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Al-Anbiyā’ 21:78

By TheQuran.com research team (original site, 2020–21) · last edited 1 Apr 2021

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The verses

21:78
وَدَاوُۥدَ وَسُلَيْمَٰنَ إِذْ يَحْكُمَانِ فِى ٱلْحَرْثِ إِذْ نَفَشَتْ فِيهِ غَنَمُ ٱلْقَوْمِ وَكُنَّا لِحُكْمِهِمْ شَٰهِدِينَ ٧٨
And David and Solomon, when they gave judgment concerning the field, when people's sheep had strayed and browsed therein by night; and We were witnesses to their judgment. — Marmaduke Pickthall
21:79
فَفَهَّمْنَٰهَا سُلَيْمَٰنَ ۚ وَكُلًّا ءَاتَيْنَا حُكْمًا وَعِلْمًا ۚ وَسَخَّرْنَا مَعَ دَاوُۥدَ ٱلْجِبَالَ يُسَبِّحْنَ وَٱلطَّيْرَ ۚ وَكُنَّا فَٰعِلِينَ ٧٩
And We made Solomon to understand (the case); and unto each of them We gave judgment and knowledge. And we subdued the hills and the birds to hymn (His) praise along with David. We were the doers (thereof). — Marmaduke Pickthall

The issue

The text deals with a judicial dispute that was arbitrated by David and Solomon. The cause of the dispute is not mentioned in the Qur’ānic text. Muslim exegetes state that the issue concerned sheep that had entered a planted land and ruined it. As a result, a dispute ensued between the owner of the land and the owner of the sheep, and they decided to ask David to arbitrate their case. David’s verdict was to confiscate the sheep and give them to the landowner as compensation for the damages. After the two men left David, the sheep owner went to Solomon and complained to him about the judgment. Solomon went to David and told him that the judgment was unfair; fairness would be giving the landowner compensation for his destroyed crop by receiving what the sheep beget and produce (e.g., wool) during one year. After that time the owner of the sheep would get his sheep back. Solomon was eleven years old at that time.

The source of this story is indeterminate; it may be a variation of an Old Testament parable (2 Samuel 12.1-14), which Muhammad might have heard, or simply the result of modifications made by the author of the Qur’ān to the original story. It is noteworthy in this story that the Qur’ān makes David appear as a simpleton. As a person of high stature (king and prophet), David could not have imagined to have given such a silly judgment by deciding to compensate for a temporary loss by destroying the economic source of the sheep owner through the confiscation of all his sheep. In addition, having David’s child provide a vastly superior judgment not only seems implausible but also adds to the notion of a dim-witted David.

Arabic text of this item

يتحدث النص عن نزاع قضائي، وهذه القضية حكم فيها داود وسليمان، وسبب المشكلة غير مذكور في النص القرآني. وبالرجوع للمفسرين نجد أن القضية تتعلق بغنم دخلت إلى أرض مزروعة فخربت الزرع. وعلى إثر ذلك نشب خلاف بين صاحب الزرع وصاحب الغنم، فقررا الاحتكام لداود، الذي قضى أن يصادر كل الغنم لصالح صاحب الأرض تعويضاً عن الأضرار، فلما خرجا، ذهب صاحب الغنم واشتكى الحكم لسليمان، فجاء سليمان إلى داود وقال إن الحكم جائر وإن الانصاف أن يستفيد صاحب الأرض عوضاً عن زرعه المخرب من هذا الغنم مما تدر وتنسل وتنتج من صوف خلال سنة، وبعد ذلك يرجع لصاحب الغنم غنمه. وكان عمر سليمان وقتها إحدى عشرة سنة.

ليس لدينا ما يساعد على معرفة مصدر هذه القصة وهل كانت قصة محرفة لما ورد في التوراة، وسمع بها محمد، أم أنها نتاج تعديل ناظم القرآن على القصة الأصلية. ولكن ما يلفت النظر في هذه القصة هو جعل القرآن داود شخصية ساذجة، فشخصية بحجم داود النبي والملك لا يتصور أن يصدر عنه حكم ساذج حينما يقرر أن يعوض عن خسارة مؤقتة بتدمير المصدر الاقتصادي لصاحب الغنم بمصادرة كل أغنامه، ليأتي ابنه وله من العمر إحدى عشرة سنة ليقوِّم من قضائه.

Sources cited

  1. al-Ţabarī, Tafsīr 16: 320-328; al-Rāzī, Tafsīr 22: 195.
  2. al-Zamakhsharī 4: 157.
  1. الطبري، تفسير 16: 320-321.
  2. الرازي، تفسير 22: 195.
  3. الطبري، تفسير 16: 322-328.
  4. الزمخشري، الكشاف 4: 157.
  5. سفر صموئيل الثاني الإصحاح الثاني عشر.

This item merges 2 entries of the original site that carried the same text across the passage (old ids 190, 191; the old ids redirect here).