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 Qur’an. We start from where we left you last Friday and here is ayah 14 of Surah Saba:

First we listen to and read ayah 14 of Surah Saba:

“And when We decreed death for him (Prophet Solomon), 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 explained to you the ayahs of the Qur’an pertaining to the might and glory God Almighty granted Prophet Solomon and like his father, David, gave him a fabulous kingdom, with power to rule not just the animals, birds, and the genies who completed enormous projects for him, but made subservient for him the wind that would take him swiftly and effortlessly to any place he desired.

The ayah that we recited to you now means to say that despite his power, glory, kingship and prophethood, Solomon like all other human beings was destined to die one day. Here God says about the wonderful and unique death of this great Prophet, who while reviewing the majesty of his kingdom and his power over all sorts of creature, had to give up his soul in the very position, without any respite to sit or lie down. It is understood from both the above ayah and numerous narrations that when Solomon’s death came he was standing, leaning on his staff. It was just then when suddenly death seized him and his soul went out from his body. For a length of time he was in the same state of standing until when termites, which the Qur’an calls “a worm” gnawed the staff on which he continued to lean even after it death, making his body fall down on the ground. It was then that the people and the genies understood that he had died. The genies said in this regard that had they been aware of the Unseen they would not have remained in such an abasing position.

Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), the Commander of the Faithful and the divinely-designated heir of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), says in this regard in sermon 182 of the Nahj al-Balagha:

“If there was anyone who could secure a ladder to everlasting life or a way to avoid death it was Solomon the son of David, who was given control over the domain of the jinn and men along with prophethood and great position, but when he finished what was his due in food (of this world) and exhausted his (fixed) time, the bow of destruction shot him with arrow of death. His houses became vacant and his habitations became empty. Another group of people inherited them. Certainly, the by-gone centuries have a lesson for you.”

From this ayah we learn that:

1. Death is decreed for all created things, including the best of creation, that is, mankind, which means death is inevitable even for a person whom God has granted both kingdom and prophethood,.
2. We should never wax proud over our possessions, because real power belongs to God Almighty Alone.
3. A tiny insect, such as a termite that gnawed the wooden staff, made the body of the already dead Solomon fall on the ground, to the surprise of his awe-struck subjects and armies.

Now we listen to and read 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 programme, we mentioned two divine prophets, namely, Prophet David and Solomon, who at the height of their power and majesty were grateful to God for His blessings and used their God-given power to serve the people and maintain security. But this and the following ayahs refer to the account of the people of the land of Saba or Sheba in Yemen, who despite the power and blessings given to them by God Almighty, had turned away from the right path by becoming ungrateful to the One and Only Creator, and worshipping idols and the elements of nature, such as the sun. Their fate is a lesson for all.

The people of Saba used God’s blessings to develop agriculture and husbandry, build cities and dams to store water and help flourish the economy and industry. Yet these people, despite the blessings of orchards, various kinds of fruits, and other favours, had slowly drifted away from the All-Forgiving Lord.

From this ayah we learn that:

1. The beautiful world of nature, with its lush green plains, forests, and gardens, their diverse products and the mountains and lakes, as well as the fresh air, are all signs of God’s blessings for which we should thank the Lord Most High, instead of being ingrates.
2. When ingratitude and thanklessness pervades in the society, divine wrath will be swift and destructive.

Now we listen to and read 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”

These ayahs are meant to warn us from being ingrate and thankless to the blessings of God, like the people of ancient Sheba or Saba, who disregarded the bounties of Allah as insignificant by considering the cultivation and security of their land very simple. They became neglectful of the remembrance of Allah, with the rich boasting and lording over the poor, who in turn had also drifted away from the right path by indulging in sin and idol-worship.

This ingratitude brought down over them a swift punishment in the form of a huge flood that swept away their cities and destroyed their orchards and gardens. The fertile soil was eroded and the vegetation that grew after the flood was thorny and bearing bitter fruits.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Ingratitude towards divine blessings is followed by swift punishment in life itself.
2. Our fate is in our hands. If we are virtuous God will reward us and if we are vicious, we will be destroyed.
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/ME