Hudhud!

(*)

المسافر

Ж

وَوَرِثَ سُلَيْمَانُ دَاوُودَ ۖ وَقَالَ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ عُلِّمْنَا مَنطِقَ الطَّيْرِ وَأُوتِينَا مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ ۖ إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَهُوَ الْفَضْلُ الْمُبِينُ

And Solomon was David’s heir.

& > The point is that Solomon not only inherited his father’s kingdom but his spiritual insight and the prophetic office, which do not necessarily go from father to son.

He said: “O ye people!

We have been taught the speech

& > The spoken word in human speech is different from the means of communication which birds and animals have between each other. But no man can doubt that they have means of communication with each other, if he only observes the orderly flight of migratory birds or the regulated behaviour of ants, bees, and other creatures who live in communities. The wisdom of Solomon and others like him (he speaks of “we”) consisted in understanding these things – in the animal world and in the lower fringes of human intelligence.

Of Birds, and on us

Has been bestowed (a little)

Of all things: this is

Indeed Grace manifest (from Allah)

& > Solomon was a king of power and authority; outside his kingdom he had influence among many neighbouring peoples: he had knowledge of birds, and beasts and plants: he was just and wise, and understood men: and above all, he had spiritual insight, which brought him near to Allah. Thus he had something of all kinds of desirable gifts. And with true gratitude he referred them to Allah, the Giver of all gifts.

وَحُشِرَ لِسُلَيْمَانَ جُنُودُهُ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ وَالطَّيْرِ فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ

And before Solomon were

marshalled

His hosts – of Jinns and men

And birds, and they were all

Kept in order and ranks

& > Besides the literal meaning, there are two symbolical meanings. (i) All his subjects of varying grades of intelligence, taste, and civilisation, were kept in due order and cooperation by his discipline, justice, and good government. (ii) The gifts of various kinds, which he possessed, he used in proper order and coordination, as they were a well disciplined army, thus getting the best possible results from them.

حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَتَوْا عَلَىٰ وَادِ النَّمْلِ قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُوا مَسَاكِنَكُمْ لَا يَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ سُلَيْمَانُ وَجُنُودُهُ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ

At length, when they came

To a (lowly) valley of ants,

One of the ants said:

“O ye ants, get into

Your habitations, lest Solomon

And his hosts crush you

(Under foot) without knowing

it.

& > This verse and the next, read together, suggest the symbolical meaning as predominant. The ant, to outward appearances, is a very small and humble creature. In the great pomp and circumstances of the world, it may be neglected or even trampled on by a people who mean it no harm. Yet, by its wisdom, it carries on its own life within its own sphere (“habitations”) unmolested, and makes a useful contribution to the economy of the world. So there is room for the humblest people in the spiritual world.

فَتَبَسَّمَ ضَاحِكًا مِّن قَوْلِهَا وَقَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَدْخِلْنِي بِرَحْمَتِكَ فِي عِبَادِكَ الصَّالِحِينَ

So he smiled, amused

At its speech; and he said:

“O my Lord! so order me

That I may be grateful

For Thy favours, which Thou

Hast bestowed on me and

& > The counterpart to the position of the humble ant is the position of a great king like Solomon. He prays that his power and wisdom and other gifts may be used for righteousness and for the benefit of all around him. The ant being in his thoughts, we may suppose that he means particularly in his prayer that he may not even unwittingly tread on humble beings in his preoccupation with the great things of the world.

On my parents, and that

I may work the righteousness

That will please Thee:

& > The righteousness which pleases the world is often very different from the righteousness which pleases Allah. Solomon prays that he may always take Allah’s Will as his standard, rather than the standards of men.

And admit me, by Thy Grace

To the ranks of Thy

Righteous Servants.”

& > In the Kingdom of Allah, righteousness is the badge of citizenship. And although there are great and noble grades, the base of that citizenship is the UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD of righteousness. The greatest in that KINGDOM are glad and proud to pray for that essential badge.

وَمَن يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ ۚ وَحَسُنَ أُولَٰئِكَ رَفِيقًا

All who obey Allah

And the Messenger

Are in the Company

Of those on whom

Is the Grace of Allah –

Of the Prophets (who teach),

The Sincere (lovers of Truth),

The Witnesses (who testify),

And the Righteous (who do good):

Ah! what a beautiful Fellowship!

& > A passage of the deepest spiritual meaning. Even the humblest man who accepts Faith and does good becomes at once an accepted member of a great and beautiful spiritual FELLOWSHIP. It is a company which lives perpetually in the sunshine of Allah’s Grace. It is a glorious hierarchy, of which four grades are specified: (i) The highest is that of the Prophets or Apostles, who get plenary inspiration from Allah, and who teach mankind by example and precept. That rank in Islam is held by Muhammad Mustafa. (ii) The next are those whose badge is sincerity and truth; they love and support the truth with their person, their means, their influence, and all that is theirs. That ranks was held by the special companions of Muhammad, among whom the type was that of Abu Bakr Siddiq. (iii) The next are the noble army of Witnesses, who testify to the truth. The testimony may be by martyrdom. Or it may be by the tongue of the true preacher or the pen of the devoted scholar, or the life of the man devoted to service. (iv) Lastly, there is the large company of the righteous people, the ordinary folk who do their ordinary business, but always in a righteous way. They are the rank and file of the beautiful Fellowship, in which each has his place and yet all feel that they derive glory from the common association.

إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ

Thee do we worship,

& > On realising in our souls Allah’s LOVE and CARE, His GRACE and MERCY, and His POWER and JUSTICE (as Ruler of the Day of Judgement), the immediate result is that we bend in the act of worship, and see both our shortcomings and His all-sufficient power. The emphatic form means that not only do we reach the position of worshipping Allah and asking for His help, but we worship Him alone and ask for His aid only. For there is none other than He worthy of our devotion and able to help us. Then plural “we” indicates that we associate ourselves with all who seek Allah, thus strengthening ourselves and strengthening them in a fellowship of FAITH.

And Thine aid we seek

وَتَفَقَّدَ الطَّيْرَ فَقَالَ مَا لِيَ لَا أَرَى الْهُدْهُدَ أَمْ كَانَ مِنَ الْغَائِبِينَ

And he took a muster

Of the Birds; and he said:

“Why is it I see not

The Hoopoe? Or is he

Among the absentees?

& > Solomon was no idle or easy-going king. He kept all his organisation strictly up to the mark, both his armies literally and his forces (metaphorically). His most mobile arm was the BIRDS, who were light on the wing and flew and saw everything like efficient scouts. One day he missed the Hoopoe in his muster. The hoopoe is a light, graceful creature, with elegant plumage of many colours, and a beautiful yellow crest on his head, which entitles him to be called a royal bird.

لَأُعَذِّبَنَّهُ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا أَوْ لَأَذْبَحَنَّهُ أَوْ لَيَأْتِيَنِّي بِسُلْطَانٍ مُّبِينٍ

“I will certainly punish him

With a severe penalty,

Or execute him, unless

He bring me a clear reason

(For absence)”.

فَمَكَثَ غَيْرَ بَعِيدٍ فَقَالَ أَحَطتُ بِمَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ وَجِئْتُكَ مِن سَبَإٍ بِنَبَإٍ يَقِينٍ

But the Hoopoe tarried not

Far: he (came up and) said:

“I have compassed (territory)

Which thou hast not compassed,

And I have come to thee

From Saba’ with tidings true.

& > Saba’ may reasonably be identified as the Biblical Sheba. It is further referred to in the Chapter called after its name, Saba’ (34). It was a city in Yemen, said to have been three days’ journey (say 50 miles) from the city of San’a. A recent German explorer, Dr. Ham Helfritz, claims to have located it in what is now Hadramawt territory. The famous dam of Ma’rib made the country very prosperous, and enabled it to attain a high degree of civilisation (“provided with every requisite”). The Queen of Sheba therefore rightly held up her head high until she saw the glories of Solomon:

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built; And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king; It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

إِنِّي وَجَدتُّ امْرَأَةً تَمْلِكُهُمْ وَأُوتِيَتْ مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَلَهَا عَرْشٌ عَظِيمٌ

“I found (there) a woman

& > The Queen of Sheba (by name Bilqis in Arabian tradition) came apparently from Yemen, but she had affinities with Abyssinia and possibly ruled over Abyssinia also. The Habasha tribe (after whom Abyssinia was named) came from Yemen. Between the southern coast of Yemen and the northeastern coast of Abyssinia there are only the Straits of Bab al Mandab, barely twenty miles across. In the 10^th or 11 century B.C. there were frequent invasions of Abyssinia from Arabia, and Solomon’s reign of 40 years is usually synchronised with B.C. 992 to 952. The Sabaen and Himyarite alphabets in which we find the south Arabian pre-Islamic inscriptions, passed into Ethiopic, the language of Abyssinia. The Abyssinians possess a traditional history called “The Book of the Glory of Kings” (Kebra Negast), which has been translated from Ethiopic into English by Sir E.A. Wallis Budge (Oxford, 1932). It gives an account of the Queen of Sheba and her only son Menyelek I, as founders of the Abyssinian dynasty.

Ruling over them and provided

With every requisite; and she

Has a magnificent throne.

& > I take this to refer not only to the abundance of spices and gems and gold in her country, but to sciences and arts, and perhaps the spiritual possibilities which made her accept the religion of Unity and Truth.

قِيلَ لَهَا ادْخُلِي الصَّرْحَ ۖ فَلَمَّا رَأَتْهُ حَسِبَتْهُ لُجَّةً وَكَشَفَتْ عَن سَاقَيْهَا ۚ قَالَ إِنَّهُ صَرْحٌ مُّمَرَّدٌ مِّن قَوَارِيرَ ۗ قَالَتْ رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي وَأَسْلَمْتُ مَعَ سُلَيْمَانَ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

She was asked to enter

& > Bilqis, having been received with honour on her arrival, and having accepted the transformation of her throne, placed presumably in an outer building of the Palace, is asked to enter the great Palace itself. Its floor was made of slabs of smooth polished glass, that glistened like water. She thought it was water, and tucked up her clothes to pass through it, shower her bare feet and ankles. This was a very undignified position for a woman, especially one of the position of a Queen. Solomon immediately undeceived her, and told her the real facts, when she felt grateful, and joined herself with Solomon in praising Allah.

The lofty Palace: but

When she saw it, she

Thought it was a lake

Of water, and she (tucked up)

Her skirts), uncovering her legs.

He said: “This is

But a palace paved

Smooth with slabs of glass”.

She said: “O my Lord!

I have indeed wronged

& > In symbolic language, a NEW entrant into the Palace of divine knowledge, may yet carry in his mind many of the illusions of the lower world; the transparent crystal of Truth he may yet mistake for the unstable water of worldly vanity, which soils the vestments of those who paddle in it. This leads to many undignified positions and mistakes. But a gentle leader points out the truth. Instead of resenting it, the new entrant is grateful, acknowledges his own mistake freely and frankly, and heartily joins with the Teacher in the worship of Allah, the Source of all truth and knowledge.

My soul: I do (now)

Submit (in Islam), with Solomon,

To the Lord of the Worlds.”

وَجَدتُّهَا وَقَوْمَهَا يَسْجُدُونَ لِلشَّمْسِ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ فَهُمْ لَا يَهْتَدُونَ

“I found her and her people

Worshipping the sun besides

Allah:

& > The ancient religions of the people of Saba’ (the Himyar or Sabaeans) consisted in the worship of the heavenly bodies, the sun, the planets, and the stars. Possibly the cult was connected with that of Chaldea, the homeland of Abraham. Yemen had easy access to Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf by way of the sea, as well as with Abyssinia. That accounts for the Christians of Najran and the Jewish dynasty of kings (Dhu Nuwas, d. 525 A.C.) who persecuted them in the century before Islam – also for the Christian Abyssinian Governor Abrahah and his discomfiture in the year of the Prophet’s birth, say 570 A.C. Jewish-Christian influences were powerful in Arabia in the sixth century of the Christian era.

وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُرِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ مَلَكُوتَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلِيَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُوقِنِينَ

So also did We show

& > Now comes the story of Abraham. He lived among the Chaldeans, who had great knowledge of the stars and heavenly bodies. But he got beyond that physical world and saw the spiritual world behind. His ancestral idols meant nothing to him. That was the first step. But Allah took him many degrees higher. Allah showed him with certitude the spiritual glories behind the magnificent powers and laws of the physical universe.

Abraham the power

And the laws of the heavens

And the earth, that he

Might (with understanding)

Have certitude.

فَلَمَّا جَنَّ عَلَيْهِ اللَّيْلُ رَأَىٰ كَوْكَبًا ۖ قَالَ هَٰذَا رَبِّي ۖ فَلَمَّا أَفَلَ قَالَ لَا أُحِبُّ الْآفِلِينَ

When the night

Covered him over,

He saw a star:

He said: “This is my Lord”.

But when it set,

He said: “I love not

Those that set”.

& > This shows the stages of Abraham’s spiritual enlightenment. It should not be supposed that he literally worshipped stars or heavenly bodies. Having seen through the folly of ancestral idol worship, he began to see the futility of worshipping distant beautiful things that shine, which the vulgar endue with a power which does not reside in them. A type of such is a star shining in the darkness of the night. Superstition might read fortunes in it, but truer knowledge shows that it rises and sets according to laws whose author is Allah. And its light is extinguished in the broader light of day. Its worship is therefore futile. It is not a Power, much less the Supreme Power.

According to some commentators the whole trust of Abraham’s reasoning is directed against the superstitious beliefs of his people and demonstrates the folly of worshipping stars and other heavenly bodies. As such his statements may be seen as premises of his arguments against Polytheism rather than as stages in his spiritual enlightenment.

فَلَمَّا رَأَى الْقَمَرَ بَازِغًا قَالَ هَٰذَا رَبِّي ۖ فَلَمَّا أَفَلَ قَالَ لَئِن لَّمْ يَهْدِنِي رَبِّي لَأَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الضَّالِّينَ

When he saw the moon

Rising in splendour,

He said: “This is my Lord”.

But when the moon set,

He said: “Unless my Lord

Guide me, I shall surely

Be among those

Who go astray”.

& > The moon, though it looks bigger and brighter than the star, turns out on closer knowledge, not only to set like the star, but to change its shape from hour to hour, and even to depend for its light on some other body! How deceptive are appearances! This is not Allah! At that stage you begin to search for something more reliable than appearances to the eye in the darkness of the night. You ask for guidance from Allah.

فَلَمَّا رَأَى الشَّمْسَ بَازِغَةً قَالَ هَٰذَا رَبِّي هَٰذَا أَكْبَرُ ۖ فَلَمَّا أَفَلَتْ قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ إِنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِّمَّا تُشْرِكُونَ

When he saw the sun

Rising in splendour,

He said: “This is my Lord;

This is the greatest (of all)”.

But when the sun set,

He said: “O my people!

I am indeed free

From your (guild)

Of giving partners to Allah.

& > The next stage in the allegory is the sun. You are in the open light Day. Now you have the right clue. You see the biggest object in the heavens. But is it the biggest? There are thousands of stars in the universe bigger than the sun. And every day the sun appears and disappears from your sight. Such is not God who created you and all these wonderful works of His. What folly to worship creatures, when he might turn to the true God? Let us abjure all these follies and proclaim the one true God.

إِنِّي وَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِيَ لِلَّذِي فَطَرَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ حَنِيفًا ۖ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ

“For me, I have set

My face, firmly and truly,

Towards Him Who created

The heavens and the earth,

And never shall I give

Partners to Allah”.

–

Satan has made their deeds

Seem pleasing to their eyes,

And has kept them away

From the path – so

They receive no guidance –

أَلَّا يَسْجُدُوا لِلَّهِ الَّذِي يُخْرِجُ الْخَبْءَ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تُخْفُونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ

“(Kept them away from the Path),

That they should not worship

Allah, Who brings to light

& > The false worship of the Sabaeans is here exposed in three ways: (i) that they were self-satisfied with their own human achievements, instead of looking up to Allah; and (ii) that the light of the heavenly bodies which they worshipped was only dependent on the true Light of Allah, which extends over heaven and earth; the Creator should be worshipped rather than His creation; and (iii) Allah knows the hidden secrets of men’s minds as well as the objects which they openly profess: are false worshippers really only worshipping their own selves or the “sins they have a mind to” and are therefore afraid to go to Allah, Who knows ALL?

What is hidden in the heavens

And the earth, and knows

What ye hide and what

Ye reveal.

اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ

“Allah! – there is no god

But He! – Lord of the Throne

& > The messenger (Hoopoe) is a pious bird, as befits a MESSENGER of Solomon. After mentioning the false worship of the Sabaens, he pronounces the Creed of Unity, and emphasises Allah’s attribute as Lord of the Throne of Glory supreme, in order to make it clear that whatever may the magnificence of a human throne such as he has described, he is not in any way misled from his loyalty to Solomon, the exponent of the true Religion of Liberty.

Supreme!”

۩