Surah Saba (34) — Ayah 14

(Ayah 14) ➊ { فَلَمَّا قَضَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ الْمَوْتَ … : ’’ دَآبَّةُ الْاَرْضِ ‘‘} Termites. The meaning of {’’ تَبَيَّنَتِ الْجِنُّ ‘‘ ’’تَبَيَّنَ يَتَبَيَّنُ‘‘} (tafa‘‘ul) is also to know something clearly and for something to become clear and manifest, as the poet has said:
{إِذَا اشْتَبَكَتْ دُمُوْعٌ فِيْ خُدُوْدٍ ¤ تَبَيَّنَ مَنْ بَكٰي مِمَّنْ تَبَاكٰي}
“When tears streamed down the cheeks, those who were truly crying became clearly distinguished from those who were only pretending to cry.”
➋ After mentioning the great kingdom granted to Sulayman (peace be upon him), his scholarly excellence, and his control over the wind and jinn, etc., Allah Almighty mentioned his death to show that no one can escape death. If anyone could have escaped it, Sulayman (peace be upon him) surely would have, as he possessed such great powers.
➌ In the time of Sulayman (peace be upon him), many people believed that the jinn knew the unseen, just as most people today still believe. Allah Almighty adopted a unique method to clarify the reality of the jinn’s knowledge of the unseen: Sulayman (peace be upon him) passed away while standing, leaning on his staff. The jinn were busy with the tasks Sulayman (peace be upon him) had assigned to them, and they did not realize that he had died, so they continued working as before. Termites kept eating his staff from within, and when the staff became hollow from the inside and could no longer bear the weight of Sulayman (peace be upon him), he fell down. Only then did the people and the jinn come to know of his death. Through this incident, the reality of the jinn became clear to everyone: if they had known the unseen, they would not have remained in the humiliating punishment.
➍ It is clear from this verse that the jinn and devils under Sulayman (peace be upon him)’s command were not rebellious human tribes, because no one believes that they possess knowledge of the unseen, nor can they themselves claim it. Rather, these were real jinn and devils.
➎ In most tafsirs, it is written that Sulayman (peace be upon him) remained standing with the support of his staff for a year after his death. Some have stated that Sulayman (peace be upon him) ordered the jinn to build a glass house and stood in it leaning on his staff. He passed away in this state. The jinn saw him standing with the support of his staff for a year and, thinking him alive due to his awe, continued to carry out the constructions and other tasks he had assigned. However, the question arises regarding standing in this way for a whole year: Sulayman (peace be upon him) neither ate nor drank, nor changed his clothes, nor prayed or led the congregation, nor did any servant feel any concern, though they used to arrange these things for him daily, nor did anyone feel the need to consult him about matters of the kingdom. Is this even possible? I have studied many tafsirs, but they have not paid attention to this question. Some commentators have considered it a metaphor and said that the termites eating the staff means that his kingdom was gradually weakening from within, etc., but the words of the verse do not support this.
Allama Maraghi has given a good solution to this; he says: {’’ وَالْكِتَابُ الْكَرِيْمُ لَمْ يُحَدِّدِ الْمُدَّةَ الَّتِيْ قَضَاهَا سُلَيْمَانُ وَهُوَ مُتَوَكِّئٌ عَلٰي عَصَاهُ حَتّٰي عَلِمَ الْجِنُّ بِمَوْتِهِ، وَقَدْ رَوَي الْقَصَّاصُوْنَ أَنَّهَا كَانَتْ سَنَةً، وَ مِثْلُ هٰذَا لَا يَنْبَغِي الرُّكُوْنُ إِلَيْهِ، فَلَيْسَ مِنَ الْجَائِزِ أَنَّ خَدَمَ سُلَيْمَانَ لَا يَتَنَبَّهُوْنَ إِلَي الْقِيَامِ بِوَاجِبَاتِهِ الْمَعِيْشِيَّةِ مِنْ مَأْكَلٍ وَ مَشْرَبٍ وَ مَلْبَسٍ وَ نَحْوِهَا يَوْمًا كَامِلًا دُوْنَ أَنْ يُّحَادِثُوْهُ فِيْ ذٰلِكَ وَ يَطَّلِبُوْا إِلَيْهِ الْقِيَامَ بِخِدْمَتِهِ، فَالْمَعْقُوْلُ أَنَّ الْأَرْضَةَ بَدَأَتِ الْعَصَا وَ سُلَيْمَانُ لَمْ يَتَنَبَّهْ لِذٰلِكَ، وَ بَيْنَمَا هُوَ مُتَوَكِّئٌ عَلَيْهَا حَانَتْ مَنِيَّتُهُ، وَكَانَتِ الْأَرَضَةُ قَدْ فَعَلَتْ فِعْلَهَا فِي الْعَصَا فَانْكَسَرَتْ فَخَرَّ عَلَي الْأَرْضِ فَعَلِمَتِ الْجِنُّ كِذْبَهَا، إِذْ كَانَتْ تَدَّعِيْ أَنَّهَا تَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ، إِذْ لَوْ عَلِمَتْهُ مَا لَبِثَتْ تُرْهِقُ نَفْسَهَا فِيْ شَاقِّ الْأَعْمَالِ الَّتِيْ كُلِّفَتْ بِهَا ‘‘} “The Noble Qur’an has not specified the duration that Sulayman (peace be upon him) spent leaning on his staff until the jinn came to know of his death. Storytellers have stated that it was a year, but such a thing is not worth considering, because it is not possible that those serving Sulayman (peace be upon him) would not think of his daily needs such as food, drink, and clothing for a whole day, nor speak to him about it, nor feel the need to serve him (let alone a whole year). Therefore, the reasonable thing is that the termites had already infested the staff, and Sulayman (peace be upon him) was unaware of it. He was leaning on it when his time of death came, and by then the termites had done their work inside the staff. Thus, it broke, and Sulayman (peace be upon him) fell to the ground, so the jinn realized their falsehood, because they claimed to know the unseen, and if they had known it, they would not have continued to toil in the arduous tasks they had been assigned.”
Maraghi’s opinion is also strong because there is no narration from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) confirming the duration of a year; these are merely Isra’ili traditions, which do not even reach the level of being called {’’لَا نُصَدِّقُ وَلَا نُكَذِّبُ‘‘}, but are all rejected due to being clearly against reason. Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him), despite mentioning the duration of a year, has declared these narrations to be Isra’iliyat and has called the marfu‘ narration strange and {’’فِيْ صِحَّتِهِ نَظْرٌ‘‘}, and in reality, that narration is not established.