Allah the Exalted said: << Until when they came upon the valley of the ants, an ant said: O ants, enter your dwellings, lest Solomon and his soldiers crush you, while they are unaware.

...and the gathering for Solomon? We read it and take its benefits.
Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said: [Surat al-Naml: 18].
His saying: This is the limit of what preceded, which is His saying: [Surat al-Naml: 17 - 18]. Accordingly, there is an ellipsis in the speech, the meaning of which is: And they marched until when they came. So after the soldiers were gathered and distributed, their front was returned to their rear and they were organized, they marched.
[Surat al-Naml: 18] "They came" means: Solomon and his soldiers, meaning: they passed by.
His saying: [Surat al-Naml: 18] The apparent meaning of the speech is that this valley is known by this name, that it is called: The Valley of the Ants.
It is possible, but contrary to the apparent meaning, that this valley is a valley in which there are ants. Meaning: until when they came upon a valley in which there are ants, and it is not known by this name as the Valley of the Ants, but the preferred is to take the apparent wording, which is that this valley is known for the abundance of its ants, and that it is named by this name due to their abundance. The ant is known, and it is among the animals whose killing is forbidden, as in the Sunan: And among them it mentioned: .
Also in the Sahih, regarding one of the Prophets (peace and blessings be upon them), that an ant bit him, so he ordered the entire ant colony to be burned, so Allah rebuked him for that and said: Why not just one ant?
This ant is among the creatures that know their Lord and know what benefits them and what harms them, according to the guidance instilled in them. And Moses (peace be upon him) said to Pharaoh when he said: [Surat Ta-Ha: 49 - 50] He gave every thing its creation, meaning: the creation fitting for it. Every thing, whether animal or otherwise, has a creation fitting for it which Allah gave it, then He guided it to the guidance of this creation for what its interests require.
So these ants are among the creatures to which Allah Blessed and Exalted is He gave their creation and guided them, [Surat al-Naml: 18] "It is in Ta'if or in Sham" There is disagreement, and there is no evidence for Ta'if or for Sham, and the closest is that it is in Sham, and yet we do not assert it, because the residence of Solomon (peace and blessings be upon him) was in Sham, and even so we do not assert it.
Is specifying the place among the things that are necessary in the story?
No, because the intention is to take a lesson from what happened in whatever place on earth it was.
And he said: "Its ants are small or large" Also, we have no concern with this. Some say: Its ants are large, the ant is the size of a wolf, meaning: the ants became donkeys! This is not correct. Rather, the ant is the known ant in the language of the Arabs, and whoever interprets something of the Qur'an contrary to what the Arabic language requires, he must have evidence, otherwise it is refuted against him, because the meaning is a fundamental principle in the interpretation of the Qur'an, which is His saying the Exalted: [Surat al-Shu'ara: 195] So whoever claims that something of the Qur'an is contrary to this clear Arabic language, he must have evidence.
Accordingly, we say: The ant is the known ant, and as for the claim that they are large and the size of wolves, there is no evidence for that.
The student: .....?

The Shaykh : No, no, the known ant is this.
He said: This is the answer to "

a ant said

قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ

The queen of the ants, and she saw the soldiers of Solomon

O ants, enter your dwellings

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُوا مَسَاكِنَكُمْ ...

[Surat al-Naml: 18] to the end of it ".
He said: He says: "The queen of the ants, and she saw the soldiers of Solomon".
As for his saying: And she saw the soldiers of Solomon, this is clear. Allah knows best whether she saw him or sensed him. It may be a sensation without looking, and it may be looking. In any case, she perceived his nearness and the arrival of Solomon with his soldiers to them.
And His saying the Exalted: [Surat al-Naml: 18] "An ant" is indefinite, and the apparent speech of the commentator is that it is definite, because he said: "The queen of the ants" And this implies that the expression should be: The ant said. Meaning: The known ant, which is the queen. And since the expression was not his saying: The ant said, it indicates that the speaker is not necessarily the queen of the ants, but rather it is an ant from the ants. And this is not strange, for it is as if an army came upon a group of people and one of them saw it and shouted to them, or not? And it is not necessary that this shouter be the prince or the king.
Therefore, the correct is to keep the Qur'an on its apparent meaning, and that it is an ant from this ant, and it is not necessary that it be the queen, because in such situations, anyone from the existing group who feels fear shouts to them and warns them... I am the naked warner.
So: The correct is that we say: An ant from the ants said, and we do not specify it as the queen.
Good. "And she saw the soldiers of Solomon" Is it also necessary that the word "saw" be used, or is it permissible that it be a sensation...?
The student: .... If she saw....

The Shaykh : Yes. But does seeing necessarily mean perception by sight? Or is it also permissible by sensation and hearing? This is possible, and at that time we ask: Do ants have eyes?
The student: Yes. They have sensation, they have antennae.

The Shaykh : This also needs study in the science of biology. It is that she may have seen a saying that says: The ant, by the permission of Allah, when it is born, it secretes things on which the other ants walk by their scent. And this is something I witnessed with my own eyes. There was a carpet like this carpet, but large, the important thing is that it was of this type, and the ants were walking and coming to a corner and then returning. Meaning: they walk in a rectangle and come to the corner and return. All the ants are like this.
Meaning: they do not go ..... they take a shortcut, so I was amazed how they know ..., if it were on dirt, the one on the dirt would show the trace of the ant and some would walk with some, but this is not on dirt.
But after I read this about it, I knew that when it walks, it has a scent, and the rest of the ants walk on it, and this is among the signs of Allah the Exalted and Majestic, this is the meaning of His saying: [Surat Ta-Ha: 50].
In any case: What is required of us from this noble verse is that the ant perceived that by sight or otherwise.
He says: [Surat al-Naml: 18].
Look, this sentence included a call, a command, guidance, a warning, and a reprimand, and other things that we can perceive, if Allah wills, after speaking in detail.
[Surat al-Naml: 18] This is a call, and it has passed us many times that starting a sentence with a call, the purpose of it is to alert. Meaning: If you say: Do it, or O so-and-so, do it, the latter is greater and more eloquent, so this is to alert him.
Then her saying: [Surat al-Naml: 18] A distant call, started with an alert Because if she said: O ants. It might be hidden, because you see that when a person first speaks to you, the beginning of the sentence might be hidden. If he comes with something that alerts before entering the intended subject, nothing of the intended is lost for the person... nothing of the intended is lost for the listener. She said: O you ants, and did not say: O ants.
And also, the distant call indicates that she raised her voice for a sound that everyone heard .
And in her saying: This is a command, and the intended meaning is guidance. And in specifying the dwellings, which are the shelters, these are like the alarm whistles for people. When the alarm whistle is blown, where do they go? To the roofs? No. To the shelters. And she also guided them to their shelters .
And in it is also a reference to that these dwellings, as they are caves in which a person hides, are also fortresses by which a person guards [Surat al-Mursalat: 25 - 26].
And in her saying: The addition here is on the assumption of the lam or on the assumption of min?
The student: The lam, dwellings for you.

The Shaykh : Yes. On the assumption of the lam, not min or fi, because the addition is on the assumption of min if the added is of the same type as the added to, like an iron ring, and a wooden door. And it is on the assumption of fi if the added to is a circumstance for the added, as in His saying the Exalted: [Surat Saba: 33] Meaning: a scheme in the night.
And it is on the assumption of the lam, and that is the most common and most frequent, and here it is on the assumption of the lam. And the lam assumed by the addition here is for exclusivity or for ownership?
The student: For ownership, .....

The Shaykh : For us, it is for exclusivity, but for them, the ants, among themselves, the apparent is that it is for ownership, that each one of them knows her house and that no one enters upon her.
The student: What she owns.

The Shaykh : She owns it. If they know a sales contract, it may also include its delivery.
This is the warning. The point is the warning.
"

So that you not be crushed

لا يَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ

They will crush you " This sentence is like an explanation for the command in her saying: It is as if someone were to ask: Why? So that Sulayman does not crush you. The sentence is an explanation and a warning... an explanation and a warning. This is also part of its eloquence. She did not say: "Enter your dwellings, and that is enough." She specified the thing from which they are warned, which is: Sulayman will not crush you.
Then she came with this sentence that has a stronger impact. She did not say: "They will not trample you." She said: "They will not crush you." Which is more impactful?
The student: The latter.

The Shaykh : The latter is stronger, because trampling may entail breaking and destruction, or it may not. Also, trampling is gentle compared to the word "crushing."
Does the occasion require this, that the harsh expression be used? Yes, because the occasion is one of warning and urgency. If they do not do this quickly, they will be crushed. He said: "They will not crush you." And here she said: And she said: .
The expression "Enter" and "They will not crush you" with the letter mim, this is not used except for the rational being, because the non-rational is feminized: "Enter, O women, your dwellings, and they will not crush you." But she said: , and , treating them as if they were rational beings.
Or it can be said that "they" (hun) refers to some of them who are rational, just as they said that the dwellings are a possession for some of them and exclusive for us.
This expression indicates that the greatness of Sulayman is established in their minds, and it is so. And his saying: She did not say: "And his army," because what we understood from the Qur'an is that with him are three types of soldiers: humans, jinn, and birds. As mentioned before.
And his saying: This is an excuse for Sulayman and his soldiers that they did not intend to crush you, but without their awareness. Because, as you know, soldiers and a large, wide army, and these are small ants, it is possible that he crushes them without noticing. Then, it is the norm that such a large army cannot prevent some of them from stepping on others if they find an ant hole, for example.
So this is the meaning of her saying: [Al-Naml: 18].
Meaning, if someone were to ask: How is it that they are not aware? Are they walking without guidance? We say: No. They are walking with guidance, but it is well known that if we compare this great, wide army with the smallness of these ants, the norm is that they do not notice them.
So these eloquent, great sentences from this creature that is nothing in the eyes of people and is one of the smallest of creatures, what does this indicate to us? It indicates the greatness of the Creator, Glorified and Exalted is He, and that what is greater than these ant creatures is also greater than them in such matters, because He who gave this small creature this endowment and guided it with this guidance, the larger one is in greater need of guidance.