38:17 Saad (The letter Saad)

{ اصْبِرْ عَلَى مَا يَقُولُونَ } كما صبر مَنْ قبلك من الرسل، فإن قولهم لا يضر الحق شيئا، ولا يضرونك في شيء، وإنما يضرون أنفسهم.{ وَاذْكُرْ عَبْدَنَا دَاوُدَ ذَا الْأَيْدِ إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ }لما أمر اللّه رسوله بالصبر على قومه، أمره أن يستعين على الصبر بالعبادة للّه وحده، ويتذكر حال العابدين، كما قال في الآية الأخرى: { فَاصْبِرْ عَلَى مَا يَقُولُونَ وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ وَقَبْلَ غُرُوبِهَا } ومن أعظم العابدين، نبي اللّه داود عليه الصلاة والسلام { ذَا الْأَيْدِ } أي: القوة العظيمة على عبادة اللّه تعالى، في بدنه وقلبه. { إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ } أي: رجَّاع إلى اللّه في جميع الأمور بالإنابة إليه، بالحب والتأله، والخوف والرجاء، وكثرة التضرع والدعاء، رجاع إليه عندما يقع منه بعض الخلل، بالإقلاع والتوبة النصوح.

وقوله جل جلاله "وقالوا ربنا عجل لنا قطنا قبل يوم الحساب" هذا إنكار من الله تعالى على المشركين في دعائهم على أنفسهم بتعجيل العذاب فإن القط هو الكتاب وقيل هو الحظ والنصيب قال ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما ومجاهد والضحاك والحسن وغير واحد سألوا تعجيل العذاب زاد قتادة كما قالوا "اللهم إن كان هذا هو الحق من عندك فأمطر علينا حجارة من السماء أو ائتنا بعذاب أليم" وقيل سألوا تعجيل نصيبهم من الجنة إن كانت موجودة ليلقوا ذاك في الدنيا وإنما خرج هذا منهم مخرج الاستبعاد والتكذيب.وقال ابن جرير سألوا تعجيل ما يستحقونه من الخير أو الشر في الدنيا وهذا الذي قاله جيد وعليه يدور كلام الضحاك وإسماعيل بن أبي خالد والله أعلم ولما كان هذا الكلام منهم على وجه الاستهزاء والاستبعاد قال الله تعالى لرسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم آمرا له بالصبر على أذاهم ومبشرا له على صبره بالعاقبة والنصر والظفر.يذكر تعالى عن عبده ورسوله داود عليه الصلاة والسلام أنه كان ذا أيد والأيد القوة في العلم والعمل قال ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما والسدى وابن زيد الأيد: القوة وقرأ ابن زيد "والسماء بنيناها بأيد وإنا لموسعون" وقال مجاهد الأيد القوة في الطاعة وقال قتادة أعطي داود عليه الصلاة والسلام قوة في العبادة وفقها في الإسلام وقد ذكر لنا أنه عليه الصلاة والسلام كان يقوم ثلث الليل ويصوم نصف الدهر وهذا ثابت في الصحيحين عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال "أحب الصلاة إلى الله تعالى صلاة داود وأحب الصيام إلى الله عز وجل صيام داود كان ينام نصف الليل ويقوم ثلثه وينام سدسه وكان يصوم يوما ويفطر يوما ولا يفر إذا لاقى وإنه كان أوابا "وهو إلى الله عز وجل في جميع أموره وشؤونه.

Allah tells us that His servant and Messenger Dawud, peace be upon him, was endued with power

Al-Ayd means strength in knowledge and action. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd said, "Al-Ayd means strength." Mujahid said, "Al-Ayd means strength in obedience to Allah." Qatadah said, "Dawud, peace be upon him, was given strength in worship and the proper understanding of Islam." He told us that he, peace be upon him, used to spend a third of the night in prayer, and he fasted for half a lifetime. This was reported in the Two Sahihs, where it is recorded that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«أَحَبُّ الصَّلَاةِ إِلَى اللهِ تَعَالَى صَلَاةُ دَاوُدَ، وَأَحَبُّ الصِّيَامِ إِلَى اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ صِيَامُ دَاوُدَ، كَانَ يَنَامُ نِصْفَ اللَّيْلِ، وَيَقُومُ ثُلُثَهُ، وَيَنَامُ سُدُسَهُ، وَكَانَ يَصُومُ يَوْمًا وَيُفْطِرُ يَوْمًا، وَلَا يَفِرُّ إِذَا لَاقَى، وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ أَوَّابًا»

(The most beloved of prayer to Allah is the prayer of Dawud, and the most beloved of fasting to Allah is the fasting of Dawud. He used to sleep for half of the night, stand in prayer for a third of the night, then sleep for a sixth of the night, and he used to fast alternate days. He never fled from the battlefield, and he always turned to Allah.) which means that he turned to Allah with regard to all of his affairs.

إِنَّا سَخَّرْنَا الجِبَالَ مَعَهُ يُسَبِّحْنَ بِالْعَشِىِّ وَالإِشْرَاقِ

(Verily, We made the mountains to glorify Our praises with him in the `Ashi and Ishraq. ) means, Allah caused the mountains to glorify His praises with him at sunrise and at the end of the day. This is like the Ayah:

يَجِبَالُ أَوِّبِى مَعَهُ وَالطَّيْرَ

(O you mountains. Glorify (Allah) with him! And you birds (also)!) (34:10). The birds also used to glorify Allah's praises with him. If a bird flew by him and heard him chanting the Zabur, it would not go away; instead it would stay hovering in the air, glorifying Allah along with him. And the lofty mountains would respond to him and echo his glorification of Allah. Ibn Jarir recorded from `Abdullah bin Al-Harith bin Nawfal that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, did not pray Ad-Duha. `Abdullah said: "So I took him to Umm Hani, may Allah be pleased with her, and said to her, `Tell him what you told me.' She said, `The Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered my house on the day of the conquest of Makkah. He called for water to be poured into a large bowl, then he called for a garment which he used as a screen between me and him, and he washed himself. Then he sprinkled water around the house and prayed eight Rak`ahs. This was Ad-Duha, and its standing, bowing, prostration and sitting were all equal in brevity.' Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, left, saying, `I have read the Qur'an from cover to cover, and I never knew about Salat Ad-Duha until now!' Then he recited:

يُسَبِّحْنَ بِالْعَشِىِّ وَالإِشْرَاقِ

(glorify Our praises with him in the `Ashi and Ishraq.) I used to say, "What is Salat Al-Ishraq, but now I know what it is."

وَالطَّيْرَ مَحْشُورَةً

(And (so did) the birds assembled,) meaning, hovering in the air.

كُلٌّ لَّهُ أَوَّابٌ

(all obedient to him.) means, they obeyed him and followed him in glorifying Allah. Sa`id bin Jubayr, Qatadah and Malik said, narrating from Zayd bin Aslam and Ibn Zayd:

كُلٌّ لَّهُ أَوَّابٌ

(all obedient to him.) means, "Following his commands."

وَشَدَدْنَا مُلْكَهُ

(We made his kingdom strong) means, `We gave him complete dominion with all that kings need.' Ibn Abi Najih reported that Mujahid said, "He was the strongest and most powerful of the people of this world."

وَءَاتَيْنَـهُ الْحِكْمَةَ

(and gave him Al-Hikmah) Mujahid said, "This means understanding, reason and intelligence." Qatadah said, "The Book of Allah and following what is in it." As-Suddi said:

الْحِكْمَةَ

(Al-Hikmah) "Prophethood."

وَفَصْلَ الْخِطَابِ

(and sound judgement) Shurayh Al-Qadi and Ash-Sha`bi said, "Sound judgement is testimony and oaths." Qatadah said, "Two witnesses for the plaintiff or an oath on the part of the defendant is meaning of sound judgement." This is the sound judgement which the Prophets and Messengers judged and the believers and righteous accepted. This is the basis of this Ummah's judicial system until the Day of Resurrection. This was the view of Abu `Abdur-Rahman As-Sulami. Mujahid and As-Suddi said, "It means passing the right judgement and understanding the case." Mujahid also said, "It is soundness in speech and in judgement, and this includes all of the above." This is what is meant, and this is the view favored by Ibn Jarir.

God exalted be He says Bear patiently what they say and remember Our servant David the one of fortitude that is to say the one of fortitude in worship he used to fast every other day and keep vigil for half the night sleep for a third and then keep vigil for the last sixth. Indeed he was a penitent soul always returning to what pleases God.

Commentary

It was said in verse 17 وَاذْكُرْ‌ عَبْدَنَا دَاوُودَ ذَا الْأَيْد (and remember Our servant, Dawud, the man of might). Nearly all commentators have explained it in the sense that he used to demonstrate great courage and strength during the course of his acts of worship (` ibadah), therefore, soon after it, comes the sentence: إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ (Surely, he was ever-turning to Allah - 38:17). Accordingly, in a Hadith of the Sahihayn (al-Bukhari and Muslim), the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: "In sight of Allah, the most liked Salah is the Salah of Dawud (علیہ السلام) and the most liked fasts are the fasts of Dawud (علیہ السلام) . He would sleep half a night, worship a third of it, and then sleep during the sixth part, and would fast one day and remain without fast on the other; and when he confronted the enemy, he would never desert the battlefield; and, without any doubt, he turned to Allah sincerely and profusely." (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

This method of ` ibadah has been called most likeable for the initial reason that it is harder. A lifetime of fasting would make one used to it with the result that, after a passage of time, it does not remain that hard. But fasting by skipping a day in between is different. Here, the element of hardship continues. Then, there is another aspect of this method of fasting in that one who fasts in that manner becomes capable of combining his or her ` ibadah with the necessary fulfillment of the rights of one's self, family and circle of acquaintances.