Tafseer of The letter Saad · Saad · 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."
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 رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَهَبْ لِي مُلْكًا لا يَنْبَغِي لأحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِي ) ("He said: My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom that befits no one after me") — He, exalted is His remembrance, says: Sulaymān spoke, in yearning toward his Lord: My Lord, cover my sin that I have committed between me and You, and do not punish me for it. ( وَهَبْ لِي مُلْكًا لا يَنْبَغِي لأحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِي ) ("and grant me a kingdom that befits no one after me") — that no one shall take from me as the satan took it from me before this.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the scholars of exegesis have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ( قَالَ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَهَبْ لِي مُلْكًا لا يَنْبَغِي لأحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِي ) ("He said: My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom that befits no one after me"), he said: a kingdom that is not taken from me as it was taken from me.
Some of the linguists turned the meaning of His statement ( لا يَنْبَغِي لأحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِي ) ("that befits no one after me") toward: that it shall not belong to anyone after me, as Ibn Aḥmar said:
No mother of an ibex kid on a dark rock with steep slopes, from which the white-speckled, nimbly climbing ibex turns aside the boulders,
upon the summit of a bare, smooth mountain, rising high to a great height — above her rises neither plain nor mountain.
In the meaning: above her there is neither plain nor mountain more secured than she.
His statement ( إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ ) ("Indeed, You are the Bestower") means: indeed, You are the Bestower of what You will to whom You will; in Your hand are the treasuries of all things, You open of them what You will for whom You will.