Taysir al-Latif al-Mannan fi Khulasat Tafsir al-Quran - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (الكتاب/289)

Taysir al-Latif al-Mannan fi Khulasat Tafsir al-QuranAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

• And if the words are those of the Queen of Sheba, then her meaning is: “We had already been given knowledge” of Solomon’s dominion—that it is the dominion of prophethood, messengership, and extraordinary might—long before this event; “and we had already submitted,” that is, once we had verified his status we yielded to what Solomon said.

It is as though someone were to ask: With all this intelligence and sound judgment, how could she have worshipped anyone besides Allah? How can reason coexist with devotion to something that can neither benefit nor harm—indeed, that harms the one who worships it?

The answer is summed up in His words: “But she was diverted by what she used to worship instead of Allah; she was indeed from a disbelieving people” (al-Naml 43). In other words, the doctrines in which a person is raised and the corrupt schools of thought he inherits can dominate the mind of even the most astute thinker, stripping the discerning of their clarity—until Allah (1) appoints blessed means that unveil the truth and grants him the favor of following it.

Solomon had a pavilion of crystal under which rivers flowed. Anyone who looked at it thought it was running water, for glass is transparent. When she was told, “Enter the pavilion,” she assumed it was a pool, bared her shins, and he said, “It is a pavilion paved with crystal.” She responded, “My Lord, I have wronged myself, and I submit along with Solomon to Allah, Lord of all the worlds” (al-Naml 44). She entered into Islam, her people followed her, and it is said that Solomon married her—Allah knows best.

In Solomon’s time the devils had been placed under his command by Allah. When he learned that, through their mingling with humans, they were teaching people sorcery, he gathered them, threatened them, seized their books, and buried them. After Solomon died, the devils came to the people and said, “Solomon’s kingdom was built on magic.” They unearthed the books he had buried and, in their effort to mislead, spread the claim that they had been taken from Solomon, and that Solomon

(1) The word “Allah” is an addition found in MS Kh.

• وإن كان الكلامُ كلامَ ملكةِ سبأٍ، فإنها تقولُ: ﴿وَأُوتِينَا الْعِلْمَ﴾ عن ملكِ سليمانَ، وأنهُ ملكُ نبوةٍ ورسالةٍ وقوةٍ هائلةٍ من قبلِ هذهِ الحالةِ، ﴿وَكُنَّا مُسْلِمِينَ﴾ مذعنِينَ لما قالهُ سليمانُ بعدَما تحقَّقْنا أمرَهُ. فكأنهُ قيلَ: معَ عقلِها هذا ورأيِها السديدِ، فكيفَ كانتْ تعبدُ غيرَ اللهِ؟! وكيفَ اجتمَعَ العقلُ وعبادةُ مَنْ لا ينفعُ ولا يضرُّ، وإنما يضرُّ مَنْ عبدَهُ؟! حاصلُ الجوابِ قولهُ: ﴿وَصَدَّهَا مَا كَانَتْ تَعْبُدُ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ إِنَّهَا كَانَتْ مِنْ قَوْمٍ كَافِرِينَ﴾ [النمل: ٤٣] أي: العقائدُ التي نشأَتْ عليها والمذاهبُ الفاسدةُ تسيطرُ على عقلِ العاقلِ، وتُذهبُ لبَّ اللبيبِ؛ حتى يُقيِّضَ [اللهُ] (١) لهُ من الأسبابِ المباركةِ ما يبيِّنُ لهُ الحقَّ، ويُمَنُّ عليهِ باتباعهِ. وكان لهُ صرحٌ من قواريرَ أُجريَ تحتَهُ الأنهارُ، فكان مَنْ ينظرُ إليهِ يظنهُ ماءً يجري؛ لأنَّ الزجاجَ شفافٌ، فلما قيلَ لها: ﴿ادْخُلِي الصَّرْحَ﴾، فرأَتْهُ لجةً وكشفَتْ عن ساقَيها، قالَ: ﴿إِنَّهُ صَرْحٌ مُمَرَّدٌ مِنْ قَوَارِيرَ﴾، قالتْ: ﴿رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي وَأَسْلَمْتُ مَعَ سُلَيْمَانَ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ﴾ [النمل: ٤٤]، فأسلمَتْ للهِ، واتَّبعَها قومُها، فيقالُ: إنَّ سليمانَ تزوَّجَها، فاللهُ أعلمُ. ولما كانتِ الشياطينُ زمنَ سليمانَ قدْ سخَّرَهم اللهُ لهُ، وبلَغَهُ أنهم باجتماعِهم بالإنسِ يعلمونَهم السحرَ، فجمَعَهم وتوعدَهم، وأخذَ كتبَهم ودفنَها، فلما تُوفِّيَ سليمانُ جاءتِ الشياطينُ للناسِ وقالوا: إنَّ ملكَ سليمانَ مشيدٌ على السحرِ، واستخرجوا الكتبَ التي دفنَها، وأشاعوا من إغوائِهم للناسِ أنها مأخوذةٌ من سليمانَ، وأنَّ سليمانَ

(١) لفظ الجلالة زيادة من (خ).