Surah An Naml in English

An-Naml (Arabic: الْنَّمْل‎, lit. 'The Ants') is the 27th chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an with 93 verses (āyāt).

Regarding the timing and contextual background of the supposed revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl), it is an earlier "Meccan / Makki surah", which means it is believed to have been revealed in Mecca (Makkah), instead of later in Madinah or Madina).

Surat 27 tells stories of the prophets Musa (Moses), Sulayman (Solomon), Saleh, and Lut (Lot) to emphasize the message of tawhid (monotheism) in Arabian and Israelite prophets. The miracles of Moses, described in the Book of Exodus, are mentioned in opposition to the arrogance and kufr (disbelief) of the Pharaoh.

The story of Solomon is most detailed: Solomon converted Queen Bilqis of Saba' (Sheba) to the "true religion" after a hoopoe reported to him that she was a sun-worshipping queen. This sura (sorat / sorah) was likely revealed to address the role of the "Children of Israel" among the believers in Mecca, to emphasize and commend the piety of past prophets, and to distinguish the present Qur'anic message from past traditions.

The sura's name is taken from the ants whose conversations were understood by Solomon. Similar to Sura 13 (The Thunder) or Sura 29 (The Spider), The Ants has no thematic significance in the Surat (Sorat) beyond it being a familiar phrase amongst believers, a reminder of the sura's story of Solomon.

Ants do hold a privileged status among animals in Islam on account of the story of Solomon. Hadith literature tells of Muhammad forbidding Muslims to kill the ant, bee, hoopoe, or shrike; it is no coincidence that they are all featured in Sura 27 and that Sura 16 is entitled The Bee. One interpretation for the ant's theological significance coincides with its role historically. As written in the 1993 edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam, "Since early antiquity, ants have been an object of admiration on account of ... the feverish activity with which they provide for their 27th chapter (surah) of the Qur'an (Quran / Quraan) with 93 verses (ayat) sustenance and the perfect organisation of their societies." This perfect organization under one cause correlates well with the Islamic idea of obedience, or ibadah.

Standard Islamic Egyptian chronology places Sura 27 as 48th out of 114. In this order, it comes before Sura 28 al-Qasas and after Sura 26 al-Shu'ara, following its order in the standard 'Uthmanic Qur'an. Amongst all three suras and all suras numbered between 19 and 32, the account of revelation begins with "mysterious letters," the meaning of which is speculated among some and among others remains unknown; they are speculated to have been variant Arabic dialects. Sura 27 begins with the words "Ta Sin." As evident in Tafsir al-Jalalayn, these words are sometimes interpreted as mysteries of God – signs to believe.

Reward of reciting Surah Naml:

1. The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) said: One who recites it, for him are virtues ten times the number of those who testified to Sulaiman and those who falsified him and Hud, Salih, Shuaib and Ibrahim (a.s.). He will come out of his grave pronouncing: There is no god but Allah.

This 'makki' surah has 93 verses. In the commentary of Majma'ul Bayan, it is written that the reward for reciting this surah is compared to ten times the number of people alive during the time of Prophet Suleiman (a.s.), Hud (a.s.), Shu'aib (a.s.), Saalih (a.s.) and Ibrahim (a.s.).

This has been narrated by Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.)

Surat an naml merupakan surat ke-27 yang tergolong surat Makkiyyah karena diturunkan di Mekkah. Surat an naml yang memiliki arti “semut” menerangkan tentang kisah Nabi Sulaiman a.s. dengan pasukan semut yang merupakan salah satu binatang istimewa yang dijelaskan dalam Al Qur’an.