Page 157 - General Knowledge from the Qur'an

People and Societies Cited in the Qur'an 155

matter is in your hands so consider what you command.' She said,
'When kings enter a city, they lay waste to it and make its mightiest in-
habitants the most abased. That is what they too will do. I will send
them a gift and then wait and see what the messengers bring back.'
When it reached Sulayman he said, 'Would you give me wealth when
what Allah has given me is better than what He has given you? No,
rather it is you who delight in your gift. Return to them. We will come
to them with troops they cannot face and we will expel them from it
abased and humiliated.' (Surat an-Naml, 29-37)
Then when she came, she was asked, 'Is your throne like this?' She
said, It is as it were the same, and we were given the knowledge before
it, and we were submissive. And what she worshipped besides Allah
prevented her, surely she was of an unbelieving people. She was told:
'Enter the courtyard,' but when she saw it she supposed it to be a pool
and bared her legs. He said, 'It is a courtyard paved with glass.' She
said, 'My Lord, I have wronged myself but I have submitted with Su-
layman to the Lord of all the worlds.' (Surat an-Naml, 42-44)

THE OWNERS OF THE GARDEN
We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they
swore that they would harvest in the morning but did not say the re-
deeming words, 'If Allah wills'. So a visitation from your Lord came
upon it while they slept and in the morning it was like burnt land
stripped bare. In the morning they called out to one another, 'Leave
early for your land if you want to pick the fruit.' So they set off, quietly
saying to one another, 'Do not let any poor man into it today while you
are there.' They left early, intent on carrying out their scheme. But
when they saw it, they said, 'We must have lost our way. No, the truth
is we are destitute!' The best of them said, 'Did I not say to you, "Why
do you not glorify Allah?"' They said, 'Glory be to our Lord! Truly we
have been wrongdoers.' They turned to face each other in mutual ac-
cusation. They said, 'Woe to us! We were indeed inordinate. Maybe
our Lord will give us something better than it in exchange. We entreat
our Lord.' (Surat al-Qalam, 17-32)