Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (7/88)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

“This is a blessed Book which We have sent down to you, so that they may contemplate its verses and so that people of understanding may take heed. (29) And We bestowed Solomon upon David. What an excellent servant! He was ever turning to Allah. (30) When, in the late afternoon, the fine, swift steeds were paraded before him. (31)”

“This is a Book which We have sent down to you”—that is, this Book We have sent down to you—“blessed,” abundant in its goodness and benefit, “so that they may contemplate”—that is, reflect deeply upon—“its verses,” and ponder them. Abu Ja'far recited it as litadbarū (“so that you may ponder”), with one tāʾ and an ungeminated dāl. Al-Hasan said: Contemplating its verses means acting upon it. “And so that people of understanding may take heed”—that is, be admonished.

Allah Most High says: ⦗102/b⦘ “And We bestowed Solomon upon David. What an excellent servant! He was ever turning to Allah. When, in the late afternoon, the fine, swift steeds were paraded before him.”

Al-Kalbi said: Solomon campaigned against the people of Damascus and Nasibin, and took one thousand horses from them.

Muqatil said: He inherited one thousand horses from his father David. (1)

Awf narrated from al-Hasan: I have been told that they were horses brought forth from the sea, with wings. (2)

[They said:] (3) Solomon performed the noon prayer, then sat upon his throne while the horses were being paraded before him. Nine hundred were presented to him. Then he remembered the afternoon prayer, only to find that the sun had set and he had missed the prayer, without realizing it. He was deeply grieved by this out of reverence for Allah, and said, “Bring them back to me.” So they brought them back to him, and he began striking their legs and necks with the sword, seeking nearness to Allah Most High and His pleasure, because they had distracted him from obeying Him. This was permissible for him, though it is unlawful for us, just as the slaughter of livestock has been made permissible for us. One hundred horses remained, and it is said that all the horses in people’s possession today descend from those hundred.

Al-Hasan said: When he hamstrung the horses, Allah Most High replaced them for him with something better and swifter: the wind, which ran at his command wherever he wished.

[Ibrahim al-Taymi said: They were twenty horses. Ikrimah said: They were twenty thousand horses with wings.] (4)

Allah Most High says: “When, in the late afternoon, the fine, swift steeds were paraded before him.” The sāfināt are horses that stand

(1) See Al-Bahr al-Muhit, 7:396. (2) Al-Suyuti, in Al-Durr al-Manthur, 7:177, attributed it to Abd ibn Humayd and Ibn al-Mundhir. (3) Addition from manuscript “B”. (4) The text within the parentheses is an addition from manuscript “B”.

﴿كِتَابٌ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِيَدَّبَّرُوا آيَاتِهِ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ (٢٩) وَوَهَبْنَا لِدَاوُدَ سُلَيْمَانَ نِعْمَ الْعَبْدُ إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ (٣٠) إِذْ عُرِضَ عَلَيْهِ بِالْعَشِيِّ الصَّافِنَاتُ الْجِيَادُ (٣١) ﴾ ﴿كِتَابٌ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ﴾ أَيْ: هَذَا الْكِتَابُ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ، ﴿مُبَارَكٌ﴾ كَثِيرٌ خَيْرُهُ وَنَفْعُهُ، ﴿لِيَدَّبَّرُوا﴾ أَيْ: لِيَتَدَبَّرُوا، ﴿آيَاتِهِ﴾ وَلِيَتَفَكَّرُوا فِيهَا، قَرَأَ أَبُو جَعْفَرٍ "لِتَدَبَّرُوا" بِتَاءٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَتَخْفِيفِ الدَّالِّ، قَالَ الْحَسَنُ: تَدَبُّرُ آيَاتِهِ: اتِّبَاعُهُ ﴿وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ﴾ لِيَتَّعِظَ، ﴿أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ﴾ . قَوْلُهُ ﷿: ١٠٢/ب ﴿وَوَهَبْنَا لِدَاوُدَ سُلَيْمَانَ نِعْمَ الْعَبْدُ إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ إِذْ عُرِضَ عَلَيْهِ بِالْعَشِيِّ الصَّافِنَاتُ الْجِيَادُ﴾ . قَالَ الْكَلْبِيُّ: غَزَا سُلَيْمَانُ أَهْلَ دِمَشْقَ وَنَصِيبِينَ، فَأَصَابَ مِنْهُمْ أَلْفَ فَرَسٍ. وَقَالَ مُقَاتِلٌ: وَرِثَ مِنْ أَبِيهِ دَاوُدَ أَلْفَ فَرَسٍ (١) . وَقَالَ عَوْفٌ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ: بَلَغَنِي أَنَّهَا كَانَتْ خَيْلًا أُخْرِجَتْ مِنَ الْبَحْرِ لَهَا أَجْنِحَةٌ (٢) . [قَالُوا:] (٣) فَصَلَّى سُلَيْمَانُ الصَّلَاةَ الْأُولَى، وَقَعَدَ عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ وَهِيَ تُعْرَضُ عَلَيْهِ، فَعُرِضَتْ عَلَيْهِ تِسْعُمِائَةٍ، فَتَنَبَّهَ لِصَلَاةِ الْعَصْرِ فَإِذَا الشَّمْسُ قَدْ غَرَبَتْ، وَفَاتَتْهُ الصَّلَاةُ، وَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِذَلِكَ فَاغْتَمَّ لِذَلِكَ هَيْبَةً لِلَّهِ، فَقَالَ: رُدُّوهَا عَلَيَّ، فَرَدُّوهَا عَلَيْهِ، فَأَقْبَلَ يَضْرِبُ سُوقَهَا وَأَعْنَاقَهَا بِالسَّيْفِ تَقَرُّبًا إِلَى اللَّهِ ﷿، وَطَلَبًا لِمَرْضَاتِهِ، حَيْثُ اشْتَغَلَ بِهَا عَنْ طَاعَتِهِ، وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ مُبَاحًا لَهُ وَإِنْ كَانَ حَرَامًا عَلَيْنَا، كَمَا أُبِيحَ لَنَا ذَبْحُ بَهِيمَةِ الْأَنْعَامِ، وَبَقِيَ مِنْهَا مِائَةُ فَرَسٍ، فَمَا بَقِيَ فِي أَيْدِي النَّاسِ الْيَوْمَ مِنَ الْخَيْلِ يُقَالُ مِنْ نَسْلِ تِلْكَ الْمِائَةِ. قَالَ الْحَسَنُ: فَلَمَّا عَقَرَ الْخَيْلَ أَبْدَلَهُ اللَّهُ ﷿ خَيْرًا مِنْهَا وَأَسْرَعَ، وَهِيَ الرِّيحُ تَجْرِي بِأَمْرِهِ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ. [وَقَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ التَّيْمِيُّ: كَانَتْ عِشْرِينَ فَرَسًا. وَعَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ: كَانَتْ عِشْرِينَ أَلْفَ فَرَسٍ، لَهَا أَجْنِحَةٌ] (٤) . قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿إِذْ عُرِضَ عَلَيْهِ بِالْعَشِيِّ الصَّافِنَاتُ الْجِيَادُ﴾ و"الصَّافِنَاتُ": هِيَ الْخَيْلُ الْقَائِمَةُ

(١) انظر: البحر المحيط: ٧ / ٣٩٦. (٢) عزاه السيوطي في الدر المنثور: ٧ / ١٧٧ لعبد بن حميد وابن المنذر. (٣) زيادة من "ب". (٤) ما بين القوسين زيادة من "ب".