Surah Sad ayat 35 Tafsir Quran 38:35

﴿قَالَ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَهَبْ لِي مُلْكًا لَّا يَنبَغِي لِأَحَدٍ مِّن بَعْدِي ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ﴾
[ ص: 35]

38:35 He said, "My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after me. Indeed, You are the Bestower."

He said ‘My Lord! Forgive me and grant me a kingdom that shall not belong to anyone after me in other words other than me this use of min ba‘dī to mean ‘other than me’ is similar to Q. 4523 fa-man yahdīh min ba‘di’Llāh ‘who will guide him other than God?’. Truly You are the Bestower’.

He prayed, thus: I pray and beseech you O Allah, my Creator, to forgive me and to bestow on me a kingdom none else after me will be fit to have; You are in command of the gratuitous blessings of heaven

How Allah tested Sulayman then made Things easy for Him Allah says, وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا سُلَيْمَـنَ ( And indeed, We tried Sulayman ) meaning, `We tested him.' وَأَلْقَيْنَا عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ جَسَداً ( and We placed on his throne Jasad (a body )). ثُمَّ أَنَابَ ( and he returned. ) means, after this test, he turned back to Him and asked for forgiveness and to be given a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after him. قَالَ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِى وَهَبْ لِى مُلْكاً لاَّ يَنبَغِى لاًّحَدٍ مِّن بَعْدِى إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ ( He said: "My Lord! Forgive me, and bestow upon me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me.
Verily, You are the Bestower." ) Some of them said, "No one after me will have the right to ask Allah for such a kingdom." This is the apparent meaning from the context of the Ayah, and several Hadiths with a similar meaning have been narrated from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
In his Tafsir of this Ayah, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet said: «إِنَّ عِفْرِيتًا مِنَ الْجِنِّ تَفَلَّتَ عَلَيَّ الْبَارِحَةَ أَوْ كَلِمَةً نَحْوَهَا لِيَقْطَعَ عَلَيَّ الصَّلَاةَ فَأَمْكَنَنِي اللهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى مِنْهُ، وَأَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَرْبِطَهُ إِلَى سَارِيَةٍ مِنَ سَوَارِي الْمَسْجِدِ حَتْى تُصْبِحُوا،وَتَنْظُرُوا إِلَيْهِ كُلُّكُمْ، فَذَكَرْتُ قَوْلَ أَخِي سُلَيْمَانَ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ: رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِى وَهَبْ لِى مُلْكاً لاَّ يَنبَغِى لاًّحَدٍ مِّن بَعْدِى» ( An `Ifrit from among the Jinn came and bothered me last night- or he said something similar -Trying to stop me from praying.
Allah enabled me to overpower him, and I wanted to tie him to one of the pillars in the Masjid so that you could see him this morning.
Then I remembered what my brother Sulayman said, (My Lord! Forgive me and bestow upon me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me )) Rawh said, "so he let him go, humiliated." ) This was also recorded by Muslim and An-Nasa'i.
In his Sahih, Muslim recorded that Abu Ad-Darda', may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood up to pray and we heard him say, r
«أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْك»
( I seek refuge with Allah from you. ) Then he said,
«أَلْعَنُكَ بِلَعْنَةِ الله»
( I curse you with the curse of Allah. ) three times, and he stretched out his hand as if he was reaching out to take something.
When he finished his prayer, we said, `O Messenger of Allah, we heard you say something in your prayer which we have never heard you say before, and we saw you stretching out your hand.' He said:
«إِنَّ عَدُوَّ اللهِ إِبْلِيسَ جَاءَ بِشِهَابٍ مِنْ نَارٍ لِيَجْعَلَهُ فِي وَجْهِي فَقُلْتُ: أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْكَ، ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ، ثُمَّ قُلْتُ: أَلْعَنُكَ بِلَعْنَةِ اللهِ التَّامَّةِ، فَلَمْ يَتَأَخَّرْ، ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ ثُمَّ أَرَدْتُ أَنْ آخُذَهُ،وَاللهِ لَوْلَا دَعْوَةُ أَخِينَا سُلَيْمَانَ لَأَصْبَحَ مُوثَقًا، يَلْعَبُ بِهِ صِبْيَانُ أَهْلِ الْمَدِينَة»
( The enemy of Allah Iblis came with a flame of fire to throw in my face, so I said, "I seek refuge with Allah from you" three times, then I said, "I curse you with the complete curse of Allah," but he did not back off.
I said it three times.
Then I wanted to seize him.
By Allah, if it were not for the words of our brother Sulayman, he would have been chained up and he would have become a plaything for the children of the people of Al-Madinah. )" Allah says: فَسَخَّرْنَا لَهُ الرِّيحَ تَجْرِى بِأَمْرِهِ رُخَآءً حَيْثُ أَصَابَ ( So, We subjected to him the wind; it blew gently by his order wherever he willed. ) Al-Hasan Al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said, "When Sulayman, peace be upon him, slaughtered the horses out of anger for the sake of Allah, Allah compensated him with something better and swifter, the wind whose morning was a month's ( journey ), and its afternoon was a month's ( journey )." حَيْثُ أَصَابَ ( wherever he willed. ) means, wherever in the world he wanted. وَالشَّيَـطِينَ كُلَّ بَنَّآءٍ وَغَوَّاصٍ ( And also the Shayatin, from every kind of builder and diver, ) means, among them were some whom he used to build high rooms, images, basins as large as reservoirs, and cauldrons fixed ( in their places ), and other difficult tasks which humans were unable to do.
And there was another group, who dived into the sea recovering pearls, jewels and other precious things which cannot be found anywhere else. وَآخَرِينَ مُقَرَّنِينَ فِي الْأَصْفَادِ ( And also others bound in fetters. ) means, tied up in chains.
These were the ones who had rebelled and refused to work, or else their work was bad and they were wrongdoers. هَـذَا عَطَآؤُنَا فَامْنُنْ أَوْ أَمْسِكْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ( Allah said to Sulayman: "This is Our Gift, so spend you or withhold, no account will be asked of you." ) means, `this that We have given to you of kingship and perfect power, as you asked for, you may give to whomsoever you wish and deny to whomsoever you wish, and you will not be brought to account.
Whatever you do is permissible for you, so however you judge, it will be right.' It was reported in the Two Sahihs that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was given the choice between being a servant and a Messenger -- who does what he is commanded to do and distributes things among the people as Allah commands him to do -- or being a Prophet and a king, who can give to whomever he wishes and withhold from whomever he wishes without being held accountable for anything, he chose the former.
He consulted with Jibril, peace be upon him, who said, "Be humble." So he chose the former because it has a greater value before Allah and brings a higher status in the Hereafter, even though the second option, prophethood combined with kingship, is also a great thing both in this world and in the Hereafter, when Allah tells us what He gave to Sulayman, peace be upon him, in this world, He tells us that he will have a great share with Allah on the Day of Resurrection.
He says: وَإِنَّ لَهُ عِندَنَا لَزُلْفَى وَحُسْنَ مَـَابٍ ( And verily, for him is a near access to Us, and a good (final ) return.) meaning, in this world and the Hereafter.

(38:35) He said: 'My Lord, forgive me and bestow upon me a kingdom such as none other after me will deserve. Surely You are the Bounteous Giver.' *36

He said, "My Lord, forgive me and meaning

*36) In view of the contest, the real object here is to relate this event; the preceding verses are an introduction to it.
Just as above this, first the Prophet David was praised, then the event narrated by which he was put to temptation, then it was said that Allah Almighty dces not spare even such a beloved servant from accountability, then about his noble nature it was said that as soon as he was warned of the temptation, he repented and bowed before Allah and withheld himself from the act, so also here the sequence is like this: First, the Prophet Solomon's high rank and his deep sense of devotion has been mentioned, then it is said that he also was put to the test, then it has been stated that when a mere body was placed on his throne, he immediately felt warned on his error, and pleading the forgiveness of his Lord, withdrew from the act, because of which he was involved in the temptation.
In other words, Allah by means of these two stories wants to impress two things upon the reader simultaneously: ( 1 ) Not to speak of the common men, even high-ranking Prophets were not spared from His strict accountability; and ( 2 ) the right attitude for man is not to brag and feel proud after committing an error, but to bow down humbly before his Lord as soon as he realizes his sin.
It was the result of this attitude that Allah not only forgave the mistakes of those illustrious men but blessed them with still more favours and kindness.

Here, the question again arises as to what was the temptation in which the Prophet Solomon was involved; what is the meaning of placing a mere body on his throne, and what was the nature of the warning on the occurrence of which he repented? In reply to this the commentators have adopted four different points of view:
One section of them has related a long story whose details are disputed, but their resume is this: The error committed by the Prophet Solomon was either that one of his wives continued to worship the idols in the palace for forty days and he remained unaware of it, or that he remained confined to his residence for a few days and did not attend to redressing of the oppressed people's grievances.
For this he was punished as follows: A satan somehow made away with his ring by which he ruled over the jinns, men and wind.
As soon as he lost the ring he was deprived of his powers and he remained wandering from place to place for forty days; in the interval the satan continued to rule in the guise of Solomon.
The placing of a mere body on Solomon's throne implied this very satan, who had sat on his -throne.
Some people have gone to the extent to say that during that period even the chastity of the women in the royal household did not remain safe from the satan.
At last from his conduct the ministers and the chiefs and the scholars of the court began to doubt that he was not Solomon.
Therefore, when they opened the Torah before him, he fled.
On the way the ring fell from his hand in the sea, or he cast it into the sea himself, and a fish swallowed it.
Then, somehow the Prophet Solomon came by the fish.
When in order to cook it, he cut open its belly he found his ring in it.
Then, no sooner did he get the ring than the jinns and men presented themselves humbly before him.--This whole story, from the beginning to the end, is nonsensical and absurd, which the converts from among the Jews and Christians took from the Talmud and other Israelite traditions and spread it among the Muslims.
It is strange that some of our well known scholars took these traditions as authentic and cited them as the explanation of the allusions of the Qur'an, whereas neither is there any truth in Solomon's ring, nor could his glorious works be attributed to any ring, nor had the satans been given the power that they might disguise themselves as Prophets and mislead the people, nor can it be imagined about Allah that He would punish a Prophet for an error in such a manner as to enable a satan to corrupt and destroy a whole community, disguised as a prophet.
The Qur'an itself repudiates this commentary.
In the verses that follow Allah says: When Solomon met with the trial, and he asked Our forgiveness for it, then We subdued the wind and the satans to him.
Hut, on the contrary, according to the above commentary, the satans were already under his control by virtue of the ring.
It is strange that the scholars who have made this commentary did not care to consider what the subsequent verses say.

The second section of them says that a son was born to the Prophet Solomon after twenty years.
The satans feared that if he became king after Solomon, they would continue to remain slaves as they were under him.
Therefore, they plotted to kill him.
When Solomon came to know of this plot, he hid the child in the clouds so that he was brought up there.
This was the temptation in which he was involved: he placed reliance on the protection of the clouds instead of having trust in Allah.
For this he was punished in this way that the child died and fell on his throne as a mere body ....
This tale also is baseless and is expressly against the Qur`an, for in this also it has been assumed that the winds and satans were already under the Prophet Solomon's control, whereas the Qur'an in clear words has stated their subjection to be an event that took place after the trial.

The third section says that the Prophet Solomon one day swore that he would go in to his 70 wives that night, and from each a warrior would be born, who would fight in the cause of Allah, but while he said this he did not say: In sha A//ah: if Allah so wills.
Consequently, only one wife conceived and from her also a defective child was born, whom the midwife brought and placed on his throne.
This Hadith has been reported by Hadrat Abu Harairah from the Holy Prophet and it has been related by Bukhari and Muslim and other traditionists in several ways.
In Bukhari itself this tradition has been related at different places in different ways.
At one place the number of the wives has been stated as 60 and at others 70 or 90 or 99 or 100.
As far as the chains of the transmitters are concerned, most of the traditions have strong chains, and their authenticity cannot be disputed from the point of view of the principles of reporting.
But the subject-matter of the Hadith is patently against reason, and proclaims aloud that such a thing could not have been said by the Holy Prophet, as reported.
But, on the contrary, he might have probably mentioned it as an example of the foolish and nonsensical tale-telling of the Jews, and the hearer might have misunderstood that the Holy Prophet himself had stated it as an event.
To force the people to accept such traditions only on the strength of their chains of transmitters would be making religion a matter of mockery and jest.
Everyone can calculate for himself that even in the longest night of winter the interval between the `Isha` and the Fajr Prayers cannot be of more than ten to cloven hours.
If the minimum number of the wives be 60, it would mean that the Prophet Solomon ( peace be upon him ) went on having intercourse with them continuously for 10 to 11 hours that night at the rate of six wives per hour, without having a moment's rest.
Is it practically possible? And can it be expected that the Holy Prophet might have related it as an event? Then in the Hadith nowhere has it been said that the body that had been placed on Solomon's throne, as stated in the Qur'an, implied the malformed child.
Therefore, it cannot be claimed that the Holy Prophet had narrated this event as a commentary of this verse.
Furthermore, though it is understandable why the Prophet Solomon asked for Allah's forgiveness on the birth of the child, one fails to understand why, along with the prayer for forgiveness, he prayed: " My Lord, grant me a kingdom as may belong to no one else after me.
"
Another commentary which Imam Razi has preferred is this: The Prophet Solomon was afflicted with a serious disease, or on account of an impending danger his body had been reduced to a mere skeleton.
But this commentary also does not conform to the words of the Qur'an.
The Qur'an says: " We put Solomon to the test and placed a mere body on his throne.
Then he turned ( to Allah ).
" From these words no one can understand that the mere body implied the body of the Prophet Solomon himself.
They clearly show that putting to the test implied some error that.
he happened to commit.
On this, the way he was given the warning was that a mere body was placed on his throne, and when he realized his error he turned to Allah.

As a matter of fact, this is one of the most difficult places of the Qur'an, and we do not find any indisputable ground for giving a definite and absolute commentary of it.
But if the words of the Prophet Solomon's prayer: " My Lord, forgive me, and grant me a kingdom as may belong to no one else after me, " are read in the light of the Israelite history, it appears that probably he cherished in his heart the desire that his son should succeed him on the throne so that His kingdom and sovereignty should continue in his own race after him.
This same thing has been called a " temptation " for him by Allah, and he realized this when his heir Rehoboam grew up into an unworthy young man, whose ugly manners clearly foretold that he would not be able to sustain the mighty kingdom of the Prophets David and Solomon ( peace be upon them ) even for a few days.
'Placing a mere body on his throne" probably means that the son whom he wanted to succeed him on the throne, was an unworthy person.
Therefore, he restrained his desire, asked for Allah's forgiveness and prayed that the kingdom should end with him, and he would curb his desire to have it continued in his dynasty.
The Israelite history also shows the same thing.
The Prophet Solomon did not make any will about his successor, nor made it binding for the people to obey a particular person.
After him his ministers put Rehoboam on the throne, but not long afterwards ten tribes of Israel took northern Palestine and broke away, and only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the throne of Jerusalem.

 

How Allah tested Sulayman then made Things easy for Him Allah says, وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا سُلَيْمَـنَ ( And indeed, We tried Sulayman ) meaning, `We tested him.' وَأَلْقَيْنَا عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ جَسَداً ( and We placed on his throne Jasad (a body )). ثُمَّ أَنَابَ ( and he returned. ) means, after this test, he turned back to Him and asked for forgiveness and to be given a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after him. قَالَ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِى وَهَبْ لِى مُلْكاً لاَّ يَنبَغِى لاًّحَدٍ مِّن بَعْدِى إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ ( He said: "My Lord! Forgive me, and bestow upon me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me.
Verily, You are the Bestower." ) Some of them said, "No one after me will have the right to ask Allah for such a kingdom." This is the apparent meaning from the context of the Ayah, and several Hadiths with a similar meaning have been narrated from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
In his Tafsir of this Ayah, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet said: «إِنَّ عِفْرِيتًا مِنَ الْجِنِّ تَفَلَّتَ عَلَيَّ الْبَارِحَةَ أَوْ كَلِمَةً نَحْوَهَا لِيَقْطَعَ عَلَيَّ الصَّلَاةَ فَأَمْكَنَنِي اللهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى مِنْهُ، وَأَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَرْبِطَهُ إِلَى سَارِيَةٍ مِنَ سَوَارِي الْمَسْجِدِ حَتْى تُصْبِحُوا،وَتَنْظُرُوا إِلَيْهِ كُلُّكُمْ، فَذَكَرْتُ قَوْلَ أَخِي سُلَيْمَانَ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ: رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِى وَهَبْ لِى مُلْكاً لاَّ يَنبَغِى لاًّحَدٍ مِّن بَعْدِى» ( An `Ifrit from among the Jinn came and bothered me last night- or he said something similar -Trying to stop me from praying.
Allah enabled me to overpower him, and I wanted to tie him to one of the pillars in the Masjid so that you could see him this morning.
Then I remembered what my brother Sulayman said, (My Lord! Forgive me and bestow upon me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me )) Rawh said, "so he let him go, humiliated." ) This was also recorded by Muslim and An-Nasa'i.
In his Sahih, Muslim recorded that Abu Ad-Darda', may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood up to pray and we heard him say, r «أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْك» ( I seek refuge with Allah from you. ) Then he said, «أَلْعَنُكَ بِلَعْنَةِ الله» ( I curse you with the curse of Allah. ) three times, and he stretched out his hand as if he was reaching out to take something.
When he finished his prayer, we said, `O Messenger of Allah, we heard you say something in your prayer which we have never heard you say before, and we saw you stretching out your hand.' He said: «إِنَّ عَدُوَّ اللهِ إِبْلِيسَ جَاءَ بِشِهَابٍ مِنْ نَارٍ لِيَجْعَلَهُ فِي وَجْهِي فَقُلْتُ: أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْكَ، ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ، ثُمَّ قُلْتُ: أَلْعَنُكَ بِلَعْنَةِ اللهِ التَّامَّةِ، فَلَمْ يَتَأَخَّرْ، ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ ثُمَّ أَرَدْتُ أَنْ آخُذَهُ،وَاللهِ لَوْلَا دَعْوَةُ أَخِينَا سُلَيْمَانَ لَأَصْبَحَ مُوثَقًا، يَلْعَبُ بِهِ صِبْيَانُ أَهْلِ الْمَدِينَة» ( The enemy of Allah Iblis came with a flame of fire to throw in my face, so I said, "I seek refuge with Allah from you" three times, then I said, "I curse you with the complete curse of Allah," but he did not back off.
I said it three times.
Then I wanted to seize him.
By Allah, if it were not for the words of our brother Sulayman, he would have been chained up and he would have become a plaything for the children of the people of Al-Madinah. )" Allah says: فَسَخَّرْنَا لَهُ الرِّيحَ تَجْرِى بِأَمْرِهِ رُخَآءً حَيْثُ أَصَابَ ( So, We subjected to him the wind; it blew gently by his order wherever he willed. ) Al-Hasan Al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said, "When Sulayman, peace be upon him, slaughtered the horses out of anger for the sake of Allah, Allah compensated him with something better and swifter, the wind whose morning was a month's ( journey ), and its afternoon was a month's ( journey )." حَيْثُ أَصَابَ ( wherever he willed. ) means, wherever in the world he wanted. وَالشَّيَـطِينَ كُلَّ بَنَّآءٍ وَغَوَّاصٍ ( And also the Shayatin, from every kind of builder and diver, ) means, among them were some whom he used to build high rooms, images, basins as large as reservoirs, and cauldrons fixed ( in their places ), and other difficult tasks which humans were unable to do.
And there was another group, who dived into the sea recovering pearls, jewels and other precious things which cannot be found anywhere else. وَآخَرِينَ مُقَرَّنِينَ فِي الْأَصْفَادِ ( And also others bound in fetters. ) means, tied up in chains.
These were the ones who had rebelled and refused to work, or else their work was bad and they were wrongdoers. هَـذَا عَطَآؤُنَا فَامْنُنْ أَوْ أَمْسِكْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ( Allah said to Sulayman: "This is Our Gift, so spend you or withhold, no account will be asked of you." ) means, `this that We have given to you of kingship and perfect power, as you asked for, you may give to whomsoever you wish and deny to whomsoever you wish, and you will not be brought to account.
Whatever you do is permissible for you, so however you judge, it will be right.' It was reported in the Two Sahihs that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was given the choice between being a servant and a Messenger -- who does what he is commanded to do and distributes things among the people as Allah commands him to do -- or being a Prophet and a king, who can give to whomever he wishes and withhold from whomever he wishes without being held accountable for anything, he chose the former.
He consulted with Jibril, peace be upon him, who said, "Be humble." So he chose the former because it has a greater value before Allah and brings a higher status in the Hereafter, even though the second option, prophethood combined with kingship, is also a great thing both in this world and in the Hereafter, when Allah tells us what He gave to Sulayman, peace be upon him, in this world, He tells us that he will have a great share with Allah on the Day of Resurrection.
He says: وَإِنَّ لَهُ عِندَنَا لَزُلْفَى وَحُسْنَ مَـَابٍ ( And verily, for him is a near access to Us, and a good (final ) return.) meaning, in this world and the Hereafter.

( He said: My Lord! Forgive me ) my sin ( and bestow on me sovereignty such shall not belong to any after me ) it is also said that this means: that will not be taken from me as the first time. ( Lo! Thou art the Bestower ) of sovereignty and prophethood to whomever you will.

He said: "My Lord! Forgive me, and bestow upon me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me: Verily, You are the Bestower."

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