This means the understanding, the granting of judgment, and the subjection just mentioned.

“And We taught him the making of coats of mail for your benefit, to protect you from your enemies in battle. Will you then be grateful? (80) And for Solomon We subjected the tempestuous wind, which ran at his command to the land We had blessed. And We have full knowledge of all things. (81)”

“And We taught him the making of coats of mail for your benefit”: here, coats of mail are intended, since they are worn. Linguistically, the term denotes everything that is worn and used among all kinds of weaponry; it has the sense of “something worn,” just as “sitting” and “riding” can denote that which is sat upon or ridden. Qatada said: “David was the first to make coats of mail, link their rings together, and fashion them into circular links. Before that, they had been solid plates.” A coat of mail combines lightness with protection.

“To protect you” means: to safeguard and defend you. “From your enemies in battle” means: from warfare against your enemy. Al-Suddi said: “From the impact of weapons upon you.” Abu Jafar, Ibn Amir, Hafs from Asim, and Yaqub recited it as “so that it may protect you,” with the feminine form, referring to the craft. Abu Bakr from Asim recited it as “so that We may protect you,” in view of His saying, “And We taught him.” The others recited it as “so that it may protect you,” making the action refer to the armor. It was also said: so that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, may protect you.

“Will you then be grateful?” This is addressed to David and his household. It was also said that it is addressed to the people of Mecca: Will you be grateful for My blessings by obeying the Messenger?

His saying, glorified and exalted is He, “And for Solomon We subjected the tempestuous wind,” means: We subjected the wind to Solomon. It is moving air: a subtle body which, because of its subtlety, cannot be grasped, yet is perceived by the senses through its movement. The word for wind may be treated as either masculine or feminine. “Tempestuous” means intensely blowing.

If it is asked: Elsewhere He says, “It ran gently at his command,” and gentleness signifies mildness, the answer is that the wind was subject to his command: if he wished it to intensify, it intensified; and if he wished it to become gentle, it became gentle. “It ran at his command to the land We had blessed,” meaning Syria. It would carry Solomon and his companions wherever Solomon wished, and then return to his residence in Syria. “And We had full knowledge of everything We had taught him,” knowing the soundness of the divine ordering in it. We knew that what Solomon was granted—such as the subjection of the wind and other things—would call him to humble submission before his Lord, glorified and exalted is He.

Wahb ibn Munabbih said: Whenever Solomon, peace be upon him, went out to his assembly, the birds would gather around him, and the jinn and humankind would stand for him until he sat upon his throne. He was a man much given to military campaigns and seldom refrained from going forth to battle. Whenever he heard of a king in any region of the earth, he would go to him until he subdued him.

According to what they relate, whenever he intended to undertake a campaign, he ordered his encampment to be constructed of timber and erected upon it. He then loaded people, riding animals, and military equipment onto it. Once he had loaded whatever he wished to take, he commanded the tempestuous wind, and it went beneath that wooden structure and bore it aloft. When it had lifted it, he commanded the gentle wind, which carried it a month’s journey in its evening course and a month’s journey in its morning course, to wherever he wished. The gentle wind would pass over his army and over a field,