21. Surah Al Anbiya'

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ صَنْعَةَ لَبُوسٍ لَّكُمْ لِتُحْصِنَكُم مِّن بَأْسِكُمْ...  

21: 80.  It was We Who taught him the making of coats of mail for your benefit, to guard you from each others violence:

C2734. The making of coats of mails is attributed to David.

It is defensive armour, and therefore its discovery and supply is associated with deeds of righteousness in 34:10-11, in contrast with the deadly weapons which man invents for offensive purposes.

Indeed, all fighting, unless in defence of righteousness, is mere "violence."

...فَهَلْ أَنتُمْ شَاكِرُونَ ﴿٨٠﴾

will ye then be grateful?

C2735. David's good work then was:

-         he was open to learn wisdom wherever it came from;

-         he sang the praises of Allah, in unison with all nature;

-         he made defensive armour.

But all these things he did, because of the faculties which Allah had given him, and we must be grateful for this and for all things to Allah.

Other versions:

21:80 [al-Anbiyaa, Mecca 73]

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning Muhammad Asad   And We taught him how to make garments [of God- consciousness] for you, [O men,] so that they might fortify you against all that may cause you fear: but are you grateful [for this boon]? &#x21E8 M. M. Pickthall   And We taught him the art of making garments (of mail) to protect you in your daring. Are ye then thankful? &#x21E8 Shakir   And We taught him the making of coats of mail for you, that they might protect you in your wars; will you then be grateful? &#x21E8 Yusuf Ali   It was We Who taught him the making of coats of mail for your benefit, to guard you from each other's violence: will ye then be grateful? &#x21E8 Wahiduddin Khan   We taught him the art of making coats of mail for you, to protect you in battle. Will you then give thanks? &#x21E8 [Al-Muntakhab]   And We taught Dawud the art of making coats of arms for people's protection to defend you from injury and to shield you from the violence exercised against each other. And now will you impel yourselves to the feeling of gratitude and gratefulness! &#x21E8 [Progressive Muslims]   And We taught him the making of armour for you to protect you from your enemy. Are you then thankful

[[ Asad’s note - 74 The noun labus is synonymous with libas or libs, signifying "a garment" or "garments" (Qamus, Lisan al-'Arab). But since this term has occasionally been used by pre-islamic Arabs in the sense of "mail" or "coats of mail" (ibid.), the classical commentators assume that it has this meaning in the above context as well; and in this they rely on the - otherwise unsupported - statement of

the tabi'i Qatadah to the effect that "David was the first to make chain mail" (Tabari).

Accordingly, they understand the term ba's which occurs at the end of the sentence in its secondary sense of "war" or "warlike violence", and interpret the relevant part of the verse thus: "We taught him how to make coats of mail for you, so that they might fortify you against your [mutual acts of] violence", or "against [the effects of] your warlike violence".

One should, however, bear in mind that ba's signifies also "harm", "misfortune", "distress", etc., as well as "danger"; hence it denotes, it its widest sense, anything that causes distress or fear (Taj al-'Arus). If we adopt this last meaning, the term labas may be understood in its primary significance of "garment" - in this case, the metaphorical "garment of God-consciousness" (libas at-taqwa) of Which the

Qur'an speaks in 7:26. Rendered in this sense, the above verse expresses the idea that the Almighty taught David how to imbue his followers with that deep God-consciousness which frees men from all spiritual distress and all fears, whether it be fear of one another or the subconscious fear of the Unknown.

The concluding rhetorical question, "but are you grateful [for this boon]?" implies that, as a rule, man does not fully realize - and, hence, is not really grateful for - the spiritual bounty thus offered him by God.