۞ And assuredly We gave David grace from Us, (saying): O ye hills and birds, echo his psalms of praise! And We made the iron supple unto 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 We (subjugated) the wind to Solomon. Its morning's journey took one month, and the evening's one month. We made a spring of molten brass to flow for him; and many jinns laboured for him by the will of his Lord. Anyone of them who turned from Our command was made to taste the torment of blazing fire. 12 They made for him whatever he would desire: stately buildings, images, basins like water-troughs and huge, built-in-cauldrons: “Work, O house of David, in thankfulness (to your Lord). Few of My servants are truly thankful.” 13 Then when We decreed death for him, naught discovered his death to them save a moving creature of the earth which gnawed away his staff. Then when he fell, the jinn clearly perceived that if they had known the unseen they would not have tarried in the ignominious torment. 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 They ignored (the evidence) and We sent to them a flood, arising from a broken dam. Nothing was left in their gardens but bitter fruits, some tamarisk and a few lotus trees. 16 Thus did We retribute them for their ingratitude. And none do We retribute in this manner except the utterly ungrateful. 17 We placed other prominent towns between them, the towns that We had blessed and had set well-measured stages between them. Move back and forth between them, night and day, in perfect security. 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 Thus Iblis found his supposition about them to be true; and except for a section of believers they follow him. 20 He did not have any authority over them except to the extent that would allow Us to know who had faith in the life to come and who had doubts about it. Your Lord is a Guard over all things. 21