The Ants

In Surah Naml we find the speech of the ants and of the hoopoe bird, both mentioned, and juxtaposed. 

The Surah is itself surrounded by The Poets on one side and Stories on the other, and they are all three clearly related because of their beginning letters. 

We are presented with the speech of the ant, who says,  Oh you ants, get into your dwellings lest the army of Solomon tramples you unknowingly. 

This sentence reveals a subject - predicate structure. 

That the ant is conscious of itself, the other ants and their surroundings, first from looking at the Arabic*1, and then when we deliberate on it, from the ant recognising a threat to himself and then to his fellow ants. 

The story of the speech of the hoopoe bird is even more intriguing. 

Here we have an exchange between King Solomon (as) and the bird. 

Whereas with the ant Suleiman (as) “heard” the speech and simply smiled in gratitude and responded with humility. 

The hoopoe spies a land where the people do not worship the Most Gracious and this shocks him, so he goes to investigate further. 

When he returns to the army of Suleman (as), he is scolded and warned that if he has lied then he would have a severe punishment. 

This is intriguing on two points-

1- since Nabi Suleman (as) insinuated that the hoopoe might be lying, we must believe that it had the capacity to lie. 

But lying as an act only occurs when we have either something to lose in order to prevent its loss, or something to gain in order to effect its gain.  

This suggests that the hoopoe owns or possesses something, or can own or possess something and therefore does. 

When you see a lion in its natural habitat, then you notice how slow it is to act and aggression. And you realise that it is it’s pride, and status, that make it so slow to wake. But once woken then it is a force to contend with. 

If you take a look at the hoopoe, it by design of the Most Gracious is made to wear a crown on its head. 

In the animal kingdom in general the male of a species looks the more beautiful and startling*2, 

But with the hoopoe, both the male and female wear that distinctive crown. 

So it is as if here the hoopoe possess at the very least pride, and that by God’s Grace. 

Contrasting this with the speech of the ant is intriguing. 

For when we consider how bees communicate the direction in which to fly to gather nectar *3, it is clear that their language is laborious. 

So in a like manner we would expect the same of the ant, but even with the time consuming nature of his communication his own safety is of little concern to him, but what is of more concern are the fellows in his community. 

So the ant is selfless in contrast to the hoopoe. 

It is as God here is evidencing to us the sheer variety of His creation. 

2- We know that the hoopoe recognised the Most Gracious, and would then have known thus that Suleman (as) was His true prophet. 

So how can we reconcile the statement of Suleman (as) when he accused him of potentially lying?

Once again with the Quranic speech we need regard for context. 

The hoopoe was part of Suleman’s (as) army. When he returned is when the speech between them occurs. 

However when Suleman (as) noted his absence it would have been when the ranks of his army were arraigned. 

And so his absence would have been noted by everyone in that army of Men, Jinn and birds. 

That is why the speech then must have occurred in the presence of the army, for the hoopoe to give an account of himself. 

For the fundamental defining characteristic of all armies is discipline. 

And moreover within his army are the generally rebellious Jinn, who are moreover very sensitive. 

Indeed the Most Gracious is sustainer off all of these Worlds and maintains them in harmony with one another, no one eclipsing the other.

Alhamdolillah. 

Indeed knowledge is sought through contemplation and study. 

Nor speeches, nor this above. 

*1 Arabic grammar differentiates between subject, object and indirect object by the vowel sounding off its last consonant letter. 

*2 consider simply peacocks and peahens. 

*3 known as the bee dance.