Lecture No.5This is a transcription of a lecture by Sayyed Usama Alattar. You can listen to it from here:http://www.4shared.com/audio/AOeH0s5L/soleimanpart5.html
After she sent the ambassador who told her about what happened and what he saw there, Balqees herself came to visit Solomon(as) to investigate the situation. When Solomon(as) heard about her coming, he asked his people and the workers to decorate his castle for him in a way that has not ever done before so that when she comes she gets mesmerized by the power that Allah( swt) has bestowed upon Solomon(as). Indeed, they did so for him. In addition, they built him a mansion made only of glass and it was made on top of the river( As you look down, there is a river flowing right underneath you). When she arrived, he purposely took her to this mansion. The glass was so perfectly made that she actually thought at first that there was nothing in there and she was going to step onto the water because the water was flowing right underneath the glass. She moved her dress so that it would not be wet. Solomon(as) told her " You do not need to do this. This is actually glass. You can walk on this." She realized that this was something that has never been done before. Then, Solomon(as) showed her her own throne because he tried to examine her. He asked her" Do you recognize this?" She looked at it then guessed but really she was astonished at the same time. How could her throne come from all the way from Saba' located in Yemen to here( Jerusalem) ?!! Yet, she smiled and realized that this was her own throne. Seeing the great magnificence of prophet Solomon(as), she submitted with him and became a Muslim. She entered into the religion of Solomon(as) and accepted Allah( swt) as the mighty authority and she worshiped him instead of the sun.
(That tells us how beautiful the way Solomon(as) interacted with this lady. His letter from the beginning, the way he wrote his letter, the way he dealt with her was so professional, diplomatic and so politically correct that indeed it made him achieve all his goals without causing any problems or wars or distraction. Everything was done through dialogue and understanding. This is really what we have to do at this day and age, having dialogues and understanding and establishing communication. This is one of the beauties that we can derive from this fortune of the story.)
In surat Saba', Allah( swt) goes further in describing the great kingdom of Solomon( as). Solomon( as) had the control of the wind and jinn used to work for him. They make for him whatever he wants. That is why during his time he invested a lot of this power in building places of worship. This is again a beautiful thing because when Allah( swt) gives somebody the ability to contribute, he\she should use this ability in a positive way such as building religious places, educational places, hospitals, etc. These places are what is required in each and every society to be perfect and able to generate only those who are the best. If the billions of dollars that are being spent today can be reorganized such that they can sustain economies of poor countries and help them build institutions of education, hospitals, religious places, you would find these countries all developing, knowledge being spread, fighting and wars being decreased because no longer people being either ignorant or being forced to fight because they do not understand what is going on. Ignorance will be eradicated and we will have a much better world. That what Solomon( as) did in his society. He established this system where nobody was poor. Everybody had their share even the ant and jinn. He established places of worship which are at the same time used as institutions of education. He used his power for the sake of Allah(swt).
The Third Part:
Then, Allah came to the final end which is quite interesting. Allah( swt) does not explicitly mention the death of any prophet in the Holy Quran except Solomon( as). Allah( swt) said:" فلما قضينا عليه الموت ما دلهم على موته إلا دابة الأرض تأكل منسأته فلما خر تبينت الجن أن لو كانوا يعلمون الغيب ما لبثوا في العذاب المبين(14)" سبأ
It is said that one day Solomon( as) asked his jinn to build him a special room made all of jewelry. Indeed, they did so. He stayed in that room and said " nobody is allowed to enter. I am going to go there and no one is allowed to come and see me in this room" That room was designed in a way that Solomon( as) can take a look and can see his entire kingdom. Everybody is working, the jinn, ants, animals, people. At that moment, all of the sudden, he found someone entering. Solomon( as) asked" Who are you?? and how did you get in here?? I asked that nobody is allowed to enter. Did you have a permission to come and see me?" The person responded" I am the one who comes and enters without needing any permissions." Solomon( as) said " Who are you?" He said" I am the one who is going to be facing each and every human being." Again, Solomon( as) asked " Who are you?" He said" I am Malakulmawt, the angel of death"
(The angel of death does not need permissions to come and see places or to go places. Nor are there any places from which he cannot enter. Allah( swt) says " أينما تكونوا يدرككم الموت و لو كنتم في بروج مشيدة" (78) النساء =" Even if you go into places that are fully fenced and fully surrounded and guarded, Malakulmawt will come right there. You cannot escape.)Solomon( as) said" This is the end." The interesting thing is the following:
Solomon( as) was sitting on his stick. The angel of death took his life right at that moment. He was actually sitting on this cane of his. He remained in that state for one whole year. He was dead on this cane of his for one whole year. Then, Allah( swt) sent a termite which started eating his cane such that his cane became weaker and weaker. And after a year, he fell off on the ground and that is when the people, the jinn and the kingdom realized that Solomon( as) had been dead for all this time and they did not even know that. Only when he fell down, the jinn realized that they thought they know everything but it turns they do not.( Allah(swt) want to teach each and everybody of us that no matter how great you might get in this world, you are not going to get better than Solomon( as) in terms of his kingdom. You are not going to have jinn, animals, the command of the wind working for you. Yet, even that man who is so powerful, he is not going to be eternal and he will have a moment. That is why Allah (swt) describes the life of Solomon( as) in such a beautiful and eloquent way, then describes his death. Allah does not describe the death of prophets in the Holy Quran except Solomon( as) because Allah (swt) wants to tell us, human beings, to be aware. No matter how strong we get, it is not going to be forever. Look at Solomon( as). He was a great king. He died while he was leaning on a cane.)
It is said that David( as), one day, walked by another prophet by the name of Haskell who used to live a very humble life in the mountains. He dedicated his time to praying to Allah( swt).
David asked him" You spend the whole time worshiping Allah( swt), has it ever appeared to you that you are such a good worshiper and there is no one better than you?"
Haskell said" No.. No matter how much I pray to Allah(swt), I still find I am not doing enough and I need to pray hard." Then, David asked" Do you ever try to sin, even to think about committing a sin?"
- " Never.. I never ever think of committing a sin." Haskell said
- " Has it ever appeared to you that you need to give up this modest life, go out, try to see the world and to build yourself a house, live a better life and eat better fruit?" David asked
- " Yes.. That thought has appeared to me"
- "Then, What do you do when that happens?"
- " I enter into this cave and come out. I learn from what is inside that cave."
- " May I go into that cave?"
- " Yes, you may."
He went inside the cave and found a skeleton lying on a bed made of iron and the skull is lying on a rock. Next to that skeleton is a piece of writing, a manuscript. He picked up the manuscript and started reading it. It said the following:
" I am so-and-so. I have ruled for one thousand years as a king. I built one thousand cities. I married so many women and enjoyed my life. I had everything I wanted. However, when my time came, I realized that my soft bed that I used to sleep on everyday is now going to be changed with a bed made of iron. That beautiful pillow I used to rest on is now going to be changed with a rock. Instead of having all those ministers and kings being my friends and neighbors treating me so kindly with respect are changed with the snakes and the scorpions which used to come and eat of my flesh. Thus, I realized that this world is not worth it. So, whomever is reading this manuscript, my advice to you is not to be fooled by this world and its attractions because it is not eternal."
David( as) read that manuscript and said" Yes.. Haskell.. You have a point.. Now I know why you do not ever care about this world and its materialistic life. "
However, that does not mean that we should all now go and live in a cave and abandon this world, sell our houses and our cars, and donate them all to charity. This is not the meaning here because a man came to Imam Ali bin Abi Talib( as) and told him" O' Ameer Almoameneen, my brother and I are very good businessmen. We had such a great life. But he sold his house, abandoned his family and gave up everything all to charity and now he is going to live in a mountain. He said that this is how he would like to worship Allah." Imam Ali said" Call your brother over." He called his brother over and Imam Ali asked him" What is going on?" He said" O' Ameer Almoameneen, you are the teacher. You are the one who is telling us to abandon this world. Look at the way you are living, Imam Ali." Imam Ali said" You have completely misunderstood my message and my words. It is correct that I told you not to be attached to this world. In other words, it did not mean that you could not have a big house or a good life as long as you are owning them and they are not owning you. Whenever you need to give, you give with generosity. As long as that happens, you are a true devout. Asceticism in its true meaning is when you stop yourself from committing sins and disobeying your lord. For me, however, since I am the khalefa( leader) of the Muslims, I have to live the way that the average Muslim is living. So, you cannot compare yourself to me because I am the leader and that is why I live the humble and modest life like the average Muslim."
To give this message to us, Allah( swt) described the death of Solomon( as).The Fourth Part:
Finally, Allah( swt) told us in surat Albaqara what happened after Solomon's death. Allah shed a brief light about what happened after Solomon. It seems that during the time of prophet Solomon(as), he managed to gather all the magicians and look it up. He stopped everybody from committing these magician works. After he died, for a whole year, people were running as a normal society. They did not recognize that he was dead. Some interpreters said that his successor, Assef, realized that Solomon had died. He was the first person to recognize this but he kept it quiet and started to manage the affairs of the kingdom keeping it quiet until Allah( swt) sent that termite and Solomon fell. Then, the jinn realized that Assef , indeed, is a great successor that he managed all these affairs for a whole year without things collapsing. But, some of the jinn, upon realizing the death of Solomon(as), started to disobey. What they did is that they went and unlocked those cabined with the magic. They took it out and started teaching people magic and spreading the rumors that Solomon was not a prophet of Allah( swt). Instead, he was a great magician having everything commanding at his own will. Some people started to believe this and that caused distortion in the society. The propaganda started to play a role. Again, this is something we experienced in this day and age, not with magicians but with propaganda. It happens in every society.
Allah( swt) in surat Albaqara defended him saying" No.. That is not the case. Solomon was indeed a prophet of Allah( swt). He was a great man. It is some of the jinn that disobeyed and caused all this corruption in the land." That verse is very beautiful because it tells us about magic and how people perceive magic.
With that, we conclude the story of Solomon( as) and his life." و لسليمان الريح غدوها شهر و رواحها شهر و من الجن من يعمل بين يديه بإذن ربه و من يزغ منهم عن أمرنا نذقه من عذاب السعير(12) يعملون له ما يشاء من محاريب و تماثيل و جفان كالجواب و قدور راسيات اعملوا آل داود شكراً و قليل من عبادي الشكور(13) فلما قضينا عليه الموت ما دلهم على موته إلا دابة الأرض تأكل منسأته فلما خر تبينت الجن أن لو كانوا يعلمون الغيب ما لبثوا في العذاب المبين(14)" سبأ
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