وَلِسُلَيْمَٰنَ ٱلرِّيحَ غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌ وَرَوَاحُهَا شَهْرٌ وَأَسَلْنَا لَهُۥ عَيْنَ ٱلْقِطْرِ وَمِنَ ٱلْجِنِّ مَن يَعْمَلُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِۦ وَمَن يَزِغْ مِنْهُمْ عَنْ أَمْرِنَا نُذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذَابِ ٱلسَّعِيرِ
Wa li-Sulaymāna'r-rīḥa ghuduwwuhā shahrun wa rawāḥuhā shahr, wa asalnā lahū ʿayna'l-qiṭr, wa mina'l-jinni man yaʿmalu bayna yadayhi bi-idhni rabbih, wa man yazigh minhum ʿan amrinā nudhiqhu min ʿadhābi's-saʿīr
"And to Solomon the wind: its going out in the morning a month, its coming back in the evening a month. We made the spring of molten copper flow for him. Some of the jinn worked before him by his Lord's leave. Whoever of them swerves from Our command, We make him taste the punishment of the blaze."
| Word | Root | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Ghuduww | غ-د-و | Morning — the going out at the start of the day |
| Rawāḥ | ر-و-ح | Late afternoon — the coming back at the end of the day |
These two words are a pair in Arabic, and together they mean "the whole of the day". They correspond to the English expression "morning and evening". At Ghāfir (al-Muʾmin) 40/46 the pair ghuduwwan wa ʿashiyyā (morning and evening) was treated, and it was recorded there that the same two times are used in two different scenes. I rely on that treatment.
The root of rawāḥ, ر-و-ح, is at the same time the root of rīḥ (wind) and of rūḥ. That is, there is an overlap in the sentence close to wordplay: ar-rīḥa … wa rawāḥuhā. I record this as an observation about the language; I build no ruling about the meaning on it.
And the measure itself is worth recording: shahrun … shahrun — a month, a month. The measure is given not in distance but in time. That is, the verse does not say "so many leagues"; it says how long a journey that would normally take a month took. The measure is built on the addressee's own experience.
I do not enter into the reports about the details of the story. How the wind was used, where it went, is not in the verse; I do not manufacture a detail the text does not give.
أَسَلْنَا — root س-ي-ل: to flow. Form IV: We made flow. And the same root will occur four verses later in the name of a disaster: sayla'l-ʿarim (16) — "the flood of the ʿArim".
I record this repetition and give it as my own reading: the same root is used in two opposite directions for the two peoples of the sūra.
| Verse | Expression | What flows | To whom |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Wa asalnā lahū ʿayna'l-qiṭr | Molten metal — a favour | Solomon |
| 16 | Fa-arsalnā ʿalayhim sayla'l-ʿarim | A flood — a disaster | Sabaʾ |
The same verbal root: one is "We made it flow for him", the other "We sent it upon them". When the particle changes, the direction changes: lahū (in his favour) / ʿalayhim (against them). This is a contrast that can be verified from the text.
ٱلْقِطْر — the sense the lexicographers give: molten copper (some say "molten metal" generally). The word is connected with the root qaṭr (to drip): the thing that drips, that flows.
And the word ʿayn must be recorded: ʿayna'l-qiṭr — "the spring of copper". ʿAyn in Arabic means both eye and spring. That is, the molten metal is named as though it were a spring — the word used for a source of water has been carried over to metal.
Its link with the preceding verse is worth recording: for David iron was softened, for Solomon copper was made to flow. Two metals for two prophets, and both in the state where their hardness has been undone.
ز-ي-غ — the concrete sense of the root: to swerve from the true direction, to slip, to go crooked. The lexicographers record that the word is used also of the eye's wandering off true.
And the placing of the clause must be recorded: while enumerating what was given to Solomon, the verse inserts a note about punishment. That is, what was given is not presented as an unlimited disposal; the command to which the workers are bound is named in the same sentence.
A note about the jinn, per the method (Method): at al-Jinn the limit was set that one does not go beyond what the text states about unseen beings. I rely on that. What the verse says is this: they were working, they were working by leave, and whoever swerved from the command had his recompense.