Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And We caused to flow for him the spring of molten copper, and from the jinn, those who worked before him by the permission of his Lord, and whoever deviates from Our command among them, We will make him taste the punishment of the Blazing Fire”

Allah the Exalted also mentioned, among the blessings He bestowed upon Sulayman, "We made the copper flow for him" , meaning the copper. This may be even more eloquent than what was given to Dawud, for regarding Dawud, Allah the Exalted said, "As for this, ask Allah for him the eye of the rain," meaning He caused a spring of copper to flow for him, flowing just as water flows, even though it is copper. This is evidence of the perfection of the power of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), because it is known that copper is a solid mineral, yet Allah the Exalted made it a flowing spring for Sulayman, as if it were water. For this reason, He said, And His saying, refutes the claim that Sulayman used to melt the copper so that it would flow, just as lead, as you see now, when we melt it, becomes liquid like mercury. We say, no, rather Allah says, "So He made it a spring that gushes forth from below and flows." We know that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is the Creator of things, both their solid and liquid states, and that He is capable of making the solid liquid and the liquid solid. This flowing, rushing, moving water, when Musa struck the sea with his staff, it split, and every section was like a great mountain, like a huge mountain, and it was liquid water. He struck it only once, and the sea parted and became twelve paths, each path separated from the next by a mountain of water. This is beyond the natural order, for the Creator of things is capable of everything, (Glorified and Exalted is He). The author (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "So He made it flow for him for three days and their nights, as the flow of water" How? "So He made it flow for him for three days and their nights, as the flow of water" This estimation requires a definitive ruling, meaning that Allah made it flow for him for only three days. We may say that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) caused the eye of the rain to flow for him, and he could dispose of it as he wished. This implies that this provision was continuous, so wherever he wanted it, he found it, and this is the most likely view. It is not possible to limit it to three days except with evidence from the Shari'ah, either from the Book or from the Sunnah. There is no specification in the Book, nor in the Sunnah. It is better to take it at its apparent meaning. The author said: "And the people have continued to this day to work with what was given to Sulayman." What does "the people have continued to this day to work with what was given to Sulayman" mean? It means that the people's benefit from this copper and its melting until it becomes like water is the effect of Sulayman's work, meaning that the copper has been melting from the time of Sulayman until today. It has been said that the copper did not melt at all before, but in the era of Sulayman it melted, and then it continued to melt. "By the command of his Lord" for the sake of specification, and [the jinn are] a hidden, unseen world, concealed from the eyes. For this reason, the word "jinn" was used. The root of this word is the letter Jim and Nun, which indicate concealment. From this comes the word "junnah" (shield), which is the shield by which a person conceals himself, and "jannah" (garden) for a garden with many trees, because it conceals those within it, meaning it covers them. And "jannah" (Paradise) is also named for this reason. And the "janiyn" (fetus) is named so because it is concealed. So this root, Jim and Nun, all indicates secrecy and concealment. Therefore, the jinn are a hidden, unseen world; they are not apparent, but they may be seen. In this world, there are righteous ones among them, and there are others less so, and there are Muslims among them and disbelievers, as in Surat al-Jinn. They eat and drink, do they not? And they vomit and urinate, as came in the hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). These jinn may appear before people and be seen, either in their true forms, or in their secondary forms, or in the form of cats, or in the form of beasts, as came in the authentic hadith prohibiting the killing of the jinn that are in houses, because some of them may be from the jinn.