Shamwil and the appointment of Talut / The test of the river and the victory over Jalut / Dawud killed Jalut and the end of Talut

Shamwil and the appointment of Talut

The story of Shamwil, in which the affair of Dawud (peace be upon him) began. He is Shamwil, also called Ashmawil, ibn Bali ibn Alqama ibn Yarkham ibn Alyahw ibn Tahw ibn Suf ibn Alqama ibn Mahith ibn Amusa ibn Izriya. Muqatil said: he is of the progeny of Harun. Mujahid said: he is Ashmawil ibn Halfaqa. His lineage has not been established further than this, and Allah knows best.

As-Suddi reported, by his chain, from Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud and men among the Companions, as did ath-Tha'labi and others: when the Amalekites of the land of Gaza and Asqalan had overcome the Children of Israel, killed many of them and taken many of their children captive, prophethood was cut off from the tribe of Lawi, and there remained among them only a pregnant woman. She kept calling upon Allah to grant her a male child; she gave birth to a boy and named him Ashmawil, which in Hebrew is like Ismail: Allah has heard my supplication. When he grew, she sent him to the place of worship and entrusted him to a righteous man who was there, that he might learn from his goodness and worship; he remained with him. When he reached his full strength, one night, while he slept, a voice came to him from the direction of the place of worship.

He woke terrified and thought the old man had called him; the old man asked him: did you call me? Not wishing to startle him, he said: yes, sleep. He slept. Then the voice called him a second time, then a third: it was Jibril calling him.

He came to him, and Jibril said: your Lord has sent you to your people. Of his affair with them came what Allah has narrated in His Book.

And the Most High said in His Mighty Book: « Have you not seen the assembly of the Children of Israel after Musa, when they said to a prophet of theirs: Raise up for us a king, that we may fight in the path of Allah. He said: Would you perhaps, if fighting were prescribed for you, not fight? They said: Why should we not fight in the path of Allah, when we have been driven out of our homes and our children taken? But when fighting was prescribed for them, they turned back, except a few of them.

And Allah knows the wrongdoers. And their prophet said to them: Allah has raised up Talut as a king over you. They said: How can kingship be his over us, when we are more deserving of kingship than he, and he has not been given abundance of wealth? He said: Allah has chosen him over you, and increased him amply in knowledge and body.

Allah gives His kingship to whom He wills, and Allah is Vast, Knowing. And their prophet said to them: The sign of his kingship is that the Ark shall come to you, in which is serenity from your Lord and a remainder of what the family of Musa and the family of Harun left, carried by the angels. In that is a sign for you, if you are believers. Then when Talut set out with the troops he said: Allah will test you by a river: whoever drinks from it is not of me, and whoever does not taste it is of me, except he who scoops a handful with his hand.

And they drank from it, except a few of them. Then when he had crossed it, he and those who believed with him, they said: We have no strength today against Jalut and his troops. Those who were certain of meeting Allah said: How many a small company has overcome a great company by Allah's permission! And Allah is with the steadfast.

And when they went forth before Jalut and his troops they said: Our Lord, pour upon us patience, make firm our steps, and give us victory over the disbelieving people. And they routed them, by Allah's permission. 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 » (Surat al-Baqara, 246-251).

Most of the exegetes said: the prophet of this people mentioned in this story is Shamwil. It is said: Sham'un. It is said: the two are one. It is said: Yusha'. And this is far-fetched, because of what Imam Abu Ja'far ibn Jarir mentioned in his History: four hundred and sixty years passed between the death of Yusha' and the mission of Shamwil. And Allah knows best.

The point is that when wars wore these people down and enemies crushed them, they asked the prophet of Allah of that time to set up over them a king under whose obedience they would be, that they might fight behind him, with him, and before him the enemies. He said to them: « Would you perhaps, if fighting were prescribed for you, not fight? » They said: « Why should we not fight in the path of Allah, when we have been driven out of our homes and our children taken? », that is: what thing would prevent us from fighting, when we are despoiled and afflicted? They were saying: it is our due to fight for our plundered children, humbled among the enemy and held captive in his grip. The Most High said: « But when fighting was prescribed for them, they turned back, except a few of them. And Allah knows the wrongdoers », as He mentions at the end of the story: only the few crossed the river with the king, and the rest turned back and hung back from the fighting.

Their prophet said to them: « Allah has raised up Talut as a king over you. » Ath-Tha'labi said: he is Talut ibn Qays ibn Abil ibn Saru ibn Nahurata ibn Abih ibn Anis ibn Binyamin ibn Ya'qub ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Khalil. Ikrima and as-Suddi said: he was a water-carrier. Wahb ibn Munabbih said: he was a tanner. Something else has been said, and Allah knows best. That is why they said: « How can kingship be his over us, when we are more deserving of kingship than he, and he has not been given abundance of wealth? »

They mentioned that prophethood was in the tribe of Lawi and kingship in the tribe of Yahuda; since this man was of the tribe of Binyamin, they recoiled from him and disparaged his command over them: we are more deserving of kingship than he. And they mentioned that he was poor, with no abundance of wealth: how could such a one be a king? He said: « Allah has chosen him over you, and increased him amply in knowledge and body. » It is said that Allah had revealed to Shamwil: whichever of the Children of Israel equals the length of this staff in height is their king, and when he comes before you, this horn containing the oil of the Sanctuary will overflow: he is their king.

So they would come in and measure themselves against that staff, and none of them was of its height except Talut. When he stood before Shamwil, the horn overflowed; he anointed him with its oil and appointed him king over them, and said to them: Allah has chosen him over you and increased him amply in knowledge: it is said, knowledge of warfare; it is said: rather without restriction. As for body: it is said, height; it is said: beauty. What is apparent from the context is that he was the most handsome of them and the most knowledgeable after their prophet.

« And Allah gives His kingship to whom He wills »: His is the judgment, His the creation and the command. « And Allah is Vast, Knowing. »

« And their prophet said to them: The sign of his kingship is that the Ark shall come to you, in which is serenity from your Lord and a remainder of what the family of Musa and the family of Harun left, carried by the angels. In that is a sign for you, if you are believers. » This too is part of the blessing of this righteous man's guardianship over them and his good toward them: Allah returned to them the Ark that had been stolen from them, over which the enemies had prevailed, whereas they used to be victorious over their enemies by means of it. « In which is serenity from your Lord »: it is said, a basin of gold in which the chests of the prophets were washed; it is said: the serenity is like a blowing wind; it is said: its form is like that of a cat: when it cried out at the time of war, the Children of Israel were certain of victory.

« And a remainder of what the family of Musa and the family of Harun left »: it is said that in it were fragments of the tablets and some of the manna that used to descend upon them in the wilderness. « Carried by the angels », that is: the angels will bring it to you carrying it while you look on openly, so that it may be a sign of Allah to you, a dazzling proof of the truth of what I say to you and of the validity of the guardianship of this righteous king over you; that is why he said: « In that is a sign for you, if you are believers. »

It is also said: when the Amalekites overcame this Ark, in which were the mentioned serenity and blessed remainder, and it is said the Torah was in it as well, once it settled in their hands they placed it beneath an idol they had in their land. In the morning, the Ark was on top of the idol; they put it beneath it again; on the second day, the Ark was above the idol. When this repeated, they knew this was a matter from Allah the Most High; they put it out of their city and placed it in a village of theirs, and a disease seized them in their necks. When this grew long upon them, they placed it in haste upon a cart, yoked it to two cows and let them go. It is said that the angels drove them until they came to the notables of the Children of Israel as they watched, as their prophet had informed them. Allah knows best in what manner the angels brought it; what is apparent is that the angels were carrying it themselves, as is understood from the verse. And Allah knows best. And the first account has been mentioned by many, if not most, of the exegetes.

The test of the river and the victory over Jalut

« Then when Talut set out with the troops he said: Allah will test you by a river: whoever drinks from it is not of me, and whoever does not taste it is of me, except he who scoops a handful with his hand. » Ibn Abbas and many of the exegetes said: this river is the Jordan, the one called ash-Shari'a. Talut held his army at this river, by the command of the prophet of Allah, by the command of Allah, as a trial and test: whoever drank of this river that day would not accompany him in this campaign, and none would accompany him except he who did not taste it, except a handful in his hand. The Most High said: « And they drank from it, except a few of them. » As-Suddi said: the army was eighty thousand; seventy-six thousand drank from it, and four thousand remained with him. That is what he said.

Al-Bukhari reported, in his Sahih, from the hadith of Israil, Zuhayr and ath-Thawri, from Abu Ishaq, from al-Bara' ibn Azib:

« We, the companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), used to say that the number of the companions of Badr equaled the number of the companions of Talut who crossed the river with him; and none crossed with him but a believer: three hundred and thirteen men. »

Reported by al-Bukhari

The saying of as-Suddi that the army was eighty thousand men deserves scrutiny, for the land of Bayt al-Maqdis cannot hold an army of eighty thousand fighting men. And Allah knows best. The Most High said: « Then when he had crossed it, he and those who believed with him, they said: We have no strength today against Jalut and his troops. » They belittled themselves and deemed themselves unable to resist their enemies, given their fewness and the multitude of their enemy.

« Those who were certain of meeting Allah said: How many a small company has overcome a great company by Allah's permission! And Allah is with the steadfast. » The brave among them, the knights of faith and certainty, those patient under wounds, struggle and blows, steadied them. « And when they went forth before Jalut and his troops they said: Our Lord, pour upon us patience, make firm our steps, and give us victory over the disbelieving people.

» They asked Allah to pour patience upon them, that is, to submerge them with it from above them, so that their hearts might settle and not waver; and to make firm their steps in the field of war, at the meeting place of heroes, in the thick of battle and the call to combat. They asked for firmness outward and inward, and for the descent of victory upon their enemies and the enemies of Allah, the disbelieving deniers of His signs and His favors. The Great, the Powerful, the Hearing, the Seeing, the Wise, the Aware answered them in what they asked, and granted them what they longed for; that is why He said: « And they routed them, by Allah's permission », that is, by Allah's power, not their own, and by Allah's strength and His help, not their strength and their number, despite the multitude of their enemies and their great numbers, as the Most High said: « And Allah has already helped you at Badr, when you were humbled. So fear Allah, that you may be grateful » (Surat Al Imran, 13).

Dawud killed Jalut and the end of Talut

As for His word: « And Dawud killed Jalut, and Allah gave him kingship and wisdom, and taught him of what He willed », it points to the courage of Dawud (peace be upon him) and that he killed him a killing humiliating to his soldiers, breaking his army. Nothing is greater than a campaign in which a king kills his enemy: he thereby gains vast spoils, captures heroes and braves, the word of faith prevails over idols, the allies of Allah prevail over His enemies, and the true religion manifests its victory over falsehood and its allies. As-Suddi reported in what he transmits that Dawud (peace be upon him) was the youngest of his father's children, and that they were thirteen males. He heard Talut, king of the Children of Israel, urging the Children of Israel to kill Jalut and his soldiers, while he said: whoever kills Jalut, I will marry him my daughter and make him a partner in my kingship.

Dawud (peace be upon him) threw the sling with a mighty throw. As he was walking with the Children of Israel, a stone called out to him: take me, for in me is the death of Jalut. He took it, then another stone did the same, then another: he took the three in his pouch. When the two ranks faced each other, Jalut stepped forward and called for single combat.

Dawud advanced toward him and said to him: go back, for I hate to kill you. He said: but I love to kill you. He took those three stones from his pouch, placed them in the sling, whirled it, and the three stones became a single stone; then he threw it at Jalut and split his head, and his army fled in rout. Talut fulfilled to him what he had promised: he married him his daughter and applied his judgment in his kingship.

Dawud (peace be upon him) grew great among the Children of Israel: they loved him and turned to him more than to Talut. It is mentioned that Talut envied him and sought to kill him, and schemed for that without reaching him. The scholars kept forbidding Talut from killing Dawud, until he set upon them and killed them, until only a few of them remained. Then repentance, regret and renunciation of what he had done came to him; he began to weep much and to go out to the graveyard, where he wept until his tears moistened the soil.

One day, while he was in the graveyard, he was called: O Talut, you killed us while we were alive, and you hurt us while we were dead. His weeping and fear increased thereby, and his dread intensified. He began to ask for a scholar to ask about his affair and whether he had any repentance. He was told: have you left any scholar?

Until he was directed to a woman among the worshippers. She took him and went with him to the grave of Yusha' (peace be upon him). They said: she called upon Allah, and Yusha' rose from his grave and said: has the Resurrection come? She said: no, but this is Talut asking you: has he any repentance?

He said: yes: he must strip off the kingship and go out fighting in the path of Allah until he is killed. Then he fell back dead. Talut left the kingship to Dawud (peace be upon him), went out with thirteen of his children, and they fought in the path of Allah until they were killed. They said: that is the word of the Most High: « And Allah gave him kingship and wisdom, and taught him of what He willed.

» This is how Ibn Jarir mentioned it in his History, by way of as-Suddi through his chain. And in some of this there is matter for scrutiny and wonder. And Allah knows best.

Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: the prophet who was sent and who informed Talut of his repentance is al-Yasa' ibn Akhtub. Ibn Jarir reported that too. Ath-Tha'labi mentioned that she brought him to the grave of Ashmawil, who rebuked him for what he had done after him. And this is more fitting. Perhaps he saw him in sleep, not that he rose alive from the grave: for that can only be a miracle of a prophet, and that woman was not a prophetess. And Allah knows best. Ibn Jarir said: the people of the Torah claim that the length of Talut's reign, until he was killed with his children, was forty years. And Allah knows best.