Saba · Makki · ayah 13 of 54

Saba 34:13

يَعْمَلُونَ لَهُۥ مَا يَشَآءُ مِن مَّحَـٰرِيبَ وَتَمَـٰثِيلَ وَجِفَانٍ كَٱلْجَوَابِ وَقُدُورٍ رَّاسِيَـٰتٍ ۚ ٱعْمَلُوٓا۟ ءَالَ دَاوُۥدَ شُكْرًا ۚ وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِىَ ٱلشَّكُورُ

“They made for him what he willed of elevated chambers,[1220] statues,[1221] bowls like reservoirs, and stationary kettles. [We said], "Work, O family of David, in gratitude." And few of My servants are grateful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

After a list of palaces and giant cauldrons, the word is not enjoy but work: gratitude here is something a whole household does.

A reflection

Gratitude here is a job, not a feeling

Ask most people what this ayah is about and they will quote its end: few of My servants are grateful. Then they will describe gratitude as a feeling. A warm heart, a whispered al-ḥamdu li-llāh, perhaps a list of blessings before sleep.

Look at the verb. Iʿmalū āla Dāwūda shukran: work, family of Dawud, in gratitude. Not feel. Not even say. Work.

The commentators unpack the grammar, and every reading points the same way. Shukran may be the purpose: work for the sake of gratitude. It may be the manner: work as grateful people. Or the work may itself be the gratitude, since working for the Giver is how He is thanked. One commentator concludes that worship must be done as gratitude. Another says gratitude is by deed, as it is by word and by intention. He quotes an old line of verse: my favours earned three things from you, my hand, my tongue and my hidden heart.

A third goes further. The plain sense of the Quran and the Sunnah, he says, is that gratitude is the work of the body, not the tongue alone. Then he points to the night prayer. Sahih al-Bukhari reports the Prophet ﷺ standing in prayer until his feet swelled. Asked why, he said: should I not be a grateful servant? The thanks was in the feet.

Picture a mother with two grown children. Her son sends a beautiful card every Mother's Day, and she keeps the best one framed. Her daughter has never written a card in her life. But every Saturday for six years she has done her mother's shopping, carried it up three flights and put it away.

Both children love her. Only one shows the gratitude of this ayah.

That is the assumption the ayah dislodges. Thanks that stays in the heart or on the tongue is real, but it is not finished. Gratitude, here, is a cauldron kept on the fire: something that works, and feeds.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.