Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And We gave Dawud from Us a favor. O mountains, echo with him, and the birds.”

We begin the new lesson now with His saying , which means “We gave.” It takes two objects that are not originally a subject and a predicate. Any verb that takes two objects that are not originally a subject and a predicate is called from the category of *ata* (gave) and *kasa* (clothed). Here, is the first object, and is the second object. They cannot be a subject and a predicate. If I said , would that be correct? No, it is not correct. It is also said *atayna*, but its meaning differs from . Rather, the meaning of is “We came.” Allah the Exalted said: [Al-A'raf: 52]. And He said: [An-Nahl: 1], meaning “The command of Allah has come.” He said: Dawud is one of the prophets of the Children of Israel. He came after Musa, not before him? [Al-Baqarah: 246]. In the story, Dawud was among them, so he came after Musa. He is a prophet among the prophets. The Jews, may the curse of Allah be upon them, denied that he was a prophet and described him as a king. They lied in that, for he was a prophet among the prophets of Allah, whom we must believe in. Our faith is not complete except by believing in them, for the pillars of faith, as we know, are belief in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers. He is also a messenger, for every prophet mentioned in the Qur'an is a messenger. He said: . He began with the source before the favor to make clear the greatness of that amount, for when something is attributed to a great source, it is great. As in His saying in the authentic hadith: . He attributed it to Allah to make its greatness clear. Prophethood and a Book. This is how the author interpreted the verse, by way of analogy, for Allah gave him prophethood and messengership, and He gave him the Book. Allah the Exalted said: [An-Nisa: 163]. Did He give him anything else besides this? Yes. That is why the word *fadl* (favor) was indefinite, to encompass everything He gave him of favor, whether it was religious or worldly. Dawud (peace and blessings be upon him) had one of the most beautiful voices in recitation and chanting of dhikr, to the extent that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) commanded the mountains, either by a cosmic command or a legislative one. He said to them: . *Awwibi* means “return.” From this comes *al-awwab*, meaning “one who returns to Allah.” And from it comes *aaba*, *yu'ibu*, *awban*, meaning “returned.” So means “return with him.” *Tarji'* means repeating the voice one is saying. For example, if you recite, you hear as if all the mountains around you are reciting with his recitation. This is different from the echo we hear from every person, for this echo that occurs for every person when surrounded by mountains is a natural phenomenon. But what Dawud was given was beyond that. The mountains would repeat with him due to the beauty of his voice and its melodies, until the mountains would return with him by the command of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). The birds are in the accusative case, attached to the position of the mountains. How? Is this a vocative or not? It is built on the damma in the position of the accusative. It was built on the damma because it is an indefinite noun that is intended. An intended indefinite noun is like a proper noun, so it was built on the damma. If you said to us, “O group, so that my attention is equal,” that would be correct. If it were attached to the word itself, it would be in the nominative case, built on the damma. But it was attached to the position of the mountains, which is the accusative. Likewise, Allah commanded the birds to return with him. The birds in the sky would stop when they heard the recitation of Dawud (peace and blessings be upon him) and return with him. If you imagine this matter, that a man recites the Zabur with that recitation and beautiful melodies, and the birds from above are glorifying, and the mountains, undoubtedly it is a great and awe-inspiring scene. Everything is reciting with the recitation of this man by the command of whom? By the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And His saying: “We made iron soft for him.” It was in his hand like dough. Meaning “We made it soft in his hand, until it was like dough in one of our hands.” Is the meaning that He made it soft for him by the means that soften iron, which were made subservient to him and prepared for him, or that Allah made the iron soft for him without a known cause? Some people think it is the former, and that the meaning of His saying is “We facilitated for him the causes that soften the iron for him,” for facilitating causes is undoubtedly a blessing from Allah. Have you seen if you wanted to bend an iron rod and you had a weak fire, you would struggle with it, or not? But if you had a very strong fire, the iron would soften in a few minutes as you wish. So some scholars think that the meaning of softening the iron for Dawud is facilitating the causes by which its softening is difficult. But some scholars of knowledge say: “Allah made the iron soft for him without a cause, but by the power of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and Allah made that a sign for him, as He made the staff of Musa, when it was placed on the ground, become a snake, and when he raised it, become a staff, in an instant, in a single moment.” Allah is capable of all things. The One who made the iron hard is capable of making it soft. In my opinion, this is closer to the meaning. First: Allah said , so He made the softening attributed to Him, indicating that the softening of this iron is by mere power. Yes, and if we say that this is by ordinary causes, but they were facilitated for him, this is contrary to the apparent meaning of the verse. Then, if we say this, would it be a sign for him? No, for everyone for whom the causes of softening iron are facilitated, Allah has softened the iron for him. So, did Allah soften the iron for him until it was in his hand like dough, so he could turn it, make it thin, or make it thick as he wished?