048 surah an-naml (the ants)

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SURAH AN-NAML (THE ANTS)
MECCAN PERIOD
Division: 143
1-3Ta/9, Sin-60. These are the Ayat of the Qur’an, a clear/explanatory scripture
sent as a guide to the righteous path and a bringer of good tidings to those believers
who serve the Salat [Support others financially and spiritually; establish and maintain
those institutions that enlighten the community], pay their Zaqat/tax and believe in
Akhirat [Afterlife].
(48/27; An-Naml/1-3)
Division: 144
4Surely, those who do not believe in Akhirat [Afterlife]; We have made their
deeds pleasing to them so they wonder.
5They are the one for whom will be the worst wrath and they shall be the
greatest losers.169
7When Moses said to his relatives: “I surely have seen a fire. Wait for me to
bring you a cinder from it or find a guide on that fire!”
8-12And when he came close to the fire, he was called: “Blessed is the one who
is in and next to the fire and! And Allah, Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer,
the Sustainer] of all universes is exonerated from all deficiencies!
“O Moses! Surely, I am Allah, the Most Exalted, the Most Powerful, the Most
Honorable, the Invincible/the Subduer, the Best Law-Maker, the One Who Prevents
Assimilation/Makes Solid!
“And bring forward your knowledge! – When he saw it caused to move like an
invisible entity, he fled away. – O Moses, do not fear! Surely I; My Messengers do
not fear in the presence of Me. But for those who act against their own good, who
turn to good after having done evil, surely I am the Most Forgiving, the Most
Merciful. –
“And engage the power within your chest, in nine170 Ayat [evidence/sign], you
will come out perfect and flawless to the Pharaoh and his people. Surely they are a
transgressing people”.
13And when Our Ayat/evidence/signs revealed to them in broad light, they said
“This obviously is an illusion, a deception”.

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14And while they themselves completely believed, for they associated Allah
with others thus acting against their own good and due to their arrogance, they
consciously denied them. – Behold! How is the end of mischief-makers! –
***
15And surely We informed David and Solomon. They both said: “All praise be
upon Allah, Who placed us above of most of His believing servants!”.
16And Solomon succeeded David. And Solomon said: “O my people! We have
been taught the logic of birds [interpreting their voices, behaviors] and we have been
given everything”. – Indeed it is a manifest gift. –
17And gathered for Solomon was an army of natives and foreigners and birds. –
then they are transferred in order. –
18And when they arrived at the Valley of Ants, an ant said: “O ants! Enter your
homes so Solomon and his armies will not crush you unknowingly!”.
19And Solomon smiled over female ants’ words/decision. And he said: “O my
Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer]! Allow me to commit the
good deeds to please You for all blessings You have bestowed me and my parents
and make me one of your righteous servants”.
20,21And Solomon looked through the birds and said: “Why can I not see
Hoopoe? Or has he become one of those absents? I will surely strike him with a
severe punishment or I will suffocate/devastate him or he will have to bring me a
clear evidence/power”.171
22-26Then in a short while Hoopoe came back and said: “I have learned about
something you do not know. I have brought you a true and important news from
Sheba172. Surely, I have found a woman who rules the people of Sheba, who has
been bestowed everything and possesses a great throne. I have found her and her
people prostrating and worshipping to fire, which is inferior to Allah. And Satan
made what they do pleasant to them thus leading them astray from the righteous path
and preventing them from worshipping Allah, Who reveals what lies in the Heavens
and the Earth, Who knows what you hide and what you disclose. For this reason,
they cannot find the righteous path to which they are guided. – Allah is the One and
the Only God, He is the Owner of the Great Throne – “.
27,28And Solomon said: We will see if you say the truth or you are one of those
liars. Take my letter to them then step back and see what they become”.
29-31Having received the letter from Solomon, the Queen of Sheba said: “O my
chiefs! Indeed, an honorable/noble letter is delivered to me. Surely, that letter is from

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Solomon and it surely is in the name of Allah, Who is the Most Merciful Towards
His creations on the Earth, Who says ‘Be not arrogant against me, surrender/be
Muslims and come to Me’”.
32And the Queen said: “O my chiefs! Give me your advice. Without your
assistance I would not make my decision”.
33Chiefs said: “We do have power and know well how to fight, but order is
yours; then think what you order!”.
34,35And the Queen said: “Surely when kings invade a city they immediately
demolish it and humiliate the seniors of that city’s people. So, they shall do the same.
I will send them a gift and see what messengers will bring back!”.
36,37When messenger arrived back to Solomon he said: “Do you want to help
me with wealth? Behold! What Allah gives me is better than what He gives you. Yet
you brag about what you have. Turn back to them; let them know well that I will
come to them with such armies against which they can never win and drive them out,
humiliated and scorned!”.
38And Solomon said: “O chiefs! Which of you would bring her throne to me
before they come to me surrendering?”.
39An Ifrit [an evil Jinn] from among them said: “I will bring it to you before
you rise from your throne173. And surely I am powerful and trustworthy about that”.
40Another one who has knowledge from the Scripture said: “I will bring it you
before you cast your sight upon yourself”174.
When Solomon saw the throne of Queen by himself, he said: “This indeed is a
favor from my Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer] to test me
if I am grateful for what He gives me or ungrateful and thus punishable. And
whoever is grateful for what he is given, is grateful for himself. And for whomever
ungrateful for what he is given; surely my Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the
Nurturer, the Sustainer] needs nothing and is the Most Generous”.
41And Solomon said: “Make her throne unrecognizable for her [treat her as an
ordinary one], and we will see if she is one of those who can find the guided path or
not [let us see if she is honest in her faith in Islam or not]!”.
42When the Queen arrived, she was told: “Is your throne like this?”. And the
Queen said: It may be. And we have been given information before it and we
converted to Islam”.

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43And those things she worshipped, which were inferior to Allah, prevented
her. Surely she was one of those infidels; one of those people who consciously deny
the divinity of Allah and the fact that He is Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the
Nurturer, the Sustainer].
44She was told: “Enter the palace [As-Sahr; a body of water covered with
glass]!”. And when she saw it, she thought it was a deep body of water and pulled
her skirt up. Solomon said to her: “This transparent floor is made of crystal”. And the
Queen said: “O my Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer]! I
have truly been acting unjustly to myself. With Solomon, I have surrendered to
Allah, Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer] of all universes”.
(48/27; An-Naml/4, 5, 7-44)
Division: 145
45Surely, We sent to the people of Thamud their brother Salih as a messenger
to tell them ‘worship Allah’. They immediately divided into two conflicting groups.
46Salih said: “O my people! Why do you want to invoke evil before the good?
Why do you not ask Allah for His mercy?”.
47They said: “You and those who are with you have been a jinx upon us/we
consider you and those who are with you as ill omen”. Salih said: “Your ill omen is
with Allah. Or more accurately, you are a people who throw themselves into the
fire/who are being tested”.
48And in that city was a group of nine people who make mischief on the earth
but no good deeds. 49Swearing by Allah, they said: “We will raid him and his family
by the night, and then say to his protector/his relatives who will defend his rights that
‘we were not there when that family was being destroyed and we surely are
righteous”. 50And they set such a trap and indeed We punished them with such a
punishment that they did not realize.
51Behold! How their traps filed, We surely devastated them and their people for
good. 52Here are their houses roofs of which are collapsed and abandoned due to
their wrong deeds they committed by associating others with Allah. Surely, it is
evidence/a sign for a people who is aware.
53We also saved those who believed and surrendered under the guardianship of
Allah.
***

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54,55And We sent Lot to his people as a messenger. When he said to his people:
“Will you continue to commit that impudence/transgression blatantly? Will you
approach to men, who are lesser than women in lust, instead of women? Truly you
are an ignorant people!”.
56His people answered only saying: “Drive Lot and his family out of town; that
they want to keep themselves clean!”.
57Then We saved him and all his family, except his wife, whom We had
planned to leave behind. 58And We rained such a rain upon them! O how bad was the
rain of those who had been warned!
(48/27; An-Naml/45-58)
Division: 146
59Say: “All praise be upon Allah; no other may be praised. Peace upon His
servants whom He has chosen and purified. Is Allah better or their idols which they
associate with Allah?”.
60Are their idols better or the One Who created the Heavens and the Earth,
sends down water from the Heavens for you? Then with that water We grew
beautiful gardens where no such gardens may grow. Is there any other deity than
Allah? Quite contrary, they are a people who do wrong deeds by associating others
with Allah; they act against their own good.
61Are their idols, which they associate with Allah, better or the One Who made
the Earth a shelter, created rivers in it, fixed mountains for it and placed a barricade
between two seas? Is there any other deity than Allah? Quite contrary, most of them
do not know.
62 Are their idols, which they associate with Allah, better or the One Who
responds to those who are depressed when they call out and eliminates the evil, the
One Who appoints you as the caliphs of the earth? Is there any other deity than
Allah? You think so little!.
guides you in the darkness of the land and the sea, the One Who sends winds as the
bearer of the good tidings before His mercy? Is there any other deity than Allah?
Allah is much exalted than those idols they associate with Him.
initiated the creation, and then manage it and the One Who gives you His blessings
both from the Heavens and the Earth? Is there any other deity than Allah? Say: “If
you are righteous, bring your solid evidence!”.

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65Say: “No one but Allah can know what is absent; the unseen, the unheard, the
unfelt, the past and the future. And they cannot perceive when they shall be
resurrected.
66In fact, their knowledge about the Akhiret comes sequentially. But they are in
doubt. Put more accurately, they are blind to this.
67,68Those infidels; those who consciously deny the Divinity of Allah and the
fact that He is Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer] said: Shall
we be resurrected after we and our ancestors are dead? Surely, this threat of wrath
and resurrection was made to our ancestors before us. This is nothing but the stories
of the ancients”.
69Say: “Wander through the world and see how is the end of those sinners!”.
- 70Do not feel sad for them and be not in trouble due to the traps they set! –
71And they say: If you are righteous, when will this threat, the promise/the
wrath come?”.
72Say: “Some of it on which you hasten on may already have caught you”.
73And surely, your Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer]
provides a lot of gifts for humans but most of them show no gratitude. 74And surely,
your Rabb knows for sure what they hide in their chests and what they disclose.
75And nothing that is in the Heavens and on the Earth is excluded from the
Scripture.
(48/27; An-Naml/59-75)
Division: 147
76Surely, this Qur’an explains Israelites all matters on which they dispute
among themselves.
77And surely, the Qur’an is a guide and mercy for the believers.
78Surely your Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer]
implements His judgment among them. And Allah, the Most Exalted, the Most
Powerful, the Invincible/the Subduer, the One Who Knows the Best.
79Then trust Allah, you are truly upon the clear truth.
80Surely, you cannot make the dead listen and make the deaf hear the message
when they turn away and flee.

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81You are not the one to take the blind from the perversion they are in and
guide them to the righteous path; you can only make those who believe our Ayat –
who also have surrendered – listen.
(48/27; An-Naml/76-81)
Division: 148
82And when the Word175 is revealed to them/fulfilled, We will bring out a
moving and speaking creature made of earth/substance that will tell them that the
people did not believe in Our Ayat as they should have.176
83And on the day when We will gather a group from each community with a
leader, who denied Our Ayat/signs, they shall be arrested and scattered.
84And when they arrive, Allah will say: “Did you deny My Ayat/evidence/signs
even though you did not comprehend them in terms of knowledge? Or what were
you doing?
85And since they did wrong by associating others with Allah, the Word177 will
be fulfilled against them, now they shall not be able to speak.
(48/27; An-Naml/82-85)
Division: 149
86Do they not see that We created the night for them to rest, and created the day
as the sight-giver, in light. Surely, it is evidence/a sign for a people who believe.
87And on the day when the Sur will be blown178, whoever in the Heavens and
on the Earth will be terrified, except for those who are chosen by Allah. And they all
will come to Him, disgraced.
88And you see the mountains; you think that they are fixed and solid. But they
walk as the passing of clouds being a creation of Allah, Who makes everything solid.
Surely, He is fully aware of what you do:
89Whoever brings in the good/the beauty, blessings better than his deeds/for his
deeds will be for him. And they shall be safe from fear on that day.
90And whoever brings in the evil, their faces will be in the fire. – Will you be
recompensed for other than what you did? –
91-93Say: “I have been commanded only to serve Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher,
the Nurturer, the Sustainer] of Mecca, Who is the Owner of all and Who made here

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untouchable179. And I have been commended to be a Muslim and to recite and follow
the Qur’an. Whoever follows that righteous path he is guided, will follow the
righteous path only for himself; and for whoever goes astray; ‘I only am one of those
Warners’. And all praise be upon Allah; no one may be praised. He will show you
His Ayat/evidence/sign and you will know them”.
- And your Rabb [the Lord, the Cherisher, the Nurturer, the Sustainer] is not
unaware of what you do. –
(48/27; An-Naml/86-93)
169 The 6th Ayah is renamed as Ash-Shu’ara/224.
170 The number “nine” can be understood here in two distinctive ways. A) Here this
number is used metaphorically to express a multiplicity. Then, the number of Ayat/signs sent to
Israelites is much more than nine. B) What meant here is the fact that the “Ten Commandments”
contained in the Torah are written down in nine Ayat. The expression “You will not have other deities
but Me”, which is mentioned two distinctive command sentences in the Jewish Torah, and the
expression “you will not carve idols for yourself” are combined into a single command sentence in the
Samaritan Torah. Thus, number of the command sentences, including the one that states, “do not envy
your neighbor’s house”, is ten in the Jewish Torah and nine in the Samaritan Torah.
171 As can be understood from the Ayah, army of Solomon consisted Ins, Jinn and birds:
A) The Ins Group are soldiers from the people of Solomon who constituted the fighter group of the
army. B) The Jinn Group, which is also called as “the Fatigue Party”, consisted of foreign soldiers and
served as the quartermaster and equipment wing of the army which provided logistic support.
Members of this group, as mentioned in the Surah Saba’/13, built castles and high and strong
buildings and forged and processed wood, iron and copper. These are the craftsmen who had been
brought from the neighboring countries and lived there since the David [P.B.U.H.] era. While these
craftsmen, who played an important role in the establishment of a solid infrastructure and transfer of
arts and the culture to the places invaded by Solomon, were experts and artisans, they are defined as
“devils” in the Qur’an since they plotted against Solomon. For detailed information on this subject,
please refer to Al-Tabyeen al-Qur’an. C) The Bird Group, on the other hand, consisted of birds, which
were employed for communication and to procure water supply for the soldiers in the course, and their
caretakers. This was the army of birds of Solomon. Not that Solomon gathered the birds from the
mountains and employed then as soldiers.
Solomon [P.B.U.H.] is mentioned as a prophet in the Qur’an and it was reported that he
received revelations, however, no information as to these revelations is given. It is impossible for a
Muslim to accept that the “Psalms of Solomon” mentioned in the Holy Bible were revealed to
Solomon.
Information relating to Solomon can be found, other than this Surah, in the Surat As-Sad, Al-
Anbya, Saba’ and Al-Baqara of the Official Mushaf.
The Valley of Ants, mentioned in the Ayah, is not a valley with a high population of ant but is
a proper name. According to Imam Al-Zabidi, the “Valley of Ants” is the name of a region that is
located between Jirben and Ashkelon. It is understood that the people who lived in the valley in

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question were associated to ants due to their lifestyle and therefore called that way. Today, many
tribes fromaround the world, who assumed a name that corresponds to their lifestyle just as the people
of the Valley of Ants/Naml, there also live many tribes, clans and groups that are named after birds,
trees or boulders.
The “Hoopoe” mentioned here is not the actual bird but the caretaker of the bird in question.
Then, names of certain bird species such as eagle, falcon, hawk, etc. are still used as first names and
names of certain bird species, on the other hand, are becoming symbols. For instance, when the
expression “the yellow canaries” is uttered, we do not imagine “a flock of yellow canaries” but the
soccer team. Such symbolizations, which can be found in every culture, are metaphorical expressions.
Therefore, while the hoopoe mentioned here is the title given to the soldier who is responsible for
procuring water supply for the army and researching water resources that lie within the route of the
army, this name is probably chosen by the fact that this soldier utilizes a “hoopoe” when performing
his duties. The tradition of naming individuals or giving nick names in correspondence with their
occupation still survives in today’s communities. For instance, in Turkish Army, the privates who are
responsible for procuring water supply for armies are called saka (root of which is the Arabic word
Saqqa that means “the one who carries water”). This name is actually the name of a bird species,
namely the goldfinch, and the reason that bird species called with this name is that they splash water
around themwhen drinking.
It is understood, on the other hand, that the hoopoe mentioned in the Ayat 22 to 26 is an
intelligent one that has conscious and even theological knowledge. Also, when the fact that Solomon
wants to punish the hoopoe is considered, it can be concluded certainly that the hoopoe in question is
not a bird but a human.
172 Sheba was a country that was located in South Arabia, people of known for their role
in trade. Its capital was the city of Ma’rib, which was located ca. 55 miles northeast from San’a,
current capital of the North Yemen. After the collapse of the Kingdom of Ma’in, Sheba rose to
prominence in about 1100 B.C. and ruled over Arabia for a millennia. Thereafter, Himyarites
succeeded them in about 115 B.C. Himyarites were another prominent people of South Arabia who
ruled Yemen and Hadramaut in Arabian Peninsula and Ethiopia in Africa. Shebaean controlled all the
trade activities in coastal Africa, India, Far East and inner parts of the Arabian Peninsula, and also
carried our business with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. This was the reason that they were famous
in the ancient times for their wealth and prosperity. Furthermore, according to Greek historians, they
were the wealthiest people at the time. Along with trade and business, another source of their
prosperity was the dams they built all across their land to collect rain water for irrigation purposes.
With these facilities they made their land a true garden. Greek historians conveyed the details of
extraordinary greens of Sheba to this day. (Encyclopedias)
173 Here, the expression “before you rise from your chair of reign” that is uttered by one
of the Jinn, Ifrit, actually means “within the term of your rule; under your rule”. The term Ifrit means
“the evil one who prevails over his peers, who makes them slaves” (Lisanu’l-Arab, vol. 6, pp. 326-
331, entry “afr”). The expressions surely, I am powerful and trustworthy over it uttered by this entity,
who was one of those foreigners who lived in the land of Israel (Al-Tabyeen al-Qur’an; vol. 2, pp.
392-397), actually means “I can carry it, I can bring it without breaking it; I will not escape, I will not
betray”.
174 The expression “the one who has knowledge about the Scripture” or as originally
mentioned in the Ayah “qabla an yartadda ilayka tarfuka” does not mean, as given in other
interpretations and translations, “in the blink of an eye” but “before your sight is cast upon yourself”.
That is, “before you forget about this matter; you are now obsessed with the Queen of Sheba and the
Sheba itself, you think about nothing else and your eyes see nothing else; you do not deal with any

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other matter than this, you do not look at yourself; so, I will bring it to you before you look at
yourself, i.e. before you forget about this matter, before this drops off the agenda”.
175 See Footnote No. 77
176 DABBATUN MIN AL-ARZ: Dabbah, which is derived from the root dab, means
“the one who walks slowly, moves, wallows, one who moves so slow that it cannot be tracked or
something movement of which cannot be observed”. Dabbah is used in the Qur’an for “all creatures,
small and large”. The term dabbah as mentioned in this Ayah, differently from other uses, use as a
phrase, dabbatu!l-arz, which means “a ground dwelling creature”. Therefore, this Ayah should be
reviewed individually, as with the Ayah An-Naml/82 – in which the term dabbah is used in a different
phrase -. Dabbah is a kind of announcement tool to be revealed on the Day of Judgment, which
consists of materials obtained from the earth and will announce that “humans did not believe in the
Ayat of Allah as they should have”. For detailed information on this matter, please see Al-Tabyeen al-
Qur’an.

048 surah an-naml (the ants)

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