Tafseer of The letter Saad · Saad · 38:34
And We certainly tried Solomon and placed on his throne a body; then he returned.
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 interpretation of His word, the Exalted: وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا سُلَيْمَانَ وَأَلْقَيْنَا عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ جَسَدًا ثُمَّ أَنَابَ (34) ("And indeed, We tried Sulaymān, and We cast upon his throne a body; then he turned back in repentance." (38:34))
He, exalted be His mention, says: and indeed, We tried Sulaymān, and We cast upon his throne a body — a shayṭān (devil) that had taken on the form of a man. They have mentioned that his name was Ṣakhr. It has been said: his name was Āṣaf. It has been said: his name was Āṣir. It has been said: his name was Ḥabqīq.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said this:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his word ( وَأَلْقَيْنَا عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ جَسَدًا ) ("and We cast upon his throne a body"): he said: that is Ṣakhr the jinn, who appeared upon his throne as a body.
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 word ( وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا سُلَيْمَانَ وَأَلْقَيْنَا عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ جَسَدًا ثُمَّ أَنَابَ ) ("And indeed, We tried Sulaymān, and We cast upon his throne a body; then he turned back in repentance"): he said: the body is the shayṭān to whom Sulaymān had handed over his signet ring, and who cast it into the sea. The kingship of Sulaymān lay in his signet ring. And the name of the jinn was Ṣakhr.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Mubārak related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: ( وَأَلْقَيْنَا عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ جَسَدًا ) ("and We cast upon his throne a body") — he said: a shayṭān.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: ( وَأَلْقَيْنَا عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ جَسَدًا ) ("and We cast upon his throne a body") — he said: a shayṭān who was called Āṣir.
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 of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, his word ( عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ جَسَدًا ) ("upon his throne a body") — he said: a shayṭān who was called Āṣaf. Sulaymān said to him: "How do you tempt people?" He said: "Give me your signet ring, and I will tell you." When Sulaymān gave it to him, Āṣaf cast it into the sea, whereupon Sulaymān disappeared and his kingship departed, and Āṣaf sat upon his throne. Allah, however, prevented him from the women of Sulaymān, so that he did not approach them, and they did not recognize him. He said: Sulaymān then begged for food and said: "Do you recognize me? Give me to eat, I am Sulaymān," but they declared him a liar, until one day a woman gave him a fish to satisfy his stomach, and he found his signet ring in its belly, whereupon his kingship returned to him, and Āṣaf fled and went into the sea, in flight.
Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, in a similar manner, except that in his narration he said: he said: "If you were to recognize me, you would give me to eat."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his word ( وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا سُلَيْمَانَ وَأَلْقَيْنَا عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ جَسَدًا ثُمَّ أَنَابَ ) ("And indeed, We tried Sulaymān, and We cast upon his throne a body; then he turned back in repentance") — he said: Qatāda related to us that Sulaymān gave the command to build Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). It was said to him: "Build it without the sound of iron being heard in it." He said: he sought after that, but was not able to do it. Then it was said to him: "There is a shayṭān in the sea, named Ṣakhr, who resembles the rebellious giant (al-mārid)." He said: he sought him out, and there was a spring in the sea to which he came once every seven days. Its water was removed and wine was put in it. On the day he came to it, he suddenly found the wine and said: "Verily, you are a pleasant drink, except that you disturb the composed and increase the fool in his foolishness." He said: then he turned back until he became severely thirsty, and then came again and said: "Verily, you are a pleasant drink, except that you disturb the composed and increase the fool in his foolishness." He said: then he drank of it until it overcame his reason. He said: then the signet ring was shown to him, or it was sealed with it between his shoulder blades, whereupon he was subdued. He said: his kingship lay in his signet ring, and it was brought to Sulaymān. He said: "We have been commanded to build this house, and it has been said to us: let not the sound of iron be heard in it." He said: then the eggs of the hoopoe (hudhud) were taken, and glass was placed over them. The hoopoe came and circled around it, and began to see its eggs but could not reach them. Then it went off and brought a diamond, placed it upon it and cut with it until it reached its eggs. Then they took the diamond and began to cut the stones with it. Now whenever Sulaymān wished to go to the toilet or the bathhouse, he would not enter it with his signet ring. One day he went to the bathhouse, and that shayṭān Ṣakhr was with him, and that was at the time of the committing of a sin which one of his wives had committed. He said: he entered the bathhouse and gave the shayṭān his signet ring, whereupon he cast it into the sea and a fish swallowed it. The kingship of Sulaymān was taken from him, and upon the shayṭān was cast the likeness of Sulaymān. He said: then he came, sat upon his throne and his seat, and gained power over all the kingship of Sulaymān, except over his wives. He said: he began to judge among them, and they began to disapprove of various matters from him, until they said: "Verily, the prophet of Allah has been tried (tempted)." Among them was a man whom they compared in strength to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, and he said: "By Allah, I will put him to the test." He said: he said to him: "O prophet of Allah" — while thinking that he was the prophet of Allah — "one of us is overcome by ritual impurity (janāba) on a cold night, and deliberately neglects the washing until the sun rises; do you see any objection in that?" He said: "No." He said: while he was thus, for forty nights, the prophet of Allah at last found his signet ring in the belly of a fish. He returned, and no jinn or bird met him without prostrating to him, until he reached them. ( وَأَلْقَيْنَا عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ جَسَدًا ) ("and We cast upon his throne a body") — he said: that is the shayṭān Ṣakhr.
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning his word ( وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا سُلَيْمَانَ ) ("And indeed, We tried Sulaymān") — he said: indeed, We tried him. ( وَأَلْقَيْنَا عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ جَسَدًا ) ("and We cast upon his throne a body") — he said: the shayṭān, when he sat upon his throne for forty days. He said: Sulaymān had a hundred wives, and among them was a woman named Jarāda; she was the most beloved of his wives to him and the most trusted by him. Whenever he had ritual impurity or relieved himself, he would take off his signet ring, and he did not entrust it to anyone of the people except her. On one of the days she came to him and said: "Between my brother and so-and-so there is a dispute, and I would like you to judge in his favor when he comes to you." He said to her: "Yes," but he did not do it, whereupon he was tried. He gave her his signet ring and entered the privy. Then the shayṭān came out in his form and said to her: "Give me the signet ring." She gave it to him, and he came and sat upon the seat of Sulaymān. Sulaymān came out afterward and asked her to give him his signet ring. She said: "Did you not take it earlier?" He said: "No," and went away from that place, bewildered (distraught). He said: the shayṭān continued to judge among the people for forty days. He said: the people disapproved of his judgments, and the Qurʾān-reciters of the Banū Isrāʾīl and their scholars gathered and came in to his wives and said: "Verily, we have disapproved of this; if this is Sulaymān, then his reason has departed, and we disapprove of his judgments." He said: then the wives wept at that. He said: they set off on foot until they came to him and surrounded him, and then unrolled the Tawrāt (Torah) and recited it. He said: then he flew away from before them, until he alighted upon a pinnacle, with the signet ring with him, and then flew off until he went to the sea, and the signet ring fell from him into the sea, whereupon a fish of the fishes of the sea swallowed it. He said: and Sulaymān came in the state in which he was, until he reached a fisherman of the fishermen of the sea, and he was hungry; his hunger had become severe. He asked them for food from their catch and said: "Verily, I am Sulaymān." Then one of them stood up and struck him with a stick, whereupon he received a head wound. He began to wash his blood on the shore of the sea. The fishermen rebuked their companion who had struck him and said: "Evil is what you have done in striking him." He said: "He claimed that he was Sulaymān." He said: then they gave him two fishes that were already spoiled (mazira) with them, and the wound that he had did not hold him back, until he went to the shore of the sea and opened their bellies and began to wash... and he found his signet ring in the belly of one of the two. He took it and put it on, whereupon Allah restored to him his splendor and his kingship. The birds came and circled above him, whereupon the people realized that he was Sulaymān. The people stood up and apologized for what they had done. He said: "I do not praise you for your apology, and I do not blame you for what came from you; this matter was inevitable." He said: then he came and reached his kingship, and he sent for the shayṭān, and he was brought. The wind and the devils were made subservient to him on that day, while before that they had not been made subservient to him; and that is His word ( وَهَبْ لِي مُلْكًا لا يَنْبَغِي لأحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِي إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ ) ("and grant me a kingship that befits no one after me; verily, You are the Bestower"). He said: and he sent for the shayṭān, and he was brought, and he gave a command concerning him, whereupon he was put into a chest of iron; then it was clamped shut over him and locked upon him with a lock, and sealed with his signet ring; then he gave a command concerning him, and he was cast into the sea. There he remains until the Hour comes. And his name was Ḥabqīq.
And his word ( ثُمَّ أَنَابَ ) ("then he turned back in repentance") — Sulaymān, that is to say: he returned to his kingship after his kingship had gone from him and disappeared.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the interpreters spoke.
* Mention of who said this:
It was related to me on the authority of al-Muḥāribī, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning his word ( ثُمَّ أَنَابَ ) ("then he turned back in repentance") — he said: Sulaymān came to a woman who was selling fish, and bought from her a fish; he cut open its belly and found his signet ring. Then he passed by no tree, no stone and no thing, without it prostrating to him, until he reached his kingship and his family. That is His word ( ثُمَّ أَنَابَ ) ("then he turned back in repentance"); he says: then he returned.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ( ثُمَّ أَنَابَ ) ("then he turned back in repentance") — and arrived, namely Sulaymān.
