'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' He, exalted is He, said: "And We granted to David Solomon, an excellent servant. Indeed, he was always turning back [to Allah]." "When there were presented to him in the evening, the prancing horses." "He said, 'Indeed, I have loved the love of good things, for the remembrance of my Lord, until they were hidden behind the veil.'" "Return them to me, and he began to stroke [them] with his shins and necks." "And We certainly tested Solomon, and We placed upon his throne a body; then he returned." "He said, 'My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after me. Indeed, You are the Bestower.'" The gift and the donation are of one meaning. Allah granted Solomon to David as a son. And He, exalted is He, praised him with descriptions of praise, which are included in His saying: "An excellent servant." And "always turning back" means: one who frequently repents. The word "always turning back" is the subject of "when"; for the matter of the horses necessitated a great turning back. People have differed regarding the story of these horses that were presented. The majority said: Solomon, peace be upon him, was presented with thousands of horses that his father left for him. It was said: one thousand, and they were run before him in the evening. He became preoccupied with their beauty, their running, and his love for them until the time for the evening prayer passed him. Qatadah said: the prayer was the afternoon prayer, and this is similar to what was narrated from Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him. He regretted that and said: 'Return the horses to me.' Al-Hasan said: So he began to strike their necks and legs with the sword, sacrificing them since they were the cause of missing the prayer. Allah replaced him with a wind faster than them. Some people, including Al-Thaalabi, said: There was a famine among the people, and the flesh of horses was lawful for them. So he sacrificed them to be eaten as an act of drawing closer to Allah, like the sacrificial offerings we have. This is similar to what Abu Talhah Al-Ansari did with his garden when he donated it after Al-Dubsi entered upon him during the prayer and distracted him. The "prancing horse" is the horse that raises one of its front legs and stands on the tip of its hoof. It may do this with its leg, and this is a sign of excellence. Al-Zajjaj recited: 'He has become accustomed to the prancing horses, so he continues as if he is one of those who stands on three, broken.' Abu Ubaidah said: The prancing horse is the one that gathers its front legs and aligns them. As for the one that stands on the tip of its hoof, it is the one that is camped. In the Mus'haf of Ibn Mas'ud, it is written: "the prancing horses." And the excellent horses are the plural of excellence, like garment and garments, and it is named so because it excels in its running. Some people said: "the good" here refers to the horses, and the Arabs call horses "the good." Likewise, it was said by him, blessings and peace be upon him, to Zayd of the horses: "You are Zayd of the good." And "love" is the object of the verb, which was made accusative for that reason, as if "I have loved" means: I have preferred. A group said: The object of "I have loved" is omitted, and "love" was made accusative as a source, meaning: I have loved these horses with the love of good. And "the good" - according to this interpretation - is not the horses. In the Mus'haf of Ibn Mas'ud, it is written: "the love of horses" with the definite article. A group said: "I have loved" means: I have fallen to the ground due to my sin, taken from: the camel loved when it became exhausted and fell weak. And "love" - according to this - is the object for that reason.

The pronoun in "تَوارَتْ" refers to the sun, even though there is no explicit mention of it. However, the meaning necessitates its mention and includes it. This is because the evening requires its mention, as it is implied by it. Some of the interpreters said regarding this verse: "until it vanished behind the veil," meaning the horses, that is, they entered their stables. Ibn Abbas and Al-Zahrawi said: His wiping of the necks and legs was not with a sword, but with his hand, honoring and loving them. Al-Tabari preferred this, and some of them said: rather it was washing with water, and it can be said that washing is wiping, because wiping with the hands is associated with it. These sayings, in my view, are arranged according to the manner of interpretation in this verse, and it has been narrated from some people. This is because he saw that this story did not involve missing a prayer, nor did it include the matter of the horses returning. The action in "إذْ" is an implied verb, the estimation of which is: remember when it was presented. They said: The horses were presented to Solomon while he was in prayer, so he gestured to them, meaning: I am in prayer, so they removed them from him until they brought them into the stables. He said when he finished his prayer: "Indeed, I loved the love of good," meaning that which is with Allah in the Hereafter, due to the mention of my Lord. It is as if he is saying: That occupied me from seeing the horses, until they were brought into their stables. Return them to me, and he began to wipe their necks and legs out of love for them. Al-Thalabi mentioned that this wiping was indeed a marking on the legs and necks as a mark of being held in the way of Allah, the Exalted. The majority of people are of the view that they were inherited horses. Some of them said: He killed them until there remained from them no more than a hundred horses, and from the offspring of those hundred is everything that exists today of horses. This is far-fetched. Some of them said: They were horses brought out by the devils for him from the sea, and they had wings. It was narrated from Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, that they were twenty horses, and "طَفِقَ" means: he continued to do, as you say: he began to do. The majority read: "بِالسُوقِ" with a silent waw, which is the plural of ساق. Ibn Kathir alone read it with a hamzah. Abu Ali said: It is weak, but its reasoning in analogy is that since the dammah follows the waw, it was estimated that it is on it, so it was pronounced with a hamzah as they do with the waw that is followed by a dammah. This is similar to their inclination of the alif of "مِقْلاتٍ" from where the qaf has a kasrah, they estimated that the qaf is the one that is broken. The reason for the hamzah of "السُوقِ" from hearing is that Abu Hayyah Al-Numairi used to hamzah every silent waw before it there is a dammah, and he used to recite: I loved the two who are steadfast towards you. Ibn Muhaysin read: "بِالسُؤُوقِ" with a hamzah followed by a waw. His saying: "عن ذِكْرِ رَبِّي" in every interpretation, for "عن" here indicates passing from one thing to another, so contemplate it, for it is consistent.

Then Allah, the Most High, informed about His trial of Sulayman, and His testing of him for the loss of his kingdom. It has been narrated that Sulayman, peace be upon him, was told by one of his favorites: 'My brother has a dispute, so I desire that you rule in his favor with such and such, for something that is not the truth.' Sulayman, peace be upon him, said: 'I will do it.' So Allah, the Most High, punished him by sending a jinn to take control of his ring. This is because Sulayman, peace be upon him, would not enter the restroom with the ring of kingship, out of respect for the name of Allah, the Most High. He would place it with one of his wives. One day he did that, and Allah cast his likeness upon a jinn named Sakhr - as narrated by Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both - and it is said that there are other accounts which we have summarized due to their lack of authenticity. The jinn came to the woman and she handed him the ring, so he took control of Sulayman's kingdom. He remained in it for forty days, and he threw Sulayman's ring into the sea, and he began to cause mischief among the Children of Israel, resembling Sulayman, peace be upon him, to the extent that they denied his actions. Allah, the Most High, enabled him over all the kingdom, Mujahid said: 'Except for the women of Sulayman, for he did not uncover them.' During this time, Sulayman, peace be upon him, had escaped, fleeing in a manner that was unrecognizable, and he was not associated with any people except that they struck him. He was afflicted by hunger and poverty, and one day he passed by a woman washing a dead fish, so he asked her for some due to his hunger. It is said that he bought it, and she gave him two fish. He began to open their bellies, and behold, his ring was in the belly of one of them. So his kingdom returned to him, and the jinn and the wind were made subservient to him from that day onward. Sakhr the jinn was captured, and Sulayman ordered that he be brought to him, so he was confined in stones and imprisoned in the sea until the Day of Resurrection. This is the trial that Sulayman, peace be upon him, was tested with.

People have differed regarding the body that was cast upon his throne. The majority said: 'It is the mentioned jinn, referred to as a "

," because it had taken the form of Sulayman, but it was not him. This is the most correct of the statements and the clearest in meaning.' A group said: 'Rather, it was the body of a dead son of his that was cast upon his throne.' Another group said: 'Rather, it was the split of the child that was born to him when he swore that he would certainly visit his wives without making an exception in his division.' Some said: 'Sulayman, peace be upon him, fell ill with a sickness like fainting until he was upon his throne without a soul.'

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 'All of this is not connected to the meaning of this verse.'

And His saying, the Most High: "He turned back" means: he repented and submitted and responded to the obedience of his Lord. The meaning of this is: from that calamity that the trial occurred because of it." :

Then indeed, Solomon, peace be upon him, sought forgiveness from his Lord and asked Him for a kingdom. The interpreters differed in the meaning of his saying: "It is not suitable for anyone after me." The majority said: He intended to single it out among humans so that it would be special to him and an honor. This is evident from his saying, blessings and peace be upon him, in the story of the jinn that presented itself to him during his prayer. He captured it and intended to bind it with a pillar from the pillars of the mosque. He said: "Then I remembered my brother Solomon's words: 'My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom that is not suitable for anyone after me,' so I sent it." And Qatadah and Ata ibn Abi Rabah said: Solomon, peace be upon him, meant: 'It is not suitable for anyone after me during my lifetime,' meaning: 'I will not be deprived of it and it will go to someone else as it went to the jinn.' It has been narrated regarding the faults of Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf that when he recited this verse, he said: "He was indeed envious." This is from the wickedness of Al-Hajjaj. And Solomon, peace be upon him, is certainly understood to have intended by that a righteous and permissible intention; for a person may desire from the bounty of Allah what no one else can attain, especially according to rank and prophethood. Look at his saying, peace be upon him: "It is not suitable," for it is merely a phrase that is ambiguous and does not definitively state that Allah does not grant such a kingdom to anyone. And if Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, had bound the jinn, it would not have been a deficiency in what was given to Solomon, peace be upon him. However, since there was some resemblance in it, he left it, following his choice, blessings and peace be upon him, in the easier of the two matters and the closer to humility.