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The story of Dawud (peace be upon him) in the Quran and the Islamic tradition: verses, hadiths and the views of the exegetes, faithfully translated from Arabic.
Updated on 06 September 2026 at 3:41 AM
He is Dawud ibn Isha ibn Uwayd ibn Ba'az ibn Salmun ibn Nahshun ibn Awinadhab ibn Iram ibn Hasrun ibn Faras ibn Yahuda ibn Ya'qub ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Khalil: a servant of Allah, His prophet, and His successor upon the land of Bayt al-Maqdis.
Muhammad ibn Ishaq reported, from some of the people of knowledge, from Wahb ibn Munabbih: Dawud (peace be upon him) was short, blue-eyed, little-haired, pure of heart and sincere. We have mentioned that the killing of Goliath, according to Ibn Asakir, took place at the palace of Umm Hakim, near Marj as-Suffar. The Children of Israel loved him and turned toward him and toward his kingship over them; of Talut's affair came what came, and the kingship passed to Dawud. Allah joined for him kingship and prophethood, the two goods of this world and the next: kingship was in one tribe and prophethood in another, and the two met in Dawud, as the Most High said: « And Dawud killed Jalut, and Allah gave him kingship and wisdom, and taught him of what He willed.
And were it not that Allah repels the people, some by others, the earth would surely have been corrupted. But Allah is full of bounty upon the worlds » (al-Baqara, 251), that is: were kings not established as rulers over the people, the strong of the people would devour their weak. That is why it has come in some athars: « the authority is the shadow of Allah upon His earth »; and the commander of the believers Uthman ibn Affan said: Allah restrains by authority what He does not restrain by the Quran.
Ibn Jarir mentioned in his History that when Goliath challenged Talut and said to him: come out to me, or I come out to you, Talut called the people to volunteer, and Dawud volunteered and killed Goliath. Wahb ibn Munabbih said: the people inclined toward Dawud until Talut was no longer mentioned; they deposed Talut and set Dawud over them. It is said: that was by the command of Shamwil, to the point that some said he appointed him king before the battle. Ibn Jarir said: the position of the majority is that he received the kingship only after killing Goliath. And Allah knows best. Ibn Asakir reported from Sa'id ibn Abd al-Aziz: that he killed Goliath at the palace of Umm Hakim, and that the river there is the one mentioned in the verse. And Allah knows best.
And the Most High said: « We surely gave Dawud a bounty from Us: O mountains, echo with him, and you birds. And We made the iron soft for him: make coats of mail complete, and measure well the links. And work righteousness: I see well what you do » (Surat Saba, 10-11).
And the Most High said: « And We made the mountains glorify with him at evening and sunrise, and the birds assembled: all turned to Him. And We taught him the making of coats of mail for you, to protect you from your violence: will you then be grateful? » (Surat al-Anbiya, 79-80). Allah aided him in making coats of mail from iron, to shield the fighters from the enemies, and guided him to their making and manner, so He said: « and measure well the links », that is: do not drive the nail too tight lest it split, nor too loose lest it break.
This is what Mujahid, Qatada, al-Hakam, Ikrima and others said. Al-Hasan al-Basri, Qatada and al-A'mash said: Allah made the iron so soft in his hands that he twisted it by hand, needing neither fire nor hammer. Qatada said: he was the first to make coats of mail of rings, for before that they were made of plates. Ibn Shawdhab said: he made a coat each day and sold it for six thousand dirhams.
And it is established in the authentic hadith: « the best food a man eats is from the fruit of his labor; and the prophet of Allah Dawud used to eat from the labor of his hands. »
And the Most High said: « Remember Our servant Dawud, possessed of strength, ever turning to Allah. We subjected the mountains to glorify with him at evening and sunrise, and the birds assembled: all turned to Him. And We strengthened his kingdom and gave him wisdom and decisive speech » (Surat Sad, 17-20). Ibn Abbas and Mujahid said: strength is vigor in obedience, that is: possessed of vigor in worship and righteous work. Qatada said: he was given strength in worship and understanding in Islam. It has been mentioned to us that he stood the night and fasted half of time.
And it is established in the two Sahihs that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
« The most beloved prayer to Allah is the prayer of Dawud, and the most beloved fast to Allah is the fast of Dawud: he slept half the night, stood for its third, and slept its sixth; he fasted a day and broke his fast a day; and he did not flee when he met the enemy. »
Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim
His word: « We subjected the mountains to glorify with him at evening and sunrise, and the birds assembled: all turned to Him », as He said: « O mountains, echo with him, and you birds », that is: glorify with him. This is what Ibn Abbas, Mujahid and more than one other said in the exegesis of this verse. « At evening and sunrise »: at the end of the day and its beginning. Allah the Most High had granted him, of the mighty voice, what He granted no one: when he chanted the recitation of His Book, the birds halted in the air, repeating his chant and glorifying by his glorification; and likewise the mountains answered him and glorified with him, each time he glorified morning and evening, may the prayers of Allah and His peace be upon him.
Al-Awza'i said: Abdullah ibn Amir reported to me: Dawud was given of the beautiful voice what no one was ever given, to the point that birds and wild beasts circled around him until they died of thirst and hunger, and to the point that the rivers stood still. Wahb ibn Munabbih said: no one heard him but he cooed as if dancing; he recited the Zabur with a voice the likes of which ears had never heard, to the point that jinn, men, birds and beasts gathered around his voice until some of them perished of hunger.
Abu Awana al-Isfara'ini said: Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dunya reported to us, Muhammad ibn Mansur at-Tusi reported to me, I heard Subayh Abu Turab; and Abu Awana said: Abu al-Abbas al-Murri reported to us, Muhammad ibn Salih al-Adawi reported to us, Sayyar, that is ibn Hatim, reported to us, from Ja'far, from Malik, who said: when Dawud (peace be upon him) undertook the recitation of the Zabur, the maidens split. And this is strange. Abd al-Razzaq reported from Ibn Jurayj: I asked Ata' about recitation with singing, and he said: what harm is there in that? I heard Ubayd ibn Umayr say: Dawud (peace be upon him) would take the instrument, strike it and recite over it, and it echoed his voice back to him; he wanted thereby to weep and to make others weep.
Imam Ahmad said: Abd al-Razzaq reported to us, Ma'mar reported to us, from az-Zuhri, from Urwa, from Aisha, who said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) heard the voice of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari while he recited, and said: « Abu Musa has been given some of the psalms of the family of Dawud. » And this is according to the condition of the two shaykhs, but they did not report it by this chain. Ahmad said: Hasan reported to us, Hammad ibn Salama reported to us, from Muhammad ibn Amr, from Abu Salama, from Abu Hurayra: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « Abu Musa has been given some of the psalms of Dawud. » And it reached us from Abu Uthman an-Nahdi that he said: I have heard the barbat and the mizmar, and I never heard a voice more beautiful than that of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari.
And with this tender voice, he had the swift recitation of His Book, the Zabur, as Imam Ahmad said: Abd al-Razzaq reported to us, Ma'mar reported to us, from Hammam, from Abu Hurayra: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « Recitation was made easy for Dawud: he would order his mount saddled, and he would finish the recitation before it was saddled; and he ate only from the work of his hands. » Thus al-Bukhari reported it alone, from Abdullah ibn Muhammad, from Abd al-Razzaq, with this wording: « Recitation was made easy for Dawud: he would order his beasts saddled, and he would recite before they were saddled; and he ate only from the work of his hands. » Then al-Bukhari said: Musa ibn Uqba reported it, from Safwan, that is ibn Sulaym, from Ata' ibn Yasar, from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
And Ibn Asakir recorded it with chains in the biography of Dawud (peace be upon him) in his History, by several ways: from Ibrahim ibn Tahman, from Musa ibn Uqba, and by the way of Abu Asim, from Abu Bakr as-Sabri, from Safwan ibn Sulaym.
The Quran mentioned here means the Zabur which Allah sent down upon him and revealed to him. And the mention of the beasts is more likely preserved: for he was a king with subjects, and he recited the Zabur within the time it took to saddle the beasts; and that is a swift matter, together with reflection and collected chanting, in the manner of humility, may the prayers of Allah and His peace be upon him. Allah the Most High said: « And to Dawud We gave the Zabur » (Surat al-Isra, 55); and the Zabur is a well-known Book. We have mentioned, in the Tafsir, the hadith reported by Ahmad and others, that it was sent down in the month of Ramadan; and it contains exhortations and wisdom well known to whoever studies it.
As for His word: « And We strengthened his kingdom and gave him wisdom and decisive speech », that is: We gave him a mighty kingship and a penetrating judgment. Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim reported from Ibn Abbas: two men disputed before Dawud (peace be upon him) over a cow; one claimed the other had seized it from him, which the accused denied. Dawud deferred their matter to the night; and when night came, Allah revealed to him to kill the claimant. In the morning, Dawud said to him: Allah has revealed to me to kill you; I shall therefore kill you without fail; what do you say of what you claimed?
He said: by Allah, prophet of Allah, I am truthful in my claim; but I had deceived his father before this and killed him. Dawud ordered that he be killed, and he was. Dawud's affair then became very great among the Children of Israel, and they submitted to him with deep submission. Ibn Abbas said: that is His word: « and We strengthened his kingdom »; and His word « and gave him wisdom » means prophethood.
As for « decisive speech », Shurayh, ash-Sha'bi, Qatada, Abu Abd al-Rahman as-Sulami and others said: it is the testimony and the oaths, that is: the proof for the claimant, and the oath upon the denier. Mujahid and as-Suddi said: it is the accuracy of judgment and its understanding. Mujahid said: it is clarity in speech and in judgment, and Ibn Jarir chose it. And this does not contradict what is reported from Abu Musa: it is the formula « as for what follows ».
Wahb ibn Munabbih said: when evil and false testimony multiplied among the Children of Israel, Dawud was given a chain for rendering judgment: it was stretched from heaven to the rock of Bayt al-Maqdis, and it was of gold. When two men disputed over a right, whichever of them was in the truth reached it, and the other could not reach it. It continued so until a man entrusted a pearl to another, who denied it of him; he took a cane and placed the pearl in it. When the two stood before the chain, the claimant seized it; then, when the other was told: take it with your hand, he reached toward the cane; the claimant handed it to him, the pearl being in it, and said: O Allah, You know that I handed it to him. Then he grasped the chain and reached it. The matter became obscure for the Children of Israel, and the chain was soon raised and vanished from among them. More than one exegete mentioned it in this sense, and Ishaq ibn Bishr reported it, from Idris ibn Sinan, from Wahb, in this sense as well.
The Most High said: « Has the story of the two disputants reached you, when they climbed over the wall of the sanctuary? When they entered upon Dawud, he was frightened of them. They said: fear not: two disputants, one of whom wronged the other; so judge between us with truth, and do not exceed, and guide us to the even path. This is my brother: he has ninety-nine ewes, and I have one ewe; so he said: entrust her to me, and he overcame me in speech.
He said: he has surely wronged you in asking for your ewe to add to his ewes; and many partners wrong one another, except those who believe and work righteous deeds, and few are they. Dawud thought that We had tried him; so he sought forgiveness of his Lord, fell down prostrate, and turned to Him. So We forgave him that; and he shall have nearness with Us and a goodly return » (Surat Sad, 21-25). Many exegetes of the predecessors and the later generations have mentioned here stories and reports, most of which are Israelite tales, and some of which are certainly forged; we have deliberately omitted citing them in our book, being content with the narration of the story alone in the mighty Quran.
And Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path.
The imams differed over the prostration of Surat Sad: is it among the obligatory prostrations, or is it only a prostration of gratitude, not among the obligatory prostrations? Two positions.
Al-Bukhari said: Muhammad ibn Abdullah reported to us, Muhammad ibn Ubayd at-Tanafisi reported to us, from al-Awwam: I asked Mujahid about the prostration of Surat Sad, and he said: I asked Ibn Abbas: from where did you prostrate? He said: do you not read: « and of his progeny, Dawud and Sulayman... Those are they whom Allah guided; so follow their guidance » (Surat al-An'am, 84 and 90)? Dawud was thus among those your Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was commanded to follow; Dawud prostrated it, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prostrated it.
And Imam Ahmad said: Ismail, that is ibn Ulayya, reported to us, from Ayyub, from Ikrima, from Ibn Abbas, who said of the prostration in Surat Sad: it is not among the obligatory prostrations, and I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prostrate it. Al-Bukhari, Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi and an-Nasa'i reported it thus from the hadith of Ayyub, and at-Tirmidhi said: hasan sahih.
An-Nasa'i said: Ibrahim ibn al-Hasan al-Miqsami informed me, Hajjaj ibn Muhammad reported to us, from Umar ibn Darr, from his father, from Sa'id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prostrated in Surat Sad, and he said: Dawud prostrated it in repentance, and we prostrate it in gratitude. Ahmad alone reported it, and his men are trustworthy.
Abu Dawud said: Ahmad ibn Salih reported to us, Ibn Wahb reported to us, Amr ibn al-Harith informed me, from Sa'id ibn Abi Hilal, from Iyad ibn Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, who said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) recited Surat Sad upon the minbar; when he reached the prostration, he descended and prostrated, and the people prostrated with him. On another day he recited it; when he reached the prostration, the people shrank from prostrating, and he said: « It is only the repentance of a prophet; but I saw you reluctant, so I descended and prostrated. » Abu Dawud alone reported it, and its chain is according to the condition of the sahih.
Imam Ahmad said: Affan reported to us, Yazid ibn Zuray' reported to us, Humayd reported to us, Bakr, that is ibn Umar, and Abu as-Siddiq an-Naji, informed that Abu Sa'id al-Khudri saw in a dream that he was writing Surat Sad; when he reached the verse of prostration, he saw the inkwell, the pen and everything before him turn prostrate. He related it to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who thereafter never ceased to prostrate it. Ahmad alone reported it.
At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah reported, from the hadith of Muhammad ibn Yazid ibn Khunays, from al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Ubaydullah ibn Abi Yazid, who said: Ibn Jurayj said to me: your grandfather Ubaydullah ibn Abi Yazid reported to me, from Ibn Abbas: a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: Messenger of Allah, I saw in a dream that I was praying behind a tree; I recited the verse of prostration and prostrated, and the tree prostrated with my prostration, and I heard it say, prostrating: O Allah, write for me thereby a reward with You, make it with You a treasure, remove from me thereby a burden, and accept it from me as You accepted from Your servant Dawud. Ibn Abbas said: I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) rise, recite the verse of prostration, then prostrate, and I heard him say, prostrating, what the man had related of the tree's words. At-Tirmidhi said: gharib; we know it only by this way.
Some exegetes mentioned that he (peace be upon him) remained prostrate forty days; Mujahid, al-Hasan and others said it. And a hadith attributed to the Prophet has come on this, but it is from the transmission of Yazid ar-Raqashi, who is weak and abandoned in narration.
Allah the Most High said: « So We forgave him that; and he shall have nearness with Us and a goodly return » (Surat Sad, 25), that is: he shall have on the Day of Resurrection a nearness by which Allah draws him near to the sanctuary of His holiness, as is established in the hadith: « the just judges shall be upon pulpits of light, at the right hand of the Merciful, and both His hands are right: those who are just in their judgments, their families and what they are given charge of. »
Imam Ahmad said in his Musnad: Yahya ibn Adam reported to us, Fudayl reported to us, from Atiyya, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « The people most beloved to Allah on the Day of Resurrection, and nearest to Him in seating: a just imam; and the people most hated by Allah on the Day of Resurrection, and most severely punished: an unjust imam. » Thus at-Tirmidhi reported it from the hadith of Fudayl ibn Marzuq al-Agharr, and he said: it is not known attributed to the Prophet except by this way. Ibn Abi Hatim said: Abu Zur'a reported to us, Abdullah ibn Abi Ziyad reported to us, Sayyar reported to us, Ja'far ibn Sulayman reported to us: I heard Malik ibn Dinar concerning His word: « and he shall have nearness with Us and a goodly return »: Dawud (peace be upon him) shall be stood on the Day of Resurrection at the leg of the Throne, and Allah will say: O Dawud, glorify Me today with that beautiful, tender voice with which you used to glorify Me in the world. He will say: how, when it has been taken from me?
He will say: I return it to you today. Dawud will then raise a voice that makes the bliss of the people of the gardens overflow.
His word: « O Dawud, We made you a successor in the earth: judge between the people with truth, and follow not desire, lest it lead you astray from the path of Allah. Those who go astray from the path of Allah shall have a severe punishment, for having forgotten the Day of Reckoning » (Surat Sad, 26): it is an address from Allah the Most High to Dawud, whose meaning is directed to the holders of affairs and the judges of the people: commanding them justice and the following of the truth sent down from Allah, not anything else of opinions and desires, and threatening whoever takes another course and judges otherwise. Dawud (peace be upon him) was in that era the model in justice, in abundance of worship and in kinds of devotion, to the point that no hour of the night nor extremity of the day passed but the people of his house were in worship night and day, as the Most High said: « Work, family of Dawud, in gratitude; and few of My servants are grateful » (Surat Saba, 13).
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dunya said: Ismail ibn Ibrahim ibn Bassam reported to us, Salih al-Murri reported to us, from Abu Imran al-Jawni, from Abu al-Jald, who said: I read in the matter of Dawud (peace be upon him) that he said: O Lord, how shall I thank You, when I cannot reach thanking You except by Your bounty? Revelation came to him: O Dawud, do you not know that what you have of bounty is from Me? He said: yes, O Lord. He said: I am pleased with you for that.
Al-Bayhaqi said: Abu Abdullah al-Hafiz informed us, Abu Bakr ibn Balawayh informed us, Muhammad ibn Yunus al-Qurashi reported to us, Rawh ibn Ubada reported to us, Abdullah ibn Lahiq reported to me, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Dawud said: « Praise be to Allah as befits the nobility of His Face and the majesty of His might. » Allah revealed to him: You have wearied the guardians, O Dawud. And Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dunya reported it, from Ali ibn al-Ja'd, from ath-Thawri, in like terms.
Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak said in the Book of Asceticism: Sufyan ath-Thawri informed us, from a man, from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: in the wisdom of the family of Dawud: « It is due to the intelligent man not to be heedless of four hours: an hour in which he converses in secret with his Lord, an hour in which he calls his soul to account, an hour in which he visits his brothers who inform him of his faults and tell him the truth about himself, and an hour in which he leaves his soul to its pleasures in what is lawful and fair; for this hour is a support for the other hours, and a rest for the hearts. It is due to the intelligent man to know his era, to guard his tongue, and to attend to his affair; and it is due to the intelligent man not to move except for one of three things: provision for his return, the repair of his livelihood, and a pleasure in what is not forbidden.
» Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dunya also reported it, from Abu Bakr ibn Abi Khaythama, from Ibn Mahdi, from Sufyan, from Abu al-Agharr, from Wahb ibn Munabbih; and he reported it also from Ali ibn al-Ja'd, from Umar ibn al-Haytham ar-Raqashi, from Abu al-Agharr, from Wahb ibn Munabbih. This Abu al-Agharr is the one whose identity Ibn al-Mubarak left unspecified in his transmission. That is what Ibn Asakir said. Abd al-Razzaq said: Bishr ibn Rafi' informed us, a sheikh of the people of Sana'a reported to us, called Abu Abdullah, who said: I heard Wahb ibn Munabbih, and he mentioned the like of these terms.
The hafiz Ibn Asakir reported, in the biography of Dawud (peace be upon him), many fine things. Among them: « Be for the orphan like a merciful father; and know that you reap as you sow. » He reported, by a strange chain and attributed to the Prophet: Dawud said: « O sower of evil deeds, you shall harvest their thorns and prickles. » From Dawud (peace be upon him): « the foolish preacher in the gathering of the people is like the singer at the head of a dead man. » He also said: « how ugly is poverty after wealth; and uglier than that: misguidance after guidance. » He said: « Consider what you hate to have mentioned about you in the gathering of the people, and do not do it when you are alone. » He said: « Do not promise your brother what you will not fulfill for him, for that breeds enmity between you and him. »
Muhammad ibn Sa'd said: Muhammad ibn Umar al-Waqidi informed us, Hisham ibn Sa'd reported to me, from Umar, the freedman of Ghafra, who said: the Jews, when they saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) marrying women, said: look at this one who is not satiated with food; by Allah, he has no ambition except toward women. They envied him for the multitude of his wives and faulted him for it: were he a prophet, he would not desire women. And the harshest of them in that was Huyayy ibn Akhtab. Allah discredited them and informed them of the bounty of Allah, of His vastness toward His prophet, may the prayers of Allah be upon him and His peace, and He said: « Or do they envy the people for what Allah has given them of His bounty?
We gave the family of Ibrahim the Book and wisdom, and We gave them a mighty kingdom » (Surat an-Nisa, 54); by the people, he means the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). There was given to the family of Ibrahim the Book and wisdom, and a mighty kingdom: what Allah gave to Sulayman ibn Dawud. He had a thousand women: seven hundred noble wives and three hundred concubines. Dawud (peace be upon him) had a hundred women, among them the wife of Uriya, mother of Sulayman ibn Dawud, whom he married after the trial: that exceeds what Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had.
Al-Kalbi mentioned similar terms: Dawud (peace be upon him) had a hundred women, and Sulayman a thousand women, of them three hundred concubines.
The hafiz reported, in his History, in the biography of Sadaqa ad-Dimashqi, who transmits from Ibn Abbas, by way of al-Faraj al-Himsi, from Abu Hurayra al-Himsi, from Sadaqa ad-Dimashqi: a man asked Ibn Abbas about fasting, and he said: I shall relate to you a hadith I keep stored in my chest. Do you wish me to inform you of the fast of Dawud? He was a fasting night-stander, brave, he did not flee when he met the enemy, and he fasted a day and broke his fast a day. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « the most excellent fast is the fast of Dawud.
» He recited the Zabur with seventy voices which he modulated; he had a rak'a of the night in which he made his soul weep, and by his weeping everything wept; and the afflicted and the feverish delighted in his voice. Do you wish me to inform you of the fast of his son Sulayman? He fasted the first three days of the month, the three of its middle, and the last three: he opened the month with fasting, its middle with fasting, and sealed it with fasting. Do you wish me to inform you of the fast of the son of the pure virgin, Isa ibn Maryam?
He fasted perpetually, ate barley and clothed himself in hair; he ate what he found and did not ask about what was lacking; no child of his died, nor did any house of his fall to ruin; and wherever the night overtook him, he knelt upon his feet and stood in prayer until morning; he was an archer, and no game he sought escaped him; he passed by the assemblies of the Children of Israel and settled their needs for them. Do you wish me to inform you of the fast of his mother Maryam bint Imran? She fasted a day and broke her fast two days. Do you wish me to inform you of the fast of the unlettered Arab prophet, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)?
He fasted three days of each month and said: that is the fast of a lifetime.
And Imam Ahmad reported similar terms, from Abu an-Nadr, from Faraj ibn Fadala, from Abu Harim, from Sadaqa, from Ibn Abbas, attributed to the Prophet, concerning the fast of Dawud.
Mention of the length of his life and the manner of his death (peace be upon him). It has preceded, in the hadiths of the creation of Adam, that when Allah brought forth the progeny of Adam from his back, He saw among them the prophets (peace be upon them), and He saw among them a radiant man, and He said: O Lord, who is this? He said: this is your son Dawud. He said: O Lord, what is the term of his life?
He said: sixty years. He said: O Lord, increase his term. He said: no, except that I add from yours. The term of Adam was a thousand years, and He added for him forty years.
When the term of Adam ended, the angel of death came to him, and he said: there remain of my life forty years. Adam had forgotten what he had granted to his son Dawud, and Allah completed the term of Adam at a thousand years, and that of Dawud at a hundred years. Ahmad reported it from Ibn Abbas, as did at-Tirmidhi, who authenticated it from Abu Hurayra; Ibn Khuzayma and Ibn Hibban authenticated it, and al-Hakim said: according to the condition of Muslim. Its chains and wordings have been mentioned already in the story of Adam.
Ibn Jarir said: some of the People of the Book claim that the term of Dawud was seventy-seven years: this is an error which we reject of them. They say: the length of his reign was forty years; and this report may be accepted, for we have nothing that contradicts it nor anything that requires it.
As for his death (peace be upon him), Imam Ahmad said in his Musnad: Qutayba reported to us, Ya'qub ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad reported to us, from Amr ibn Abi Amr, from al-Mattalib, from Abu Hurayra: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
« The prophet Dawud was of intense jealousy: when he went out, the doors were locked, and none entered upon his family until he returned. One day he went out and the house was locked; his wife was peering at the dwelling, and there was a man standing in the middle of the house. She said to those in the house: from where did this man enter, when the dwelling is locked? By Allah, Dawud will be embarrassed on our account.
Dawud came, and there was the man standing in the middle of the house. Dawud said to him: who are you? He said: I am the one who does not fear kings, and nothing bars me. Dawud said: you are, by Allah, the angel of death; welcome to the decree of Allah.
Dawud remained in his place, and his soul was taken; his affair was completed, and the sun rose upon him. Sulayman said to the birds: shade Dawud. The birds shaded him until the earth darkened over the two of them. He said to them: fold, wing by wing.
»
Reported by Ahmad
Abu Hurayra said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) showed us how the bird did it: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) folded with his hand, and that day the long-winged falcons had the upper hand in the bearing of the shade. Ahmad alone reported it, and its chain is good and strong: its men are trustworthy. The meaning of his word: the long-winged falcons overcame the shading, and they are the falcons with long, high wings; the singular is madrahi, and al-Jawhari said: it is the falcon of the long wing. As-Suddi reported, from Abu Malik, from Ibn Abbas: Dawud (peace be upon him) died a sudden death, and he used to observe the Sabbath rest, and the birds shaded him.
As-Suddi said also, from Abu Malik, and from Sa'id ibn Jubayr: Dawud (peace be upon him) died on a Saturday, a sudden death. Ishaq ibn Bishr reported, from Sa'id ibn Abi Aruba, from Qatada, from al-Hasan: Dawud (peace be upon him) died at a hundred years of age, on a Wednesday, a sudden death. Abu as-Sakan al-Hajari said: Ibrahim al-Khalil died a sudden death, and Dawud a sudden death, and his son Sulayman a sudden death, may the prayers of Allah and His peace be upon them all. Ibn Asakir reported it.
And it has been reported from some of them that the angel of death came to him as he was descending from his prayer niche, and said to him: let me descend, or shall I ascend. He said: O prophet of Allah, the years, the months, the effects and the provisions have run their course. He fell prostrate upon one of those steps, and he was taken prostrate.
Ishaq ibn Bishr said: Wafir ibn Sulayman informed us, from Abu Sulayman al-Filastini, from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: the people came for the funeral of Dawud (peace be upon him) and sat in the sun, on a summer day. He said: that day forty thousand monks, wearing their hooded cloaks, followed his funeral procession, besides the rest of the people; and among the Children of Israel, after Musa and Harun, no one died over whom the Children of Israel grieved more bitterly than Dawud. He said: the heat afflicted them, and they called upon Sulayman (peace be upon him) to hasten for them, because of the heat that had come upon them. Sulayman went out, called the birds, and they answered; he commanded them, and they shaded the people.
They crowded upon one another from every side, until the wind was stilled, and the people were near perishing from oppression; they cried out to Sulayman (peace be upon him), overcome. Sulayman went out, called the birds: shade the people from the side of the sun, and withdraw from the side of the wind. They did so: the people were in shade while the wind blew upon them. That was the first thing they saw of the kingship of Sulayman.
Abu Ya'la said: Abu Hammam al-Walid ibn Shuja' reported to us, al-Walid ibn Muslim reported to me, from al-Haytham ibn Humayd, from al-Wadin ibn Ata, from Nasr ibn Alqama, from Jubayr ibn Nufayr, from Abu ad-Darda: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « Allah took Dawud from among his companions while they had not yet been tempted nor changed; and the companions of the Messiah remained upon his sunna and his guidance two hundred years. » This is a strange hadith, and its attribution to the Prophet deserves scrutiny, and al-Wadin ibn Ata was weak in hadith. And Allah knows best.