Tafsir of Sad 38:34

The most prominent account regarding his trial—peace be upon him—is that he said: "I will surely go around to seventy women tonight, each of whom will give birth to a knight who will fight in the path of Allah the Almighty." He did not say, "If Allah wills." Thus, he went around to them, but none conceived except one, who gave birth to a half-man. This has been narrated by the two Shaykhs [Bukhari and Muslim] and others from Abu Hurayrah in marfu (elevated) form, in which it is said: "By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, had he said 'If Allah wills,' they would have fought as knights." However, what is in Sahih al-Bukhari mentions "forty" instead of "seventy," and that the angel told him: "Say: If Allah wills," but he did not. At most, this is the abandonment of what is more excellent (tark al-awla), so it is not a sin. If he—peace be upon him—counted it as a sin, then the "body" refers to that half-child who was born to him, and the meaning of "casting it on his throne" is that the midwife placed it upon the throne for him to see.

The Imamiyyah (Shia) narrated from Abu ‘Abd Allah—may Allah be pleased with him—that a son was born to Sulayman. The Jinn and devils said: "If a son lives for him, we will suffer from him the same tribulation we suffered from his father." Sulayman—peace be upon him—feared for the child, so he and his wet-nurse placed him in the clouds where they (the devils) would not know. Suddenly, he was cast onto his throne dead, as a warning that caution does not deliver one from destiny. He was admonished for abandoning the tawakkul (reliance) befitting the elite, by abandoning the undertaking of means. This is also narrated from al-Sha‘bi, and some have narrated it from Abu Hurayrah in a manner that no one would doubt its fabrication except one who doubts the infallibility of the Prophets—peace be upon them. I am not certain of the authenticity of this report; rather, the apparent meaning of the verse is that the subjugation of the wind came after the trial, and this contradicts the report, as placing [the child] in the clouds necessitates that [subjugation].

‘Abd ibn Humayd and al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi narrated from the path of ‘Ali ibn Zayd, from Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyib, that Sulayman—peace be upon him—secluded himself from the people for three days. Allah the Almighty revealed to him: "O Sulayman, you have secluded yourself from the people for three days and have not looked into the affairs of My servants, nor have you rendered justice to the oppressed from the oppressor." His kingdom was in his ring, and when he entered the bath, he would place his ring under his mattress. A devil came and took it. The people then turned to the devil (who assumed his form). Sulayman said: "O people, I am Sulayman, the Prophet of Allah the Almighty," but they drove him away. He wandered for forty days, then came to the people of a ship. They gave him a fish, he slit it open, and found the ring inside. He put it on, then came and took the devils by their forelocks, and said after that: {My Lord, grant me a kingdom such as will not belong to any other after me.}

Al-Nasa’i, Ibn Jarir, and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated—and Ibn Hajar and al-Suyuti said the chain is strong—from Ibn ‘Abbas that Sulayman—peace be upon him—intended to enter the privy, so he gave his ring to Jaradah, who was his wife and the most beloved of his wives to him. A devil came in the form of Sulayman and said to her: "Give me my ring," so she gave it to him. When he put it on, mankind, the Jinn, and the devils became subservient to him. When Sulayman came out, he said to her: "Give me my ring." She said: "I already gave it to Sulayman." He said: "I am Sulayman." She said: "You lie; you are not Sulayman." He began going to everyone and saying to them, "I am Sulayman," but they would call him a liar, until the children began throwing stones at him. When he saw that, he knew it was a decree from Allah the Almighty. The devil stood to judge between the people. When Allah the Almighty willed to return his authority to him, He cast into the hearts of the people a rejection of that devil. They sent to the wives of Sulayman and asked: "Do you deny anything about Sulayman?" They said: "Yes, he comes to us while we are menstruating, and he never used to do that before." When the devil saw that he had been discovered, he realized his affair was coming to an end. He ordered the devils to write books of sorcery and deception, buried them under Sulayman’s throne, then unearthed them and read them to the people, saying: "It is by this that Sulayman overcame them." So the people accused Sulayman of disbelief. That devil sent the ring and cast it into the sea, where a fish swallowed it. Sulayman—peace be upon him—was working on the seashore for wages. A man came and bought fish, including that fish. He invited Sulayman, who carried the fish to his door. He gave him that fish; he slit its belly and found the ring inside. He took it, put it on, and mankind, the Jinn, and the devils became subservient to him again. He returned to his state, and the devil fled to an island in the sea. He sent for him, and they found him sleeping. They built a structure of lead over him. He awoke, they shackled him, and brought him to Sulayman. He commanded that a marble box be carved for him; he was placed inside, sealed with copper, and then thrown into the sea.

Regarding the cause of this, it is mentioned that he—peace be upon him—had raided Sidon in the islands, killed its king, and captured his daughter, who was the aforementioned Jaradah. He loved her, and her tears would not dry out of grief for her father. He commanded the devils to fashion an image of him for her, and that was permissible in his Shari‘a. She would go to it morning and evening with her maids, prostrating to it as was their custom in his kingdom. Asaf informed him, so he broke the image and struck the woman. He was admonished for being heedless of his family's condition. There is disagreement regarding the name of that devil; al-Suddi says it was Habhiq, while the majority say it was Sakhr, which is the most famous account. The Almighty only said {a body} because he only manifested in the form of someone else, which is Sulayman—peace be upon him—and that manifested form did not possess the soul of its true owner; rather, that devil inhabited its frame, hence it was called a "body." The Qamus is explicit that the word "body" (jasad) can be applied to a Jinn.

Abu Hayyan and others said: This narrative is from the fabrications of the Jews and the heretical Sophists; no rational person should believe its authenticity. How can it be permissible for a devil to manifest in the form of a Prophet until his affair becomes confused among the people, and they believe the manifested form is the Prophet? If this were possible, there would be no trust in the sending of a Prophet. We ask Allah the Almighty for the safety of our religion and our intellects. Among the most hideous aspects of this [narrative] is the claim that the devil gained mastery over the Prophet’s wives, even having intercourse with them while they were menstruating. Allah is the Greatest! This is a grave slander and a momentous affair. Attributing this report to Ibn ‘Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both—is not accepted as authentic, nor is the claim of the strength of its chain to him accepted, even if those whom I have heard say so.

It came from Ibn ‘Abbas, via the narration of ‘Abd al-Razzaq and Ibn al-Mundhir, that which is clearly from the reports of Ka‘b, and it is known that Ka‘b narrates from the books of the Jews, which are not to be trusted. Moreover, the indications that the subjugation of the devils was after the trial reject the validity of this narrative, as is not hidden. Furthermore, the matter of Sulayman’s ring is extremely famous among both the elite and the commoners, and it is highly improbable that Allah the Almighty would link the kingdom He gave His Prophet—peace be upon him—to that ring. In my view, had there been the secret they speak of in that ring, Allah the Almighty would have mentioned it in His Book. And Allah the Almighty knows the truth of the matter.

A group said: Sulayman—peace be upon him—suffered an illness similar to a coma until he sat on his throne as if he were a body without a spirit. Their saying became proverbial for the weak: "Flesh on a meat-board, and a body without a spirit." Thus, the body cast on the throne was he himself—peace be upon him. This was narrated from Abu Muslim, who said regarding the words of the Almighty: {then he turned}—meaning he returned to health. {And [We] cast a body} is a state (hal) from the object of "We cast" (the maf'ul which is omitted), as if it were said: "And We tried Sulayman—meaning We afflicted him and made him ill—and cast him on his throne weak, as if he were a body without a spirit, then he returned to his health." Its weakness is evident; the truth is what was mentioned first in the marfu tradition.

The conjunction "then" (thumma) was used for "turned" (anaba), whereas the apparent usage would have been "and" (fa), as in the Almighty’s saying: {and he asked forgiveness of his Lord}. It is said that this indicates the continuity and extension of his turning [to Allah], for that which is extended is conjoined with thumma (with a view to its conclusion), unlike seeking forgiveness, for which there should be hastening, and there is no extension in its duration. It is also said that the conjunction with thumma here is because he—peace be upon him—did not know the cause for his turning [to Allah] immediately upon its occurrence. This is unlike what happened in the story of Dawud—peace be upon him—for the conjunction there is based on the suspicion of the trial, and what is appropriate for him is not to delay seeking forgiveness. It is also said that the conjunction with thumma here is because there was a long duration between the time of the turning and the beginning of what occurred—peace be upon him—from the abandonment of the exception [saying "If Allah wills"], which is the duration of the pregnancy, and there is no such duration between the time of Dawud’s seeking forgiveness and the beginning of what occurred from him.