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wa-la-qad fatannā sulaymāna wa-ʾalqaynā ʿalā kursiyyihī jasadan thumma ʾanāba
Certainly We tried Solomon, and cast a [lifeless] body on his throne. Thereupon he was penitent.
— Ali Quli Qarai
38ṢādصVerse 34 of 88
Sad38. Ṣādص
Ṣād
Saad
MeccanVerse 34 of 88
Surah Sad - Verses 34-35
34. “And certainly We did try Solomon, and We cast on his throne a (mere) body; then he repented.”
35. “He said: ‘My Lord! Forgive me and grant me a dominion such as shall not be fit anyone after me, verily You are the Bounteous (without measure).”
Trial is a means for polishing the soul and getting nigh to Allah. These verses explain another part of Solomon’s life story, and show that how much high the power of a man may grow, again he has nothing from his own and whatever exists is from the side of Allah. Here, the Qur’an says:
The Arabic word /kursi/ means a throne with short legs. It seems such that the ancient kings had two kinds of throne: one was for ordinary times, which had short legs, and a throne for their formal meetings and official ceremonies which had long legs. The former was called /kursi/ and the latter was called /‘arš/. The Arabic word /jasad/ means a body without soul, and as Raqib says in Mufradat, it has a concept more limited than the concept of body, because the word /jasad/ is not used for anything other than man (but scarcely) while the word /jism/ (body) is general.
It is understood from this verse that Solomon’s trial had been through a soulless body which was on his throne before his eyes, the thing which he did not expect, and he hoped for something other than it. The Qur’an has delivered no more explanation on this matter. The commentators and traditionists have mentioned some news and commentaries on this field.
The most fitting and clear of all of them is that Solomon desired to have some brave and fruitful children who could help him in running the country and specially in struggling against the enemy, but since he did not say the holy phrase: ‘If Allah wills’, the same sentence which shows the man’s reliance to Allah in all circumstances, at that time, he got no child from his wives except a handicapped child like a soulless body that was brought and put on his throne.
Solomon thought very much and became inconvenience that why he neglected Allah for a moment and relied on his own power. Then he repented and returned to Allah. In the next verse, the Holy Qur’an reiterates Solomon’s repentance in more details. It says: