Surah Sad >> Currently viewing Surah Sad Ayat 17 (38:17)

Surah Sad Ayat 17 in Arabic Text

ٱصۡبِرۡ عَلَىٰ مَا يَقُولُونَ وَٱذۡكُرۡ عَبۡدَنَا دَاوُۥدَ ذَا ٱلۡأَيۡدِۖ إِنَّهُۥٓ أَوَّابٌ
Isbir ‘alaa maa yaqooloona wazkur ‘abdanaa Daawooda zal aidi innahooo awwaab

English Translation

Here you can read various translations of verse 17

Sahih International
Be patient over what they say and remember Our servant, David, the possessor of strength; indeed, he was one who repeatedly turned back [to Allah].

Yusuf Ali
Have patience at what they say, and remember our servant David, the man of strength: for he ever turned (to Allah).

Abul Ala Maududi
(O Prophet), bear with patience what they say, and call to mind Our servant David, who was endowed with great strength and who constantly turned (to Allah).

Muhsin Khan
Be patient (O Muhammad SAW) of what they say, and remember Our slave Dawud (David), endued with power. Verily, he was ever oft-returning in all matters and in repentance (toward Allah).

Pickthall
Bear with what they say, and remember Our bondman David, lord of might, Lo! he was ever turning in repentance (toward Allah).

Dr. Ghali
(Endure) patiently what they say; and remember Our bondman Dawû‍d (David) (a man) possessing prowess (Literally: hands). Surely he was a constant resorter (to Allah).

Abdel Haleem
Bear their words patiently [Prophet]. Remember Our servant David, a man of strength who always turned to Us:

Muhammad Junagarhi
آپ ان کی باتوں پر صبر کریں اور ہمارے بندے داؤد (علیہ السلام) کو یاد کریں جو بڑی قوت واﻻ تھا، یقیناً وه بہت رجوع کرنے واﻻ تھا

Quran 38 Verse 17 Explanation

For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Sad ayat 17, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.

Ala-Maududi

(38:17) (O Prophet), bear with patience what they say,[16] and call to mind Our servant David,[17] who was endowed with great strength[18] and who constantly turned (to Allah).


16. The allusion is to the absurd conversation of the disbelievers of Makkah, as narrated above, to the effect that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was a sorcerer and a liar, and to their objection whether he was the only fit person in the sight of Allah to be appointed as a Messenger, and to their some accusation that he had vested interest in preaching the doctrine of Tauhid to the people and not any religious mission.

17. “Remember Our servant David”. It would mean: There is a lesson in this story for these people. Or it would mean: The remembrance of this story will help you too, to have patience. As the narrative is meant to serve both purposes, comprehensive words have been used as contain both meanings. For the story of the prophet David (peace be upon him), see (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 251); (Surah Bani-Israil, Ayat 55); (Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayat 78-81); (Surah An-Naml, Ayat 15) and the E.Ns thereof, and (Surah Saba, ayat 10-11) note 14-16.

18. The words in the original are: dhal-ayd (possessor of the hands). The word “hand” is used metaphorically for strength and power not only in Arabic but in other languages also. When as an attribute of the Prophet David (peace be upon him) it is said that he was a “possessor of the hands”, it will necessarily mean that he possessed great powers. These powers may mean the physical strength which he displayed during his combat against Goliath, military and political power by which he crushed the neighboring idolatrous nations and established a strong Islamic empire, moral strength by which he ruled like a poor king and always feared Allah and observed the bounds set by Him, and the power of worship by virtue of which, besides his occupations in connection with rule and government and fighting in the cause of Allah, he fasted every alternate day and spent a third of the night in worship according to a tradition of Bukhari. Imam Bukhari in his History has related, on the authority of Abu- Darda, that whenever the Prophet David (peace be upon him) was mentioned, the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to say: He was the greatest worshiper of God.

Ibn-Kathir

17.And remember Our slave Dawud, endued with Al-Ayd. Verily, he was ever oft-returning in all matters and in repentance. 18. Verily, We made the mountains to glorify Our praises with him in the `Ashi and Ishraq. 19. And (so did) the birds assembled, all obedient to him. 20. We made his kingdom strong and gave him Al-Hikmah and sound judgement in speech and decision


Allah tells us that His servant and Messenger Dawud, peace be upon him, was endued with power

Al-Ayd means strength in knowledge and action. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd said, “Al-Ayd means strength.” Mujahid said, “Al-Ayd means strength in obedience to Allah.” Qatadah said, “Dawud, peace be upon him, was given strength in worship and the proper understanding of Islam.” He told us that he, peace be upon him, used to spend a third of the night in prayer, and he fasted for half a lifetime. This was reported in the Two Sahihs, where it is recorded that the Messenger of Allah said:

«أَحَبُّ الصَّلَاةِ إِلَى اللهِ تَعَالَى صَلَاةُ دَاوُدَ، وَأَحَبُّ الصِّيَامِ إِلَى اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ صِيَامُ دَاوُدَ، كَانَ يَنَامُ نِصْفَ اللَّيْلِ، وَيَقُومُ ثُلُثَهُ، وَيَنَامُ سُدُسَهُ، وَكَانَ يَصُومُ يَوْمًا وَيُفْطِرُ يَوْمًا، وَلَا يَفِرُّ إِذَا لَاقَى، وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ أَوَّابًا»

(The most beloved of prayer to Allah is the prayer of Dawud, and the most beloved of fasting to Allah is the fasting of Dawud. He used to sleep for half of the night, stand in prayer for a third of the night, then sleep for a sixth of the night, and he used to fast alternate days. He never fled from the battlefield, and he always turned to Allah.) which means that he turned to Allah with regard to all of his affairs.

﴿إِنَّا سَخَّرْنَا الجِبَالَ مَعَهُ يُسَبِّحْنَ بِالْعَشِىِّ وَالإِشْرَاقِ ﴾

(Verily, We made the mountains to glorify Our praises with him in the `Ashi and Ishraq. ) means, Allah caused the mountains to glorify His praises with him at sunrise and at the end of the day. This is like the Ayah:

﴿يَجِبَالُ أَوِّبِى مَعَهُ وَالطَّيْرَ﴾

(O you mountains. Glorify (Allah) with him! And you birds (also)!) (34:10). The birds also used to glorify Allah’s praises with him. If a bird flew by him and heard him chanting the Zabur, it would not go away; instead it would stay hovering in the air, glorifying Allah along with him. And the lofty mountains would respond to him and echo his glorification of Allah. Ibn Jarir recorded from `Abdullah bin Al-Harith bin Nawfal that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, did not pray Ad-Duha. ﴿`Abdullah said:﴾ “So I took him to Umm Hani, may Allah be pleased with her, and said to her, `Tell him what you told me.’ She said, `The Messenger of Allah entered my house on the day of the conquest of Makkah. He called for water to be poured into a large bowl, then he called for a garment which he used as a screen between me and him, and he washed himself. Then he sprinkled water around the house and prayed eight Rak`ahs. This was Ad-Duha, and its standing, bowing, prostration and sitting were all equal in brevity.’ Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, left, saying, `I have read the Qur’an from cover to cover, and I never knew about Salat Ad-Duha until now!’ Then he recited:

﴿يُسَبِّحْنَ بِالْعَشِىِّ وَالإِشْرَاقِ﴾

(glorify Our praises with him in the `Ashi and Ishraq.) I used to say, “What is Salat Al-Ishraq, but now I know what it is.”

﴿وَالطَّيْرَ مَحْشُورَةً﴾

(And (so did) the birds assembled,) meaning, hovering in the air.

﴿كُلٌّ لَّهُ أَوَّابٌ﴾

(all obedient to him.) means, they obeyed him and followed him in glorifying Allah. Sa`id bin Jubayr, Qatadah and Malik said, narrating from Zayd bin Aslam and Ibn Zayd:

﴿كُلٌّ لَّهُ أَوَّابٌ﴾

(all obedient to him.) means, “Following his commands.”

﴿وَشَدَدْنَا مُلْكَهُ﴾

(We made his kingdom strong) means, `We gave him complete dominion with all that kings need.’ Ibn Abi Najih reported that Mujahid said, “He was the strongest and most powerful of the people of this world.”

﴿وَءَاتَيْنَـهُ الْحِكْمَةَ﴾

(and gave him Al-Hikmah) Mujahid said, “This means understanding, reason and intelligence.” Qatadah said, “The Book of Allah and following what is in it.” As-Suddi said:

﴿الْحِكْمَةَ﴾

(Al-Hikmah) “Prophethood.”

﴿وَفَصْلَ الْخِطَابِ﴾

(and sound judgement) Shurayh Al-Qadi and Ash-Sha`bi said, “Sound judgement is testimony and oaths.” Qatadah said, “Two witnesses for the plaintiff or an oath on the part of the defendant is meaning of sound judgement.” This is the sound judgement which the Prophets and Messengers judged and the believers and righteous accepted. This is the basis of this Ummah’s judicial system until the Day of Resurrection. This was the view of Abu `Abdur-Rahman As-Sulami. Mujahid and As-Suddi said, “It means passing the right judgement and understanding the case.” Mujahid also said, “It is soundness in speech and in judgement, and this includes all of the above.” This is what is meant, and this is the view favored by Ibn Jarir.

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surah sad ayat 17
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