Qur’an Cover-to-Cover: Day 15 (“The Ants”)
Today’s chapter, Surah 27, is quite an extraordinary chapter, focussing in particular on the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon:
Surah 27 – “The Ants” (An-Naml)
We open today’s reading with the affirmation mentioned in yesterday’s passage, that the Qur’an is “a clear Book”.
We have some general statements about prayer, giving and belief in “the Hereafter” (judgement, Paradise and Hell). Those who don’t believe in the Hereafter will receive “the worst of punishment” and will be “the greatest losers”.
The story of Moses and the Burning Bush is briefly recounted. One amusing detail in the Qur’anic version is that when Moses’ staff transforms into a snake, he freaks out and runs away! Another interesting point in this retelling is that the miracle of the staff and Moses’ hand will be “among the nine signs [you will take to Pharaoh]”. This number of signs doesn’t tally with anything we get in the Old Testament, but the number nine does have some signifance in Isalm. We’ll actually encounter it once more before the end of today’s chapter.
The focus now switches to King Solomon, who claims to “have been taught the language of birds”. This doesn’t appear just to be a poetic turn of phrase as events are recounted where he communicates with birds, as well as with an ant.
The hoopie bird comes to Solomon with news of the Queen of Sheba. He tells the King that she and her people bow down to the sun rather than Allah. Solomon gives the bird a letter (which couldn’t help but remind me of swallows and coconuts…) inviting the Queen to submit to Allah. In response she sends Solomon an unspecified gift. Solomon responds by saying that “what Allah has given me than what He has given you”. Solomon then talks about coming with soldiers, “we will surely expel them therefrom in humiliation, and they will be debased”.
Earlier in this section we were told that Solomon had “soldiers of jinn and men and birds”. Solomon now asks for a jinn to bring him the Queen’s throne “before they come…in submission”. I assume this is to demonstrate his dominance. When the jinn brings him the throne, the king orders that it be disguised to “see whether [the Queen] will be guided [to truth]”, a test which she seems to pass.
The Queen of Sheba is then invited into Solomon’s palace. When she enters, she “uncovered her shins” because she thought she would have to wade across water, an optical illusion due to a transparent palace floor with flowing water beneath it. The Queen of Shebah repents of her idolitary and says that she “submit[s] with Solomon to Allah”.
We change gears and a couple of the Islamic prophets are mentioned:
Salih
Earlier I mentioned the signifance of the number nine in Islam. In the section which mentions Salih, the number nine makes another appearance, with “nine family heads causing corruption [in the Thamud]”.
Lot
Not much new material is covered here, but we are told that the death of Lot’s wife was destined by Allah…but we’re not told why.
The closing portion of the chapter praises of Allah, asserting that there is no one like him. The Hereafter is then discussed and we come across a very interesting verse: “Indeed, this Qur’an relates to the Children of Israel most of that over which they disagree”. It’s not especially clear as to the nature of the disagreement, but given that the surrounding verses speak of the Hereafter, I can only assume it must relate to Judgment and Resurrection. By the time of Muhammad, the Sadducee sect who denied the Resurrection were all but wiped out, but I suppose that there still could have been some disagreement in this area among the different Jewish groups.
Q1. Does Islam indicate what the other seven signs were which Moses took to Pharaoh (ayah 12)?
Q2. Does ayah 14 mean that those who saw the signs were inwardly convinced, but stubbornly refused to change their behaviour? The grammar in my translation is unclear: “And they rejected them, while their [inner] selves were convinced therefore, out of injustice and haughtiness”?
Q3. When it says in ayah 16 that “Solomon inherited David”, does it simply mean that Solomon was David’s heir?
Q4. When ayah 16 says that Solomon (and David?) “have been taught the language of birds”, does it mean that they could literally communicate with birds? And ants? This chapter’s later ayat would suggest this to be the case.
Q5. Can jinn have bodies? Ayah 17 says that Solomon has “an army of jinn and men and birds”. Later a jinn brings Solomon the Queen’s throne.
Q6. Does a bird carry a literal letter from Solmon to the Queen of Sheba, as described in ayah 28?
Q7. In ayah 34, is the Queen of Sheba afraid of what Solomon will do to her and her people? Later verses appear to confirm this reading.
Q8. Is Solomon’s response in ayah 36 essentially saying that he’s more wealthy than the Queen of Sheba? Or is he saying that knowledge of Allah is greater than any wealth she could send him?
Q9. Why does Solomon threaten the Queen in ayah 37? What had she done to him?
Q10. What is the significance of the jinn “who had knowledge from the Scripture”?
Q11. Why does Solomon see the brining of throne as “a test…whether I will be grateful” (ayah 40)? It seems like an odd test, particularly since he had ordered her throne to be fetched in the first place.
Q12. What is the point in having her throne disguised (ayah 41)? Is it to see if she is wise and discerning?
Q13. Is there any evidence to show that Solomon had a palace with a glass floor with a river flowing underneath (ayah 44)? This sounds rather too advanced for that period of history.
Q14. Why do the people of Thamud “take a mutual oath by Allah”. Are they just saying “We swear by Salih’s own God that we’ll kill him and his family”?
Q15. Over what did the Children of Isael disagree in ayah 76? The Resurrection?
Q16. Ayat 80 and 81 speak of the inability to turn people away from their error. If that is the case, why send Messengers at all?
I’m going to have more time on my hands over the next week so I’ll hopefully pick up the pace a bit and do more than one chapter a day…