قَالَتْ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْمَلَؤُا۟ إِنِّىٓ أُلْقِىَ إِلَىَّ كِتَٰبٌ كَرِيمٌ · إِنَّهُۥ مِن سُلَيْمَٰنَ وَإِنَّهُۥ بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ · أَلَّا تَعْلُوا۟ عَلَىَّ وَأْتُونِى مُسْلِمِينَ
qālat yā ayyuha'l-malaʾu innī ulqiya ilayya kitābun karīm · innahū min Sulaymāna wa innahū bismi'llāhi'r-Raḥmāni'r-Raḥīm · allā taʿlū ʿalayya wa'tūnī muslimīn
"She said: 'O chiefs! A noble letter has been delivered to me. It is from Solomon, and it runs: In the name of God, al-Raḥmān, al-Raḥīm. Do not exalt yourselves against me, and come to me in submission.'"
The root ك-ر-م was worked out in al-ʿAlaq at 96/3: to give abundantly, expecting no return and keeping no count; the one who is karīm does not throw his giving in your face. And the second branch of the word: to be precious, noble, held in honour. I do not repeat it here.
| Explanation | What karīm qualifies |
|---|---|
| 1 | That it was sealed and closed — that it had not been read before being opened |
| 2 | Its content — that what it says is of worth |
| 3 | Its sender — that it comes from a person of standing |
| 4 | Its opening — that it begins with the basmala |
I record a datum of the text: the queen calls the letter karīm before she has conveyed its content at all. The judgement is thus given before the content is read out — the order is in the verse itself (innī ulqiya ilayya kitābun karīm, then innahū min Sulaymān).
It was recorded in al-Fātiḥa, and I rely on that treatment: apart from its place at the heads of sūras, the basmala also occurs as a sentence inside the Qurʾān, and this is one of the two places (the other is Noah's setting the ark afloat at Hūd 11/41). The formula appears here as the opening of a piece of state correspondence.
| Part | Expression | Its function |
|---|---|---|
| The heading | bismi'llāhi'r-Raḥmāni'r-Raḥīm | The opening |
| The first demand | allā taʿlū ʿalayya | A prohibition — do not exalt yourselves |
| The second demand | wa'tūnī muslimīn | A command — come in submission |
I record this as an observation: the letter contains neither a threat, nor a promise, nor a justification. A single prohibition and a single command.
Taʿlū is from the root ع-ل-و. This root occurred at verse 14 as the cause of the denial of Pharaoh's people: ẓulman wa ʿuluwwā.
| Verse | Expression | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | ẓulman wa ʿuluwwā | A diagnosis — as the cause of the denial |
| 31 | allā taʿlū ʿalayya | A prohibition — as the first item of a letter |
And as was recorded in al-Qaṣaṣ, the same root framed that sūra (28/4 and 28/83). Al-Naml uses the same root twice, once as a diagnosis and once as a prohibition. This is a weave between the two sūras that can be verified.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the function of the two verses: al-Qaṣaṣ set ʿuluww down as the cause of an outcome (destruction); al-Naml sets the same word down as the first condition of an invitation. In one place a diagnosis, in the other a precaution.
| Verse | Expression | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | wa'tūnī muslimīn | The letter's demand |
| 38 | qabla an yaʾtūnī muslimīn | Solomon's qualification — before they come in submission |
| 42 | wa kunnā muslimīn | The queen — beforehand |
| 44 | wa aslamtu maʿa Sulaymāna li'llāhi rabbi'l-ʿālamīn | The queen — the last sentence of the narrative |
Four occurrences, and the narrative ends with this root. This is a weave that can be verified within the sūra.
And the qualification in the last occurrence is worth recording, and will be treated separately at verse 44: the queen says that she has submitted not to Solomon but with Solomon, to God. The demand of the letter at verse 31 and the answer at verse 44 thus do not coincide exactly — the answer corrects the addressee of the demand.