Lit., "... not aware of what of the sky and the earth is between their hands, and what is behind them": an idiomatic phrase explained in surah 2 note 247. In the present context - as well as in 2:255 - the above phrase stresses the insignificance of the knowledge attained to by man, or accessible to him; hence, so the argument goes, how can anyone be so presumptuous as to deny the reality of resurrection and life after death, seeing that it is a phenomenon beyond man's experience, while, on the other hand, everything within the universe points to God's unlimited creative power?

I.e., in an earthquake.

This allusion to unpredictable geological and cosmic occurrences - earthquakes, the fall of meteors and meteorites, cosmic rays, and so forth - reinforces the statement about "how little of the sky and the earth lies open before them, and how much is hidden from them", and contrasts man's insignificance with God's omniscience and almightiness.

See last sentence of 24:31 and the corresponding note 41.

Lit., "did We bestow upon David a favour from Ourselves". This connects with the elliptic reference to repentance in the preceding verse: David is singled out for special mention in view of the allusion, in surah 38, to his having suddenly become aware that he had committed a sin, whereupon "he asked his Sustainer to forgive him his sin… and turned unto Him in repentance" (38:24).

Cf. 21:79 and the corresponding note 73.

Lit., "for him". The term hadid denotes, primarily, something that is "sharp" in both the concrete and abstract senses of the word: for the latter sense, cf. the Quranic phrase "sharp (hadid) is thy sight today" (50:22), or the many idiomatic expressions like rajul hadid, "a man of sharp intellect", hadid an-nazar, "one who looks boldly [at others]", ra'ihah hadidah, "a sharp odour", etc. (Lisan al-Arab). As a noun with a definite article (al -hadid), it signifies "all that is sharp", or "sharpness", as well as "iron". God's having "softened all sharpness" in David is evidently an allusion to his exalted sense of beauty (expressed in the poetry of his Psalms) as well as to his goodness and humility. An alternative rendering of the above phrase would be: "We caused iron to become soft for him", which might be an allusion to his outstanding abilities as poet, warrior and ruler.

The adjective sabigh (fem. sabighah) signifies anything that is "ample", "abundant" and "complete" (in the sense of being perfect). In its plural form sabighat it assumes the function of the noun which it is meant to qualify, and denotes, literally, "things [or "deeds"] ample and complete" or "perfect" - i.e., good deeds done abundantly and without stint: cf. the only other Quranic instance of the same stem in 31:20 - "[God] has lavished (asbagha) upon you His blessings". The noun sard, on the other hand, denotes something "carried on consecutively", or something the parts (or stages) whereof are "following one another steadily". i.e., are continued or repeated.

Cf. 21:81 and the corresponding note 75. For a more general explanation of the legends connected with the person of Solomon, see note 77 on 21:82.

Lit., "for him": probably a reference to the many furnishings of copper and brass which, according to the Bible (cf. II Chronicles iv), Solomon caused to be made for his newly-built temple.

Lit., "between his hands", i.e., subject to his will: see 21:82 and the corresponding notes 76 and 77. For my rendering of jinn as "invisible beings", see Appendix III.

I.e., because of their enormous size. Cf. II Chronicles iii, 10-13, where statues ("images") of cherubim are mentioned, as well as iv, 2-5, describing "a molten sea" (i.e., basin) of huge dimensions, resting upon twelve statues of oxen, and meant to contain water "for the priests to wash in" (ibid., iv, 6). The "sanctuaries" were apparently the various halls of the new temple.

These words, ostensibly addressed to "the people" or "the family" of David, are in reality an admonition to all believers, at all times, since all of them are, spiritually, "David's people".

I.e., even among those who consider themselves God's servants - for "truly grateful [to God] is only he who realizes his inability to render adequate thanks to Him" (Zamakhshari).

This is yet another of the many Solomonic legends which had become an inalienable part of ancient Arabian tradition, and which the Qur'an uses as a vehicle for the allegorical illustration of some of its teachings. According to the legend alluded to above, Solomon died on his throne leaning forward on his staff, and for a length of time nobody became aware of his death: with the result that the jinn, who had been constrained to work for him, went on labouring at the heavy tasks assigned to them. Gradually, however, a termite ate away Solomon's staff, and his body, deprived of support, fell to the ground. This story - only hinted at in its outline - is apparently used here as an allegory of the insignificance and inherent brittleness of human life and of the perishable nature and emptiness of all worldly might and glory.

Al-ghayb, "that which is beyond the reach of [a created being's] perception", either in an absolute or - as in this instance - in a relative, temporary sense.

I.e., because they would have known that Solomon's sway over them had ended. In the elliptic manner so characteristic of the Qur'an, stress is laid here, firstly, on the limited nature of all empirical knowledge, including the result of deductions and inferences based on no more than observable or calculable phenomena, and, secondly, on the impossibility to determine correctly, on the basis of such limited fragments of knowledge alone, what course of action would be right in a given situation. Although the story as such relates to "invisible beings", its moral lesson (which may be summed up in the statement that empirical knowledge cannot provide any ethical guideline unless it is accompanied, and completed, by divine guidance) is obviously addressed to human beings as well.

This connects with the call to gratitude towards God in the preceding passage, and the mention, at the end of verse 13, that "few are the truly grateful" even among those who think of themselves as "God's servants". (see note 19 above). The kingdom of Sheba (Saba in Arabic) was situated in south-western Arabia, and at the time of its greatest prosperity (i.e., in the first millennium B.C.) comprised not only the Yemen but also a large part of Hadramawt and the Mahrah country, and probably also much of present-day Abyssinia. In the vicinity of its capital Marib - the Sabaeans had built in the course of centuries an extraordinary system of dams, dykes and sluices, which became famous in history, with astonishing remnants extant to this day. It was to this great dam that the whole country of Sheba owed its outstanding prosperity, which became proverbial throughout Arabia. (According to the geographer Al-Ham­dani, who died in 334 H., the area irrigated by this system of dams stretched eastward to the desert of Sayhad on the confines of the Rub al-Khali). The flourishing state of the country was reflected in its people's intense trading activities and their control of the "spice road" which led from Ma'rib northwards to Mecca, Yathrib and Syria, and eastwards to Dufar on the shores of the Arabian Sea, thus connecting with the maritime routes from India and China. The period to which the above Quranic passage refers is evidently much later than that spoken of in 27:22-44.

Lit., "the flooding of the dams" (sayl al-arim). The date of that catastrophe cannot be established with any certainty, but the most probable period of the first bursting of the Dam of Ma'rib seems to have been the second century of the Christian era. The kingdom of Sheba was largely devastated, and this led to the migration of many southern (Qahtan) tribes towards the north of the Peninsula. Subsequently, it appears, the system of dams and dykes was to some extent repaired, but the country never regained its earlier prosperity; and a few decades before the advent of Islam the great dam collapsed completely and finally.

Neither the Qur'an nor any authentic hadith tells us anything definite about the way in which the people of Sheba had sinned at the time immediately preceding the final collapse of the Dam of Ma'rib (i.e.. in the sixth century of the Christian era). This omission, however, seems to be deliberate. In view of the fact that the story of Sheba's prosperity and subsequent catastrophic downfall had become a byword in ancient Arabia, it is most probable that its mention in the Qur'an has a purely moral purport similar to that of the immediately preceding legend of Solomon's death, inasmuch as both these legends, in their Quranic presentation, are allegories of the ephemeral nature of all human might and achievement. As mentioned at the beginning of note 23 above, the story of Sheba's downfall is closely linked with the phenomenon of men's recurrent ingratitude towards God. (See also verse 20 and corresponding note 29 .)

I.e., Mecca and Jerusalem, both of which lay on the caravan route much used by the people of Sheba.

David mastered iron technology. 21:79, 27:15-16

21:82, 38:37

The 'creature of the earth' was the highly incompetent son Rehoboam and the successor to Solomon 38:34. Historically, ten of the Israelite Tribes also broke away from the Kingdom at that point

The ruins of the greatest of these dams Ma'aarib exist in Yemen indicating that it was at least two miles long and 120 ft. high

Ingratitude = Refusing to share God's bounties in equity. It appears that in the Kingdom of Sheba people were divided into two classes, the very rich and the very poor

Before the destruction of the Sheba Empire, there were beautiful oases and towns from Ethiopia-Somalia-Yemen to Syria-Palestine, and business flourished through the highways and international trade through land and sea. Journey had been made easy for them with secured rest areas day and night. On the highway from Yemen to Jerusalem they had built 700 luxurious rest areas for the busy caravan route. Their trade extended to India in the East, Egypt-Sudan in the West, Kenya-Uganda in the South and Syria-Palestine in the North

Accepting the average speed of that day to be 6 km/h, then Solomon was reaching 360 km/h.

Solomon, besides being a leader, was also an art enthusiast. It is ironic to see that those who worship the black stone in Mecca, or turn the tombs of dead people into shrines, or hope for the intercession of the dead prophets and saints, those who commit polytheism in a myriad of ways, have such an opposition to statues made for artistic purposes.