Al-Anbya · Makki · ayah 81 of 112

Al-Anbya 21:81

وَلِسُلَيْمَـٰنَ ٱلرِّيحَ عَاصِفَةً تَجْرِى بِأَمْرِهِۦٓ إِلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ ٱلَّتِى بَـٰرَكْنَا فِيهَا ۚ وَكُنَّا بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَـٰلِمِينَ

“And to Solomon [We subjected] the wind, blowing forcefully, proceeding by his command toward the land which We had blessed. And We are ever, of all things, Knowing.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The wind no hand can hold ran at a king's command, given by One who knew it would bow his head, not raise it.

A reflection

Given the wind because it would humble him

Wa li-Sulaymāna al-rīḥa: and for Sulayman, the wind. One commentary defines wind as a fine body that slips any attempt to grasp it, known only by its movement. It is the one thing in creation no human hand can hold. And it ran at a man's command.

Then the ayah closes with a phrase that changes how we read the whole gift. Wa kunnā bi-kulli shayʾin ʿālimīn: and We were knowing of all things. One concise commentary explains it directly. Allah knew that what He gave Sulayman would draw him to humility before his Lord, so He gave it in keeping with that knowledge. Another says Allah gave on full knowledge of where to place what He gave.

One commentary preserves a report of how Sulayman rode. As the wind lifted him, he kept his head lowered, looking neither right nor left. He did it out of reverence for Allah, the report says, knowing how small his own kingdom was within Allah's.

Picture a young man of nineteen whose uncle lends him a gleaming sports car for one weekend. He drives it slowly through the estate where he grew up, windows down, music loud, elbow on the door. Everyone looks. For two days he walks differently. On Monday he hands the keys back and the feeling goes with them. It was never his.

That is the ordinary ego with borrowed power: head up, looking left and right to see who is watching. Sulayman was given the wind itself, and he lowered his head. The ayah suggests that this is precisely why he was given it.

Does Allah need to tell us He knows everything, as if boasting? He needs nothing. It is for us to know that every gift is placed by Someone who sees the heart that receives it.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.