Ṣād – Verse 17

اصبِر عَلىٰ ما يَقولونَ وَاذكُر عَبدَنا داوودَ ذَا الأَيدِ ۖ إِنَّهُ أَوّابٌ

Be patient over what they say, and remember Our servant, David, [the man] of strength. Indeed, he was oft-returning.

EXEGESIS

Dhā al-ayd (of strength) comes from yad, meaning hand. This is then used figuratively for strength.[1] Here it must mean that he was powerful and mighty, as in the verse, We have built the sky with might (ayd) (51:47), or, it is He who strengthened (ayyada) you with His help (8:62).[2] This strength should be referring to having strength in worship and persisting in obedience.[3] This is evidenced by the fact that this description is immediately further explained by saying Prophet David (a) was oft-returning (awwāb).[4] Also, praiseworthy strength should be the strength to do what God commands and to keep away from what He forbids, like in the verse, O John! Hold on with power to the book! (19:12). See also 7:145.[5]

It has also been claimed that it means having power over his enemies, or being powerful in battle,[6] and that he had thousands of soldiers sleeping near his sanctuary (miḥrāb).[7] These meanings are not contradictory and can both be considered to be included in the meaning of strength.

Awwāb (oft-returning): Ṭūsī says it is from āba/yaʾūbu, meaning to return to God. Here it means Prophet David (a) kept turning towards God, constantly.[8] The meanings of obedient and one who praises God have also been suggested,[9] although these can all be combined to mean one who turns obediently to praise God. It is also said the word’s etymology is originally Abyssinian, where it also means one who praises God.[10]

Some exegetes have claimed that awwāb means the one who returns (to God) from sins.[11] This is incorrect though, as not only does it contradict the infallibility of prophets, it makes no sense considering its use in Sūrah Sabaʾ where it describes the actions of the mountains and birds who praised God with Prophet David (a): Certainly We gave David a grace from Us: ‘O mountains and birds, chime in (awwibī) with him!’ (34:10), as well as two verses later in this very surah, and the birds [as well], mustered [in flocks], all echoing (awwāb)[12] him. Neither of these verses would make any sense if awwāb meant one who returns from sins.

EXPOSITION

After relating the egregious scorns directed at Prophet Muhammad (s) by the Meccan elite, God turns to console His Messenger: Be patient over what they say.[13] The mocking supplication made by the Meccan faithless was not without its effect on the Prophet. This ridicule saddened him greatly, not because it was aimed at him, but because he deeply cared for the guidance of all people, and that is why God consoles him in this verse and elsewhere in the Quran, If you are eager for them to be guided, indeed Allah does not guide those who mislead (16:37), and, You are liable to imperil your life for their sake, if they should not believe this discourse, out of grief (18:6).

The Prophet would often wonder if he was to blame for them turning away, thinking perhaps he had not explained it well enough. We certainly know that what they say grieves you. Yet it is not you that they deny, but it is Allah’s signs that the wrongdoers impugn (6:33). Knowing this gentle conduct and mercy in the heart of His Messenger, God consoles him to have patience.

There is also a warning here to the Meccans, that they should know that the punishment they so mockingly called to be hastened is only kept from them because of the Prophet being patient and not praying for their destruction. So be patient just as the resolute among the apostles were patient, and do not seek to hasten [the punishment] for them (46:35). Because the Prophet was one of the Resolute Prophets (ulū al-ʿazm), he did not hastily call for their destruction. Indeed, the Resolute Prophets would often still plead for their people, even after they had gone to extreme lengths of disbelief and sin (see for example verses 11:37, 11:76, and 23:28).

To further console Prophet Muhammad (s), God then mentions the examples of nine prophets in this surah. Prophet David (a) is the first of these other prophets mentioned as exemplars: and remember Our servant, David; of these nine, the stories of three are told in detail and six are only briefly mentioned. In each of these three stories we are told of prophets who endured difficulties and trials and withstood them with patience. This was meant to increase the determination of the Holy Prophet to continue with his mission despite the inherent difficulties, and as a lesson to the audience of the Quran.

Prophet David (a) is a fitting first example because he was himself of strength, both worldly and spiritual. This should have made the example resonate even more with the Meccans, to make it known to them that just because one has worldly power does not necessitate them turning away from God. Furthermore, this example follows their previous mockery of wishing for God’s punishment to be hastened upon them in this world, and as we mentioned in the commentary on that verse, most of these deriders met their punishment in the Battle of Badr once Prophet Muhammad (s) had become the head of state and of strength (in its full meaning), like Prophet David (a).

This and the following verses are a testament to the high station of Prophet David (a), that God should command the best of His creation – Prophet Muhammad (s) – to look to Prophet David (a) as an exemplar of patience.[14] Obviously, Prophet Muhammad (s) exceeded Prophet David (a) in this regard, but it still speaks volumes about Prophet David’s (a) character and high station. There is also another praise of Prophet David (a) in that statement, as God describes him as Our servant. When God describes a prophet as His servant, this is intended as a high praise, since they have actualised servitude to God in their worship and actions.[15] As the third merit of Prophet David (a), he is described as being of strength, which was explained earlier, and this is followed by the fourth merit, indeed he was oft-returning. It is said that Prophet David (a) would stay up half the night in worship, and would fast every other day.[16]

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

  1. From Muhammad ibn Muslim, that he asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) concerning the verse, O Iblīs! What keeps you from prostrating before that which I have created with My [own] two hands? (verse 75), to which the Imam replied: ‘Arabs use “hand” to mean “power” and “blessing” (niʿmah). God has said: and remember Our servant, David, [the man] of strength …[17]
  2. From Imam Ali (a), that he described the fast of the Prophet, saying: ‘The Messenger of God (s) used to fast all the time until a time that God willed it. Then he left that and fasted the fast of David (a) – one day for God, and one day for him, until a time that God willed it. He then left that and fasted Tuesdays and Thursdays, until a time that God willed it. He then left that and fasted the three full moon days (bīḍ) of every month, and this remained his fast until God took him to Himself.’[18]
  3. From ʿAbd-Allāh ibn ʿUmar, that the Prophet said: ‘The most beloved of fasts with God is the fast of David, and the most beloved of prayers with God is the prayer of David. He used to fast one day and eat one day. He used to sleep half the night, stay up for a third of it [in worship], and sleep for [another] sixth of it.’[19]

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Qurṭubī claims the command, Be patient over what they say, was abrogated by the ‘sword verse’ that commands to fight.[20] This is a very strange claim and clearly Qurṭubī is trying to somehow assert that after the revelation of verses commanding the believers to defend themselves against aggressors there would no longer be a need to be patient with what they say, even though warfare and moral conduct are in no way two mutually exclusive things. Furthermore, this is in contradiction to the very verse itself, which orders Prophet Muhammad (s) to be patient, like Prophet David (a), who was a king and a commander of armies. Clearly, military might was no reason to abandon patience, nor to give up trying to call people to the truth, despite their mockeries. Also, we have already explained why God was consoling Prophet Muhammad (s) to be patient, and it was not because he or his Lord were incapable of destroying the derisive Meccans.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

  1. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: with whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.[21]
  2. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.[22]
  3. David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying: praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honour come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.[23]
[1] Raghib, pp. 889-890.
[2] Tibyan, 8/549; Tabari, 23/86; Razi, 26/374.
[3] Tabrisi, 8/731.
[4] Zamakhshari, 4/77.
[5] Razi, 26/374.
[6] Tabrisi, 8/731; Fadlallah, 19/244; Mudarrisi, 11/335-336. Ṣādiqī Tehrānī says it also refers to him being a ruler having a state (Furqan, 25/227). Ṭabrisī relates that it is claimed that when he would launch a stone from his sling it would penetrate one man and hit another, killing them both; although this assuredly is an exaggeration. In any case physical strength is definitely not what is intended in the verse.
[7] Tabrisi, 8/731; Tabari, 23/88; Thalabi, 8/184; Zamakhshari, 4/79.
[8] Tibyan, 8/549. See also Tabari, 23/86; Mizan, 17/190.
[9] Tabrisi, 8/731; Tabari, 23/86.
[10] Thalabi, 8/183; Baghawi, 4/57; Suyuti, 5/298; Alusi, 12/166.
[11] Tabari, 23/86; Qurtubi, 15/158-159; Shawkani, 4/487.
[12] Meaning the birds and mountains all turned to Prophet David (a) and joined in his worship of God.
[13] Tantawi, 12/143, claims that the present tense of the verb say is used – even though the Meccan faithless had said those words earlier – to bring to the present what happened before, and to make it known that they will confront in the future what they had said in the past. This sounds nice, but the more apparent explanation should be that the present tense is used because their mockeries were ongoing and not something only uttered once.
[14] Razi, 26/374; Nemuneh, 19/241.
[15] Razi, 26/374. See also verses 30 and 44 for other prophets who are praised as servants.
[16] Tabrisi, 8/731; Tabari, 23/86; Zamakhshari, 4/77; Nemuneh, 19/237.
[17] Maani, p. 16; Tawhid, p. 153; Nur, 4/444.
[18] Wasail, 10/437. The ayyām al-bīḍ refer to the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth of the lunar month, when the moon is at its fullest.
[19] Bukhari, 2/44; Muslim, 3/165; Baghawi, 4/57.
[20] Qurtubi, 15/158. The same position is adopted by Shawkani, 4/487.
[21] Psalms 89:20-22.
[22] 2 Samuel 22:21-22.
[23] 1 Chronicles 10-14.