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David (PUH)
When David killed Goliath, the armies got separated and got back from their
coming destination and God made him victorious and he became closer for
Saul and he (Saul) made him marry his daughter Michal and he also made
him a leader fos his armies and the Israelites considered him a great man
and the friendship grew tight between David and the son of Saul Yonaþân
(Jonathan) and the relations between David and Saul were good for some
time, and then when the conditions of David grew higher and he became famous
among the people and the Israelites became under his commands, Saul envied
him for this and feared him and feared that he would try to take from him
the kingdom, so he desired to kill him and assasinate him, but his son
Jonathan used to defend him (David) and praise him and show his father
that he is loyal to him and worked on enhancing the position of David in
the eyes of his father. When Saul wanted to destroy David, his wife Michal,
the daughter of Saul, warned him and he ran away, and she told her father
that he (David) is on his bed so send someone to kill him and when they
wanted to they only found some clothes been covered. This is what was told
by some historians and seems that they copied this from Torah apparently.
Then David gathered his close relatives and his brothers in belief and
whoever was escaping Saul of the Israelites and lot of others joined him
and so he became stronger and he raised up to face Saul, and then many
chasings and wars started between them and at the end David won and killed
him (Saul).
They say then after that David went to the city of Hebron and then
the men of Judah came to him and they were far from him before, and they
gave him the kingdom and made him a king over the house of Judah as he
is a king over others, and so his kingdom grew wider even, and there were
a group of people of them (the house of Judah) and others among the Israelites
that did not go along with him and went under the command of the son of
Saul, and also the men of his father and the leaders of the armies, and
wars again started between them until the son of Saul died after two years
of wars beginning between him and David, and when he died, David had all
the kingdom and all the Israelites came under his command and he lived
in the city of Jirun (Hebron) [seems there is a printing mistake in this
point], and it is the city of Al-Khaleel now [Al-Khaleel, the Arabic name
of Hebron], and he lived there for seven years and then he moved to Sahyun
(Zion) and it is a fort that was called later on by the city of Dâwud
(David), and there lived beside him lot of enemies but at the end all of
them came under his command and all of their lands became under the rule
of the Israelites, and there were lot of wars during the days of rule of
David and he went out of them victorious, and his kingdom grew wider until
he reached the bay of Aqabah and the Euphrates in Iraq, so all of these
lands went under his command after many wars that he won all, and so he
conquered the lands of Palestine and took Damascus the capital of the Arameans
after fierce wars, and he fought against the tribes and clans on the Euphrates
and won against them all, and he ruled Jordan after wars with Ammonites.
That was in brief what was mentioned in Torah and the real thing is known
only by God.
It is attributed to Al-Bâqir (PUH) that he said: God did not
send prophets as kings after Noah except of four: Ðul-Qarnain and his
name was `Ayyâsh, and David and Solomon and Joseph (PUT), and as
for `Ayyâsh he ruled what was between the east and west, and as for
David
he ruled the lands of Canaan upto the lands of Issachar, and so it was
the same for Solomon, and as for Joseph he ruled Egypt and its lands and
did not come over behind this. As for Solomon, maybe that was the beginning
of his rule because what is well-known about him that he ruled what was
between the east and west as Ðul-Qarnain without a difference, although
there is a difference in the mentioned narration and only God knows. As
reported by Sâhib Al-Kâmil [either a book's or a person's name]
that David ben Jesse was from the house of Judah and when Saul was killed
all of the Israelites came to him and gave him the keys of treasures of
Saul and they made him a king over them and when he became a king God made
him a prophet and revealed upon him the Zabur (Psalms) and He ordered the
mountains and the birds to sanctify God with him when he does, and God
did not give anyone a voice like his voice and whenever he used to read
the psalms the beasts would come to him even if he wanted to take hold
of their necks, and he used to worship at night and fast the daytime and
used to eat from his own work and trade.
They say that at the time of David, the plague spread among the people
and so he went out with them to the location of the Temple and he used
to see before that time the angels going to heavens from that location
and that is why he went to that location to pray to God in it, so when
he stood in the location of the Rock and prayed to God to raise the plague
from among them, God answered him then and they all knew that this spot
is a sacred one and he made a mosque in it, and they started to build it
for eleven years from the time of his rule but he died before it is done
and he advised his son Solomon to complete its building. They say when
the end of David drew near, he had a maid that used to lock all the doors
and bring the keys to him, and then he prays to his Lord, and one night
she locked all the doors as usual and then she came back and she saw a
man so she said to him: who let you into the room? He said to her: I am
the one who goes into the courts of kings without their permission, and
David heard this so he asked: are you the angel of death? He said: yes,
and David then said to him: shouldn't you send messangers to me to get
prepared? Then the angel of death said: I sent to you many times before,
and then David asked: who was your messanger? He said: where is your father
and your brother and your neighbour, and he mentioned some names, so David
answered: they all died, so he said: they are my messangers to you and
you shall die as they died before, and so he took his soul. When he died,
Solomon inherited his kingdom, and he had nineteen sons but only Solomon
inherited him, and his age at the time of his death was one hundred years,
and his rule was for forty years (out of the one hundred years), and some
others say that he lived for one hundred and forty years.
Al-Mas`udi mentioned that God made the iron flexible for David and
so he made out of it the shields and He made the mountains and the birds
sanctify with him, and then he said: and God revealed upon him the psalms
in Hebrew and made of one hundred and fifty chapters and divided it into
three thirds, and the last third of them is made of sermons and attractions
and warnings, and it has no commands and no laws, and David built a house
for worshipping in Jerusalem and it is the Sacred House (the Temple) and
it is the one the remained until this very day and it is called the chancel
of David [Arabic: Mihrâb Dâwud], and from the top of it one
can see the dead sea and the river Jordan, and God gave many favours for
David and gave him lot of properities that would not pass over the mind
of anyone and He praised him aind thanked for him the beautiful stands
he did take.
God did test him and showed his faith and he was one of the best that
God did choose for His religion and for His inspirations, of those who
guide with His own commands and turn angry for His case with a plain clue
that is not corrupted with doubt, for they are infallible and faithful
and wise with passion.
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