• Another lesson is the perfect solicitude the Master shows toward His prophets and chosen servants whenever a slip occurs on their part; He tests(1) them and subjects them to trials(2) that remove the cause of the lapse until they return even better than they were before, as happened with David and Solomon.

• A further point: the prophets are infallible(3) in all that they transmit from Allah, for He has commanded unrestricted obedience to them, and the very purpose of the message cannot be achieved without this. They may, however, occasionally commit, by virtue of their human nature, acts that fall short; yet Allah the Exalted quickly envelops them in His grace and enables them to repent and turn back to Him.

• We also learn that David spent most of his time abiding(4) in his prayer-chamber in devoted service to his Lord, while setting aside a period to attend to people’s needs; thus he fully discharged both the right owed to Allah and the rights owed to His servants.

• Proper etiquette should be observed when entering upon others, especially judges and leaders. When the two litigants came in upon David in an unusual manner and not through the door, he was startled, found their conduct inappropriate, and deemed it ill-suited to the situation.

• Even so, a judge must not allow a litigant’s bad manners or improper behavior to deter him from ruling according to truth.

• The episode also highlights David’s consummate forbearance: he did not become angry with them for entering without permission, nor did he scold or reprimand them.

• Finally, it is permissible for a wronged person to say to his oppressor, “You have wronged me,” or, “O wrong-doer,” or, “O aggressor,” as indicated by their statement, “Some of us have transgressed against others” (Ṣād 38:22).