Tafsir of An-Naml 27:36

{He said: "Will you provide me with wealth?"} This is an address to the messenger. It is pluralized to encompass the sender by prioritizing the present over the absent, or by applying the plural form to the dual. It is also suggested that it is directed at the messenger and those with him, which aligns better with Abdullah's recitation. The first view is favored because it conveys the intensified rejection and rebuke derived from the interrogative particle (the hamza), and because this applies to both Bilqis and her people. This is supported by the subsequent statement of the Exalted, {Return to them}, in the singular. The indefiniteness of 'mal' (wealth) is for the purpose of disparagement.

The majority of the seven reciters read 'tamuddunani' with two nuns. Some preserved the ya. Hamzah recited it by assimilating the nun of the nominative case into the nun of protection (wiqaya) while keeping the ya of the first person. Al-Musayyabi, from Nafi', recited it with a single light nun, omitting the nun of protection. It is also possible that it is the first nun, in which case the vowel is implied, as in the saying: "I spend the night journeying, and you spend the night rubbing your face with ambergris and fragrant musk."

{But what Allah has given me}—meaning of prophethood and sovereignty, which has no ultimate limit—{is better than what He has given you}—meaning of the wealth from which that which you brought originates. It is said that what is meant by "what He has given me" is wealth, because that is what is appropriate for the object of comparison (al-mufaddal 'alayhi). The first view is more appropriate because it is more eloquent, and the sentence serves as an explanation for the rejection. The speech is a metonymy for the non-acceptance of their gift; it is not intended as an act of boasting about what he has been given. It is as if he said: "I reject your providing me with wealth because what I possess is better than it, so I have no need for your gift, nor does it hold any value to me."

It appears that this address occurred when they first arrived, as indicated by the saying of the Exalted: {So when he came to Solomon}. Perhaps this was to increase his effort in guiding them to the truth. It is said that he, peace be upon him, said this to them after what transpired between them in the reports of Wahb and others. The verse is used as evidence for the praiseworthiness of returning the gifts of the polytheists.

It is apparent that this is the case if there is a religious benefit in the rejection, not absolutely. He did not say: "And what Allah has given me is better than what He has given you" so that the clause might serve as a state (hal), because such a state—which is the state establishing the problematic—must be known, unlike the cause, which is not such here.

{Nay, you rejoice in your gift} This is a diversion from the previously mentioned rejection of the provision of wealth and its explanation, toward clarifying what led them to it—which is their comparing his state, peace be upon him, to their own state: namely, the limitation of their aspirations to the world and the desire for its increase. The meaning is: "You rejoice in what is gifted to you because of the limitation of your aspirations to the world and your love for increasing it." In this is a form of belittlement of them that is not hidden. The "gift" (hadiyyah) is attributed to the recipient, and it is attributed to that as it is attributed to the giver.

Alternatively, it is a diversion from that to a rebuke for their rejoicing in the gift they presented to him, peace be upon him—a rejoicing of pride, gratitude, and reliance upon it. The benefit of this diversion is to alert them that his being provided with wealth is rejected and ugly, and that counting such a thing—which has no value to him, peace be upon him, compared to what competitors compete for—is even uglier, and the rebuke through it is more profound. It is said that the indefiniteness in Bilqis’s saying, {And indeed, I am sending them a gift}, indicates their reliance upon that gift, after she had deemed him a great king.

This is consistent with what was previously mentioned in the report of Wahb and others concerning the story of the haqq (a type of jewel), the jaz'ah (onyx), the changing of the attire of the young men and slave girls, and other such things. It is also said that their rejoicing in what they gifted him, peace be upon him, stems from their expectation of receiving something greater in return; for gifts given to the great may yield more than their value in wealth or otherwise, such as preventing the destruction of their lands here. It is also said that the speech is a metonymy for rejection; the meaning is: "It is your right to rejoice in taking a gift, not mine, so take it and rejoice." This is a subtle meaning, though it contains some obscurity.