Tafsir Al-Jalalayn: Saba, Ayah 14

Saba · Ayah 14 · View Ayah
فَلَمَّا قَضَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ ٱلْمَوْتَ مَا دَلَّهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَوْتِهِۦٓ إِلَّا دَآبَّةُ ٱلْأَرْضِ تَأْكُلُ مِنسَأَتَهُۥ ۖ فَلَمَّا خَرَّ تَبَيَّنَتِ ٱلْجِنُّ أَن لَّوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ ٱلْغَيْبَ مَا لَبِثُوا۟ فِى ٱلْعَذَابِ ٱلْمُهِينِ
And when We decreed for Solomon death, nothing indicated to the jinn his death except a creature of the earth eating his staff. But when he fell, it became clear to the jinn that if they had known the unseen, they would not have remained in humiliating punishment.

Common Words

27 total25 unique2 repeated
فلما2x
ما2x
قضينا1x
عليه1x
ٱلموت1x
دلهم1x
على1x
موته1x
إلا1x
دابة1x
ٱلأرض1x
تأكل1x
منسأته1x
خر1x
تبينت1x
ٱلجن1x
أن1x
لو1x
كانوا1x
يعلمون1x

Al-Jalalayn Commentary

And when We decreed for him for Solomon death in other words when he died — he remained supported against his staff an entire year while the jinn continued to toil in hard labour as was customary unaware of his death until finally when a termite ate through his staff he fell to the ground and was seen to be dead — nothing indicated to them that he had died except a termite al-ard is the verbal noun from uridat al-khashaba passive verbal form in other words ‘it the piece of wood was eaten away by a termite al-arada’ that gnawed away at his staff read minsa’atahu or minsātahu replacing the hamza with an alif meaning a ‘staff’ so called because when describing it one would say yunsa’u bihā to mean it is used to repel or drive away creatures’. And when he fell down dead the jinn realised it became apparent to them that an is softened in other words annahum had they known the Unseen — comprising what was hidden from them in the way of Solomon being dead — they would not have continued in the humiliating chastisement in that hard labour of theirs in which they continued as they supposed him to be alive which is in contrast to what they would have supposed had they known the Unseen and the fact that he had been there an entire year judging by how much of the staff the termite had eaten through after his death; in other words they would not have continued in the humiliating chastisement for a single day or even a single night longer.

Other Scholars on This Ayah

Tafsir

87%75%74%Al-JalalaynIbn AbbasIbn Kathir
Scholars largely agree on this ayah

(And when We decreed death for him) for Solomon, Solomon died and remained standing in his retreat for a year (nothing showed his death) the death of Solomon (to them save a creeping creature of the earth) a woodworm (which gnawed away his staff) and it is said: his short spear. (And when he fell) when Solomon fell to the ground (the jinn saw clearly how) the jinn and human beings saw clearly that they do not know the unseen, (if they had known the unseen, they would not have continued in despised toil) they would not have continued in their subservience. People thought before this that the jinn knew the unseen but when they saw this they realised that they did not.

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