Al-Jalalayn

Al-Jalalayn — Al-Jalalayn

When one evening — which is the period after midday — there were displayed before him the prancing steeds al-sāfināt ‘horses’ is the plural of sāfina which denotes a horse standing on three legs with the fourth supported on the edge of the hoof and derives from the verb safana yasfinu sufūnan; al-jiyād is the plural of jawād which is a ‘racer’; the meaning is that these horses are such that when they are halted they stand still and when they run they surpass others in speed. One thousand horses were displayed before him after he had performed the midday prayer for he had wanted to use them in a holy struggle jihād against an enemy. But when the display reached the nine-hundredth horse the sun set and he had not performed the afternoon prayer. So he was greatly distressed.

Al-Jalalayn — Al-Jalalayn

He said ‘Lo! I have loved I have desired the love of worldly good things that is of horses over the remembrance of my Lord’ that is over the afternoon prayer until it that is the sun disappeared behind the night’s veil until it was concealed by that which veils it from sight.

Al-Jalalayn — Al-Jalalayn

Bring them back to me! that is the horses that were displayed; and they so brought them back. Then he set about slashing with his sword their legs al-sūq is the plural of sāq and necks in other words he slaughtered them and cut off their legs as an offering of atonement to God exalted be He for having been distracted by them from the prayer. He gave all the meat thereof as voluntary alms and so God compensated him what was better and faster that these horses and this was the wind which blew at his command as he wished.

Al-Jalalayn — Al-Jalalayn

And We certainly tried Solomon We tested him by wresting his kingdom from him because he had married a woman solely out of his desire for her. She used to worship idols in his own home without his knowledge. Now control of his kingdom lay in his ring. On one occasion needing to withdraw to relieve himself he took it off and left it with this woman of his whose name was al-Amīna as was his custom; but a jinn disguised in the form of Solomon came to her and seized it from her. And We cast upon his throne a lifeless body which was that very jinn and he was the one known as Sakhr — or it was some other jinn; he sat upon Solomon’s throne and so as was the case with Solomon the birds and other creatures devoted themselves to him in service. When Solomon came out of his palace having seen him the jinn upon his throne he said to the people ‘I am Solomon not him!’ But they did not recognise him. Then he repented — Solomon returned to his kingdom many days later after he had managed to acquire the ring. He wore it and sat upon his throne again.

Al-Jalalayn — Al-Jalalayn

He said ‘My Lord! Forgive me and grant me a kingdom that shall not belong to anyone after me in other words other than me this use of min ba‘dī to mean ‘other than me’ is similar to Q. 4523 fa-man yahdīh min ba‘di’Llāh ‘who will guide him other than God?’. Truly You are the Bestower’.