Surah Saba (34) — Ayah 13

(Ayah 13) ➊ {يَعْمَلُوْنَ لَهٗ مَا يَشَآءُ مِنْ مَّحَارِيْبَ:’’ مَحَارِيْبَ ‘‘ ’’مِحْرَابٌ‘‘} is the plural of {’’حَرْبٌ‘‘}, which is on the pattern of {’’مِفْعَالٌ‘‘}, used for an instrument. Its original meaning is a weapon or instrument of war, then this word began to be used in several meanings, all of which in some way include the concept of war. Thus, a fort and a grand building are also called "mihrab" because by residing in it, one fights the enemy. The special room for worship is also called "mihrab" because it helps in the battle against Satan, as mentioned regarding Zakariya (peace be upon him): «فَنَادَتْهُ الْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةُ وَ هُوَ قَآىِٕمٌ يُّصَلِّيْ فِي الْمِحْرَابِ » [ آل عمران : ۳۹ ] "So the angels called out to him while he was standing in prayer in the sanctuary." The place specified for Dawud (peace be upon him) for worship is also called "mihrab," as stated: « وَ هَلْ اَتٰىكَ نَبَؤُا الْخَصْمِ اِذْ تَسَوَّرُوا الْمِحْرَابَ» [ صٓ : ۲۱ ] "And has the news of the disputants reached you, when they climbed over the wall of the sanctuary?"
The most prominent characteristic in the biography of Sulayman (peace be upon him) is jihad; for this, Allah Almighty had granted him armies of humans, jinn, and birds. He had a special interest in the preparation and provision of military necessities, so after making the horses race, the mention of him lovingly stroking their shins and necks is in Surah Sad (30 to 33). Upon hearing that in some region of the earth, polytheism prevails and a polytheist woman rules, his immediate readiness for jihad is mentioned in the story of the Queen of Sheba. (See Surah An-Naml) Obviously, for this, it was necessary to prepare all kinds of military equipment, and to store it, large buildings were needed. For advancing into enemy territory, attacking it, and for war, it was necessary to provide maps of those cities and models of important buildings. For the large number of armies, cooking food, distributing it, and providing utensils for it was a huge task. Allah Almighty had subjected the jinn, in addition to humans and birds, to Sulayman (peace be upon him) for all these tasks. If any of them disobeyed his command, he would be punished by Allah with flames of fire. Thus, they would provide all kinds of building materials—stone, marble, wood, iron, etc.—from far and wide for his military needs and build large buildings with them. Among these buildings was also the structure of Masjid Al-Aqsa.
➋ {وَ تَمَاثِيْلَ :} is the plural of {’’تِمْثَالٌ‘‘}, which refers to anything made in the likeness of something else, whether animate or inanimate, in the form of a model or statue, or as a picture on paper. What kind of tamathil (statues/models) the jinn made for Sulayman (peace be upon him), there is no detail from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Some commentators have mentioned, in detail, the making of images or statues of living things such as lions, leopards, etc., but this is hearsay, because neither did they narrate this from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), nor did they live with Sulayman (peace be upon him), nor do they mention any source of information that reaches Sulayman (peace be upon him).
The words of the verse are that the jinn, by the command of Sulayman (peace be upon him), made those mihrabs and tamathil that he wished. Obviously, it is impossible that such a great prophet of Allah would have useless statues of lions, elephants, leopards, or humans made, especially since the Torah, whose laws he followed, prohibited making images of living things. This prohibition is still present in several places in the Torah: "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, nor any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." (Exodus, Chapter 20, Verse 4) And in another place: "You shall not make idols for yourselves, nor a carved image or a sacred pillar for yourselves, nor shall you set up a sculpted stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus, Chapter 26, Verse 1) And in another place: "Lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth." (Deuteronomy, Chapter 4, Verses 16–18).
From these explicit verses of the Torah, it is clear that attributing the making of statues of living things to Sulayman (peace be upon him) is a slander, just as he was accused of being a magician or of idol worship due to being infatuated with women, whereas he was a chosen prophet of Allah Almighty and fully adhered to the laws of the Torah. Therefore, the meaning of the verse is that whatever building Sulayman (peace be upon him) wanted to have constructed, or whatever maps of regions or models of buildings he wanted made, the jinn would prepare them at his command. To derive the permissibility of images or statues of living things from this verse is absolutely incorrect, because their prohibition is a unanimously agreed upon matter. For the explicit prohibition of images of living things and the warnings regarding them from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), see Sahih Bukhari and other books of hadith. For the sake of brevity, they are not quoted here.
➌ { وَ جِفَانٍ كَالْجَوَابِ وَ قُدُوْرٍ رّٰسِيٰتٍ : ’’ جِفَانٍ ‘‘ ’’جَفْنَةٌ‘‘} is the plural of a large food vessel, basin, or tray. {’’اَلْجَوَابِ‘‘} is originally {’’اَلْجَوَابِيْ‘‘ }, which is the plural of {’’جَابِيَةٌ‘‘}, "pond." {’’ قُدُوْرٍ ‘‘ ’’قِدْرٌ‘‘} is the plural of cauldron, pot. {’’ رٰسِيٰتٍ ‘‘ ’’رَسَا يَرْسُوْ‘‘} is the feminine active participle from {’’رَاسِيَةٌ‘‘}, which is the plural. In the Qur'an, mountains are called {’’ رٰسِيٰتٍ ‘‘}, meaning embedded in the earth. In view of the abundance of Sulayman’s (peace be upon him) armies, ordinary pots, no matter how many, were not sufficient, nor were small vessels enough to feed so many people. Therefore, the jinn would prepare, according to Sulayman’s (peace be upon him) wishes, such large cauldrons of copper or carved from stone in the mountains that they would remain fixed in one place. They could not be moved elsewhere. In each of these cauldrons, food for thousands of people would be cooked, and to feed the warriors collectively, the jinn would make, as Sulayman (peace be upon him) desired, such large basins or trays as wide and long as ponds, on which many people could eat at one time.
The practice of many people eating from a single vessel was also present with our Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Abdullah bin Busr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: [ كَانَ لِلنَّبِيِّ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَصْعَةٌ يَحْمِلُهَا أَرْبَعَةُ رِجَالٍ يُقَالُ لَهَا الْغَرَّاءُ فَلَمَّا أَضْحَوْا وَسَجَدُوا الضُّحٰی أُتِيَ بِتِلْكَ الْقَصْعَةِ يَعْنِيْ وَقَدْ ثُرِدَ فِيْهَا فَالْتَفُّوْا عَلَيْهَا فَلَمَّا كَثُرُوْا جَثَا رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ فَقَالَ أَعْرَابِيٌّ مَا هٰذِهِ الْجِلْسَةُ؟ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنَّ اللّٰهَ تَعَالیٰ جَعَلَنِيْ عَبْدًا كَرِيْمًا وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْنِيْ جَبَّارًا عَنِيْدًا ثُمَّ قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ كُلُوْا مِنْ حَوَالَيْهَا وَ دَعُوْا ذِرْوَتَهَا يُبَارَكْ فِيْهَا ] [ أبو داوٗد، الأطعمۃ، باب ما جاء في الأکل من أعلی الصحفۃ : ۳۷۷۳، قال الألباني صحیح ] "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had a basin or tray which four men would carry; it was called 'gharra.’ When it was forenoon and the people had prayed the forenoon prayer, that basin was brought, in which bread was soaked in meat broth to make tharid. People sat around it, and when they became many, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sat on his knees. A Bedouin said, 'What is this way of sitting?' He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, 'Allah has made me a noble servant, not a wretched tyrant.' Then he said, 'Eat from around it and leave the middle, for there is blessing in it.'" Obviously, a vessel that four men carry would contain food for a hundred or two hundred people, and as for a vessel as wide as a pond, you can estimate the number of people eating from it yourself. The purpose of mentioning these works of the jinn for Sulayman (peace be upon him) is to describe the vastness of his kingdom, the abundance of his armies for jihad, his magnanimity, generosity, and his awe over not only humans but also jinn—that all this was a special favor from Allah Almighty upon him.
➍ Before { اِعْمَلُوْۤا اٰلَ دَاوٗدَ شُكْرًا : ’’ اِعْمَلُوْۤا اٰلَ ‘‘}, the vocative particle {’’يَا‘‘} is omitted, due to which the word {’’ اٰلَ ‘‘} is in the accusative case. {’’ شُكْرًا ‘‘} is the object of purpose. In the family of Dawud, he himself is included along with his household, meaning: We said, "O family of Dawud! Work deeds of gratitude." It is understood that the more blessings a person receives from Allah Almighty, the more he should strive in righteous deeds. Mughirah bin Shu’bah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would certainly stand in prayer so long that both his feet, or (he said) both his shins, would swell. When he was asked about this, he said: [ أَفَلَا أَكُوْنُ عَبْدًا شَكُوْرًا؟ ] "Should I not be a fully grateful servant?" [ بخاري، التہجد، باب قیام النبي صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم اللیل : ۱۱۳۰ ] The prayer, fasting, and jihad of Dawud (peace be upon him) have already been mentioned in verse (10) of this surah.
➎ { وَ قَلِيْلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُوْرُ : ’’ الشَّكُوْرُ ‘‘} is an intensive form, so the translation is "fully grateful." In this is encouragement that you should also try to be among My few servants who are fully grateful.