۞ AND [thus,] indeed, did We grace David with Our favour: "O you mountains! Sing with him the praise of God! And [likewise] you birds!" And We softened all sharpness in him, 10 Saying: make thou complete coats of mail, and rightly dispose the links, and work ye righteously; verily I am of that which ye work a Beholder. 11 And to Solomon the wind; its morning course was a month's journey, and its evening course was a month's journey. And We made the Fount of Molten Brass to flow for him. And of the jinn, some worked before him by the leave of his Lord; and such of them as swerved away from Our commandment, We would let them taste the chastisement of the Blaze; 12 They made for him what he willed: synagogues and statues, basins like wells and boilers built into the ground. Give thanks, O House of David! Few of My bondmen are thankful. 13 So when We sent the command of death towards him, no one revealed his death to the jinns except the termite of the earth which ate his staff; and when he came to the ground, the truth about the jinns was exposed – if they had known the hidden, they would not have remained in the disgraceful toil. 14 Indeed for (the tribe of) Saba was a sign in their dwelling-place – two gardens on the right and the left; “Eat the sustenance provided by your Lord and be grateful to Him”; a pure land and an Oft Forgiving Lord! 15 But they turned away and so We let loose upon them a devastating flood that swept away the dams and replaced their gardens by two others bearing bitter fruits, tamarisks, and a few lote trees. 16 Thus We recompensed them for their unbelief; and do 'We ever recompense any hut the unbeliever? 17 Now [before their downfall,] We had placed between them and the cities which We had blessed [many] towns within sight of one another; and thus We had made traveling easy [for them, as if to say]: "Travel safely in this [land,] by night or by day!" 18 But they said: "O Lord, make the distance between the stages of our journeys longer;" but (by doing so) they wronged themselves. So We turned them into bygone tales, and dispersed them, scattered in all directions. Surely there are signs in this for those who endeavour and are grateful. 19 iblis' made his guess true to them; and all except for a party of believers followed him. 20 Yet he had no authority over them, but that We might know him who believed in the Hereafter from him who was in doubt thereof Thy Lord is Guardian over everything. 21