Surah Naml ayat 22 Tafsir Quran 27:22

﴿فَمَكَثَ غَيْرَ بَعِيدٍ فَقَالَ أَحَطتُ بِمَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ وَجِئْتُكَ مِن سَبَإٍ بِنَبَإٍ يَقِينٍ﴾
[ النمل: 22]

27:22 But the hoopoe stayed not long and said, "I have encompassed [in knowledge] that which you have not encompassed, and I have come to you from Sheba with certain news.

But he did not remain read fa-makutha or fa-makatha long in absence in other words he was away only for a short while and came to Solomon humbly with his head up and his wings and tail lowered. Solomon pardoned him and asked him about what he had encountered during his absence and he said ‘I have discovered something of which you have no knowledge and I have brought you from Sheba this may be read in declined form min Saba’in or left as indeclinable min Saba’a — a tribe in Yemen whose name is taken from the name of one of their ancestors which is also the reason why it may be declined — a verified report.

And there and not far came forth -the hoopoe- into view and said : I have learned something you have no knowledge of and I have brought you some objectively certain news from the kingdom of Saba

How the Hoopoe came before Sulayman and told Him about Saba' Allah says: فَمَكَثَ غَيْرَ بَعِيدٍ ( But (the hoopoe ) stayed not long,) meaning, he was absent for only a short time.
Then he came and said to Sulayman: أَحَطتُ بِمَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ ( I have grasped which you have not grasped ) meaning, `I have come to know something that you and your troops do not know.' وَجِئْتُكَ مِن سَبَإٍ بِنَبَإٍ يَقِينٍ ( and I have come to you from Saba' with true news. ) meaning, with true and certain news.
Saba' ( Sheba ) refers to Himyar, they were a dynasty in Yemen.
Then the hoopoe said: إِنِّى وَجَدتُّ امْرَأَةً تَمْلِكُهُمْ ( I found a woman ruling over them, ) Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "This is Bilqis bint Sharahil, the queen of Saba'." Allah's saying: وَأُوتِيَتْ مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ ( she has been given all things, ) means, all the conveniences of this world that a powerful monarch could need. وَلَهَا عَرْشٌ عَظِيمٌ ( and she has a great throne. ) meaning, a tremendous chair adorned with gold and different kinds of jewels and pearls.
The historians said, "This throne was in a great, strong palace which was high and firmly constructed.
In it there were three hundred and sixty windows on the east side, and a similar number on the west, and it was constructed in such a way that each day when the sun rose it would shine through one window, and when it set it would shine through the opposite window.
And the people used to prostrate to the sun morning and evening.
This is why the hoopoe said: وَجَدتُّهَا وَقَوْمَهَا يَسْجُدُونَ لِلشَّمْسِ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَـنُ أَعْمَـلَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ ( I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of Allah, and Shaytan has made their deeds fair seeming to them, and has prevented them from the way, ) meaning, from the way of truth, فَهُمْ لاَ يَهْتَدُونَ ( so they have no guidance. ) Allah's saying: وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَـنُ أَعْمَـلَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ فَهُمْ لاَ يَهْتَدُونَأَلاَّ يَسْجُدُواْ للَّهِ ( and Shaytan has made their deeds fair seeming to them, and has prevented them from the way, so they have no guidance, so they do not prostrate themselves before Allah. ) They do not know the way of truth, prostrating only before Allah alone and not before anything that He has created, whether heavenly bodies or anything else.
This is like the Ayah: وَمِنْ ءَايَـتِهِ الَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَالشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ لاَ تَسْجُدُواْ لِلشَّمْسِ وَلاَ لِلْقَمَرِ وَاسْجُدُواْ لِلَّهِ الَّذِى خَلَقَهُنَّ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ ( And from among His signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon.
Prostrate yourselves not to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate yourselves to Allah Who created them, if you indeed worship Him. ) ( 41:37 ) الَّذِى يُخْرِجُ الْخَبْءَ فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ ( Who brings to light what is hidden in the heavens and the earth, ) `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said: "He knows everything that is hidden in the heavens and on earth." This was also the view of `Ikrimah, Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Qatadah and others.
His saying: وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تُخْفُونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ ( and knows what you conceal and what you reveal. ) means, He knows what His servants say and do in secret, and what they say and do openly.
This is like the Ayah: سَوَآءٌ مِّنْكُمْ مَّنْ أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلَ وَمَنْ جَهَرَ بِهِ وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِالَّيْلِ وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ ( It is the same whether any of you conceals his speech or declares it openly, whether he be hid by night or goes forth freely by day ) ( 13:10 ).
His saying: اللَّهُ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ ( Allah, La ilaha illa Huwa, the Lord of the Supreme Throne! ) means, He is the One to be called upon, Allah, He is the One other than Whom there is no god, the Lord of the Supreme Throne, and there is none greater than Him in all of creation.
Since the hoopoe was calling to what is good, and for people to worship and prostrate to Allah alone, it would have been forbidden to kill him.
Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet forbade killing four kinds of animals: ants, bees, hoopoes and the sparrow hawks.
Its chain of narration is Sahih.

(27:22) The bird did not take long when it came and said, "I have obtained knowledge of things of which you have no knowledge. I have brought sure information about Saba. *29

But the hoopoe stayed not long and meaning

*29) Saba' were a well-known commercial people of southern Arabia, whose capital city of Ma'rib lay about 55 miles to the north-east of San`a', the present capital of Yaman.
They rose to power after the decline of the Minaean Kingdom in about 1100 B.C.
and flourished for a thousand years in Arabia.
Then in 115 B.C.
they were replaced by the Himyarites, the other well-known people of southern Arabia, who ruled Yaman and Hadramaut in Arabia and Habash in Africa.
The Sabaeans controlled the whole trade that passed between eastern Africa, India, the Far East and Arabia itself, on the one hand, and Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome on the other.
That is why they were famous for their wealth in the ancient times; so much so that according to the Greek historians they were the richest people of the world.
Besides trade and commerce, another great reason for their prosperity was that they had built dams here and there in their country to store rainwater for irrigation purposes, which had turned their whole land into a veritable garden.
The Greek; historians have made mention of the unusual greenery of their country; and the Qur'an also refers to it in Surah Saba': 15.The statement of the hud-hud, `I have obtained knowledge of things of which you have no knowledge" , does not imply that the Prophet Solomon was wholly unaware of Saba'.
Obviously, the ruler of Syria and Palestine whose kingdom extended to the northern shores of the Red Sea ( Gulf of `Aqabah ), could not be unaware of a people who ruled the southern shores ( Yaman ) of the same Red Sea, and who also controlled an important pan of the international trade.
Moreover, according to Psalms, Solomon's father, Prophet David, knew Saba' We lied the following words of his prayer in Psalms "Give the king thy judgement, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son ( i.e.
Solomon )...
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba ( i.e.
of Yaman's and Habash's branches ) shall offer gifts." ( 72: 1-2, 10-11 ).
Therefore, what the hud-hud means to say is this: "The knowledge of the things 1 have seen with my eyes in the central city of the Sabaeans.
has not yet reached you."
 

How the Hoopoe came before Sulayman and told Him about Saba' Allah says: فَمَكَثَ غَيْرَ بَعِيدٍ ( But (the hoopoe ) stayed not long,) meaning, he was absent for only a short time.
Then he came and said to Sulayman: أَحَطتُ بِمَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ ( I have grasped which you have not grasped ) meaning, `I have come to know something that you and your troops do not know.' وَجِئْتُكَ مِن سَبَإٍ بِنَبَإٍ يَقِينٍ ( and I have come to you from Saba' with true news. ) meaning, with true and certain news.
Saba' ( Sheba ) refers to Himyar, they were a dynasty in Yemen.
Then the hoopoe said: إِنِّى وَجَدتُّ امْرَأَةً تَمْلِكُهُمْ ( I found a woman ruling over them, ) Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "This is Bilqis bint Sharahil, the queen of Saba'." Allah's saying: وَأُوتِيَتْ مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ ( she has been given all things, ) means, all the conveniences of this world that a powerful monarch could need. وَلَهَا عَرْشٌ عَظِيمٌ ( and she has a great throne. ) meaning, a tremendous chair adorned with gold and different kinds of jewels and pearls.
The historians said, "This throne was in a great, strong palace which was high and firmly constructed.
In it there were three hundred and sixty windows on the east side, and a similar number on the west, and it was constructed in such a way that each day when the sun rose it would shine through one window, and when it set it would shine through the opposite window.
And the people used to prostrate to the sun morning and evening.
This is why the hoopoe said: وَجَدتُّهَا وَقَوْمَهَا يَسْجُدُونَ لِلشَّمْسِ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَـنُ أَعْمَـلَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ ( I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of Allah, and Shaytan has made their deeds fair seeming to them, and has prevented them from the way, ) meaning, from the way of truth, فَهُمْ لاَ يَهْتَدُونَ ( so they have no guidance. ) Allah's saying: وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَـنُ أَعْمَـلَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ فَهُمْ لاَ يَهْتَدُونَأَلاَّ يَسْجُدُواْ للَّهِ ( and Shaytan has made their deeds fair seeming to them, and has prevented them from the way, so they have no guidance, so they do not prostrate themselves before Allah. ) They do not know the way of truth, prostrating only before Allah alone and not before anything that He has created, whether heavenly bodies or anything else.
This is like the Ayah: وَمِنْ ءَايَـتِهِ الَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَالشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ لاَ تَسْجُدُواْ لِلشَّمْسِ وَلاَ لِلْقَمَرِ وَاسْجُدُواْ لِلَّهِ الَّذِى خَلَقَهُنَّ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ ( And from among His signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon.
Prostrate yourselves not to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate yourselves to Allah Who created them, if you indeed worship Him. ) ( 41:37 ) الَّذِى يُخْرِجُ الْخَبْءَ فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ ( Who brings to light what is hidden in the heavens and the earth, ) `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said: "He knows everything that is hidden in the heavens and on earth." This was also the view of `Ikrimah, Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Qatadah and others.
His saying: وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تُخْفُونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ ( and knows what you conceal and what you reveal. ) means, He knows what His servants say and do in secret, and what they say and do openly.
This is like the Ayah: سَوَآءٌ مِّنْكُمْ مَّنْ أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلَ وَمَنْ جَهَرَ بِهِ وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِالَّيْلِ وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ ( It is the same whether any of you conceals his speech or declares it openly, whether he be hid by night or goes forth freely by day ) ( 13:10 ).
His saying: اللَّهُ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ ( Allah, La ilaha illa Huwa, the Lord of the Supreme Throne! ) means, He is the One to be called upon, Allah, He is the One other than Whom there is no god, the Lord of the Supreme Throne, and there is none greater than Him in all of creation.
Since the hoopoe was calling to what is good, and for people to worship and prostrate to Allah alone, it would have been forbidden to kill him.
Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet forbade killing four kinds of animals: ants, bees, hoopoes and the sparrow hawks.
Its chain of narration is Sahih.

( But he was not long in coming, and he said: I have found out (a thing ) that thou apprehendest not) O king! I reached a place that you have not reached and have come to know that which you do not, ( and I come unto thee from Sheba ) the city of Sheba ( with sure tidings ) with an amazing, true information.

But the hoopoe stayed not long, he (came up and) said: "I have grasped (the knowledge of a thing) which you have not grasped and I have come to you from Saba' (Sheba) with true news.

Page 378 English transliteration