The mockers have just demanded their allotted share before the Day of Account. Revelation turns instead to the Messenger: اِصْبِرْ عَلٰى مَا يَقُولُونَ وَاذْكُرْ عَبْدَنَا دَاوُ۫دَ ذَا الْاَيْدِۚ اِنَّهُٓ اَوَّابٌ. Endure what they say, and remember Our servant David. The chiefs had told one another to persevere over their gods; God teaches His Messenger a different patience, sustained by worship and directed by truth. Elsewhere the command to endure hostile speech is joined to glorification before sunrise and sunset. Here that answer is embodied in David, whose world will soon resound with praise in the evening and the brightness of morning.

David is introduced first as عَبْدَنَا—“Our servant”—and then as ذَا الْاَيْدِ, the possessor of strength. The explanation follows immediately: اِنَّهُٓ اَوَّابٌ. He repeatedly returns to God in worship, remembrance, and repentance; this is strength in religion and devotion. Elsewhere David receives kingdom and wisdom after victory over Goliath, but here the first strength named is not military. Before the sūrah describes what he rules, it describes whom he serves.

By God’s command, the mountains glorify Him with David: اِنَّا سَخَّرْنَا الْجِبَالَ مَعَهُ. They glorify in the evening and when the morning sun shines brightly, and the birds are gathered into the same response: وَالطَّيْرَ مَحْشُورَةًۜ كُلٌّ لَهُٓ اَوَّابٌ. Mountains and birds repeatedly answer David’s glorification with praise of their own. Other passages recall this same company. Before the sūrah shows him judging human conflict, it shows creation harmonized around his praise.

Then come the royal gifts: وَشَدَدْنَا مُلْكَهُ وَاٰتَيْنَاهُ الْحِكْمَةَ وَفَصْلَ الْخِطَابِ. God strengthens David’s kingdom and gives him wisdom and the ability to settle disputes, distinguishing right from wrong. Here the judicial gift leads directly into a scene of judgment: the king who has been given discernment will hear a complaint and recognize that he himself has been tested.

The narrative enters David’s protected space before it presents the case: وَهَلْ اَتٰيكَ نَبَؤُ۬ا الْخَصْمِۢ اِذْ تَسَوَّرُوا الْمِحْرَابَۙ. Has the news of the disputants reached you? They climb the wall of his private chamber and enter unexpectedly, startling him. Here the sudden entrants reassure him and ask for judgment. The movement is from the peace of worship into an encounter whose significance David will come to recognize.

David declares the demand unjust and widens the case into a warning about partners: وَاِنَّ كَث۪يرًا مِنَ الْخُلَطَٓاءِ لَيَبْغ۪ي بَعْضُهُمْ عَلٰى بَعْضٍ. Many wrong one another, except those who believe and do righteous deeds—and how few they are. Shared property needs more than a shared interest; faith must become conduct that respects another’s right. Elsewhere the command to uphold justice expressly refuses to let either wealth or poverty displace the truth. The ninety-nine and the one differ greatly in number, but neither possession nor want determines what justice requires.

Within this judgment scene, David recognizes his own trial: وَظَنَّ دَاوُ۫دُ اَنَّمَا فَتَنَّاهُ فَاسْتَغْفَرَ رَبَّهُ وَخَرَّ رَاكِعًا وَاَنَابَ. He has fallen short of the conduct best fitting his high station. He seeks his Lord’s forgiveness, falls in prostration, and returns to Him. The earlier praise of his repeated return is now embodied in repentance. David’s honor does not prevent his bowing before God; his return is part of the strength for which he is praised. Elsewhere those who remember God and seek forgiveness are distinguished by their refusal to persist knowingly in wrongdoing.

God’s answer is forgiveness: فَغَفَرْنَا لَهُ ذٰلِكَۜ. Then comes an assurance beyond the pardon itself: وَاِنَّ لَهُ عِنْدَنَا لَزُلْفٰى وَحُسْنَ مَاٰبٍ. David has nearness with God and a good final return in the Garden. Repentance has not ended in estrangement. The narrative affirms his place with God before addressing his responsibility to judge among people. Elsewhere the Messenger is likewise commanded to judge by what God has shown him and to seek God’s forgiveness. Judicial authority and dependence on divine pardon stand together.

The dispute opens into a statement of David’s public office: يَا دَاوُ۫دُ اِنَّا جَعَلْنَاكَ خَل۪يفَةً فِي الْاَرْضِ فَاحْكُمْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ بِالْحَقِّ. “We made you” precedes “judge.” God has appointed him to rule, and that appointment requires judgment in truth. The prohibition follows: وَلَا تَتَّبِعِ الْهَوٰى فَيُضِلَّكَ عَنْ سَب۪يلِ اللّٰهِ. Personal inclination must not replace the right that God has made known. Elsewhere justice is required even against oneself and one’s relatives, and judgment by revelation is joined to refusal of competing desires. The ruler’s authority does not place his preference above the truth he is appointed to uphold.

The warning against straying from God’s path ends with the Day of Account: بِمَا نَسُوا يَوْمَ الْحِسَابِ۟. Those who disregard that Day expose themselves to severe punishment. For a ruler, remembering it means exercising judgment in the knowledge that he too will answer to God. The opening rejecters had mocked the Day and demanded their portion before it; David is commanded to rule with its reality in view. The present seat of judgment is not the final one.

The passage now expands from one court to the entire created order: وَمَا خَلَقْنَا السَّمَٓاءَ وَالْاَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا بَاطِلًا. Heaven, earth, and what lies between them were not made without purpose. The Day of Account belongs to that purposeful creation: God does not leave human lives without return or reckoning. Elsewhere people of understanding contemplate the heavens and earth, confess that God did not create them in vain, and ask to be guarded from the Fire. Their reflection leads from the world before their eyes to the final meeting beyond it.

The next questions make the consequence explicit: اَمْ نَجْعَلُ الَّذ۪ينَ اٰمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ كَالْمُفْسِد۪ينَ فِي الْاَرْضِۘ اَمْ نَجْعَلُ الْمُتَّق۪ينَ كَالْفُجَّارِ. Will God treat those who believe and do righteous deeds like corrupters in the earth, or the God-conscious like the wicked who reject Him? The faith and righteous conduct that distinguished the just partners now stand within the promise of final justice. Present prosperity does not settle the outcome of either life. Another verse likewise rejects the assumption that those who do evil will be treated like those who believe and act righteously. God’s judgment preserves the distinction that earthly circumstances can obscure.

At the center of the two royal narratives stands the Book: كِتَابٌ اَنْزَلْنَاهُ اِلَيْكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِيَدَّبَّرُٓوا اٰيَاتِه۪ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ اُو۬لُوا الْاَلْبَابِ. It is blessed, rich in benefit, and sent down so that its verses may be pondered and people of understanding may take heed. Pondering gives sustained attention to what the Book says and what follows from it; taking heed brings that understanding to bear on life. The question elsewhere—will they not ponder the Qur’an, or are there locks upon hearts?—makes clear that such attention requires a receptive heart.

Solomon enters first not as king but as gift: وَوَهَبْنَا لِدَاوُ۫دَ سُلَيْمٰنَۜ. God bestowed him upon David. Then comes the praise that precedes the description of his dominion: نِعْمَ الْعَبْدُۜ اِنَّهُٓ اَوَّابٌۜ. An excellent servant, repeatedly returning. The opening chiefs had been asked whether they possessed the treasuries of the Lord’s mercy. Now the sūrah displays gifts from those treasuries: David receives Solomon, and Solomon will receive an extraordinary kingdom. Elsewhere envy of God’s gifts is answered by recalling the Book, wisdom, and great kingdom given to Abraham’s family. Here the recipient’s excellence is already named in his devotion to the Giver.

The evening returns: اِذْ عُرِضَ عَلَيْهِ بِالْعَشِيِّ الصَّافِنَاتُ الْجِيَادُۙ. David’s evening had been filled with glorification; Solomon’s is occupied with the inspection of poised, swift horses. These are valuable horses kept for service in God’s cause, yet their inspection absorbs him until the sun has disappeared: حَتّٰى تَوَارَتْ بِالْحِجَابِ۠. He recognizes that his love of these horses has distracted him from remembrance of his Lord until the time of prayer has passed. This is not deliberate abandonment of prayer: one worthy occupation has distracted him from another. Elsewhere the Qur’an praises those whom trade does not distract from remembrance and warns believers not to let wealth or children do so. Even legitimate responsibilities require care for what they may crowd out.

Solomon orders the horses brought back: رُدُّوهَا عَلَيَّۜ. Then فَطَفِقَ مَسْحًا بِالسُّوقِ وَالْاَعْنَاقِ—he begins striking their legs and necks, sacrificing them to God. This is a lawful offering under his religious law, not the wasteful destruction of animals blamed for his distraction. He gives up the horses through an act of devotion to the Lord whose remembrance they had interrupted. Elsewhere fine horses are among the attractions of worldly life, and that enumeration ends by locating the good return with God. The account of Solomon will end with the same good return.

The passage then names another trial: وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا سُلَيْمٰنَ وَاَلْقَيْنَا عَلٰى كُرْسِيِّه۪ جَسَدًا ثُمَّ اَنَابَ. Solomon is tested, and a body is placed upon his throne. The account leaves the details of the trial unstated but makes his response clear: ثُمَّ اَنَابَ—then he returned to God. Like David before him, he meets the trial by turning to his Lord and seeking forgiveness.

Solomon’s prayer begins where David’s response began: قَالَ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ ل۪ي. My Lord, forgive me. He then asks for a kingdom unlike that of anyone after him: وَهَبْ ل۪ي مُلْكًا لَا يَنْبَغ۪ي لِاَحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْد۪يۚ. The request for exceptional dominion is made as a prayer for a gift, with forgiveness placed first. Both requests rest on the name with which he closes: اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ. God is the Bestower of pardon as well as kingdom. The name answers the opening challenge about the treasuries of mercy; elsewhere it belongs to a prayer for mercy, while God’s gift of sovereignty is likewise affirmed. Solomon’s return does not make him cease asking. It brings his need and his great request before the One who gives.

God answers through another act of subjection: فَسَخَّرْنَا لَهُ الرّ۪يحَ. The mountains were subjected with David; the wind is subjected to Solomon. It runs gently by his command wherever he intends, while devils serve as builders and divers, and other rebellious ones are bound together in fetters. Solomon commands because God has subjected these powers to him. Other passages recall the wind and the diving devils, and affirm that their service remains beneath God’s knowledge and permission. The extraordinary kingdom for which he prayed is given concrete form.

The gift is named at its source: هٰذَا عَطَٓاؤُ۬نَا—this is Our gift. Solomon is granted real discretion: فَامْنُنْ اَوْ اَمْسِكْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ. He may give or withhold from what God has entrusted to him without being called to account for either choice. This is a particular freedom granted in the use of these gifts. David’s command to judge in truth remains beside it: justice is required, while Solomon is given wide discretion in bestowal. The opening chiefs presumed to decide whom God might favor; Solomon receives his authority to give from God Himself.

Solomon’s narrative closes with the same assurance as David’s: وَاِنَّ لَهُ عِنْدَنَا لَزُلْفٰى وَحُسْنَ مَاٰبٍ۟. Solomon has nearness with God and a good return in the Garden. His great worldly kingdom has not diminished his place with God. Elsewhere the attractions of worldly life are followed by the declaration that with God is the good return; here that return is expressly promised to the servant who received such abundance. David and Solomon are both named as repeatedly returning servants, and both receive this assurance. Before the sūrah opens the Garden’s doors in the next movement, it has already named the final home of these two kings.