Tafseer of The Ant · An-Naml · 27:40
Said one who had knowledge from the Scripture, "I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you." And when [Solomon] saw it placed before him, he said, "This is from the favor of my Lord to test me whether I will be grateful or ungrateful. And whoever is grateful - his gratitude is only for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever is ungrateful - then indeed, my Lord is Free of need and Generous."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
His statement قَالَ الَّذِي عِنْدَهُ عِلْمٌ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ ('He who had knowledge from the Book said'): Allah, exalted is His praise, says: the one who had knowledge from the Book of Allah said — and he was a man, according to what is related, from the children of Ādam. Some said: his name was Baylīkhā.
*Mention of who said that:*
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to me, saying: Abū ʿUthma related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Bishr, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement قَالَ الَّذِي عِنْدَهُ عِلْمٌ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ: he said: his name was Baylīkhā.
Yaḥyā ibn Dāwūd al-Wāsiṭī related to me, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, concerning His statement الَّذِي عِنْدَهُ عِلْمٌ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ: a man from the people.
Ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Marwān ibn Muʿāwiya al-Fazārī related to us, on the authority of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah قَالَ الَّذِي عِنْدَهُ عِلْمٌ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ أَنَا آتِيكَ بِهِ: he said: I look into the Book of my Lord, then I bring it to you قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ ('before your glance returns to you'). He said: the scholar spoke a word, and the throne sank into the earth at the spot where it was, then it rose up to them from beneath the earth.
Ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Muḥammad related to me, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn Maṭar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, who said: the one who had knowledge from the Book prayed: 'O our God and God of everything, one God, there is no god but You — bring me her throne.' He said: and it appeared before him.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: قَالَ الَّذِي عِنْدَهُ عِلْمٌ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ: he said: a man from the children of Ādam — I think he said: from the Children of Israel — who knew the name of Allah by which, when Allah is called upon by it, He answers.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both together — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, his statement الَّذِي عِنْدَهُ عِلْمٌ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ: he said: the Name by which, when Allah is called upon, He answers — and that is: 'O Lord of glory and honor (yā dhā al-jalāl wa-l-ikrām)'.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say: Sulaymān said to those who were around him: أَيُّكُمْ يَأْتِينِي بِعَرْشِهَا قَبْلَ أَنْ يَأْتُونِي مُسْلِمِينَ ('Which of you will bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?'), whereupon the ʿifrīt said: أَنَا آتِيكَ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَقُومَ مِنْ مَقَامِكَ. Sulaymān said: I desire something swifter than that, whereupon a man from the people who had knowledge from the Book — that is to say: the Name of Allah by which, when He is called upon, He answers — spoke.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: قَالَ عِفْريتٌ مِنَ الْجِنِّ أَنَا آتِيكَ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَقُومَ مِنْ مَقَامِكَ وَإِنِّي عَلَيْهِ لَقَوِيٌّ أَمِينٌ: I bring you no other, and I say that another can imitate that for you. He said: and on that day a pious man had withdrawn to an island in the sea. When he heard the ʿifrīt, أَنَا آتِيكَ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ — he said: then he called upon Allah by one of His Names, and behold: he was carrying it between his eyes, and he recited فَلَمَّا رَآهُ مُسْتَقِرًّا عِنْدَهُ قَالَ هَذَا مِنْ فَضْلِ رَبِّي ... until فَإِنَّ رَبِّي غَنِيٌّ كَرِيمٌ.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: a man from the people said it.
And Mujāhid said: the one who had knowledge from the Book knew the Name of Allah.
And others said: the one who had knowledge from the Book was Āṣif.
*Mention of who said that:*
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: قَالَ عِفْريتٌ — to Sulaymān — أَنَا آتِيكَ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَقُومَ مِنْ مَقَامِكَ وَإِنِّي عَلَيْهِ لَقَوِيٌّ أَمِينٌ. It is claimed that Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd said: I seek something swifter than this. Whereupon Āṣif ibn Barakhyā — and he was a righteous man who knew the Greatest Name by which, when Allah is called upon by it, He answers, and by which, when something is asked of Him, He gives — said: I, O prophet of Allah, آتِيكَ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ.
His statement أَنَا آتِيكَ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ: the exegetes differ over the interpretation of this. Some said: its meaning is: I bring it to you before the one who is at the range of your glance has reached you.
*Mention of who said that:*
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ: he said: before the one who is farthest from you within your range of vision has returned to you — that is what His statement قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ means.
He said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, who said: someone other than Qatāda said: قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ: before the figure that is at the range of your glance has come to you.
And others said: its meaning is, on the contrary: before your glance reaches its goal and endpoint.
*Mention of who said that:*
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of a number of the scholars, on the authority of Wahb ibn Munabbih: قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ — you extend your eye, but your glance does not reach its endpoint before I set it down for you. He said: that is what I desire.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUthām related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: I was informed that he said: lift your glance from the direction from which it comes — and his glance had not yet returned to him when the throne had been set down before him.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ: he said: the extending of the glance.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both together — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ: he said: when one extends the glance until the glance returns frustrated.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ: he said: when one extends the glance until the glance weakens.
Abū Jaʿfar says: the most correct of these two statements as to what is right is the statement of the one who said: before your glance returns to you from its farthest point. For the meaning of His statement يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ is that the glance returns to you — when one opens the eye, the glance does not go back, but extends forward until its light has reached its utmost range. If that is so, and if Allah has only informed us about the speaker of that word أَنَا آتِيكَ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْتَدَّ, then it is not permissible for us to say: I bring it to you before the glance returns from its endpoint إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ.
His statement فَلَمَّا رَآهُ مُسْتَقِرًّا عِنْدَهُ ('and when he saw it settled before him'): he says: when Sulaymān saw the throne of the queen of Sabaʾ settled before him. In the text something is omitted that is clear from what is stated, namely: he prayed to Allah, and the throne was brought; when Sulaymān saw it settled before him. It is related that the scholar prayed to Allah, whereupon the throne sank away at the spot where it was and then rose up before Sulaymān from beneath the earth.
*Mention of who said that:*
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of a number of the scholars, on the authority of Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: they relate that Āṣif ibn Barakhyā performed ritual ablution, then prayed two rakʿāt, and said: 'O prophet of Allah, extend your eyes until your glance reaches its endpoint.' Sulaymān extended his eyes to look toward Yemen, and Āṣif prayed — whereupon the throne broke through at its place and rose up before Sulaymān. فَلَمَّا رَآهُ — Sulaymān — مُسْتَقِرًّا عِنْدَهُ قَالَ هَذَا مِنْ فَضْلِ رَبِّي لِيَبْلُوَنِي ... to the end of the verse.
Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: her throne rose up from beneath the earth.
His statement قَالَ هَذَا مِنْ فَضْلِ رَبِّي لِيَبْلُوَنِي ('he said: this is from the favor of my Lord, that He may test me'): he says: this insight and this power and this kingship and this dominion that I possess, so that her throne was brought to me from Maʾrib to the Levant in the span of a single glance, is from the favor of my Lord which He has bestowed upon me and His gift which He has generously given me — that He may test me: he says: that He may examine me and try me, whether I thank Him for it, or whether I am ungrateful for His gift to me by neglecting to give thanks to Him.
And it has been said: its meaning is: am I grateful for the throne of this woman that has been brought, or am I ungrateful now that I see that one who is less than me in the world has more knowledge than I?
*Mention of who said that:*
Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī informed me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement فَلَمَّا رَآهُ مُسْتَقِرًّا عِنْدَهُ قَالَ هَذَا مِنْ فَضْلِ رَبِّي لِيَبْلُوَنِي أَأَشْكُرُ: concerning the throne when it has been brought أَمْ أَكْفُرُ: now that I see that one who is less than me in the world has more knowledge than I?
His statement وَمَنْ شَكَرَ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ ('and whoever is grateful is grateful only for himself'): he says: whoever is grateful for Allah's favor upon him and His grace toward him is grateful only to promote the benefit of himself, for by this he benefits none but himself — for Allah has no need whatsoever of His creation, and He has called them to give thanks to Him only to expose them to benefit, not to draw to Himself any benefit by their thanking Him or to ward off any harm from Himself. وَمَنْ كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ رَبِّي غَنِيٌّ كَرِيمٌ ('and whoever is ungrateful — my Lord is Self-Sufficient, Generous'): he says: whoever is ungrateful for His favors and His benefactions toward him and His grace toward him has wronged himself and diminished his share. Allah is Self-Sufficient with respect to his thanks, having no need of it — the ingratitude of whoever among His creation is ungrateful toward Him does not harm Him. Generous: and of His generosity is His abundance toward the one who is ungrateful for His favors and who uses them as a means by which to attain to His disobedience.
