Editing Screen: Surah Saba' 34 : 10

Editing: Saba'

Description <p><strong>Explanatory Note</strong></p> <p>David was the type of servant described at the end of the first part of the sūrah:<strong> ”In all this, there is a sign for every servant of God turning to Him in repentance.”</strong> The sūrah follows this reference by recounting some of his history, preambled by details of the grace God bestowed on him: <strong>“You mountains, sing with him God’s praises! And likewise you birds!”</strong> Reports suggest that David had an unusually beautiful voice, and he used to sing his Psalms, which are praises of God mentioned in the Old Testament, but God knows which of them were truly David’s. An authentic ĥadīth tells us that the Prophet overheard Abū Mūsā al-Ash`arī reciting the Qur’ān deep at night. He stopped to listen to him, and then commented: ‘This man has been given one of David’s Psalms.’</p> <p>The Qur’ānic description shows that David (peace be upon him) attained such a sublime standard of devotion and transparency in his praises that barriers between him and other creatures disappeared. Thus the truth between them became interrelated as they all praise God. Hence the mountains and the birds echoed his praises of God. When all of them had direct links with God, whatever separates species and creatures was removed. They felt that their bond with God overcame all barriers between them. Hence, they echoed one another in praising God, attaining an extraordinary level of transparency which can only be attained through God’s grace.</p> <p><strong>“We caused iron to become soft for him.”</strong> This is another aspect of the grace God bestowed on David. Within the context wherein it occurs, this seems to be a miracle going beyond what is familiar to us. The sūrah is not speaking here of heating iron until it becomes soft and moulding it into the required shape. Rather, it appears that the iron was softened in a different way from what normally occurs, yet God knows best. Although guiding man to the softening of iron by heating is in itself an aspect of God’s grace, our assumption here rests on the fact that the overall atmosphere is one of miracles and unfamiliar phenomena.</p>

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