ﳇ ﳈ ﳉ ﳊ ﳋ ﳌ ﳍ ﳎ ﳏ ﳐ ﳑ ﳒ ﳓ ﳔ ﳕ ﳖ ﳗ ﳘ ﳙ ﳚ ﳛ ﳜ ﳝ ﳞ ﳟ ﳠ ﳡ ﳢ
And when We decreed for Solomon death, nothing indicated to the jinn his death except a creature of the earth eating his staff. But when he fell, it became clear to the jinn that if they had known the unseen, they would not have remained in humiliating punishment.
Tafsir
Verse range: 34:14
{Then, when We decreed death for him...}
After establishing the greatness of Solomon, the subjugation of the wind and the spirits to him, it is made clear that he was not saved from death. Death was decreed for him, serving as a warning to creation that death is inevitable. If anyone were to be saved from it, Solomon would have been the most deserving. In this verse, there are several issues:
Solomon (peace be upon him) used to stand in devotion to God for a full day and night, sometimes even longer. He would lean on his staff while standing before his Lord. He passed away while standing in this state of worship. His soldiers assumed he was still engaged in prayer and remained so for days, even months. Then, God willed to reveal the truth. A creature (the termite/wood-eater) was ordained to eat his staff, causing him to fall, at which point his true condition became known.
{So when the fall was decreed for him, the jinn realized that if they had known the unseen, they would not have remained in the humiliating torment.}
The jinn believed that their knowledge—which surpassed that of humans—included knowledge of the Unseen (Al-Ghayb). This is not the case. Humanity has been given but a little knowledge. Even regarding present matters, humans are ignorant of most things. Similarly, the jinn only knew things that were apparent, even if hidden from human perception.
The truth became clear to them: they did not know the Unseen, because if they had known, they would not have remained engaged in arduous labor, believing Solomon was alive.
The phrase {in the humiliating torment} indicates that the believing jinn were not subjected to this forced labor, because a believer would not be under humiliating torment during the time of a Prophet.
{Indeed, there was a sign for Saba' in their dwelling place: two gardens, one on the right and one on the left. [It was said to them], "Eat from the provision of your Lord and be grateful to Him. A good land and a forgiving Lord."}
