It is said: It is a valley in the Levant that is abundant with ants. If you say: Why did they use 'a' with 'atā'? I say: It is directed by two meanings. One of them is that their coming was from above, so 'atā' is used with the preposition of elevation, as Abu al-Tayyib said: 'And truly, the stars have drawn near to you.' This is a request for praise from a man, but he refused and said that. The 'lam' is for emphasis, and 'shadd' is in the form of the passive voice for astonishment. Its origin is 'shaddad' like 'hasan,' so the vowel of the dal was transferred to the sheen and merged, as is the measure of the construction of astonishment, meaning: How great is your surpassing of your worth, meaning: Your surpassing of your worth has increased while you are ascending in what is not yours of elevation. He said: 'upon you,' instead of 'to you,' because the proximity of the stars is from the direction of elevation, meaning: The proximity of the stars to you from above has increased. Then it is possible that the stars are real, for it is built on the metaphorical ascent as it is built on the physical ascent, for the sake of exaggeration in likening the first to the second. It is also possible that they are a metaphor for his poetry, which is the stars in beauty, and the honor of reaching it in a clear manner, thus it has a resemblance to allusion. When it was close from above. The second is that it is intended to mean crossing the valley and reaching its end, from their saying: 'atā 'ala al-shay' if he completed it and reached its end, as if they intended to descend at the end of the valley, for as long as the wind carries them in the air, they do not fear being crushed. And it was read 'namlah' O ants, with the 'm' and 'n' both pronounced, and the original was: 'naml,' in the measure of 'rajul,' and the commonly used 'naml' is a simplification of it, as they say 'al-sab' in 'al-sab.' It is said: It was walking while it was limping, moving sideways, and it called out: O ants! The verse, and Solomon heard its words from three miles away. And it is said that its name was Takhiyah. And from Qatadah, when he entered Kufa, the people gathered around him, and he said: Ask about whatever you wish. Abu Hanifah, may Allah have mercy on him, was present - and he was a young boy. He said: Ask him about the ant of Solomon, was it male or female? So they asked him and he was silenced. Abu Hanifah said: It was female. They said to him: How did you know? He said: From the Book of Allah, and it is His saying: 'An ant said.' If it were male, it would have said: 'An ant said.' It was said by Mahmoud: When Qatadah entered Kufa, the people gathered around him, and he said: Ask about whatever you wish. Abu Hanifah - who was young - said: Ask him about the ant that spoke to Solomon, was it male or female? So they asked him and he was silenced. Abu Hanifah said: It was female. They said: How do you know that? He said: Because Allah, the Exalted, said: 'An ant said,' and if it were male, it would have said: 'An ant said.' Ahmad said: I do not know whether to be amazed at him or at Abu Hanifah for affirming this about him, for the ant, like the dove and the sheep, can refer to both male and female, as it is a generic term. It is said: 'male ant' and 'female ant,' just as they say: 'male dove' and 'female dove,' and 'male sheep' and 'female sheep,' so its term is feminine.

Its meaning is ambiguous. It can be feminine due to its wording, even if it refers to a male. Indeed, this is the eloquent usage. Do you not see his saying, blessings and peace be upon him: "Do not sacrifice a one-eyed, a lean, or a blind animal"? How he expressed these attributes in the feminine form, without meaning the females of the livestock specifically. Thus, the saying of Allah, the Exalted, 'A female ant said,' is concerned with the femininity of the wording. As for the meaning, it is equally applicable. I have elaborated on this, even though it does not adhere to a ruling, because it was attributed to Imam Abu Hanifah due to his insight in the language. Then, this answer was made impressive to Nu'man due to his vast knowledge and discernment of transmitted reports. Then, he confirmed the speech as it is, preserving it. How astonishing! And Allah is the guide to what is correct. The ant is like the dove and the sheep in its reference to both male and female, distinguishing between them by a sign, as in their saying: a male dove and a female dove, he and she. And it was recited: 'Your dwelling' and 'let them not crush you,' with the nun being lightened. And it was recited 'let them not crush you' with an open and a broken ha. Its origin is: 'let them crush you.' When it was made to be a speaker and the ants were spoken to as if they were rational beings, their speech was treated as their speech. If you say: 'What is 'let them not crush you'? I say: It can be an answer to a command, and it can be a prohibition instead of the command. What allows it to be a substitute is that it means: 'Do not be where you are, lest you be crushed,' in the manner of: 'I do not want to see you here.' It was intended: 'Let not the soldiers of Solomon crush you,' thus coming with something more eloquent. Similar to this is: 'I was astonished by myself and by my compassion for it.'