Transliteration:( Falammaa qadainaa 'alaihil mawta ma dallahum 'alaa mawtiheee illaa daaabbatul ardi taakulu minsa atahoo falammaa kharra tabaiyanatil jinnu al law kaanoo ya'lamoonal ghaiba maa labisoo fil 'azaabil muheen )
"Then when We decreed [46] death for him (Sulaiman), We did not inform the jinns about his death, except the [47] termites of the earth that used to eat his staff. So when he came down on earth, the reality was known by the jinns. If they had known the unseen [48], they would not have been in this degrading [49] punishment."
According to classical commentators, Hazrat Sulaiman (A.S.) passed away while the construction of Bayt al-Muqaddas was still in progress. Sensing the end of his life near, he made du‘a to Allah to allow the mosque’s construction to continue uninterrupted. Allah accepted his plea, and he stood in prayer, leaning on his staff, while his soul was taken.
He remained in this position for an entire year, and the jinn—fearing his presence—continued to labor. They believed he was still alive because it was not unusual for Sulaiman (A.S.) to remain long in worship. Eventually, termites gnawed through his staff, causing his body to fall, thus revealing the truth of his death.
This event demonstrates that the bodies of Prophets remain preserved after death. The termites consumed the wood, but not the blessed body of the Prophet—a divine sign of honor.
The year-long delay in burial was not disrespectful but served a religious purpose—the completion of the sacred mosque. Similarly, the burial of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was delayed due to the issue of Khilāfah, which was likewise permissible and justified. This verse supports the lawfulness of delayed burial of Prophets under exceptional circumstances.
This incident exposed the jinn's false claim to knowledge of the unseen. Had they possessed such knowledge, they would have known that Sulaiman (A.S.) had died and would not have continued working. This verse refutes any belief in the supernatural omniscience of jinns and reinforces that only Allah knows the unseen.
To the jinn, construction work was not honorable—it was degrading punishment. Allah refers to their laborious efforts as a form of chastisement, especially since they performed it in ignorance of Sulaiman’s (A.S.) death.
Two lessons arise from this:
Employing Non-Believers in Mosque Construction: It is permitted to employ non-believers, such as architects or laborers, for mosque construction, as shown by the use of jinn in building Bayt al-Muqaddas.
Reward Reserved for Believers: Though non-believers may contribute physically, the spiritual rewards and blessings of mosques are reserved for believers. As Allah says, "Only those who believe in Allah inhabit His mosques." (Surah At-Tawbah, 9:18)
14. Then when We decreed death for him, nothing informed them (Jinn) of his death except a little worm of the earth which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his stick. So when he fell down, the Jinn saw clearly that if they had known the Unseen, they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment.
Allah tells us how Sulayman, peace be upon him, died and how Allah concealed his death from the Jinn who were subjugated to him to do hard labor. He remained leaning on his stick, which was his staff, as Ibn `Abbas may Allah be pleased with him, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah and others said. He stayed like that for a long time, nearly a year. When a creature of the earth, which was a kind of worm, ate through the stick, it became weak and fell to the ground. Then it became apparent that he had died a long time before. It also became clear to Jinn and men alike that the Jinn do not know the Unseen as they (the Jinn) used to imagine and tried to deceive people. This is what Allah says:
(nothing informed them (Jinn) of his death except a little worm of the earth which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his stick. So when he fell down, the Jinn saw clearly that if they had known the Unseen, they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment.) meaning, it became clear to the people that they (the Jinn) were lying.
(34:14) When We executed Our decree of death on Solomon, nothing indicated to the jinn that he was dead except a worm eating away his staff. So when Solomon fell down, the jinn realised[23] that had they known what lies in the realm beyond perception, they would not have continued to be in this humiliating chastisement.[24]
23. Another meaning of the sentence can be: “The true state and condition of the jinns became clear and exposed. “According to the first meaning, it will mean: “The jinns realized that their claim to have the knowledge of the unseen was wrong.” According to the second, it will mean: “The people who thought that the jinns possessed the knowledge of the unseen, came to know that they had no such knowledge.”
24. Some modern commentators have interpreted it as follows: As the Prophet Solomon’s (peace be upon him) son, Rehoboam, was unworthy and given to luxurious living and surrounded by flatterers, he could not sustain the heavy burden of responsibility that fell on his shoulders after the death of his great father. A short time after his succession, the kingdom collapsed, and the frontier tribes (i.e. of the jinns), whom the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) had subdued by his mighty power, rebelled and broke away. But this interpretation does not at all conform to the words of the Quran. The scene depicted by the words of the Quran is somewhat like this: Death came to the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) in a state when he was standing or sitting with the support of a staff. His body stood in place due to the staff, and the jinns continued to perform their duties and services, thinking that he was living. At last, when the wood louse started eating away the staff and it became hollow from within, the Prophet Solomon’s (peace be upon him) body fell down; then the jinns realized that he had died. After all, why should this clear and unambiguous description of the event be construed to mean that the wood louse implied the unworthiness of the Prophet Solomon’s son, and the staff implied his power and authority and the falling down of his body implied the disintegration of his kingdom? Had Allah meant to say all this, there was no shortage of the words in the vast Arabic language. The Quran, in fact, has nowhere used such enigmatic language. How could the common Arabs, who were its first addressees, have solved this riddle?
Then, the most absurd part of this interpretation is that according to it the jinns imply the people of the frontier tribes whom the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) had subdued to perform certain services under him. The question is, which of these tribes had claimed to have the knowledge of the unseen, and whom did the mushriks regard as the knower of the unseen? A person who reads the last words of the verse with open eyes can himself see that jinn here necessarily implies a group of beings who either had themselves made a claim to have the knowledge of the unseen, or who, the people believed, had the knowledge of the unseen; and the secret of this group’s being ignorant and unaware of the unseen became disclosed when they continued to serve the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) under the impression that he was living, whereas he had died. This statement of the Quran was enough to induce an honest person to revise his this opinion that the jinn imply the frontier tribes, but the people who feel shy of admitting the existence of the hidden creation called the jinn before the materialistic world still insist on this interpretation of theirs in spite of the plain meaning of the Quran.
At several places in the Quran Allah tells that the mushriks of Arabia regarded the jinns as the associates of Allah, and as His children, and used to seek their refuge:
“They set up the jinns as partners with Allah. whereas He has created them.” (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 100). “And they have invented a blood-relationship between Allah and the jinns.” (Surah As-Saffat, Ayat 158). “And that, some people from among the men used to seek refuge with some people from among the jinns.” (Surah Al-Jinn, Ayat 6).
One of their beliefs was that they regarded the jinns as the knower of the unseen and hidden. and used to turn to them to obtain knowledge of the hidden things. Allah has related this event here in order to repudiate this belief and to make the Arabs realize that they are following the false creeds of ignorance without any valid reason, whereas the fact is that these beliefs are absolutely baseless. For further explanation, see (Surah Saba, ayat 42) note 63 below.
[1222]- Upon which he was leaning at the time of his death. A termite continued to gnaw into the stick until it collapsed under his weight. [1223]- i.e., hard labor. This verse is evidence that the jinn do not possess knowledge of the unseen, which belongs exclusively to Allāh (subḥānahu wa taʿālā).
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