Surah Naml ayat 17 Tafsir Quran 27:17

﴿وَحُشِرَ لِسُلَيْمَانَ جُنُودُهُ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ وَالطَّيْرِ فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ﴾
[ النمل: 17]

27:17 And gathered for Solomon were his soldiers of the jinn and men and birds, and they were [marching] in rows.

And on one journey Solomon’s hosts of jinn and humans and birds stood assembled for him as they were being arrayed brought together in groups and marshalled.

And to Sulayman were thronged his forces embodying arrays of the Jinn, the men and the birds marshaled in proper order

Dawud and Sulayman ( peace be upon them ), the organization of Sulayman's Troops and His passage through the Valley of the Ants Here Allah tells us about the great blessings and favors which He bestowed upon two of His servants and Prophets, Dawud ( David ) and his son Sulayman ( Solomon ), peace be upon them both, and how they enjoyed happiness in this world and the Hereafter, power and authority in this world, and the position of being Prophets and Messengers.
Allah says: وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ وَسُلَيْمَـنَ عِلْماً وَقَالاَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِى فَضَّلَنَا عَلَى كَثِيرٍ مِّنْ عِبَادِهِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ( And indeed We gave knowledge to Dawud and Sulayman, and they both said: "All the praises and thanks be to Allah, Who has preferred us above many of His believing servants!" ) وَوَرِثَ سُلَيْمَـنُ دَاوُودَ ( And Sulayman inherited from Dawud. ) means, in kingship and prophethood.
What is meant here is not wealth, because if that were the case, Sulayman would not have been singled out from among the sons of Dawud, as Dawud had one hundred wives.
Rather what is meant is the inheritance of kingship and prophethood, for the wealth of the Prophets cannot be inherited, as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«نَحْنُ مَعَاشِرَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ لَا نُورَثُ، مَا تَرَكْنَاهُ فَهُوَ صَدَقَة»
( We Prophets cannot be inherited from; whatever we leave behind is charity. ) And Sulayman said: يأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ عُلِّمْنَا مَنطِقَ الطَّيْرِ وَأُوتِينَا مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ ( O mankind! We have been taught the language of birds, and we have been given from everything. ) Here Sulayman was speaking of the blessings that Allah bestowed upon him, by giving him complete authority and power, whereby mankind, the Jinn and the birds were subjugated to him.
He also knew the language of the birds and animals, which is something that had never been given to any other human being -- as far as we know from what Allah and His Messenger told us.
Allah enabled Sulayman to understand what the birds said to one another as they flew through the air, and what the different kinds of animals said.
Sulayman said: عُلِّمْنَا مَنطِقَ الطَّيْرِ وَأُوتِينَا مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ ( We have been taught the language of birds, and we have been given from everything. ) i.e., all things that a king needs. إِنَّ هَـذَا لَهُوَ الْفَضْلُ الْمُبِينُ ( This, verily, is an evident grace. ) means, `this is clearly the blessings of Allah upon us.' وَحُشِرَ لِسْلَيْمَـنَ جُنُودُهُ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنْس وَالطَّيْرِ فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ ( And there were gathered before Sulayman his hosts of Jinn and men, and birds, and they all were set in battle order. ) means, all of Sulayman's troops of Jinn, men and birds were gathered together, and he rode with them in a display of might and glory, with people marching behind him, followed by the Jinn, and the birds flying above his head.
When it was hot, they would shade him with their wings. فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ ( and they all were set in battle order. ) The first and the last of them were brought together, so that none of them would step out of place.
Mujahid said: "Officials were appointed to keep each group in order, and to keep the first and the last together so that no one would step out of line -- just as kings do nowadays." حَتَّى إِذَآ أَتَوْا عَلَى وَادِى النَّمْلِ ( Till, when they came to the valley of the ants, ) meaning, when Sulayman, the soldiers and the army with him crossed the valley of the ants, قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ يأَيُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُواْ مَسَـكِنَكُمْ لاَ يَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ سُلَيْمَـنُ وَجُنُودُهُ وَهُمْ لاَ يَشْعُرُونَ ( one of the ants said: "O ants! Enter your dwellings, lest Sulayman and his armies should crush you, while they perceive not." ) Sulayman, peace be upon him, understood what the ant said, فَتَبَسَّمَ ضَـحِكاً مِّن قَوْلِهَا وَقَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِى أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِى أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَىَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَىَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَـلِحاً تَرْضَـهُ ( So he smiled, amused at her speech and said: "My Lord! Grant me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your favors which You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds that will please You, ) meaning: `inspire me to give thanks for the blessings that You have bestowed upon me by teaching me to understand what the birds and animals say, and the blessings that You have bestowed upon my parents by making them Muslims who believe in You.' وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَـلِحاً تَرْضَـهُ ( and that I may do righteous good deeds that will please You, ) means, `deeds that You love which will earn Your pleasure.' وَأَدْخِلْنِى بِرَحْمَتِكَ فِى عِبَادِكَ الصَّـلِحِينَ ( and admit me by Your mercy among Your righteous servants. ) means, `when You cause me to die, then join me with the righteous among Your servants, and the Higher Companion among Your close friends.'

(27:17) For Solomon were gathered hosts of jinn and men and birds, *23 which were kept under strict discipline.

And gathered for Solomon were his soldiers meaning

*23) The Bible dces not either make any mention that there were jinns also in the Prophet Solomon's armies, and he took service from them; but the Talmud and the rabbinical traditions contain details of this.
( Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol.
XI, p.
440 ).
Some of the present-day writers have strained every nerve to prove that the words jinn and fair do not refer to the jinns and birds but to men who performed different duties in the Prophet Solomon's army.
They say that the Jinn haply the people of the mountain tribes whom Prophet Solomon had subdued and who performed teats of great strength and skill under him; and fair implies cavalry which could move much faster than the infantry.
But these are indeed the worst examples of misinterpreting the Qur'an.
The Qur'an here mentions three distinct kinds of the army consisting of the men, the jinns and the birds, and all the three gave been qualified by the prefix a1 ( alif-!am ) to denote a class.
Therefore, al jinn and al--tair could not be included in al-ins ( the men ), but could be two separate and different classes from the men.
Moreover, a person who has a little acquaintance with Arabic cannot imagine that in this language the mere word a/ Jinn could ever imply a group of the men, or al--tair troops mounted on horses, nor could any Arab understand these meanings from these words.
Calling a man a jinn only figuratively because of some supernatural feat of his, or a woman a fairy because of her beauty, or a fast moving person a bird dces not mean that the words Jinn and fairy and bird will henceforth be taken to mean a powerful man and a beautiful woman and a fast moving person respectively.
These are only the metaphoric and not the real meanings of these words.
In a discourse, a word is used in its figurative instead of its real meaning, and the listeners also will take it in that meaning, only when there exists in the context a clear pointer to its being figurative.
What, after all, is the pointer in the context here from which one may understand that the words jinn and tair have been used not in their real and lexical meaning but in their figurative meaning? Contrary to this, the work and the state of a member each of the two groups that have been mentioned in the following verses, fall entirely against the purport of this interpretation.
If a person dces not want to believe in something stated in the Qur'an, he should frankly say that he does not believe in it.
But it would be moral cowardice and intellectual dishonesty if one should force the clear words of the Qur'an to give the meaning that he wants them to give, and tell the world that he believes in what the Qur'an says, whereas he dces not, in fact, believe in it but believes in his own distorted meaning.

 

Dawud and Sulayman ( peace be upon them ), the organization of Sulayman's Troops and His passage through the Valley of the Ants Here Allah tells us about the great blessings and favors which He bestowed upon two of His servants and Prophets, Dawud ( David ) and his son Sulayman ( Solomon ), peace be upon them both, and how they enjoyed happiness in this world and the Hereafter, power and authority in this world, and the position of being Prophets and Messengers.
Allah says: وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ وَسُلَيْمَـنَ عِلْماً وَقَالاَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِى فَضَّلَنَا عَلَى كَثِيرٍ مِّنْ عِبَادِهِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ( And indeed We gave knowledge to Dawud and Sulayman, and they both said: "All the praises and thanks be to Allah, Who has preferred us above many of His believing servants!" ) وَوَرِثَ سُلَيْمَـنُ دَاوُودَ ( And Sulayman inherited from Dawud. ) means, in kingship and prophethood.
What is meant here is not wealth, because if that were the case, Sulayman would not have been singled out from among the sons of Dawud, as Dawud had one hundred wives.
Rather what is meant is the inheritance of kingship and prophethood, for the wealth of the Prophets cannot be inherited, as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «نَحْنُ مَعَاشِرَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ لَا نُورَثُ، مَا تَرَكْنَاهُ فَهُوَ صَدَقَة» ( We Prophets cannot be inherited from; whatever we leave behind is charity. ) And Sulayman said: يأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ عُلِّمْنَا مَنطِقَ الطَّيْرِ وَأُوتِينَا مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ ( O mankind! We have been taught the language of birds, and we have been given from everything. ) Here Sulayman was speaking of the blessings that Allah bestowed upon him, by giving him complete authority and power, whereby mankind, the Jinn and the birds were subjugated to him.
He also knew the language of the birds and animals, which is something that had never been given to any other human being -- as far as we know from what Allah and His Messenger told us.
Allah enabled Sulayman to understand what the birds said to one another as they flew through the air, and what the different kinds of animals said.
Sulayman said: عُلِّمْنَا مَنطِقَ الطَّيْرِ وَأُوتِينَا مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ ( We have been taught the language of birds, and we have been given from everything. ) i.e., all things that a king needs. إِنَّ هَـذَا لَهُوَ الْفَضْلُ الْمُبِينُ ( This, verily, is an evident grace. ) means, `this is clearly the blessings of Allah upon us.' وَحُشِرَ لِسْلَيْمَـنَ جُنُودُهُ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنْس وَالطَّيْرِ فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ ( And there were gathered before Sulayman his hosts of Jinn and men, and birds, and they all were set in battle order. ) means, all of Sulayman's troops of Jinn, men and birds were gathered together, and he rode with them in a display of might and glory, with people marching behind him, followed by the Jinn, and the birds flying above his head.
When it was hot, they would shade him with their wings. فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ ( and they all were set in battle order. ) The first and the last of them were brought together, so that none of them would step out of place.
Mujahid said: "Officials were appointed to keep each group in order, and to keep the first and the last together so that no one would step out of line -- just as kings do nowadays." حَتَّى إِذَآ أَتَوْا عَلَى وَادِى النَّمْلِ ( Till, when they came to the valley of the ants, ) meaning, when Sulayman, the soldiers and the army with him crossed the valley of the ants, قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ يأَيُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُواْ مَسَـكِنَكُمْ لاَ يَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ سُلَيْمَـنُ وَجُنُودُهُ وَهُمْ لاَ يَشْعُرُونَ ( one of the ants said: "O ants! Enter your dwellings, lest Sulayman and his armies should crush you, while they perceive not." ) Sulayman, peace be upon him, understood what the ant said, فَتَبَسَّمَ ضَـحِكاً مِّن قَوْلِهَا وَقَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِى أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِى أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَىَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَىَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَـلِحاً تَرْضَـهُ ( So he smiled, amused at her speech and said: "My Lord! Grant me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your favors which You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds that will please You, ) meaning: `inspire me to give thanks for the blessings that You have bestowed upon me by teaching me to understand what the birds and animals say, and the blessings that You have bestowed upon my parents by making them Muslims who believe in You.' وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَـلِحاً تَرْضَـهُ ( and that I may do righteous good deeds that will please You, ) means, `deeds that You love which will earn Your pleasure.' وَأَدْخِلْنِى بِرَحْمَتِكَ فِى عِبَادِكَ الصَّـلِحِينَ ( and admit me by Your mercy among Your righteous servants. ) means, `when You cause me to die, then join me with the righteous among Your servants, and the Higher Companion among Your close friends.'

( And there were gathered together ) and made subservient ( unto Solomon his armies of the jinn and humankind, and of the birds, and they were set in battle order ) they were all retained from the first to the last until they were gathered together;

And there were gathered before Sulaiman (Solomon) his hosts of jinns and men, and birds, and they all were set in battle order (marching forwards).

Page 378 English transliteration