Notes on Quran - Sura 38

Sura 38 - Sad

This sura was another reminder of what awaits believers and unbelievers. It defends Muhammad from those who claim he has invented lies and reminds us of David, Solomon, Job, and others mentioned previously. The rebellion of Iblis in not bowing to man is mentioned again as well.

The story of David here includes talk of 99 ewes and a mentioning of lust. See here.

23. This man here is my brother. He has ninety and nine ewes while I have only one. He demands that I should give him my ewe, and wants to get the better of me in argument." 24. (David) said: "He is unjust in demanding your ewe to add to his (many) ewes. Many partners are surely -- unjust to one another, except those who believe and do the right; but there are only a few of them." It occurred to David that he was being tried by Us, and he begged his Lord to forgive him, and fell down in homage and repented. 25. So We forgave him. He has surely a high rank with Us and an excellent place of return. 26. "O David, We have made you trustee on the earth. So judge between men equitably, and do not follow your lust lest it should lead you astray from the way of God. Surely for those who go astray from the way of God, is severe punishment, for having forgotten the Day of Reckoning.



This reminded me of the Bible when David's lust took over, he committed adultery and then when the woman informed David that she was pregnant, he conspired to kill the woman's husband. That explains the "lust" part, but where does the ewe come into play? I never thought you'd ask! :)

II Samuel 12 reports:

¹ The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."

⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity."

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.'

¹¹ "This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. ¹² You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.' "

¹³ Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD."
Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. ¹⁴ But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die."

Concerning Solomon, the Quran records his love of horses.

32. He said: "The love of horses is worthy of desire to me for the remembrance of my Lord;" and when they were out of sight, (he said): 33. "Bring them back to me," and he began to rub and stroke their shanks and necks.

The king was not allowed to acquire great numbers of horses according to the Mosaic Law. See this from Deuteronomy 17

¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, "You are not to go back that way again."

Yet

I Kings 4

²⁶ Solomon had four thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve thousand horses.

²⁷ The district officers, each in his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who came to the king's table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking. ²⁸ They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.

I liked reading a bit of Job's story in this sura though it lacks much of the details of the biblical book with Job's name.

I enjoy reading the quranic chapters that mention people familiar to me since I know some of their stories already!