Sūrah An-Naml The Ant
النمل
93 verses, Makkī. Contains Sulaymān's ﷺ kingdoms and his armies of humans, jinn, and birds. The hoopoe (hudhud) and the Queen of Sheba (Bilqīs). The ant whose warning was heard by Sulaymān ﷺ hence the surah's name. Also contains the only occurrence of Bismillāh inside a surah (in Sulaymān's letter to Bilqīs).
Surah Overview
Key Themes from Ibn Kathīr
The ant (27:18–19): "Until when they came upon the valley of ants, an ant said: 'O ants, enter your dwellings so that Sulaymān and his soldiers do not crush you while they perceive not.'" Sulaymān ﷺ smiled at her speech and made duʿāʾ: "My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favour which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to do righteousness of which You approve and admit me by Your mercy into the ranks of Your righteous servants." Ibn Kathīr: Sulaymān's response to power and ability was gratitude and humility.
The throne of Bilqīs (27:38–40): Sulaymān ﷺ asked: who will bring me her throne before they come submitting? One who had knowledge from the Book said: "I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you." It was there before the blink of an eye. Ibn Kathīr: the one who brought it was a man who had knowledge of the Greatest Name of Allah.
- Sulaymān's armies (27:17): Gathered for him were his soldiers of jinn, men, and birds and they were set in order. Ibn Kathīr: Sulaymān ﷺ had been granted unique dominion authority over jinn and birds in addition to humans as a specific blessing from Allah not given to any other prophet.
- Bilqīs's wisdom (27:34): "Indeed kings, when they enter a city, ruin it and make the most honoured of its people the most humbled and thus do they do." Ibn Kathīr: her political astuteness was recognised she understood that conquest corrupts. Her response was to test with a gift rather than confront with armies.
- The nine signs of Thamūd (27:48): Nine men in the city who caused corruption and did not set things right. They planned to kill Ṣāliḥ ﷺ and his family by night but the punishment reached them before morning.
- The signs of the Hour (27:82): "And when the word befalls them, We will bring forth for them a creature from the earth speaking to them, that the people were not certain of Our signs." The Dābbah one of the major signs before the Hour is mentioned here.
- "Your Lord does what He wills" (27:56): Lūṭ's people asked to expel his family the answer of the believing few was: "Expel the family of Lūṭ from your city indeed they are people who keep themselves pure." Ibn Kathīr: evil communities define purity as a disqualification, not a virtue.