وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ عِلْمًا وَقَالَا الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي فَضَّلَنَا عَلَى كَثِيرٍ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿۱۵﴾ وَوَرِثَ سُلَيْمَانُ دَاوُودَ وَقَالَ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ عُلِّمْنَا مَنْطِقَ الطَّيْرِ وَأُوتِينَا مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ إِنَّ هَذَا لَهُوَ الْفَضْلُ الْمُبِينُ ﴿۱۶﴾

﴾15﴿ Wa laqad aatainaa Daawooda wa sulaimaana 'ilmaa; wa qaalal hamdu lil laahil lazee faddalanaa 'alaa kaseerim min 'ibaadihil mu'mineen
﴾16﴿ Wa warisa Sulaimaanu Daawooda wa qaala yaaa aiyuhan naasu 'ullimnaa mantiqat tairi wa ooteenaa min kulli shai'in inna haazaa lahuwal fadlul mubeen

﴾15﴿ And indeed, We gave knowledge to David (peace be upon him) and Solomon (peace be upon him), and they would say, All praise belongs to Allah, who has favored us over many of His believing servants
﴾16﴿ And Solomon (peace be upon him) succeeded David (peace be upon him) and said, O people, we have been taught the speech of birds, and we have been given from everything. Indeed, this is surely a clear favor (from Allah)

[15] This verse is the second story, about Solomon (peace be upon him), up to (verse 44).
There are many religious and political wisdoms in it, and all these wisdoms stem from the power and knowledge of Allah, the Exalted.
In this verse, a great wisdom is also expressed: that Solomon (peace be upon him) was not a knower of the unseen, and he relied on the testimony of two witnesses in this matter—first, the ant; second, the hoopoe.
The word ʿilman (knowledge) appears in indefinite form, which refers to certain specific types of knowledge, namely prophethood, understanding the speech of birds, hearing the glorification of the mountains, and subjugating the devils.
These are included under ʿilman.
The wisdoms in this verse include:
1. In the knowledge of the prophets (peace be upon them) lies a virtuous attribute.
2. A learned person must give thanks for the blessing of knowledge.
3. He must believe that even though he is superior to many people, there are still others who are more virtuous than he is—therefore, he should not be arrogant.
4. The most superior knowledge is that which is revealed by Allah, the Exalted.
5. The prophets (peace be upon them) are in need of Allah, the Exalted, for their knowledge.
[16] The meaning of inheritance here is taking the place of the father in prophethood and kingship, and this is from Allah, the Exalted, due to a reason for which it was not granted to the other children.
The wisdoms of this verse include:
1. Knowledge is the inheritance of the prophets.
2. It is obligatory upon the prophets (peace be upon them) to manifest miracles, because it was proclaimed: O people!
3. Miracles are of two types: spiritual—such as the knowledge of bird language—and apparent—such as outward kingship.
4. Birds also speak, and understanding that is a miracle. So, without revealed knowledge, no one can claim that a certain bird said a certain thing.
Therefore, those commentators who have written interpretations of bird speech are not correct, because such speech is not established by any authentic raised (marfūʿ) hadith.
5. Speech is not exclusive to humans, as logicians have claimed, and considering perception to depend solely on speech is a far-fetched idea.
6. Miracles are not under the control of the prophets, because the words ʿullimnā (we were taught) and ūtīnā (we were given) are in the passive form, and the agent is clearly Allah, the Exalted.
7. Worldly kingship acquired through supernatural means and used for the advancement of religion is also a grace from Allah, the Exalted.
The phrase (kulli shayʾin)—"everything"—refers to those things that are relevant to the strength of kingship, and this is called conventional generalization; it does not mean every single thing, because many things (such as the kingdom of Sheba) were not given.
The use of plural forms ʿullimnā and ūtīnā was mentioned because Solomon (peace be upon him) and his followers were intended together.