16 Preface وَوَرِثَ سُلَيمانُ داوودَ ۖ وَقالَ يا أَيُّهَا النّاسُ عُلِّمنا مَنطِقَ الطَّيرِ وَأوتينا مِن كُلِّ شَيءٍ ۖ إِنَّ هٰذا لَهُوَ الفَضلُ المُبينُAhmed AliSolomon was heir to David, and he said: “O people, we have been taught the language of Tair,1 and have been given of everything. This is a clear favour indeed.” Since words having more than one meaning, like naml, hud-hud and tair have been used metonymically to stand for something quite different from what they generally mean, they have not been translated but retained in Arabic. Naml for instance, means ants, but was also the name of a tribe in Syria, and Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir identifies namlat, the lady of Naml, as belonging to the tribe of Banu Shisan. Similarly, hud-hud means hoopoe, but was also the name of a South Yemen tribe, and men were often named after their tribes as well as birds. Tair is commonly used for birds, but is also applied to winged beings, yet tayyar menas fleet-footed horse, and at-tairan is metaphorically used for marching impetuously to jihad. For some other meanings of tair see notes at 3:49 and 38:18- 19. When king Solomon says that they had been taught language of tair, he uses the word mantiq which us used for human speech, and man alone of all created beings is called haivani-natiq, speaking animal, the language of birds being balled saut. The intention behind the use of tair, as og jinn, cannot be disregarded, and is further discussed in the note to verse 38:19, the Surah Sad, like Sheba, Sirah 34, being largely parabolical in style and narration. Knowledge of the language of tair implies that Tair were a conquered tribe or race and David and Solomon had knowledge of their language. Similarly jinns implies nomadic tribes many of whom were recruited by the king of Tyre for Solomon: Bible, Kings 1,5. If taken as ‘knowledge of the language of birds,’ it would belong to the realm of ‘Faerie.’ But the Qur’an is speaking metonymically, using the name of one thing for another related to it. The role of Hud-hud in this Surah is significant, and could not have been performed by a bird. In fact, it is known that the name of a prince of Midian in the days of king Solomon himself was Hud-hud; and according to Arab traditions the name of the Queen’s brother or father was also Hud-hud. (See Ard al-Qur’an by Saiyyad Sulaiman Nadvi, Dar al-Musannifin, Azamgarh). It was by the hand of Hud-hud that the letter demanding the Queens surrender was sent by Solomon; and it was Hud-hud who brought her throne, he alone having possessed knowledge of the letter, which verse 40 of this Surah mentions. At the same time, the metaphorical meaning of ‘throne’ (power, kingship) should be noted, as also the fact of the Queen’s utter confusion on entering the court whose floor seemed a sheet of water to her eyes bewildered by the greatness and glory of Solomon and the splendour of his court.