Tafseer of Sheba · Saba · 34:10
And We certainly gave David from Us bounty. [We said], "O mountains, repeat [Our] praises with him, and the birds [as well]." And We made pliable for him iron,
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.
The statement concerning the explanation of His saying, the Exalted: وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا دَاوُدَ مِنَّا فَضْلا يَا جِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ وَالطَّيْرَ وَأَلَنَّا لَهُ الْحَدِيدَ (10) (And indeed, We bestowed upon Dāwūd a favor from Us: "O mountains, echo back with him, and the birds [as well]," and We made iron soft for him) (10)
He, exalted is His mention, says: and indeed, We bestowed upon Dāwūd a favor from Us, and We said to the mountains أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ: glorify (Allah) along with him when he glorifies. The "taʾwīb" among the Arabs means: the returning and the spending of the night by a man in his dwelling with his family. Testifying to this is the saying of the poet:
Two days: a day of gatherings and assemblies, and a day of riding against the enemies, the taʾwīb (the return).
That is to say: returning. And some read it as أُوبِي مَعَهُ, derived from "āba yaʾūbu," with the meaning: return along with him. But that is a reading which I do not regard as permissible to recite, on account of its deviation from the authoritative reading.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣalt related to me, saying: Abū Kudayna related to us; and Muḥammad ibn Sinān al-Qazzāz related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ashqar related to us, saying: Abū Kudayna related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ, he said: glorify along with him.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his saying يَا جِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ, he says: glorify along with him.
Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-ʿAlāʾī related to us, saying: Misʿar related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, يَا جِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ, he says: glorify.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū Maysara, يَا جِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ, he said: glorify, in the language of the Abyssinians (al-Ḥabasha).
Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa al-Yarbūʿī related to me, saying: Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his saying يَا جِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ, he said: glorify along with him.
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 on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, his saying يَا جِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ, he said: glorify.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, يَا جِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ, that is to say: glorify along with him when he glorifies.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning his saying يَا جِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ: glorify along with him; he said: and the birds likewise.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning his saying يَا جِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ, he said: glorify.
ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd related to us, saying: Marwān ibn Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, his saying يَا جِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُ: glorify along with him.
And His saying وَالطَّيْرَ (and the birds): in the naṣb (accusative) form of "al-ṭayr" there are two possibilities. The first is according to what Ibn Zayd said: that the birds were called upon just as the mountains were called upon, so that it stands in the naṣb because it is appended to something in the rafʿ (nominative) form upon which it is not fitting to repeat the cause of that rafʿ, so that it is [grammatically derived] from its (original) direction. The second: it is (the direct object of) an omitted, implied verb, which became dispensable through the indication that the statement provides of it, so that the meaning of the statement is: We said, "O mountains, echo back with him," and We made the birds subservient to him. And if it is placed in the rafʿ, referring back to what is understood in His saying "glorify" from the mention of the mountains, then that is permissible. And it is also permissible to place "al-ṭayr" in the rafʿ as an appendage to "the mountains," even though it is not fitting to call upon them with that with which the mountains were called upon, so that this is as the poet said:
Come now, O ʿAmr and (you) al-Ḍaḥḥāk, both of you journey on, for you two have already passed the barrier (khamar) of the road.
And His saying وَأَلَنَّا لَهُ الْحَدِيدَ (and We made iron soft for him): it has been mentioned that the iron was in his hand like moistened clay, which he shaped in his hand as he wished, without putting it into fire and without striking it with iron.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, وَأَلَنَّا لَهُ الْحَدِيدَ: Allah made the iron subservient to him without fire.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUthma related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Bashīr related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying وَأَلَنَّا لَهُ الْحَدِيدَ: he shaped it with his hand, and he did not put it into fire nor strike it with a piece of iron.
