سورة الأنبياء

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ عَلَّمْنَاهُ صَنْعَةَ لَبُوسٍ لَّکُمْ [And We taught him the making of coats of mail for you]; what is meant by it is armour.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: "Allah the Mighty and Majestic revealed to Dawud (peace be upon him): 'If you did not eat from the treasury (bayt al-mal) and worked with your own hands, you would be an excellent servant.' Then Dawud (peace be upon him) wept for forty mornings, and Allah commanded iron to become soft for Dawud (peace be upon him). So Allah made iron soft for him. Each day he would make a coat of mail and sell it for a thousand dirhams. He made three hundred and sixty coats of mail and sold them for three hundred and sixty thousand dirhams, and made himself independent of the treasury."