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wa-dāwūda wa-sulaymāna ʾidh yaḥkumāni fī l-ḥarthi ʾidh nafashat fīhi ghanamu l-qawmi wa-kunnā li-ḥukmihim shāhidīna
And [remember] David and Solomon when they gave judgement concerning the tillage when the sheep of some people strayed into it by night, and We were witness to their judgement.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-’Anbiya’ – Verses 78 - 79
78. “And (remember) David and Solomon when they gave judgment concerning the field, when the sheep of the people pastured in it by night, and We were witnesses to their judgment.”
79. “So We made Solomon to understand it, and unto each (of them) We gave wisdom and knowledge. And with David We subdued the mountains to give glory, and the birds, and We were the doers (thereof).”
It is understood fairly well from some Islamic narrations and interpretations about the event which is mentioned in this holy verse that: it happens that one night some sheep go into someone’s vineyard and ruin it. The owner of the vine trees lodges a complaint to David (as). In order to compensate the damage, David judges that all these sheep should be delivered to the owner of that garden. But his son, Solomon (as) suggests another way of solution for the problem to his father, saying that the sheep have to be given to the complainant so that he can take their benefits and the garden should be delivered to the owner of the sheep in order to amend it, and after compensating the damage caused by the sheep, each of the owners takes back his original property.1
The verse says:
Evidently both of the Divine prophets tried to find a way to compensate the loss, but the father (David (as)) thought in the deliverance of the sheep, while the son (Solomon (as)) intended to provide it by means of the benefits of the sheep. Allah in this verse says:
Meaning that though Allah gave both of them knowledge and wisdom but, in this case, the judgment of Solomon was better. Then the Qur’an points to another merit and honour that Allah had bestowed on David, by saying:
This sentence means that these deeds are not so important comparing Allah’s power, and He says:
However, an Islamic tradition indicates that whenever David (as) was busy reciting the heavenly Book (Zabur), there was no stone, mountain, and bird but, by hearing his voice, it also sang with him.2 The reason of this is that all beings, including mountains and birds, have got a kind of perception that they are often busy glorifying Allah.
Footnotes