The Majestic Quran

27. An-Naml The Ant This chapter was revealed in the middle-Makkan period, either in the fifth or sixth year of the mission of the Prophet r . It charts part of the history of human spirituality by reference to five prophets: Moses , Solomon , David , Salih , and Lot . The opening verses describe the nature of divine revelation as being guidance and good news. The proof of this proposition: the story of Moses and how he received divine revelation on Mount Sinai. The story of Solomon – a prophet and king who successfully combined the two roles: worldly wealth and spiritual devotion – sets the scene for understanding divine mysteries. God gave him gifts, including the ability to communicate with various creatures – jinn, birds and even insects like the ant: see verses 17 to 19. The stories of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba abound with symbolism, and subtly weave together the realities of worldly life and spiritual realities. In some ways, it represents the story of the human soul’s spiritual awakening and eventual realisation of moral and spiritual truths. The story of the Hoopoe bird, and the transportation of the mighty throne of the Queen of Sheba thousands of miles in the twinkling of an eye express great truths. There is a certain spiritual truth underlying each one of them: The many sided, many layered truths which the Quran invariably brings out, sometimes explicitly, sometimes elliptically, often allegorically, but always with a definite bearing on some of the hidden depths and conflicts within our own human psyche (Asad).