In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, Salaam and welcome to our weekly program "Path Towards Enlightenment" in which we present you a fluent and easy-to-understand explanation of the ayahs of the holy Quran.  We start from where we left you last Friday and here is ayah 14 of Surah Saba:

First we listen to ayah 14 of Surah Saba:

“And when We decreed death for him, nothing apprised them of his death except a worm which gnawed away at his staff. And when he fell down the jinn realized that had they known the Unseen, they would not have remained in a humiliating torment.”

Last Friday we referred to some examples of industries during the rule of Solomon and the civilization of that time. This ayah means to say that despite his glory and greatness s, when God decreed his death, he died while relying on his stick. He remained in that state until a worm ate his stick and he fell down on the ground. Then people became aware of his death. The jinn who were working for Solomon were not informed of his death until his body fell on the ground. But if they had the knowledge of the unseen and learned earlier, they would have given up the hard and heavy work they were in charge of.

Imam Ali (PBUH) in sermon 182 of Nahjul-Balagha says: If anyone could have escaped death and lived forever in the world, Solomon was the Prophet who was the jinn and mankind in his capture and had the status of prophecy and a great reputation to God.

From this ayah we learn that:

1-If man reaches the position of prophecy and monarchy, he cannot escape death. So, we should never get proud of our position or our facilities and assets that one day we have to put all this together and leave this world alone.

2- With all that authority and glory, Solomon fell down on the ground by a worm, and until that time, his armies and troops had no knowledge of his death.

Now we listen to ayah 15 of Surah Saba:

“There was certainly a sign for Sheba in their habitation: two gardens, to the right and to the left. ‘Eat of the provision of your Lord and give Him thanks: a good land and an all-forgiving Lord!”

In the previous program, we mentioned two divine prophets, namely, Prophet David and Solomon, who at the height of power and majesty were grateful to the divine blessings and used those blessings to serve the people and maintain security. But this ayah and the later ayahs follow the story of the people of Saba, who were immersed in divine blessings, but they were ungrateful, so they were punished and became a lesson for all.

The people of Saba were living in Yemen in a cool weather zone. By building a large and solid barrier, they were able to store water behind it. In this regard, they were powerful in terms of agriculture and animal husbandry, and they had a good country.

The widespread lake, which watered the area, was flowing from the dam, and on both sides there were gardens that provided diverse products throughout the year. A fertile region with clean air and fruitful trees showing the grace of God to this people. In addition to these blessings, Divine Mercy also included them; God forgave their mistakes and sins and did not reduce their abundant sustenance.

From this ayah we learn that:

1-The beautiful nature, the wonderful natural perspectives, trees and their diverse products are all signs of the glory of and wonder of the Creator of the world.

2-Development of land through agriculture is the sign of Divine grace and mercy and has no contradiction with the hereafter.

Now we listen to ayahs 16 and 17 of Surah Saba:

“But they disregarded [the path of Allah], so We unleashed upon them a violent flood and replaced their two gardens with two gardens bearing bitter fruit, tamarisk, and sparse lote trees.”

“We requited them with that for their ingratitude. Do We requite [so] anyone except ingrates”

People divide in two groups before divine blessings whether material or spiritual. A grateful group and ungrateful group. A group of people are reminded of God by observing the blessings, so they enjoy the blessings in a way that makes Him Content. Some people ignore God's remembrance and are only seeking their pleasures and satisfying their own desires, in spite of God's displeasure.

The people of Saba, although enjoying all kinds of divine blessings, turned away from God and set their demands as the standard of all things. They preferred human desires to the Will of God and forgot the day of resurrection.

They did not appreciate the divine blessings and were ungrateful. The wealthy sold out the needy and the poor, and forgot them. The public also rejoiced the life of the world, and they ignored the hereafter and the remembrance of God. They forgot that what they have is from God and should be His servant.

This great ingratitude of blessings was followed by a great punishment; a huge flood swept the city and its gardens. The fertile soil was destroyed by the flood, and the trees were barren, as far as the four seasons were no longer present, and instead there were fruitless trees or bitter fruits.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1-Ingratitude of blessings is followed by worldly punishment and this is part of the divine reward and punishment.

2- The destiny of individuals is in their hands and this is a Divine Law about the predecessors and posterity.

3- Insisting on sin and its continuity paves the ground for punishment, but if man does not insist on sin, God is the All-Merciful and All-Forgiving.

AS/MG