Surah 34 Saba — Ayah 14
فَلَمَّا قَضَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ ٱلْمَوْتَ مَا دَلَّهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَوْتِهِۦٓ إِلَّا دَآبَّةُ ٱلْأَرْضِ تَأْكُلُ مِنسَأَتَهُۥ ۖ فَلَمَّا خَرَّ تَبَيَّنَتِ ٱلْجِنُّ أَن لَّوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ ٱلْغَيْبَ مَا لَبِثُوا۟ فِى ٱلْعَذَابِ ٱلْمُهِينِ
我决定他死亡的时候，只有持他的手杖的柱虫，指示他们他已经死了。当他倒下的时候，精灵们恍然大悟：假若他们能知幽玄，那末，他们未曾逗留在凌辱的刑罚中。
falammā qaḍaynā ʿalayhi l-mawta mā dallahum ʿalā mawtihi illā dābbatu l-arḍi takulu minsa-atahu falammā kharra tabayyanati l-jinu an law kānū yaʿlamūna l-ghayba mā labithū fī l-ʿadhābi l-muhīni
Word by word
- فَلَمَّا falammā Then when
- قَضَيْنَا qaḍaynā We decreed
- عَلَيْهِ ʿalayhi for him
- ٱلْمَوْتَ l-mawta the death
- مَا mā not
- دَلَّهُمْ dallahum indicated to them
- عَلَىٰ ʿalā [on]
- مَوْتِهِۦٓ mawtihi his death
- إِلَّا illā except
- دَآبَّةُ dābbatu a creature
- ٱلْأَرْضِ l-arḍi (of) the earth
- تَأْكُلُ takulu eating
- مِنسَأَتَهُۥ ۖ minsa-atahu his staff
- فَلَمَّا falammā But when
- خَرَّ kharra he fell down
- تَبَيَّنَتِ tabayyanati became clear
- ٱلْجِنُّ l-jinu (to) the jinn
- أَن an that
- لَّوْ law if
- كَانُوا۟ kānū they had
- يَعْلَمُونَ yaʿlamūna known
- ٱلْغَيْبَ l-ghayba the unseen
- مَا mā not
- لَبِثُوا۟ labithū they (would have) remained
- فِى fī in
- ٱلْعَذَابِ l-ʿadhābi the punishment
- ٱلْمُهِينِ l-muhīni humiliating
Tafsir · Ibn Kathir (Abridged)
The Death of Sulayman
Allah tells us how Sulayman, peace be upon him, died and how Allah concealed his death from the Jinn who were subjugated to him to do hard labor. He remained leaning on his stick, which was his staff, as Ibn `Abbas may Allah be pleased with him, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah and others said. He stayed like that for a long time, nearly a year. When a creature of the earth, which was a kind of worm, ate through the stick, it became weak and fell to the ground. Then it became apparent that he had died a long time before. It also became clear to Jinn and men alike that the Jinn do not know the Unseen as they (the Jinn) used to imagine and tried to deceive people. This is what Allah says:
(nothing informed them (Jinn) of his death except a little worm of the earth which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his stick. So when he fell down, the Jinn saw clearly that if they had known the Unseen, they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment.) meaning, it became clear to the people that they (the Jinn) were lying.