The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 496
CH. 27 AN-NAML PT. 19 حَسِبَتْهُ لُجَّةً وَكَشَفَتْ عَنْ سَاقَيْهَا قَالَ she thought it to be a great إِنَّهُ صَرْحُ مُمَرَّدُ مِنْ قَوَارِيرَ قَالَتْ uncovered her shanks. Solomon expanse of water, and she said, 'It is a palace paved رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي وَأَسْلَمْتُ مَعَ smooth with slabs of glass. She سُلَيْمَنَ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَلَمِينَ said, 'My Lord, I have indeed wronged my soul; and I submit myself with Solomon to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. '2844 2844. Important Words: she uncovered her) كشفت عن ساقيها shanks) (saqun) is derived from (saqa). means, leg; shank; the part between ankle and knee. means, the trunk of the tree. The Arabs say, i. e. the affair is a الكشف عن الساق. became distressful well-known Arabic idiom meaning to become prepared to meet the difficulty or to become perturbed or means, the قامت الحرب على ساق. perplexed كشف عن ساقيه. battle became vehement literally meaning he uncovered his shanks signifies, he prepared himself to meet the difficulty; he became كشفت عن ساقيها perplexed. The expression would thus mean: (1) she uncovered her shanks; (2) she got ready to meet the situation; (3) she became perturbed or perplexed (Lane & Aqrab). Commentary: Solomon wanted the Queen to give up idol worship and accept the true faith. For this purpose he wisely adopted such means as should have led the noble and sagacious lady to see the error of her ways. The throne 2410 which Solomon caused to be prepared for her was also prepared with this end in view. It was made much more beautiful and in every respect superior to her own throne of which she was very proud. Solomon did so in order that she might realize that he was God's favourite and had been endowed with material and spiritual gifts in far greater abundance than those given to her. The palace referred to in the verse was also constructed with the same object in view. As the verse shows, the entrance to the palace was paved with slabs of glass, below which ran a stream of crystal clear water. When the Queen entered the palace she mistook the transparent glass for water and uncovered her shanks, which in view of the Arabic signifies that كشفت عن ساقيها expression the sight of the water perplexed her and she did not know what to do. By this device Solomon directed her attention to the fact that as she had mistaken the slabs of glass for water, similarly the sun and other celestial bodies which she worshipped were not