Surah 27. An-Naml

[And] he continued: "Alter her throne so that she may not know it as hers: let us see whether she allows herself to be guided [to the truth] or remains one of those who will not be guided."³⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., whether she remains satisfied with perceiving only the outward appearance of things and happenings, or endeavours to fathom their spiritual reality. Seeing that the people of Sheba were, until then, motivated by love of luxury and worldly power, Solomon intends to show the Queen her "throne", or the image of her domainion, as it could be if it were inspired by faith in God and hence, by a consciousness of moral responsibility.

Further he said: "Without any comment to her, set her throne in her sight; let us see whether she recognize it or she is of those who cannot recognize the Truth."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Disguise her throne for her that we may see whether she will go aright or be of those not rightly guided.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And so, as soon as she arrived, she was asked: "Is thy throne like this?" She answered: "It is as though it were the same!"³⁷ [And Solomon said to his nobles: "She has arrived at the truth without any help from us,³⁸ ] although it is we who have been given [divine] knowledge before her, and have [long ago] surrendered ourselves unto God!

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "and yet not quite the same": thus, she expresses doubt - and doubt is the first step in all spiritual progress. She realizes that the "altered throne" is outwardly the same as that which she has left behind; but she percieves intuitively that it is imbued witha spiritual quality which the other did not possess, and which she cannot quite yet understand.

Thus Tabari, Zamakhshari and Ibn Kathir, on whose interpretation of this passage my rendering and the above interpolation are based.

So when the queen arrived, she was asked: "Is your throne like this?" She replied: "It looks as if it is the same; we had come to know that Sulaiman is not only a king but also a Prophet, therefore we have already become Muslims."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So, when she came, it was said (unto her): Is thy throne like this? She said: (It is) as though it were the very one. And (Solomon said): We were given the knowledge before her and we had surrendered (to Allah).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And she has recognized the truth] although that which she has been wont to worship instead of God³⁹ had kept her away [from the right path]: for, behold, she is descended of people who deny the truth!" ⁴⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

An allusion to her and her people's worship of celestial bodies (cf. verses {2-25} and the corresponding notes [20] and [21]).

Lit., "she was [sc., "born"] of people...", etc. - thus stressing the role of the idolatrous tradition in which she had grown up, and which in the past had made it difficult for her to find the right path. Considering this cultural background, Solomon points out, her awakening at the very moment of her leaving her ancestral environment must be deemed most remarkable and praise-worthy.

- Other deities whom she worshiped besides Allah had prevented her from believing, for she belonged to an unbelieving folk.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (all) that she was wont to worship instead of Allah hindered her, for she came of disbelieving folk.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[After a while] she was told: "Enter this court!" - but when she saw it, she thought that it was a fathomless exDanse of water. and she bared her legs.⁴¹ Said he: 'Behold, it is [but] a court smoothly paved with glass !" ⁴² Cried she: "O my Sustainer! I have been sinning against myself [by worshipping aught but Thee]: but [now] I have surrendered myself, with Solomon, unto the Sustainer of all the worlds!"

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., in order to wade into it, or perhaps to swim through it, thus braving the seemingly fathomless deep: possibly a symbolic indication of the fear which a human being may feel when his own search after truth forces him to abandon the warm, soothing security of his erstwhile social and mental environment, and to venture into the - as yet - unknown realm of the spirit.

I.e., not a dangerous, bottomless deep, as it appeared at first glance, but, rather, the firm, glass-clear light of truth: and with her perception of the ever-existing difference between appearance and reality, the Queen of Sheba comes to the end of her spiritual journey.

- Then she was asked to enter the palace. When she saw its floor, she thought that there was pool of water, so she tucked up her skirts uncovering her legs. Sulaiman said. "This is just a glossy paving of this palace." At this she exclaimed: "O my Rabb! I have indeed wronged my soul, now I submit myself in Islam with Sulaiman to Allah, the Rabb of the Worlds."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

It was said unto her: Enter the hall. And when she saw it she deemed it a pool and bared her legs. (Solomon) said: Lo! it is a hall, made smooth, of glass. She said: My Lord! Lo! I have wronged myself, and I surrender with Solomon unto Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND [likewise], indeed, We sent unto [the tribe of] Thamud their brother Salih [with this message]: "Worship God alone!"⁴³ - and, behold, they were [split into] two factions contending with one another.

  - Mohammad Asad

For the story of the Thamud and their prophet Salih, see notes [56] and [57] on 7:73 . My interpolation of the word "likewise" at the beginning of this verse is based on the fact that Salih's message to the tribe of Thamud is identical with that of Solomon to the Queen of Sheba - which in itself, is an indication of the sameness of the fundamental truths underlying all revealed religions.

To the people of Thamud, We sent their brother Saleh, saying: "Worship Allah," but they divided themselves into two discordant factions.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We verily sent until Thamud their brother Salih, saying: Worship Allah. And lo! they (then) became two parties quarrelling.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Said [Salih to the erring ones]: "Why do you seek to hasten the coming upon you of evil instead of hoping for the good?⁴⁴ Why do you not, God to forgive you your sins, so that you might graced with His mercy?"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "hasten the evil before the good": cf. 13:6 and the corresponding note [14]; also the second sentence of 10:50 and note [71].

Saleh said: "O my people! Why do you wish to hasten towards evil rather than good? Why do you not ask forgiveness of Allah so that you may be shown mercy?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: O my people! Why will ye hasten on the evil rather than the good? Why will ye not ask pardon of Allah, that ye may receive mercy.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They answered: "We augur evil from thee and those that follow thee!"⁴⁵ Said he: "Your destiny, good or evil, rests with God:⁴⁶ yea, you are people undergoing a test!"

  - Mohammad Asad

See surah {7}, note [95].

Sc., "who has tied every human being's destiny (ta'ir) to his neck": see 17:13 and the corresponding note [17].

They said: "We consider you and your companions a sign of bad luck." He said: "Your luck is with Allah; in fact, you are a people under trial."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They said: We augur evil of thee and those with thee. He said: Your evil augury is with Allah. Nay, but ye are folk that are being tested.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Now there were in the city nine men⁴⁷ who were wont to commit deeds of depravity all over the land, and would not reform;

  - Mohammad Asad

Or "nine clans", since, in the above context, the term raht is liable to either of these two interpretations. The "city" referred to is evidently the region known as Al-Hijr, in northern Hijaz (cf. surah {7}, notes [56] and [59]). - In contrast with the preceding story of the Queen of Sheba's eager way to faith, the stories of the tribe of Thamad and (in verses {54-58}) of Lot's people are meant to call attention to the hostility which a call to righteousness so often evokes in people who are strong but vain, or, alternatively, weak and addicted to senseless passions.

There were nine ringleaders in the city who created mischief in the land and reformed nothing.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And there were in the city nine persons who made mischief in the land and reformed not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[and] after having bound one another by an oath in God's name,⁴⁸ they said: "Indeed, we shall suddenly fall upon him and his household by night [and slay them all]; and then we shall boldly say to his next of kin, 'We did not witness the destruction of his household - and, behold, we are indeed men of truth!'"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "by God". As is evident from 7:73 ff. and from the above allusion, the Thamud did have a vague notion of God, but their erstwhile faith had been overlaid by their excessive arrogance and thus deprived of all spiritual value.

They said to one another: "Let us pledge on oath by Allah that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his family, then we shall tell his guardian that we were not even present at the time his family was killed, and that we are telling the truth."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They said: Swear one to another by Allah that we verily will attack him and his household by night, and afterward we will surely say unto his friend: We witnessed not the destruction of his household. And lo! we are truthtellers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And so they devised an evil scheme; but We devised a subtle scheme [of Our own], and they perceived it not.

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus they plotted a plan, and We too plotted a plan which they did not perceive.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So they plotted a plot: and We plotted a plot, while they perceived not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Behold, then, what all their scheming came to in the end: We utterly destroyed them and their people, all of them;

  - Mohammad Asad

Just see what was the outcome of their plot! We annihilated them completely, together with all their people.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then see the nature of the consequence of their plotting, for lo! We destroyed them and their people, every one.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and [now] those dwellings of theirs are empty, [ruined] as an outcome of their evil deeds. In this, behold, there is a message indeed for peo-ple of [innate] knowledge -

  - Mohammad Asad

There lies their houses in desolate ruins as a result of their wrongdoings. Verily in this story there is a lesson for those people who use their common sense.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

See, yonder are their dwellings empty and in ruins because they did wrong. Lo! herein is indeed a portent for a people who have knowledge.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

seeing that We saved those who had attained to faith and were conscious of Us.

  - Mohammad Asad

Yet We delivered the true believers who were righteous.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And we saved those who believed and used to ward off (evil).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND [thus, too, did We save] Lot, when he said unto his people:⁴⁹ "Would you commit this abomination with your eyes open [to its being against all nature⁵⁰ ]?

  - Mohammad Asad

The story of Lot and the perverted people of Sodom is mentioned in several places, particularly in {7:80-84}, {11:69-83} and {26:160-173}.

Thus Zamakhshari and Razi, stressing the principle that a revolt against the God-willed nature of heterosexuality is a revolt against God Himself.

Also mention to them of Lut (Lot), when he said to his people: "Do you commit indecency though you see its iniquity?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And Lot! when he said unto his folk: will ye commit abomination knowingly?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Must you really approach men with lust instead of women? Nay, but you are people without any awareness [of right and wrong]!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Do you approach men for your sexual desires instead women? The fact is that you are a people steeped in ignorance."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Must ye needs lust after men instead of women? Nay, but ye are folk who act senselessly.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall