The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 688
CH. 34 SABA' PT. 22 the praises of Allah with him, and O birds, ye also. ' And We made the iron soft for him, 3137 full-length coats of mail, and أَنِ اعْمَلْ سُبِخْتِ وَقَدِرُ فِي السَّرْدِ And we said, “Make thou. 12 وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا إِنِّى بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ make the rings of a proper بَصِيرٌ measure. And do righteous deeds, surely I see all that you do. " ' 3138 help and succour which came to departed, and they became pariahs Muslims in the nick of time. among the nations. 3137. Important Words: (repeat the praises) is derived from ⇓ which means, he returned. ✓ means, he returned to God from his sins, he repented. ✓ means, he repeated or echoed the praises of God (Lane & Aqrab). Commentary: As the principal theme of this Surah is the triumph of Islam and the great wealth, power and dominion that were to be given to Muslims, and as the might and splendour of the Israelites attained its zenith in the reigns of David and Solomon, so a somewhat detailed reference has been made in this Surah to these two great Prophets and Kings in order, on the one hand, to tell Muslims that such great glory and splendour will come to them also, and, on the other, to warn them that if they did not behave properly and if they defied and violated Divine commandments and indulged in evil practices, they too will come to grief, as did the Israelites after Solomon's death, when all their power and glory For a detailed discussion of the subject as to how the mountains and the birds repeated the praises of God along with David see 21:80. Briefly, the word "mountains" signifies those mountain tribes which submitted to 2602 David, while the use of the word "birds" implies that David led large and powerful armies followed by flocks of birds which feasted upon the dead bodies of his vanquished foes. The words "birds" may also signify highly spiritual men or real birds which David used for carrying messages in time of war. The expression "And We made the iron soft for him" shows that the art of making implements of war from iron had very much developed under David and he freely made use of it for making coats of mail as the next verse shows. 3138. Important Words: full length coats of mail) is) سابغات the plural of means, a coat of mail that is wide or ample and long or such that one drags upon the ground by reason of its length and