turn back to you.”
When he saw him staying with him, he said, “This is from the grace of my Lord, so that He may test me whether I should be grateful or disbelieve.”
Whoever is grateful, he is grateful only for himself, and whoever is disbelieved, then indeed my Lord is Rich and Generous
He who had knowledge from the Book of God and was a man of the sons of Adam said, “I will bring it to you before your sight returns to you.”
When Solomon saw the throne of the queen of Sheba resting beside him, he said, “This is the power, the dominion, and the authority that I am in.”
Until this throne was brought to me in the measure of a party’s return from Ma’rib to the Levant, out of the bounty of my Lord, which He bestowed upon me to test me and test me.
I thank the one who did that to me, or should I deny His blessing upon me by neglecting to thank Him? And whoever thanks God’s blessing upon me, he is only thankful for seeking benefit for himself.
Because this will benefit no one but Himself, because God has no need for anyone among His creation, and whoever denies His blessings has wronged himself
God is generous, and He is generous. One of His generosity is that He grants a blessing to those who deny it and makes it a link through which they lead to sin.
He said, “Deny her throne. We will see if she will be guided or will she be among those who are not guided.”
Solomon said, “When the throne of the owner of Sheba came, they changed her bed for this woman. We will see if she will be reasonable and prove that her throne is hers, or will she be among those who do not use reason and will not be able to confirm her throne.”
When she came, it was said, “Is this your throne?” She said, “As if it is.” We were given knowledge before her and were Muslims
When the owner of Sheba came, Suleiman brought out her throne for her and said to her, “Is this your throne?” She said and compared it to him, as if it were him.
Solomon said, “We have been given knowledge of God and His ability to do what He wills, and we were Muslims before it.”
What prevented her from worshiping other than God was that she was from an unbelieving people
If it was also said and God prevented her from doing so by granting her success in Islam, it would also be a correct view
It was said to him that he entered the edifice, but when she saw it, she thought it was a deep place and revealed her legs. He said that it was a edifice made of bottles
She said, “My Lord, I have wronged myself, and I submitted with Solomon to God, Lord of the Worlds.”
It was mentioned that when the owner of Sheba came to want her, Solomon commanded the devils, so they built for him a tower that was like a roof made of bottles.
And water flowed from under it to test her mind by doing so, and when the woman saw the edifice, she thought it was white because of the tranquility of water-animals. Underneath it was a deep sea.
So she exposed part of her legs to wade through it to Solomon. Solomon said to her: This is not a sea, but rather a building built of bottles.
The woman of Sheba said, “Lord, I have wronged myself in worshiping the sun and prostrating to what is less than You.”
She was saved with Solomon, submitting to God through monotheism, singling him out for divinity and lordship, to the exclusion of all others.
We sent their brother Salih to Thamud to worship God, but they were two groups quarreling
And We sent to Thamud, their brother Salih, that they should worship God alone, with no partner, and do not appoint with Him any god other than Him.
In what he called them to do, his people became two groups disputing, a group that believed in him and a group that disbelieved in him and disbelieved in what he brought.
He said, “O my people, why do you hasten to do a bad thing before a good one? If you do not seek forgiveness from God, perhaps you will receive mercy.”
Salih said to his people: O my people, for what reason do you hasten God’s punishment before mercy? Do you not repent to God for your disbelief?
So your Lord will forgive you for your great crime, so that your Lord may have mercy on you by asking Him for forgiveness for your disbelief
They said, "We will fly with you and those with you." He said, "Your flight is with God. Rather, you are a people who will be tested."
Thamud said to her Messenger, Salih, “We feel pessimistic about you and those of our followers who are with you, and we rebuke the birds that calamities and misfortunes will befall us and them through you and them.”
Salih answered them and said to them: “Whatever birds you rebuke because of the calamity that befalls you, God knows best. He does not know what that will be.”
Do you not think of calamities or hardships, or do you not hope for well-being, hope, and love?
Rather, you are a people whose Lord is testing you when He sent me to you. Will you obey Him and He will reward you abundantly, or will you disobey Him and His punishment will befall you?
There were nine people in the city who were making mischief on earth and not doing good
And in the city of Salih, which is the Stone of Thamud, there were nine souls who were making mischief on earth and not doing good
Their corruption on earth was their disbelief in God and their disobedience to Him
God only singled out these nine people for the news about them because they sought, as we have heard, the backs of the camel and cooperated in it.
They said, "Share with God that we will spend the night with him and his family, then we will say to his heir: We have not witnessed the destruction of his family, and we are truthful."
These nine men said, “Alliance with God, O people, let us spend the night with Salih and his family. Let us kill him, then we will say to his heir: We have not witnessed the destruction of his family, and we are truthful that we have not witnessed the destruction of his family.”
And they plotted a plot, and We plotted a plot, while they did not realize it. So see what was the outcome of their plotting: We destroyed them and their entire people.
These nine men betrayed Salih by marching to him at night to kill him and his family, and Salih did not realize it, so We seized them by punishing them and hastening their torment while they did not realize our deception.
So, O Muhammad, look with the eyes of your heart at the outcome of the treachery of Thamud, how it was that we destroyed the nine men and their people from Thamud all together, but we did not leave any of them alive.
Those are their homes, empty because of what they wronged. Indeed, in that is a sign for a people who know
And We saved those who believed and feared
Those are their dwellings, devoid of them. God destroyed them and annihilated them by wronging themselves, by associating themselves with God, and by denying their Messenger.
Indeed, in our action with Thamud, there is a warning to those of your people who know what we did to them, who deny you in what you brought to them from your Lord.
And We were saved from Our torment which We inflicted on the death of Our Messenger, Salih, and those who believed in him, and they feared their faith and their friend Salih, who befell their people.
Thus will We save you, O Muhammad, and your followers, when We assign our punishment to the polytheists of your people
And Lot, when he said to his people, “Do you commit immorality while you see?”
Do you have sexual desire for men rather than women? Rather, you are an ignorant people
And We sent Lot to his people when he said to them, “O my people, do you commit an indecent act while you see that it is an indecent act?”
You know that no one has done this before you
Do you have sexual intercourse with men out of your desire to do so, without the private parts of women which God has permitted for you in marriage?
This is nothing but foolish people ignorant of the great right of God upon you
Conclusion from Al-Tabari’s interpretation