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27 - An-Naml

"Audhu billahi minash shaytanirrajeem"

Bismi Llaahi l-raḥmaani l-raḥeem
















  16. Solomon succeeded David and said, “O people... We have been taught the language of birds (the ability to communicate with other creatures) and endowed with (the blessing of having knowledge about) all things... This is indeed a clear favor!”

  17. An army was formed for Solomon, from the jinni, men and birds. They were arranged together, recruited and administered (by Solomon).

  18. When they came to the Valley of the Ants, one female ant said, “Ants! Go into your dwellings lest Solomon and his army inadvertently crush you.”

  19. (Solomon) smiled at her words and said, “My Rabb... Enable me (with the Name Rahim in my essence) to be thankful for the blessings You have granted me and my parents, and to do righteous deeds that please You, and include me among Your righteous servants with Your grace.

  20. Then (one day, Solomon) inspected the birds and said, “Why can’t I see Hoopoe... Is he lost?”

  21. “Unless he gives me a valid excuse for his absence I will punish him or execute him.”

  22. Then (Hoopoe) came shortly after and said, “I saw something you do not know and I have come to you with reliable news from Sheba.”

  23. “I found a woman ruling over them (Shebeans) and she has been given of all things and she has a throne of sovereignty.”

  24. “I found her and her people worshipping the Sun instead of Allah... Satan has made their deeds appear pleasing and right to them and diverted them from the (right) way! Thus they cannot find the path of the reality.”

  25. (They have been deceived by their illusions) to not prostrate to Allah, who brings forth what is hidden in the heavens and the earth and who knows what you conceal and what you reveal.” (This is a verse of prostration.)

  26. “Allah, there is no god, only HU, the Rabb of the Great Throne!”

  27. (Solomon) said, “Let us see if what you say is the truth or if you are of the liars.”

  28. “Take this letter of mine and deliver it to them! Then leave them and see the state of their understanding.”

  29. (Queen Sheba) said, “O eminent ones! An important and valuable letter has been delivered to me.”

  30. “The letter is from Solomon; indeed (the beginning of it) reads: ‘By the one who is denoted by the name Allah (who created my being with His Names in accord with the meaning of the letter ‘B’), the Rahman, the Rahim.’”

  31. (And says) “Do not be haughty with me but come to me in submission!”

  32. “O eminent ones... What would you advise me... I did not want to decide without consulting you.”

  33. They said, “We are both strong and mighty warriors... The decision is yours to make! You decide on your command.”

  34. (Sheba) said, “When kings enter a country they thrash it and render the powerful ones powerless... This is what they do!”

  35. “So I shall send them a gift and see with what (news) my envoys (bearing the gifts) will return.”

  36. When (the envoys) came to Solomon (with the gift) he said, “You think you can stop me with your gifts? But that which Allah gave me is better than that which He has given you! Only those like you will rejoice with such gifts!”

  37. “Go back (and tell) them... I swear I will come with forces that they will never be able to withstand and drive them out of there, helpless and disgraced!”

  38. (Solomon told his eminent ones), “O counselors... Who can bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?”

  39. A demon from among the jinni said, “I will bring it before you get up from your seat... You can me trust me that I have enough power to do this.”

  40. But one who had an understanding of the knowledge of the reality (who had the ability to act with the forces of the Names; Reflection of Divine Attribute) said, “I will bring it to you before you blink your eye”... When Solomon saw the throne placed before him, he said, “This is from the bounty of my Rabb... To see whether I will be grateful or ungrateful... And whoever is grateful, his gratitude is for his self (the realization and evaluation of the perfection of his essence)... And whoever is ungrateful, surely my Rabb is the Ghani, the Karim.”

  41. (Solomon) said, “Disguise her throne, and let us see if she can find the Truth or if she is of those who are not guided.”

  42. When (Sheba) arrived she was asked, “Is your throne like this?”... She said, “It looks like it... We had been given knowledge before this and we had become Muslims (submitted).”

  43. And that which she worshipped besides Allah had stopped her... Indeed, she was from a people who denied the knowledge of the reality.

  44. Then she was told, “Enter the palace”... When (Queen Sheba) saw it she thought it was deep water and pulled her skirt up... (Solomon) said, “It’s just a palace made of crystal glass”... (Sheba) said, “My Rabb... I have wronged myself (by worshipping an external force, the Sun) but now I have submitted myself, along with Solomon, to Allah, the Rabb of the worlds!”

  45. Indeed, We disclosed to Thamud, their brother Salih, who said, “Serve Allah!”... But they divided themselves into two groups opposing one another.

  46. (Salih) said, “O my people! Why do you hasten on the bad rather than the good? Will it not be better for you to repent to Allah so you may be shown mercy?”

  47. They said, “Because of you and your followers we have been subject to an evil omen.” (Salih) said, “Your evil omen is with Allah... No, you are a people being tried.”

  48. There was in that city a gang of nine men who caused corruption and rebelled.

  49. Swearing with the oath, “By Allah” they said, “Let us attack (and kill) him and his family in the night, and to his guardian, we shall say, ‘We are unaware of his and his family’s death; indeed, we are telling the truth.’”

  50. Thus they devised a trap but We also devised a trap, of which they were unaware.

  51. Look at the result of their traps! We completely destroyed them and their people!

  52. Here are their houses, demolished and ruined, because of their wrongdoing... Indeed, there is a sign – a lesson – in this for a people with understanding.

  53. We saved the believers and those who protected themselves.

  54. And Lot... How he said to his people, “You are deliberately engaging in that shameless act!”

  55. “Do you leave the women and lustfully sleep with men? No, you are a people in ignorance.”

  56. His people answered, “Drive Lot’s family out of the city! They are people who live purely.”

  57. So We saved him and his people, except his wife... We ordained her to be one of those who stayed behind and perished.

  58. And We showered such a rain upon them! Atrocious is the rain that befalls the forewarned!

  59. Say, “Hamd belongs to Allah... Salam to His chosen servants upon whom He bestows purity... Is Allah better or those they ascribe as partners to Him?”

  60. Or the One who created the heavens and the earth, and who disclosed water for you from the sky? With it We made blissful gardens... It is not possible for you to have made even a single tree to grow in them... A god besides Allah? No, they are a people who have deviated from the Truth.

  61. Or is the One better, who made the earth (the body) a stable station, and formed rivers (veins) between them, and fixed mountains (organs) therein and made a barrier between the two seas (consciousness – body)? A god besides Allah? No, the majority of them do not understand.

  62. Or is the one better, to whom you pray when you are feeling down and who saves you from your suffering and appoints you vicegerents on earth? A god besides Allah? How little you recall these facts and how little you think...

  63. Or the One who guides you (shows you the way to reality) on the land (material world) and in the sea (the world of knowledge – ideas) and who discloses the winds (the Rasuls) as heralds of His grace? A god besides Allah? Exalted is Allah above what they associate with Him.

  64. Or the One who manifests the creatures and then returns them (to their initial state) and nourishes you with sustenance from the sky and earth? A god besides Allah? Say, “Bring your definite proof then, if you are of the truthful.”

  65. Say, “No one in the heavens and the earth knows the unknown besides Allah... And they are not aware of when they will be gathered!”

  66. Whereas they have an accumulation of knowledge about the eternal life to come. No, they are in doubt thereof... No, they are blind to it!

  67. Those who deny the knowledge of the reality say, “When we and our forefathers have become dust, will we really be brought back?”

  68. “Indeed, we and our forefathers have been warned with this before! This is nothing but fables from the past.”

  69. Say, “Observe the earth and see the how the guilty ones ended up.”

  70. Do not grieve over them... And do not feel distressed by their schemes!

  71. They say, “If you are telling the truth, when will it be fulfilled?”

  72. Say, “Perhaps a part of what you want to hasten is close behind you!”

  73. Indeed, your Rabb is bountiful to mankind... But the majority of them are not grateful.

  74. Indeed, your Rabb knows what they conceal within and what they reveal.

  75. There is no unknown in the heavens and the earth that is not already recorded in the Clear Book (of the universe, and clearly apparent in existence)! (That it is ‘unknown’ is according to the perceiver! If Allah wills He can change what appears to be unknown and make it known.)

  76. Indeed, this Quran narrates and explains most of the things over which the Children of Israel differed.

  77. Indeed, (the Quran) is a guide to the reality and grace for the believers.

  78. Indeed, your Rabb will judge between them from within their essence... HUis the Aziz, the Aleem.

  79. So place your trust in Allah! Indeed, you are upon the manifest Truth.

  80. Indeed, you cannot make the dead (those who live unconsciously) hear; when they turn their backs (to the Truth) and go, you cannot make the deaf hear!

  81. You cannot show the right way to the blind to guide them out of their wrong way! You can only make those hear, who have believed in Our signs within their essence as a result of their submission.

  82. When the command (their own Doomsday [death] or the time prior to the general Doomsday) reaches them, We will produce a dabbah from the earth (a talking form from the earth [the body] during the experience of parting from the body, i.e. death) which will tell them that man had no certainty in Our signs (they were unable to observe the qualities of the Names that comprise their being)!”

  83. During that time We will assemble as groups those who denied Our signs from every community... They will all be dispatched together.

  84. When they come, Allah will say, “Did you attempt to deny My signs even though they were beyond the scope of your knowledge? What was it that you did?”

  85. The verdict has reached them because they did wrong (to themselves)! They can no longer talk!

  86. Did they not see how we made the night for them to find tranquility in and the day as observable... Indeed, there are signs in this for a people who believe.

  87. During that time, when the Horn is blown (when the spirit is blown out of the body, i.e. when death is experienced or when the dead are blown out of their graves during the time of gathering) everyone in the heavens (those who have found themselves at the level of consciousness) and everyone on earth (living at the bodily state), except whom Allah wills, will be struck with terror! All shall come to Him with their necks bent down (in utter humility).

  88. You see the mountains (the organs in your body) and think they are firmly fixed, but they move and pass away as the clouds (ideas – thoughts) move and pass away (by transforming into various understandings)... (The blowing of the Horn and all that pertains to it) is the art of Allah such that He has made all things an unalterable reality to experience. Indeed, He is Habir of what you do (as their Creator).

  89. Whoever comes with good traits shall be given what is better... During that time they will be secure from what they fear.

  90. And whoever comes with badness, their faces will be overturned in the fire... "You shall only live the consequences of your own deeds!"

  91. “I have only been ordered to serve the Rabb of this city... Which He has made respectable, and everything belongs to Him! I have been ordered to be of those who are (aware of their) submission!”

  92. “And to inform of the Quran!” So whoever accepts the reality will walk on this path to experience this Truth within his being... And whoever goes astray, say, “I am only of those who warn!”

  93. Say, “Hamd belongs to Allah! He is going to show you His signs, and you are going to recognize them!” Your Rabb in not unaware of what you do.”

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