Surah Saad (38) — Ayah 33

(Ayah 33) ➊ { رُدُّوْهَا عَلَيَّ فَطَفِقَ مَسْحًۢا … :} So he ordered that they be brought back to him. When they were brought back, Solomon (peace be upon him) began to stroke their shins and necks with affection.

➋ Making horses race and stroking their bodies with love are both parts of jihad and are causes of reward and merit. That is why Allah Almighty mentioned both actions of Solomon (peace be upon him) as examples of his {’’ نِعْمَ الْعَبْدُ اِنَّهٗۤ اَوَّابٌ ‘‘} status. Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also used to hold horse races. Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) said: [ سَابَقَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ بَيْنَ الْخَيْلِ الَّتِيْ قَدْ أُضْمِرَتْ فَأَرْسَلَهَا مِنَ الْحَفْيَاءِ، وَكَانَ أَمَدُهَا ثَنِيَّةَ الْوَدَاعِ فَقُلْتُ لِمُوْسٰی فَكَمْ كَانَ بَيْنَ ذٰلِكَ؟ قَالَ سِتَّةُ أَمْيَالٍ أَوْ سَبْعَةٌ وَ سَابَقَ بَيْنَ الْخَيْلِ الَّتِيْ لَمْ تُضَمَّرْ، فَأَرْسَلَهَا مِنْ ثَنِيَّةِ الْوَدَاعِ، وَكَانَ أَمَدُهَا مَسْجِدَ بَنِيْ زُرَيْقٍ، قُلْتُ فَكَمْ بَيْنَ ذٰلِكَ؟ قَالَ مِيْلٌ أَوْ نَحْوُهُ وَ كَانَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ مِمَّنْ سَابَقَ فِيْهَا ] [ بخاري، الجہاد، باب غایۃ السبق للخیل المضمرۃ : ۲۸۷۰ ] “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) held a race between well-trained horses. He made them run from Hafya and their finish line was Thaniyyat al-Wada‘. (Abu Ishaq says:) I asked Musa bin Uqbah: ‘What was the distance between them?’ He replied: ‘The distance between the two was six or seven miles.’ And those horses that were not well-trained, he made them run from Thaniyyat al-Wada‘ and their finish line was the mosque of Banu Zuraiq. I asked: ‘What is the distance between them?’ Musa bin Uqbah replied: ‘The distance between the two is one mile or close to it.’ And Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) also participated in this race.” (The literal meaning of tazmeer is to make lean. It refers to a special way of preparing horses, in which they are first well-fed and fattened, then gradually their food is reduced and they are kept off feed for a while. During this time, their bodies are massaged and prepared, making them able to endure hunger and thirst and run for longer periods.) And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to affectionately stroke the forelocks of horses as well. Jarir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: [ رَأَيْتُ رَسُوْلَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ يَلْوِيْ نَاصِيَةَ فَرَسٍ بِإِصْبَعِهِ وَ هُوَ يَقُوْلُ الْخَيْلُ مَعْقُوْدٌ بِنَوَاصِيْهَا الْخَيْرُ إِلٰی يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ : الْأَجْرُ وَ الْغَنِيْمَةُ ] [مسلم، الإمارۃ، باب فضیلۃ الخیل و أن الخیر معقود بنواصیھا : ۱۸۷۲ ] “I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) twisting the forelock of a horse with his finger and saying: ‘Goodness is tied to the forelocks of horses until the Day of Resurrection, that is, reward and spoils.’ This is the interpretation that brings satisfaction to the heart, because there is no affectation in it. Imam Tabari, Razi, Ibn Hazm, and many other scholars have declared this to be Sahih, and the interpreter of the Qur’an, Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), has also given this interpretation. Thus, Tabari has narrated with an authentic chain from Ali bin Abi Talhah regarding the verse: « فَطَفِقَ مَسْحًۢا بِالسُّوْقِ وَ الْاَعْنَاقِ» his statement: {’’يَقُوْلُ جَعَلَ يَمْسَحُ أَعْرَافَ الْخَيْلِ وَ عَرَاقِبَهَا حُبًّا لَهَا‘‘} That is, the meaning of the verse is that Solomon (peace be upon him) began to affectionately stroke the hair on their necks and the backs of their legs.

Note: Many commentators have interpreted these verses in another way. According to them, the translation and interpretation is that swift-footed, purebred horses were presented before Solomon (peace be upon him) in the late afternoon. (Here, the phrase is omitted that he made them race, due to which his Asr prayer was missed, so) he said, I have preferred the love of wealth over the remembrance of my Lord, until the sun disappeared behind the veil. (So he ordered:) Bring them back to me, then he began to cut their shins and necks with a sword. But in this interpretation, several things have to be assumed without evidence, such as that his Asr prayer was missed, or the sun disappeared behind the veil, then the sword, and along with it, the cutting of shins and necks—none of these are mentioned here, nor is there any indication, nor can it be expected from a prophet to cut jihad horses in such a way when they had committed no crime. Nor was Solomon’s (peace be upon him) love for them due to love of wealth; rather, the real cause of this love was love for jihad. Nor is this interpretation narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) or any companion, whereas the first interpretation is narrated with an authentic chain from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), as mentioned above. Commentator Razi and especially Ibn Hazm have strongly refuted the interpretation of cutting the horses.