Meccan surah with some ayats revealed in Madinah.

Themes

• Musa AS and his meeting with Allah SWT.
• Sulaiman AS and the Queen of Sheba.
• Salih AS and Lut AS.
• Proof of the Quranic revelation to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
• Proof of the Day of Judgement.

Selected Verses

7-14: Musa AS and the fire where he was in the presence of Allah SWT and received two of his nine signs to show to Firaun. These were the staff that turned into a serpent and his hand which turned white when placed under his shirt.

15: Value of knowledge given to Dawud AS and Sulaiman AS, who were able to control the wind, communicate with animals and utilise the jinn for assistance.

17-44: The Story of Sulaiman AS. One day his armies of men, birds and jinn came across a valley of ants. An ant called out to the other ants to take cover, fearing being trampled by the armies. Sulaiman AS heard what was said and immediately thanked Allah SWT for the blessings he had been given. The army was ordered to steer clear of the valley.

On another occasion, Sulaiman AS noticed that the hoopoe bird was missing from the army ranks. When the bird came, he told him about the people of Sheba, who had been blessed with everything but worshipped the sun. They were ruled by a Yemini queen, named Balqis, who had a magnificent throne. Sulaiman AS sent a letter to her asking for her submission to Allah SWT alone.

The queen recognised the nobility of Sulaiman AS from his letter which began with Bismillah. Being a good ruler, she took advice from her council who deferred to her judgement. She reasoned that invading kings destroy the land and remove and abuse the ruling monarchs, so she decided to test Sulaiman AS by offering him a gift, a bribe. This would determine if he was a king or a prophet.

Sulaiman AS refused the gift and threatened to mobilise his armies against them. Knowing that they were overpowered, a delegate from Sheba made their way to the kingdom of Sulaiman AS.

He asked his chiefs from amongst the jinn to bring the queen’s throne to him before she arrived, as a sign of the power of Allah SWT. It was presented to him in the blink of an eye. The throne was then slightly disguised in order to test the queen.

When she arrived, she recognised her throne acknowledging the miracle of it having been taken from her kingdom and presented before her. She declared she had already submitted to Allah SWT, that is, by coming to Sulaiman AS she already acknowledged his prophethood. Previously she had been hindered from worshipping Allah SWT due to her disbelieving people.

The queen was then asked to enter the magnificent palace of Sulaiman AS, with glass floors resembling water. This fooled her into raising her garment and baring her legs, thinking she was stepping into water. Sulaiman AS corrected her and realising all her power was nothing compared to his, she fully submitted to Allah SWT.

45-53: The Story of Salih AS. The people of Thamud were split into believers and disbelievers. The latter blamed Salih AS for the bad omens they were experiencing. Nine people from amongst them plotted to kill Salih AS and his family, but Allah SWT destroyed the disbelievers. Thier empty homes were left as a sign for all to see.

54-58: Lut AS rebuking his people for their shameful deeds, who did not heed and wanted to expel him and his followers. They were destroyed by Allah SWT, including Lut AS’s wife.

59-64: Questions for the pagans:

• Who is the Creator – the One who created the heavens and the earth, making it a lace for settlement.
• Who is the Most Gracious – the One Who guides people in the night by means of the stars and constellations, sends the winds providing the rain and provides provisions.

65-66: Peoples knowledge of the Akhira amounts to ignorance. Only Allah SWT knows when they will be resurrected.

67-75: The disbelievers deny the resurrection as ancient fables and ridicule the punishment. Allah SWT is ever Bountiful, delaying punishment so that people may repent, but most are ungrateful. Everything is written in a perfect Record.

82: One of the major signs of the Day of Judgement, the coming of the beast from the earth.

83-85: Those who deny Allah SWT’s revelations will be driven in ranks before their Lord. They will be left speechless when issued their decree of torment.

87: The Day of the Trumpet will signify the Apocalypse.

88: Confirming the earth’s rotation – the mountains appear fixed but are moving just like the clouds.

89: Everyone will be rewarded for what they used to do.