Al-Anbiyaa (The Prophets)

80. “And We taught him the art of making the coat of mail for you to protect you in your wars. Are you then thankful?”

81. “And for Solomon We (subdued) the wind blowing violent, that ran at his command unto the land where We had blessed; and of everything We are aware.”

In the last verse of this group of verses, the Qur’an again points to one of the merits that Allah had granted to this great prophet.

It says:

“And We taught him the art of making the coat of mail for you to protect you in your wars. Are you then thankful?”

As the Late Tabarsi cites in Majma‘-ul-Bayan, the Arabic word /labus/ means any kind of defensive and offensive weapon, such as: mail, sword, and spear.¹

But, the frames of references which exist in the Qur’an show that the Qur’anic word /labus/, mentioned in this verse, means ‘the coat of mail’ which had been used as a means of protection in the battles.

The explanation of the fact that how Allah made iron as a soft and pulpy material for David, and taught him the art of making mail, will be said later under the verses 10 and 11 of Surah Saba’, No. 34, Allah willing.

Then, in the next verse, the Qur’an refers to a violent wind which used to blow in the holy land of Syria; but, as it is understood from Surah Sad, No. 38, verse 36, Hadrat Sulayman (Solomon) (as) had gotten the power of domination and commanding upon the slow winds in other regions, too, where it says:

“Then We made the wind subservient to him; it made his command to run gently whenever he desired.”

Surah Saba’, No. 34, verse 12 refers to the length of the time and the distance that Solomon (as) could travel by the wind, where it says:

“And (We made) the wind (subservient) to Sulayman, which made a month’s journey in the morning and a month’s journey in the evening…”.

It can be deduced from these matters that the friends of Allah are able to cause alteration in nature by Allah’s leave; and that the winds have perception, too, and they perceive and execute the command of Allah and the commands of the friends of Allah.

However, in this holy verse, Allah says:

“And for Solomon We (subdued) the wind blowing violent, that ran at his command unto the land where We had blessed;…”

And this is not wonderful, because Allah is the knower of all things. The verse continues saying:

“…and of everything We are aware.”

He is aware of not only the secrets of the world of existence and the rules and systems governing them, and knows how to make them subservient but also of the result and the end of this job, and, however, everything is humble and submissive before the Knowledge and Power of Allah.