An-Naml (The Ant)

17. “And gathered together unto Solomon his hosts of jinn and men and birds and they were kept in order and ranks.”

In different occasions the Qur’an has talked about jinn and one of the suras of the Qur’an is also called Jinn.

Now, here, it refers to some of their qualities:

Jinn is a creature which has sensation and has been addressed by Allah, where the Qur’an says:

“O’ assembly of the jinn and mankind!…”1

Some of Jinn are believers while some others of them are disbelievers. They are male and female and naturally they have venereal desire.

Some of them worked for Solomon as builders and divers, as the Qur’an says:

“And the Satans, (including) every builder and diver.”2

It is understood from the verses of the current Surah and those of Surah Saba’, No. 34, that the government of Solomon had not an ordinary circumstance but it was formed by some extraordinary events and various miracles, some of which are mentioned in this Surah (like Solomon’s governing over Jinn and birds), recognition of the talk of ants, and speaking with ‘Hoopoe’, and another part of it has been mentioned in Surah Saba’, No. 34.

In fact, Allah showed His Might in making appear this great government and the forces it possessed; and we know that, from the view point of a monotheist, these affairs are easy, simple and untroubled for Allah, the Mighty.

By this verse, the Qur’an says:

“And gathered together unto Solomon his hosts of jinn and men and birds…”

The number of his forces was so large that, in order to regulate the army, it was ordered that the primary rows of forces should stop until when the last rows could move and reach others.

The verse continues saying:

“…and they were kept in order and ranks.”

The Qur’anic word /yuza‘un/ is derived from /waza‘a/ in the sense of ‘to restrain, to hold back’. When this word is used in respect to army it means that the first part of the army should be stopped until the ending part of it joins, and they would not be divided.

The Arabic word /waza‘/ is also applied in the sense of ‘avarice, and intensive interest’ so that it hinders man from other affairs.

It is understood from this application that the forces of Solomon were both abundant and they worked under a special order.

The Qur’anic word /hušira/ is derived from /hašr/ which means: ‘bringing out the crowd of army from the resting place’, and causing them to start toward the battle-field, and the like. It is understood from both this meaning and the meaning used in the next verse that Solomon had led an army to a place, but it is not quite clear that which one it is among Solomon’s military expeditions.

Taking the content of the next verse in mind, which speaks about reaching Solomon to the land of ants, some say that it had been a region near Ta’if, while some others have said it had been a land near Syria.

However, since the statement of this matter had not any effect from the point of ethical and educational aspects, it has not been spoken of.

By the way, some commentators have discussed whether the whole human beings, jinn, and birds were the army of Solomon, or a part of them formed his army. This discussion seems rather needless, because undoubtedly Solomon did not govern the whole earth and the realm of his government was Syria, Jerusalem, and probably some other lands around there.

It is also understood from the later verses that Solomon had not any dominion over Yemen at that time, and he gained his authority over there after the event of ‘hoopoe’ and the submission of the Queen of Sheba.

The Qur’anic phrase /tafaqqad-at-tayr/, mentioned in the coming verses, shows that among the birds, which were in the obedience of Solomon, there was a hoopoe that when Solomon did not see it over there he asked about it. If all birds were included and there were thousands of hoopoes among them, this meaning could not be correct. (Be careful)