An-Naml
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النمل An-Naml The Ant |
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Arabic text · English translation |
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| Classification | Meccan |
| Number of Rukus | 7 |
| Number of verses | 93 |
| Number of Sajdahs | 1 (verse 25) |
Arabic text · English translation
Sūrat an-Naml (Arabic: سورة النمل, "The Ant, The Ants") is the 27th sura of the Qur'an with 93 ayat.
Sura 27 tells stories of the prophets Moses, Solomon, Salih, and Lot to emphasize the message of tawhid in Jewish and Arabian prophets. The surah mentions the phrase “bismillah Arahman Arahem” twice. The miracles of Moses, described in the Book of Exodus, are mentioned in opposition to the arrogance and kufr of Pharaoh. The story of Solomon is most detailed: Solomon converted Bilqis to the "true religion" after a hoopoe reported to him that she was a sun-worshipping queen. sura was likely revealed to address the role of the "Children of Israel" among the believers in Mecca, to emphasize and commend of piety of past prophets, and to distinguish the present Qur'anic message from past traditions.
The sura's name is taken from the ants whose conversations were understood by Solomon. Similar to Sura 13 (The Thunder) or Sura 29 (The Spider), The Ants has no thematic significance in the Sura beyond it being a familiar phrase amongst believers, a reminder of the sura's story of Solomon.
It should be noted, however, that ants do hold a privileged status among animals in Islam on account of the story of Solomon. Hadith literature tells of Muhammad forbidding Muslims to kill the ant, bee, hoopoe, or shrike; it is no coincidence that they are all featured in Sura 27 and that Sura 16 is entitled The Bee. One interpretation for the ant's theological significance coincides with its role historically. As written in the 1993 edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam, "Since early Antiquity, ants have been an object of admiration on account of ... the feverish activity with which they provide for their sustenance and the perfect organisation of their societies." This perfect organization under one cause correlates well with the Islamic idea of obedience, or ibadah.
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