Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (7/90)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

Some said that he slaughtered them and gave their meat in charity, and that slaughtering them in this manner was permissible in the law revealed to him. (1)

Others said that it means he set them aside in the cause of Allah and branded their legs and necks with the branding mark used for charitable animals. (2)

Al-Zuhri and Ibn Kaysan said that he was stroking their legs and necks with his hand, brushing the dust from them out of love and compassion for them. This is a weak view, (3) while the well-known view is the first.

It is also related from Ali that, regarding the meaning of the words, “Bring them back to me,” he said: Solomon, by Allah’s command, said to the angels entrusted with the sun, “Bring it back to me,” meaning the sun. So they brought it back to him until he prayed the afternoon prayer within its proper time. This was because the horses were being presented to him for fighting an enemy, until the sun disappeared behind its veil.

“And We certainly tested Solomon, and cast a body upon his throne; then he turned in repentance.” (34)

The words of Allah, exalted is He, “And We certainly tested Solomon,” mean: We tested and tried him by stripping him of his kingdom.

The reason for this was what Muhammad ibn Ishaq related from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: Solomon, peace be upon him, heard of a city on an island among the islands of the sea, called Sidon. It had a king of great stature, whom people could not reach because of his location in the sea. Allah had granted Solomon such authority in his kingdom that nothing on land or sea could resist him; he needed only to ride the wind to reach it.

So he set out for that city, carried by the wind over the surface of the water, until he arrived there with his armies of jinn and men. He killed its king, seized the city and its wealth, and took captive those within it. Among the captives he acquired was a daughter of that king, called Jaradah. None had ever been seen equal to her in beauty and loveliness. He chose her for himself and called her to Islam, so she embraced Islam, though she remained aloof and had little religious understanding.

He loved her as he had loved none of his other wives. Yet, despite the high station she held with him, her sorrow did not leave her and her tears did not cease. This distressed Solomon, so he said to her, “Woe to you! What is this sorrow that does not depart, and these tears that do not cease?”

She said, “I remember my father, his kingdom, the condition he was in, and what befell him, and that grieves me.”

Solomon said, “Allah has replaced him for you with a kingdom greater than his kingdom, and an authority greater than his authority, and He has guided you to Islam, which is better than”

(1) See: Ma'ani al-Quran by al-Nahhas, 6:113. (2) Abu Hayyan preferred this view in Al-Bahr al-Muhit, 7:396, stating: “This view is more befitting to the rank of the prophets than the view attributed to the majority, for the latter contains in its account something unbecoming to mention in relation to the prophets.” (3) Al-Tabari narrated it from Ibn Abbas, 23:156, and preferred it, saying: “This view is more consistent with the interpretation of the verse, for the Prophet of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would not, Allah willing, punish an animal by hamstringing it or destroy some of his wealth without cause, merely because looking at it had distracted him from his prayer; nor was it at fault for his being occupied with looking at it.”

وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: إِنَّهُ ذَبَحَهَا ذَبْحًا وَتَصَدَّقَ بِلُحُومِهَا، وَكَانَ الذَّبْحُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ الْوَجْهِ مُبَاحًا فِي شَرِيعَتِهِ (١) . وَقَالَ قَوْمٌ: مَعْنَاهُ أَنَّهُ حَبَسَهَا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ، وَكَوَى سُوقَهَا وَأَعْنَاقَهَا بِكَيِّ الصَّدَقَةِ (٢) . وَقَالَ الزُّهْرِيُّ، وَابْنُ كَيْسَانَ: إِنَّهُ كَانَ يَمْسَحُ سُوقَهَا وَأَعْنَاقَهَا بِيَدِهِ، يَكْشِفُ الْغُبَارَ عَنْهَا حُبًّا لَهَا وَشَفَقَةً عَلَيْهَا، وَهَذَا قَوْلٌ ضَعِيفٌ (٣) وَالْمَشْهُورُ هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ. وَحُكِيَ عَنْ عَلِيٍّ أَنَّهُ قَالَ فِي مَعْنَى قَوْلِهِ: "رُدُّوهَا عَلَيَّ" يَقُولُ سُلَيْمَانُ بِأَمْرِ اللَّهِ ﷿ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ الْمُوَكَّلِينَ بِالشَّمْسِ: "رُدُّوهَا عَلَيَّ" يَعْنِي: الشَّمْسَ، فَرَدُّوهَا عَلَيْهِ حَتَّى صَلَّى الْعَصْرَ فِي وَقْتِهَا، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يُعْرَضُ عَلَيْهِ الْخَيْلُ لِجِهَادِ عَدُوٍّ، حَتَّى تَوَارَتْ بِالْحِجَابِ. ﴿وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا سُلَيْمَانَ وَأَلْقَيْنَا عَلَى كُرْسِيِّهِ جَسَدًا ثُمَّ أَنَابَ (٣٤) ﴾ قَوْلُهُ ﷿: ﴿وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا سُلَيْمَانَ﴾ اخْتَبَرْنَاهُ وَابْتَلَيْنَاهُ بِسَلْبِ مُلْكِهِ. وَكَانَ سَبَبُ ذَلِكَ مَا ذَكَرَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْحَاقَ عَنْ وَهْبِ بْنِ مُنَبِّهٍ قَالَ: سَمِعَ سُلَيْمَانُ ﵇ بِمَدِينَةٍ فِي جَزِيرَةٍ مِنْ جَزَائِرِ الْبَحْرِ يُقَالُ لَهَا صَيْدُونَ، بِهَا مَلِكٌ عَظِيمُ الشَّأْنِ، لَمْ يَكُنْ للناس إليه سبيلا لِمَكَانِهِ فِي الْبَحْرِ، وَكَانَ اللَّهُ قَدْ آتَى سُلَيْمَانَ فِي مُلْكِهِ سُلْطَانًا لَا يَمْتَنِعُ عَلَيْهِ شَيْءٌ فِي بَرٍّ وَلَا بَحْرٍ، إِنَّمَا يَرْكَبُ إِلَيْهِ الرِّيحَ، فَخَرَجَ إِلَى تِلْكَ الْمَدِينَةِ تَحْمِلُهُ الرِّيحُ عَلَى ظَهْرِ الْمَاءِ، حَتَّى نَزَلَ بِهَا بِجُنُودِهِ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنْسِ، فَقَتَلَ مَلِكَهَا وَاسْتَوْلَى وَاسْتَفَاءَ وَسَبَى مَا فِيهَا، وَأَصَابَ فِيمَا أَصَابَ بِنْتًا لِذَلِكَ الْمَلِكِ، يُقَالُ لَهَا: جَرَادَةُ، لَمْ يُرَ مِثْلُهَا حُسْنًا وَجَمَالًا فَاصْطَفَاهَا لِنَفْسِهِ، وَدَعَاهَا إِلَى الْإِسْلَامِ فَأَسْلَمَتْ عَلَى جَفَاءٍ مِنْهَا وَقِلَّةِ فِقْهٍ، وَأَحَبَّهَا حُبًّا لَمْ يُحِبَّهُ شَيْئًا مِنْ نِسَائِهِ، وَكَانَتْ عَلَى مَنْزِلَتِهَا عِنْدَهُ لَا يَذْهَبُ حُزْنُهَا وَلَا يَرْقَأُ دَمْعُهَا، فَشَقَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى سُلَيْمَانَ فَقَالَ لَهَا: وَيْحَكِ مَا هَذَا الْحُزْنُ الَّذِي لَا يَذْهَبُ، وَالدَّمْعُ الَّذِي لَا يَرْقَأُ؟ قَالَتْ: إِنَّ أَبِي أَذْكُرُهُ وَأَذْكُرُ مُلْكَهُ وَمَا كَانَ فِيهِ وَمَا أَصَابَهُ فَيُحْزِنُنِي ذَلِكَ، قَالَ سُلَيْمَانُ: فَقَدْ أَبْدَلَكِ اللَّهُ بِهِ مُلْكًا هُوَ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ مُلْكِهِ، وَسُلْطَانًا هُوَ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ سُلْطَانِهِ، وَهَدَاكِ لِلْإِسْلَامِ وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ مِنْ

(١) انظر: معاني القرآن للنحاس: ٦ / ١١٣. (٢) رجحه أبو حيان في البحر المحيط: ٧ / ٣٩٦ وقال: هذا القول هو الذي يناسب مناصب الأنبياء، لا القول المنسوب للجمهور، فإن في قصته ما لا يليق ذكره بالنسبة للأنبياء. (٣) رواه الطبري ٢٣ / ١٥٦ عن ابن عباس ورجحه قائلا: وهذا القول أشبه بتأويل الآية، لأن نبي الله ﷺ لم يكن- إن شاء الله - ليعذب حيوانًا بالعرقبة ويهلك مالا من ماله بغير سبب، سوى أنه اشتغل عن صلاته بالنظر إليها، ولا ذنب لها باشتغاله بالنظر إليها.