۞ And indeed We gave Dawud the utmost excellence from Us; “O the hills and birds, repent towards Allah along with him”; and We made iron soft for him. 10 [and inspired him thus:] "Do good deeds lavishly, without stint, and give deep thought to their steady flow." And [thus should you all, O believers,] do righteous deeds: for, verily, I see all that you do! 11 And to Solomon [We subjected] the wind - its morning [journey was that of] a month - and its afternoon [journey was that of] a month, and We made flow for him a spring of [liquid] copper. And among the jinn were those who worked for him by the permission of his Lord. And whoever deviated among them from Our command - We will make him taste of the punishment of the Blaze. 12 They worked for him whatsoever he pleased of lofty halls and statues and basins like cisterns and cauldrons standing firm. Work ye, house of Da'ud! with thanksgiving; few of My bondmen are thankful. 13 And when We decreed death for him, nothing showed his death to them save a creeping creature of the earth which gnawed away his staff. And when he fell the jinn saw clearly how, if they had known the Unseen, they would not have continued in despised 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. So We let loose on them the inundation of (the dyke of) al-'Arim, replacing their gardens with two other gardens which bore only bitter gourd, and tamarisks and a few sparse lote-trees. 16 That was the Requital We gave them because they ungratefully rejected Faith: and never do We give (such) requital except to such as are ungrateful rejecters. 17 Between them and the Cities on which We had poured our blessings, We had placed Cities in prominent positions, and between them We had appointed stages of journey in due proportion: "Travel therein, secure, by night and by day." 18 But now they would say: "Long has our Sustainer made the distance between our journey-stages!" - for they had sinned against themselves. And in the end We caused them to become [one of those] tales [of things long past,] and scattered them in countless fragments. Herein, behold, there are messages indeed for all who are wholly patient in adversity and deeply grateful [to God]. 19 And on them did Satan prove true his idea, and they followed him, all but a party that believed. 20 Yet he had no authority over them except that We would know who believed in the Everlasting Life, from he who doubted. Your Lord is the Watcher over all things. 21