“…and he overpowered me in argument.”
(38:23)
David said, “He has certainly wronged you by asking that your ewe be added to his own ewes. Truly many partners oppress one another, save those who believe and do righteous deeds—but how few they are!’’ David then realized that We had only put him to the test; so he sought his Lord’s forgiveness, fell down in prostration, and turned in repentance.
(38:24)
Thus We forgave him for that; and with Us he enjoys nearness and a most excellent return.
(38:25)

Many early and later commentators have cited here a host of tales, most of them Israʾīli narrations, and some of them unmistakably fabricated. We have deliberately refrained from including them in this book, contenting ourselves with reciting the account exactly as it appears in the Noble Qur’an. Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path.

The scholars differ over the prostration in Sād: Is it one of the obligatory prostrations (ʿazāʾim al-sujūd), or is it merely a prostration of gratitude and therefore not binding? There are two views.

al-Bukhārī said: “Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Ṭanāfisī related to us, from al-ʿAwwām, who said: I asked Mujāhid about the prostration in Sād. He replied, ‘I asked Ibn ʿAbbās, “Why did you prostrate?” He answered: Do you not recite, ‘And of his progeny David and Solomon…’ (6:84) and, ‘Those are the ones whom Allah has guided, so follow their guidance’ (6:90)? David was among those whom your Prophet ﷺ was commanded to follow; so David prostrated, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prostrated.’”

Imām Aḥmad said: “Ismāʿīl—meaning Ibn ʿUlayyah—narrated to us, from Ayyūb, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said with regard to the prostration in Sād: ‘It is not one of the obligatory prostrations, yet I have seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prostrate in it.’” The same report was transmitted by al-Bukhārī, Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, and al-Nasāʾī through the chain of Ayyūb; al-Tirmidhī graded it “ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.”

al-Nasāʾī further related: “Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥasan al-Miqsamī informed us, Ḥajjāj ibn Muḥammad narrated to us, from ʿUmar ibn Dharr, from his father, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās that the Prophet ﷺ prostrated in Sād and said, ‘David prostrated it as repentance, and we prostrate it in gratitude.’” He transmitted this alone, and its narrators are trustworthy.