Al-Qur'an Surah Saba Verse 14

Mufti Taqi Usmani

So, when We decided (that) death (should come) upon him, nothing gave them any indication of his death, except a creature of the earth that had eaten up his sceptre. So, when he fell down, the Jinns came to know that if they had the knowledge of the Unseen, they would not have stayed (so long) in the humiliating punishment.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

When We decreed Solomon’s death, nothing indicated to the ˹subjected˺ jinn that he was dead except the termites eating away his staff.[[ Which he died while leaning on. ]] So when he collapsed, the jinn realized that if they had ˹really˺ known the unseen, they would not have remained in ˹such˺ humiliating servitude.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Then when We decreed Solomon’s death, nothing showed them that he was dead except a creature of the earth eating away his staff. When he fell down, the jinn realized that if they had truly had knowledge of the unseen, they would not have remained in the debasing servitude.

A. J. Arberry

And when We decreed that he should die, naught indicated to them that he was dead but the Beast of the Earth devouring his staff; and when he fell down, the jinn saw clearly that, had they only known the Unseen, they would not have continued in the humbling chastisement.

Abdul Haleem

Then, when We decreed Solomon’s death, nothing showed the jinn he was dead, but a creature of the earth eating at his stick: when he fell down they realized- if they had known what was hidden they would not have continued their demeaning labour.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Then when We decreed death for him, naught discovered his death to them' save a moving creature of the earth which gnawed away his staff. Then when he fell, the Jinn clearly perceived that, if they had known the unseen they would not have tarried in the ignominious torment.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Then, when We decreed (Solomon's) death, nothing showed them his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his staff; so when he fell down, the Jinns saw plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in the humiliating Penalty (of their Task).

Abul Ala Maududi

When We executed Our decree of death on Solomon, nothing indicated to the jinn that he was dead except a worm eating away his staff. So when Solomon fell down, the jinn realised that had they known what lies in the realm beyond perception, they would not have continued to be in this humiliating chastisement.

Ahmed Ali

When We ordained (Solomon's) death, none but the weevil, that was eating away his staff (on which he rested), pointed out to them that he was dead. When he fell down (dead) the jinns realised that if they had knowledge of the Unknown they would never have suffered demeaning labour.

Ahmed Raza Khan

So when We sent the command of death towards him, no one revealed his death to the jinns except the termite of the earth which ate his staff; and when he came to the ground, the truth about the jinns was exposed – if they had known the hidden, they would not have remained in the disgraceful toil.

Ali Quli Qarai

When We decreed death for him, nothing apprised them of his death except a worm which gnawed away at his staff. And when he fell down, [the humans] realized that had the jinn known the Unseen, they would not have remained in a humiliating torment.

Ali Ünal

Then, when We executed Our decree for his death, nothing showed them (the jinn who had been laboring at the tasks he assigned to them) that he was dead, except that a termite had been gnawing away his staff (until it broke). Then when he fell to the ground, it became clear to the jinn that if they had known the Unseen, they would not have continued in the tormenting toil that humiliated them.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And when We ordained death for him (- Solomon) the people only came to know of his death through a (worthless) creature of earth (- Solomon´s son) that was eating away his (father´s) staff (- ruling power and glory). So when it fell down the jinn realized then plainly that had they known the secret (of the hollowness of the kingdom) they would have never remained in (a state of) humiliating torment.

English Literal

So when We ordered/accomplished on him the death/lifelessness, nothing guided/lead them on (to) his death/lifelessness except the land`s/Earth`s walker/creeper/crawler , eating his shepherd`s staff/stick, so when he fell down the Jinns clarified/explained (to themselves) that (E) if they were knowing the absent/covered , they would not have stayed/remained/waited in the torture the disgracing/degrading.

Faridul Haque

So when We sent the command of death towards him, no one revealed his death to the jinns except the termite of the earth which ate his staff; and when he came to the ground, the truth about the jinns was exposed - if they had known the hidden, they would not have remained in the disgraceful toil.

Hamid S. Aziz

They made for him what he pleased of temples and images, and bowls (large) as watering-troughs and cooking-pots that will not move from their place; give thanks, O family of David! Few of My servants are grateful!

Hilali & Khan

Then when We decreed death for him [Sulaiman (Solomon)], nothing informed them (jinns) of his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his stick, so when he fell down, the jinns saw clearly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

They made for him what he pleased, of synagogues and images, and bowls (large) as watering-troughs and fixed cooking-pots. Give thanks, O people of David! And very few of My servants are grateful.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

But when We decreed death for him, naught showed them his death but a creature of the earth that ate away his staff; and when it fell down, the jinn came to know plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in abasing torment.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And when We decreed death for him, nothing showed his death to them save a creeping creature of the earth which gnawed away his staff. And when he fell the jinn saw clearly how, if they had known the Unseen, they would not have continued in despised toil.

Muhammad Sarwar

When We decreed that Solomon should die, no one knew of his death except for a creeping creature of the earth who ate-up his staff. When he fell down, the jinn realized that if they had known about the unseen, they would not have remained in such a humiliating torment for so long.

Qaribullah & Darwish

And when We decreed (Solomon's) death, they had no indication that he was dead until (they saw a termite), a crawler of the earth eating away his staff. And when he fell down, the jinn realized that had they known the unseen, they would not have continued in their humiliating punishment.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Then when We decreed death for him, nothing informed them (Jinn) of his death except a little worm of the earth which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his stick. So when he fell down, the Jinn saw clearly that if they had known the Unseen, they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment.

Wahiduddin Khan

When We decreed Solomon's death, nothing indicated his death to them except a worm from the earth, which was eating away at his cane. When he fell down, the jinn plainly realized that if they had known what was unseen, they would not have had to continue with such humiliating labour.

Talal Itani

Then, when We decreed death for him, nothing indicated his death to them except an earthworm eating at his staff. Then, when he fell down, it became clear to the sprites that, had they known the unseen, they would not have remained in the demeaning torment.

Tafsir jalalayn

And when We decreed for him, for Solomon, death, in other words, [when] he died -- he remained supported against his staff an entire year, while the jinn continued to toil in hard labour as was customary, unaware of his death, until [finally] when a termite ate through his staff, he fell to the ground [and was seen to be] dead -- nothing indicated to them that he had died except a termite (al-ard is the verbal noun from uridat al-khashaba, passive verbal form, in other words, `it [the piece of wood] was eaten away by a termite [al-arada]') that gnawed away at his staff (read minsa'atahu or minstahu, replacing the hamza with an alif, meaning a `staff', so called because [when describing it one would say] yunsa'u bih, to mean it is used to repel or drive away [creatures]'). And when he fell down, dead, the jinn realised, it became apparent to them, that (an, is softened, in other words, annahum) had they known the Unseen -- comprising what was hidden from them in the way of Solomon being dead -- they would not have continued in the humiliating chastisement, [in] that hard labour of theirs, [in which they continued] as they supposed him to be alive, which is in contrast to what they would have supposed had they known the Unseen and the fact that he had been there an entire year, judging by how much of the staff the termite had eaten through after his death; in other words, [they would not have continued in the humiliating chastisement] for a single day or even a single night [longer].

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Death of Suleiman

Allah tells;

فَلَمَّا قَضَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ الْمَوْتَ

Then when We decreed death for him,

Allah tells us how Suleiman, peace be upon him, died and how Allah concealed his death from the Jinn who were subjugated to him to do hard labor. He remained leaning on his stick, which was his staff, as Ibn Abbas may Allah be pleased with him, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah and others said.

He stayed like that for a long time, nearly a year. When a creature of the earth, which was a kind of worm, ate through the stick, it became weak and fell to the ground. Then it became apparent that he had died a long time before.

It also became clear to Jinn and men alike that the Jinn do not know the Unseen as they (the Jinn) used to imagine and tried to deceive people.

This is what Allah says;

مَا دَلَّهُمْ عَلَى مَوْتِهِ إِلاَّ دَابَّةُ الاْاَرْضِ تَأْكُلُ مِنسَأَتَهُ فَلَمَّا خَرَّ تَبَيَّنَتِ الْجِنُّ أَن لَّوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ الْغَيْبَ مَا لَبِثُوا فِي الْعَذَابِ الْمُهِينِ



nothing informed them (Jinn) of his death except a little worm of the earth which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his stick. So when he fell down, the Jinn saw clearly that if they had known the Unseen, they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment.

meaning, it became clear to the people that they (the Jinn) were lying