سورة الأنبياء

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "What do you say about withdrawal [from women, i.e. coitus interruptus]?" He said: "Ali (peace be upon him) did not withdraw, but as for me, I do withdraw." I said: "This is a disagreement [with Ali (peace be upon him)]." He said: "Sulayman's (peace be upon him) disagreement with Dawud (peace be upon him) did not harm Dawud (peace be upon him), and Allah the Exalted says: فَفَهَّمْناها سُلَیْمانَ [So We made Sulayman understand it]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Hisham ibn Salim said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "One day Dawud (peace be upon him) went out and was reciting the Zabur. Whenever Dawud (peace be upon him) recited the Zabur, there was no mountain, stone, bird or wild beast that did not join its voice with his."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) narrates from his fathers from Imam Husayn (peace be upon him): A Jewish man from Sham who had read the Torah, the Injil, the Zabur and the scriptures of the prophets, and had knowledge of their proofs, entered a gathering in which the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) were present, and Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) was also there... The Jew said: "The Jewish scholar said: This is Dawud (peace be upon him) who wept over his sin such that the mountains, out of fear, moved and flowed along with him." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "It is so, and to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) something greater than this was given. When he stood for prayer, from the intensity of his weeping, a sound would be heard from his chest and belly like the sound of a copper pot full of water boiling over a blazing fire. And this was while Allah had secured him from His punishment. By this weeping, the Prophet wished to express humility before Allah, for he is the imam and exemplar of all. And that noble Messenger, for a period of ten years, out of servitude to Allah, worshipped the Lord of Glory standing on the tips of his toes, until his blessed feet became swollen and thick and his blessed complexion turned yellowish, and he continually prayed the night prayer, until he was reproached from the side of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: طه ما أَنْزَلْنا عَلَیْکَ الْقُرْآنَ لِتَشْقی [Ta Ha. We have not sent down the Quran upon you that you should be distressed] (Ta Ha/2), rather so that through it you should become blessed. And he would weep so much that at times he would faint. One day, one of the companions said to him: 'O Messenger of Allah! Is it not the case that Allah has forgiven your past and future sins?' He said: 'Yes, but should I not be a grateful servant of Allah?!' And just as the mountains moved along with Dawud (peace be upon him) and glorified [Allah], with Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) something greater than this occurred. We were with him on Mount Hira when suddenly the mountain began to shake. That noble one said to the mountain: 'Be still, for none stands upon you except a prophet, a successor, or a truthful martyr!' So the mountain, in obedience to his command, became still. One day we were also passing with him by a mountain when suddenly drops of tears were coming out from some parts of it. That noble one said to the mountain: 'Why are you weeping?' It said: 'O Messenger of Allah! Isa (peace be upon him) passed by me, and he was frightening the people with a fire whose fuel is people and stones. I fear that I might be from those stones.' The Prophet said to it: 'Do not fear, that stone is brimstone.' So the mountain became calm and quieted."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): One day Dawud the Prophet (peace be upon him) was in his prayer-niche when a small red worm passed by him and moved along quietly until it reached the place of his prostration. Dawud (peace be upon him) looked at it and said to himself: "For what has this worm been created?" Allah revealed to that [worm] that it should speak [with Dawud (peace be upon him)]. So it said to him: "O Dawud (peace be upon him)! Did you hear my hidden sound? Or did the trace of me on the smooth stone become apparent to you?" Dawud said to it: "No." It said: "Allah hears the sound of my quiet movement and my breathing and my hidden sound, and He sees the trace of my walking; so lower your voice."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Once Dawud (peace be upon him) was at the standing-place of Arafat for the performance of Hajj, and he grew weary of the great crowd, so he climbed a mountain and engaged in intimate prayer. When his worship came to an end, Jibra'il came to him and said: "O Dawud (peace be upon him)! Your Lord says: Why did you climb the mountain — did you suppose that your voice is not heard by Us amidst the voices of this crowd?" Then Jibra'il took him from there to the sea of Jeddah, and for a period of forty days they travelled through the water until they reached a rock. Jibra'il split open that rock and showed Dawud (peace be upon him) a worm inside it, and said to him: "O Dawud (peace be upon him), your Lord says: I hear the voice of this worm in the heart of this rock in the depth of this sea — how did you imagine that the voices of the people would prevent your voice from reaching Me?!"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Dawud (peace be upon him), by divine command, intended to appoint his son as his successor, but the Children of Israel said, "Appoint someone else as your successor." So Dawud (peace be upon him) summoned the tribes of the Children of Israel and said to them: "Your words have reached me. Let the chief of each tribe give me his staff, and I will place them in a locked room. Whichever staff, by Allah's leave, turns green and bears fruit, its owner is my companion and the wali al-amr (guardian of the affair) over you after me." They were content with this ruling and placed their staves in the house. When morning came, they saw that Sulayman's (peace be upon him) staff had sprouted branches and leaves and borne fruit, so they submitted to Dawud's (peace be upon him) ruling. In the beginning of his affair, Sulayman (peace be upon him) kept the matter of his rule concealed and lived in hiding from his followers for a period, until one day his wife said to him: "May my father and mother be your ransom, how excellent are your qualities and how fragrant and pleasant you are. By Allah, if you were to go to the market in search of provision, you would not return disappointed." Sulayman (peace be upon him) said: "I am not acquainted with any trade." But at his wife's urging he went to the market. On the first day he obtained nothing and returned disappointed, but his wife said to him: "If it did not happen today, try tomorrow." On the second day too he found no work and returned disappointed, but again his wife urged him to go. On the third day Sulayman (peace be upon him) walked until he reached the shore of the sea, and he saw a fisherman. He said to him: "If I help you, will you give me something from your catch?" The fisherman agreed, and Sulayman (peace be upon him) set about helping him. When the work was finished, the fisherman gave him two fish. Sulayman (peace be upon him) took them and split open the belly of one of the fish, and suddenly he saw a ring inside the fish's belly. He went home and hid the ring in his clothing. When his wife saw him returning with full hands, she said to him: "Tonight I wish to invite my father and mother to a meal, so that they may know that you have taken up work." So he invited them, and they all ate the fish together. When they had finished, Sulayman (peace be upon him) took the ring out of the pocket of his garment and placed it on his hand. At that very moment all the birds and the wind were made subject to him, and his kingdom and sovereignty became manifest. He took his wife and her parents to the land of Istakhr, and the Shia gathered around him, and Allah brought relief in the matter of his occultation. He ruled for years, and when the time of his death drew near he appointed Asaf ibn Barkhiya as his successor, and the people would receive the commands and prohibitions of the sacred law from him. Then Asaf ibn Barkhiya also went into occultation for a time, but after a while he reappeared and ruled among them for a long time. When the time of his second occultation came, he bade farewell to the people, and when they asked him about the time of seeing him and his reappearance, he said: "I shall see you upon the bridge of al-Sirat." Then he went into occultation. After that, the trial and affliction of the Children of Israel grew severe, and Bukhtnassar (Nebuchadnezzar) prevailed over them.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Sulayman (peace be upon him) would feed his guests meat with bread made from the finest wheat flour, and would feed his family bread made from unsifted flour, while he himself ate bread of barley with its bran.