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Bismillah.
فَتَبَسَّمَ ضَاحِكًا مِّن قَوْلِهَا وَقَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَدْخِلْنِي بِرَحْمَتِكَ فِي عِبَادِكَ الصَّالِحِينَ
Whereat he smiled, amused at its words, and he said, ‘My Lord! Inspire me to give thanks for Your blessing with which You have blessed me and my parents, and that I may do righteous deeds which please You, and admit me, by Your mercy, among Your righteous servants.’
Sūrat al-Naml No. 27, Āyat 19
As was mentioned in a previous Quranic reflection, Prophet Sulaymān the son of Dāwūd ‘alayhimas-salām was one of the important prophets and the third monarch of the Banū Isrā’īl. The kingdom of the Banū Isrā’īl was formed after centuries of them living as twelve different tribes scattered across Palestine. The story of Tālūt being appointed as the first king by one of their prophets is mentioned in Sūrat al-Baqarah towards the end of the second juz’ of the Quran. Tālūt was the first king, succeeded by Dāwūd who was in turn succeeded by Sulaymān.
An outstanding miracle of Prophet Sulaymān is that he had the ability to understand the speech of animals and speak to them. As is clear from the stories of him with both the hoopoe and the ant found in Sūrat al-Naml, this was no ordinary ability! It was not the case that he simply understood something based on their external behaviour. Rather, he could clearly communicate with them and understand their thoughts. In verse 16 of Sūrat al-Naml he is quoted saying: We have been taught the speech of the birds. However, it is clear this was not just limited to birds but encompassed other animals too. Incidentally such was also the case with the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt (a). In one narration Imam al-Kāzim ‘alayhis-salām is seen speaking Chinese and then explains to a surprised observer: Indeed, the Imam knows the speech of birds, and the speech of every living being that Allah has created.
One beautiful lesson that can be taken from the story found in Sūrat al-Naml of Prophet Sulaymān (a) and the ant is how he mentions his parents. After hearing the words of the ant, he turns to Allah ‘azza wajall in supplication saying:
رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَالِدَيَّ
My Lord! Inspire me to give thanks for Your blessing with which You have blessed me and my parents (Q 27:19). He doesn’t just ask for the ability to recognize Allah’s right, but he goes further and asks for the ability to give thanks for it. From these words of Sulaymān and from the mention of righteous servants at the end of his prayer we can extract this undeniable point; having righteous parents who are favoured by Allah is a blessing. If someone’s parents are believers, this is a huge blessing that children must be thankful for.
Nothing in life is more valuable than faith. Parents who have introduced the correct faith to their children have done them a favour that they could never repay. This bond of faith that unites pious children with their parents is mentioned in the Quran and seen in the lives of contemporary scholars. For example, the late Imam Mūsā Sadr who was mentioned in a previous Quranic reflection was from a family of great scholars. His 33rd ancestor was Imam Mūsā al-Kāzim (a) and as far we know, every one of his forefathers was an outstanding pious scholar. His third grandfather was named Sayyid Sadr al-Dīn – not to be confused with Imam Musa Sadr’s own father who also had the same name. It is reported that Sayyid Sadr al-Din (the grandfather) wrote footnotes to an important book of Arabic grammar when he was only seven and reached the level of ijtihād when he was 13 years old! Before he was bāligh he was already a mujtahid.
We pray to Allah to bless our families and unite us in our faith and obedience to Him. We ask him to bless our forefathers especially if they were also believers who passed along the true creed of Islam to us.
Sources: Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, Sīreh-ye Payambarān dar Qur’ān (Tafsīr-e Mawdu’ī, vol. 7), Āyatullāh Mūsā Shubayrī Zanjānī, Jur’eh-ī az Daryā.