سورة ص

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Yaqtin said: I said to Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): "Is it permissible for a prophet of Allah the Mighty and Majestic to be miserly?" He said: "No." I said: "Then what is the aspect and meaning of this statement of Sulayman (peace be upon him): رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِی وَهَبْ لِی مُلْکًا لَّا یَنبَغِی لِأَحَدٍ مِّنْ بَعْدِی [My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom that shall not befit anyone after me]?" He said: "Sovereignty is of two kinds: one that is taken by overpowering others, oppression and coercion of the people, and another that is from Allah the Exalted, like the sovereignty of the family of Ibrahim, of Talut and of Dhul-Qarnayn (peace be upon them). Sulayman (peace be upon him) said: هَبْ لِی مُلْکاً لا یَنْبَغِی لِأَحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِی — that is: Grant me a kingdom such that no one may be entitled to say that his kingdom was acquired through overpowering, oppression and coercion of the people. So Allah the Mighty and Majestic made the wind subservient to Sulayman (peace be upon him), which by his command would flow gently wherever he wished, and this wind would traverse in its outward journey a distance of a month and in its return journey also a distance of a month; and Allah made the devils subservient to him as builders and divers, and taught him the language of the birds, and he attained power and honour in the earth. So the people in Sulayman's (peace be upon him) time and after him understood that his sovereignty did not resemble the sovereignty of kings chosen by the people who rule with domination and oppression over the people." Then I asked the Imam (peace be upon him): "So what is the meaning of this statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): 'May Allah have mercy on Sulayman son of Dawud (peace be upon him), how miserly he was!'?" He said: "The statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) can be examined from two aspects: one is that Sulayman (peace be upon him) was very miserly with regard to his honour and any unseemly word said about him; and the other is: how miserly Sulayman (peace be upon him) was regarding wanting what the ignorant have in view." Then Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) said: "By Allah! To us (the Ahl al-Bayt) has been given what was given to Sulayman (peace be upon him) and what was not given to him nor to any of the other prophets. Allah the Exalted says in the story of Sulayman (peace be upon him): هَذَا عَطَاؤُنَا فَامْنُنْ أَوْ أَمْسِکْ بِغَیْرِ حِسَابٍ [This is Our gift, so grant or withhold without reckoning], but in the story of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) He says: 'Whatever the Messenger of Allah has brought you, take it [and act upon it], and whatever he has forbidden you, refrain from it.' (al-Hashr/7)"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Jamila said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about this statement of Sulayman (peace be upon him): هَبْ لِی مُلْکاً لا یَنْبَغِی لِأَحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِی إِنَّکَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ [Grant me a kingdom which is not fit for anyone after me; indeed You are the Bestower]: "Was what Sulayman (peace be upon him) asked of Allah granted to him?" He said: "Yes! And after Sulayman (peace be upon him), the power to overcome Satan was not given to anyone to the extent it was given to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) choked Satan up to his armpit, until his tongue touched the hand of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Had it not been for what Sulayman (peace be upon him) requested, I would have shown him to you.'"

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): When Sulayman (peace be upon him) married a Yemeni woman, she bore him a son whom Sulayman (peace be upon him) loved deeply. One day the angel of death, who used to descend upon Sulayman (peace be upon him) frequently, came to him and cast a sharp glance at the boy. Sulayman (peace be upon him) was alarmed by his look and said to the boy's mother, "The angel of death looked at my son in such a way that I suspect he has been ordered to take his soul." Then he said to the jinn and the shaytans, "Do you have any device by which you can make him flee from death?" One of them said, "I will place him beneath the spring of the sun in the east." Sulayman (peace be upon him) said, "The angel of death brings out whatever is between the east and the west." Another said, "I will place him in the seventh earth." Sulayman (peace be upon him) said, "The angel of death reaches there as well." Another said, "I will place him amid the clouds and the air." So he took him up and set him on the clouds. Then the angel of death came and took the boy's soul amid the clouds, and his lifeless body fell upon the throne of Sulayman (peace be upon him), and Sulayman (peace be upon him) knew he had erred. Allah recounted this story and said: وَ أَلْقَیْنَا عَلَی کُرْسِیِّهِ جَسَدًا ثُمَّ أَنَابَ * قَالَ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِی وَ هَبْ لِی مُلْکًا لَا یَنبَغِی لِأَحَدٍ مِّنْ بَعْدِی إِنَّکَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ * فَسَخَّرْنَا لَهُ الرِّیحَ تَجْرِی بِأَمْرِهِ رُخَاءً حَیْثُ أَصَابَ [And We cast upon his throne a body, then he turned (to Allah). He said: My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom which will not befit anyone after me; indeed You are the Bestower. So We subjected the wind to him, blowing gently by his command wherever he directed]. "Rukha'" means gently. وَ الشَّیَاطِینَ کُلَّ بَنَّاء وَ غَوَّاصٍ [And the shaytans — every builder and diver], that is, in the sea. وَ آخَرِینَ مُقَرَّنِینَ فِی الْأَصْفَادِ [And others bound together in fetters], that is, chained tightly to one another; and they were those shaytans who, when Allah the Mighty and Majestic took the kingdom away from Sulayman (peace be upon him), disobeyed him.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "Allah the Mighty and Majestic placed the kingdom of Sulayman (peace be upon him) in his ring. Whenever he wore it on his hand, all the jinn, humans, shaytans, birds, and beasts presented themselves before him and obeyed him. He would sit upon his throne, and Allah would send a wind which carried the throne and passed with it in the sky above all the shaytans, birds, humans, four-legged animals, and horses, and set it down wherever Sulayman (peace be upon him) wished. He would pray the morning prayer in the land of Sham and the noon prayer in the land of Fars, and he would command the shaytans to load stones from Fars and sell them in Sham — until he struck the necks and legs of the horses with the sword, and for that Allah took the kingdom away from him. Whenever Sulayman (peace be upon him) wished to enter the privy, he would entrust his ring to one of his servants. One day a shaytan came, deceived his servant, took the ring from him and wore it on his hand, and in this way the shaytans, humans, jinn, birds, and beasts submitted to his command. When Sulayman (peace be upon him) came out and sought his ring but did not find it, he fled and set out toward the seashore. The Children of Israel grew suspicious of the shaytan who had taken the form of Sulayman (peace be upon him). They went to the mother of Sulayman (peace be upon him) and said to her, 'Do you notice anything unusual in Sulayman's (peace be upon him) conduct?' She said, 'Among people he was the most kind toward me, but now he treats me badly!' The Children of Israel went to the slave-girls and wives of Sulayman (peace be upon him) and said, 'Do you notice anything unusual in Sulayman's (peace be upon him) conduct?' They said, 'He did not approach us during menstruation, but now he approaches us during menstruation.' The shaytan, fearing they would recognize him, cast the ring into the sea. At that moment Allah sent one of the fish and it swallowed the ring, and the shaytan fled. The Children of Israel remained searching for Sulayman (peace be upon him) for forty days, while Sulayman (peace be upon him) walked along the seashore weeping and asking Allah for forgiveness and repenting from what he had done. When what passed on the first day had gone, Sulayman (peace be upon him) came upon a fisherman busy at his work and went to him and said, 'If I help you, will you give me some fish?' The fisherman said, 'Yes!' Sulayman (peace be upon him) helped him, and when the fisherman had caught his catch, he gave one fish to Sulayman (peace be upon him). He took the fish, and when he cut open its belly to wash it, he suddenly found the ring in its belly. He put it on his hand, and once again the shaytans, jinn, humans, birds, and beasts submitted to his command, and thus he returned to his former station. Then he pursued that shaytan and the troops that were with him, chained them up, and by the names of Allah imprisoned some of them within the water and some within the rock, and they remain bound and tormented until the Day of Resurrection. When Sulayman (peace be upon him) returned to his kingdom, he said to Asaf ibn Barkhiya — [who was the scribe of Sulayman and the one with whom there was knowledge of the Book]: 'I excuse the people [because of their ignorance], for they did not know he was a shaytan; but how can I excuse you who knew?' Asaf said: 'Do not excuse me. I knew the shaytan who wore your ring on his hand; I even knew his father, his mother, his paternal uncle, and his maternal uncle. He said to me, "Write for me." I said to him, "My pen does not flow with injustice." He said, "Then sit in your place and write nothing," and so I did. But now, O Sulayman (peace be upon him)! Tell me: why do you love the hoopoe, when it is the meanest and foulest-smelling of all birds?' Sulayman (peace be upon him) said, 'Because the hoopoe sees water from behind hard rock.' Asaf said, 'How does he see water from behind hard rock, yet does not see the snare beneath a handful of dust and falls into the trap?' Sulayman (peace be upon him) said, 'Hold on, O hasty one! When destiny arrives, it blinds the sight.'"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): One day Sulayman ibn Dawud (peace be upon him) said to his companions, "Allah, Blessed and Exalted, has granted me a kingdom that will not be fit for anyone after me. Allah has placed the wind, humans, jinn, birds and wild beasts at my disposal, taught me the language of the birds, and given me of everything. Yet with all this sovereignty and kingship given to me, my joy has not lasted even from one morning to nightfall, for I would like to enter my palace tomorrow, spend the night there until morning, ascend to the top of the palace and look upon my dominions. So do not permit anyone to come to me and thereby embitter my day." Sulayman's (peace be upon him) companions said, "We obey." When morning came, Sulayman (peace be upon him) took his staff in his hand and went up to the top of his palace, and stood leaning on his staff, looking at his dominions, rejoicing in what had been granted to him and glad at what had been bestowed on him, until his gaze fell upon a young man of handsome face and fine clothing who emerged from one of the corners of Sulayman's (peace be upon him) palace and came to him. When Sulayman (peace be upon him) saw him he said to him, "Who admitted you into this palace, when I wanted to be alone in it today? By whose permission have you entered?" The young man answered, "The Lord of this palace admitted me into it, and I entered with His permission." Sulayman (peace be upon him) said, "The Lord of this palace is more entitled to it than I am. Who are you?" The young man answered, "I am the Angel of Death." Sulayman (peace be upon him) said, "For what purpose have you come?" The Angel of Death answered, "I have come to take your soul." Sulayman (peace be upon him) said, "Carry out your assignment, for today is my day of joy, and Allah the Mighty and Majestic has not willed that I have any joy other than meeting Him." So the Angel of Death took his soul while Sulayman (peace be upon him) was leaning on his staff, and Sulayman (peace be upon him) remained lifeless in that very posture leaning on his staff for as long as Allah willed, and the people were looking at him and supposing that he was alive. They said various things about him and put forward differing opinions. Some of them said, "Sulayman (peace be upon him) has remained during these many days in the very same state, leaning on his staff, and has not grown tired, has not eaten anything, has not slept, and has not drunk any water either. Therefore he is our Lord, whom we must worship." Another group said, "Sulayman (peace be upon him) is a magician, and he is making it appear to us that he is standing leaning on his staff and is bewitching our eyes, whereas it is not so." The believers said, "Sulayman (peace be upon him) is the servant and prophet of Allah, and Allah manages his affair as He wills." When they differed, Allah the Mighty and Majestic sent the termite, and it made its way into Sulayman's (peace be upon him) staff, and when it had eaten the inside of the staff, the staff broke and Sulayman (peace be upon him) fell on his face from his palace. The jinn thanked the termite for this deed, and it is for this reason that the termite is found only in a place where there is water and clay.

Imam al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance): In the Du'a al-Alawi al-Misri it is narrated from Imam al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) that he said: O my Allah, I ask You by the name with which Your servant and Your prophet Sulayman son of Dawud (peace be upon him) called upon You when he said: إِذْ قَالَ رَبِّ هَبْ لِی مُلْکاً لا یَنْبَغِی لِأَحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِی إِنَّکَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ [When he said: My Lord, grant me a kingdom which is not fit for anyone after me; indeed, You are the Bestower], so You answered his prayer and made the creatures subject to his command, and set him as ruler over the wind, and taught him the speech of the birds, and subjected to him the shaytans (satans), every one of them being a builder and a diver, and another group from among the devils bound together in iron fetters. These are Your bestowals, not the bestowals of any other than You, and You were near to him — O Near One — that You send mercy upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and upon the family of Muhammad (peace be upon them).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mas'ada ibn Sadaqa narrated in a long hadith from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that: A group came in who displayed asceticism and piety and invited people to their own way — which was wearing dirty clothes and not attending to cleanliness and hygiene. He said: "Tell me: where are you compared to Sulayman son of Dawud (peace be upon him)? He asked Allah to grant him a rule and a kingdom which would not be fit for anyone after him, so Allah the Exalted gave him everything he asked for. Sulayman (peace be upon him) declared the truth and acted upon it, and we do not find that Allah the Exalted found fault with Sulayman (peace be upon him) or with any of the believers or reproached him because of the worldly means he had at his disposal; and Dawud the Prophet (peace be upon him) too, before him, had a kingdom [and wealth] and a mighty sovereignty."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): A marfu' hadith narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) at the time of performing prayer indicates this view. He said: Satan appeared before me to invalidate my prayer, then Allah gave me power over him. I let him go, and I intended to tie him to a pillar so that all of you might see him in the morning, but I recalled this saying of Sulayman: "رَبِّ هَبْ لِی مُلْکاً لا یَنْبَغِی لِأَحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِی" [My Lord, grant me a kingdom which is not fit for anyone after me], so Allah sent him back driven away and disappointed.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): When Sulayman ibn Dawud (peace be upon him) came out of Bayt al-Maqdis, on his right side were three hundred thousand thrones on which humans were seated, and on his left side were three hundred thousand thrones on which the jinn were seated, and the birds cast their shade over them at the command of Sulayman (peace be upon him), and the wind carried them at his command, until they reached the Iwan of Kisra in al-Mada'in, and from there they set out towards Istakhr, and then they journeyed on until they reached the city of Barkawan. Then the wind, at the command of Sulayman (peace be upon him), moved them in the lower atmosphere, so much so that their feet were about to touch the water. They said to one another: "Have you ever heard of, or seen, a kingdom as magnificent as this?" And they said again: "We have neither seen nor heard of the like of this kingdom." At that moment an angel called out from the heavens: "The reward of a single tasbih (glorification: Subhan Allah) is more magnificent than what you are seeing."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Allah gave kingship only to four prophets, all four of whom were sent after Nuh (peace be upon him). The first of them was Dhu al-Qarnayn, whose original name was Ayyash, and after him Dawud, Sulayman and Yusuf (peace be upon them) attained kingship. Ayyash held sway from the east to the west of the earth. The domain of Dawud and Sulayman (peace be upon them) extended from Sham to Istakhr, and the kingdom of Yusuf (peace be upon him) was Egypt and the surrounding deserts. From Muhammad ibn Khalid a hadith is narrated with a chain going up to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), in which the Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Four persons ruled over the whole earth. Two of them were people of faith and the other two were disbelievers. As for the two who were people of faith, they are Sulayman ibn Dawud and Dhu al-Qarnayn (peace be upon them); and the two who were disbelievers are Nimrod and Bukhtnasr (Nebuchadnezzar). The name of Dhu al-Qarnayn was Abd Allah ibn Dahhak ibn Ma'ad."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abd Allah ibn Bukayr said: I was with Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) when mention was made of Sulayman (peace be upon him) and the knowledge and kingdom that had been given to him. Then the Imam (peace be upon him) said to me: "What was given to Sulayman ibn Dawud (peace be upon him)? He had with him only a single letter from the letters of the Greatest Name of Allah. But your companion, concerning whom Allah has said: قُلْ کَفی بِاللهِ شَهِیداً بَیْنِی وَ بَیْنَکُمْ وَ مَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْکِتابِ [Say: Allah is sufficient as a witness between me and you, and he with whom is the knowledge of the Book] (Ra'd/43) — by Allah, the knowledge of the Book was with Ali (peace be upon him)!"

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): [A Jewish scholar from the people of Sham said to the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him)]: "To Sulayman (peace be upon him) was granted a kingdom and sovereignty that no one after him ever attained." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "It is so, and Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) was granted something better and more excellent than that. One day an angel descended upon that Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) who had never before come down to the earth, and he was Mikail. He said: 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! If you wish, be a king and one favoured with blessings; these are the keys of the treasures of the earth with you, and all its mountains will turn to gold and silver for you, and this will not diminish an atom of what has been stored for you in the Hereafter.' Then he (peace be upon him and his family) gestured to Jibrail, who was his friend among the angels, and Jibrail signalled to him to be humble." Then he (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Rather, I choose prophethood and servitude — that I eat one day and go hungry two days, until I join my brothers among the prophets (peace be upon them)." So Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, granted that Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) al-Kawthar and the rank of intercession, and this degree of loftiness and honour is seventy times greater than the kingdom of the world from its beginning to its end, and He promised him the Praised Station (al-Maqam al-Mahmud). So when the Day of Resurrection comes, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will seat him upon the Throne. This bestowal is far greater and better than what was given to Sulayman (peace be upon him).