سُوْرَةُ الْاَنْۣبِيَآءِ
Surah Al-Anbiyaa (21) — Ayah 79
فَفَهَّمْنَـٰهَا سُلَيْمَـٰنَ ۚ وَكُلًّا ءَاتَيْنَا حُكْمًا وَعِلْمًا ۚ وَسَخَّرْنَا مَعَ دَاوُۥدَ ٱلْجِبَالَ يُسَبِّحْنَ وَٱلطَّيْرَ ۚ وَكُنَّا فَـٰعِلِينَ ﴿79﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And We made Sulaimân (Solomon) to understand (the case); and to each of them We gave Hukm (right judgement of the affairs and Prophethood) and knowledge. And We subjected the mountains and the birds to glorify Our Praises along with Dâwûd (David). And it was We Who were the doer (of all these things).
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
فَفَهَّمْنَـٰهَا
fafahhamnāhā
And We gave understanding of it
سُلَيْمَـٰنَ ۚ
sulaymāna
(to) Sulaiman
وَكُلًّا
wakullan
and (to) each
ءَاتَيْنَا
ātaynā
We gave
حُكْمًۭا
ḥuk'man
judgment
وَعِلْمًۭا ۚ
waʿil'man
and knowledge
وَسَخَّرْنَا
wasakharnā
And We subjected
مَعَ
maʿa
with
دَاوُۥدَ
dāwūda
Dawud
ٱلْجِبَالَ
l-jibāla
the mountains
يُسَبِّحْنَ
yusabbiḥ'na
(to) glorify Our praises
وَٱلطَّيْرَ ۚ
wal-ṭayra
and the birds
وَكُنَّا
wakunnā
And We were
فَـٰعِلِينَ
fāʿilīna
the Doers
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan — Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan is a well-known Quran commentary by Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. This tafsir explains the meanings of the Quran in accordance with the methodology of the Salaf (early righteous generations), relying on authentic sources and straightforward language. Due to its reliability and adherence to sound Islamic scholarship, the Saudi government publishes and distributes this tafsir among the Hujjaj (pilgrims) visiting the Haramain. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
79. 1. The commentators have narrated this story as follows: A man's goats entered another person's field at night and grazed on his crops. Prophet Dawud (David) ﷺ, who was both a prophet and a ruler, gave the verdict that the owner of the field should take the goats so that his loss would be compensated. Prophet Sulaiman (Solomon) ﷺ disagreed with this verdict and ruled that the goats should be given to the owner of the field for a period of time so that he could benefit from them, and the field should be handed over to the owner of the goats so that he could irrigate and tend to it and restore it to its original state before the goats grazed on it. When the field returned to its previous condition, the field would be returned to its owner and the goats to their owner. Compared to the first verdict, the second verdict was better in that no one was deprived of their property, whereas in the first verdict, the owner of the goats was deprived of his goats. However, Allah also praised Prophet Dawud ﷺ and said that We granted each (i.e., both Dawud ﷺ and Sulaiman ﷺ) knowledge and wisdom. Some people, reasoning from this, say... Imam Shawkani states that this claim is not correct. Two judges who give two different (contradictory) verdicts in a single matter cannot both be correct at the same time; there must be one who is correct (makes the right decision) and the other who, by mistake, makes the wrong decision. However, it is a different matter that the one who makes a mistake and gives a wrong verdict will not be sinful, rather he will receive one reward. As in the hadith (Fath al-Qadir).
79. 2. This does not mean that the mountains would echo with the sound of their glorification (because then there would be no miracle left in it).
79. 3. That is, the birds too, upon hearing Dawud’s ﷺ soulful voice, would begin to glorify Allah. The meaning is that the birds were also subjugated for Dawud ﷺ (Fath al-Qadir).
79. 3. That is, this understanding, the granting of judgment, and the subjugation—all of these were done by Us alone, so there is no need to be surprised or to deny any of them, because We can do whatever We will.
79. 2. This does not mean that the mountains would echo with the sound of their glorification (because then there would be no miracle left in it).
79. 3. That is, the birds too, upon hearing Dawud’s ﷺ soulful voice, would begin to glorify Allah. The meaning is that the birds were also subjugated for Dawud ﷺ (Fath al-Qadir).
79. 3. That is, this understanding, the granting of judgment, and the subjugation—all of these were done by Us alone, so there is no need to be surprised or to deny any of them, because We can do whatever We will.
