(12–14) “And We subjected the wind to Solomon: its morning journey was a month’s travel, and its evening journey was a month’s travel. We caused a spring of molten copper to flow for him. Some jinn worked before him by permission of his Lord. Whoever among them deviated from Our command, We would make him taste the torment of the Blaze. They made for him whatever he wished: grand structures, statues, basins as large as reservoirs, and firmly anchored cauldrons. ‘Work in gratitude, O family of David!’ Yet few of My servants are truly grateful. Then, when We decreed his death, nothing revealed his death to them except a creature of the earth eating away at his staff. When he fell, the jinn realized that, had they known the unseen, they would not have remained in the humiliating torment.”
After mentioning His favor upon David, peace be upon him, Allah mentions His favor upon David’s son Solomon, peace be upon him. Allah subjected the wind to him: it blew at his command, carrying him and everything with him, and covered an immense distance in a short time. In a single day, it traveled a distance that would ordinarily take two months. “Its morning journey was a month’s travel,” meaning from the beginning of the day until noon; “and its evening journey was a month’s travel,” meaning from noon until the end of the day. “We caused a spring of molten copper to flow for him,” meaning that We placed a spring of copper at his disposal and facilitated for him the means of producing from it vessels and other objects.
Allah also subjected the devils and the jinn to him, and they were unable to defy his command. “Whoever among them deviated from Our command, We would make him taste the torment of the Blaze.” Their work (1) consisted of carrying out whatever Solomon wished.
“Grand structures,” meaning every vaulted edifice whose construction was made firm. Thus, this refers to magnificent buildings. “Statues,” meaning representations of living beings and inanimate objects, which they produced through their excellent craftsmanship, ⦗677⦘ their ability to make them, and their service to Solomon. “Basins as large as reservoirs,” meaning huge pools that they made for Solomon to hold food, for he required what others did not. They also made for him firmly anchored cauldrons that, because of their immense size, could not be moved from their places.
After mentioning His favor upon them, Allah commanded them to give thanks for it, saying: “Work, O family of David”—meaning David, his children, and his household, for the favor encompassed them all, and many of these benefits extended to all of them—“in gratitude” to Allah for what He had given them and in return for what He had graciously bestowed upon them. “Yet few of My servants are truly grateful.” Most people do not thank Allah Most High for the blessings He bestows upon them and the afflictions He wards off from them.
Gratitude means the heart’s acknowledgment of Allah Most High’s favor; receiving it with an awareness of one’s need for it; directing it toward obedience to Allah Most High; and guarding it against being used in disobedience.
The devils continued making every kind of structure for Solomon, peace be upon him. They had deceived human beings and told them that they knew the unseen and were aware of hidden matters. Allah Most High therefore willed to show His servants the falsity of this claim. They continued at their work, and Allah decreed that Solomon, peace be upon him, die while he was leaning on his staff—his walking stick. Whenever they passed by him and saw him leaning upon it, they assumed he was alive and were afraid of him.
They continued working in this manner for a full year, as has been stated, until a creature of the earth was set upon his staff. It kept gnawing at it until the staff disintegrated and fell, whereupon Solomon, peace be upon him, fell as well. The devils then scattered, and human beings realized the truth about the jinn: “Had they known the unseen, they would not have remained in the humiliating torment”—namely, the arduous labor imposed upon them. Had they known the unseen, they would have known of Solomon’s death, which they were more eager than anything to know about, and thus escaped the condition they were in.