وَقَالَ لَهُمۡ نَبِيُّهُمۡ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ قَدۡ بَعَثَ لَـکُمۡ طَالُوۡتَ مَلِكًا ​ؕ قَالُوۡٓا اَنّٰى يَكُوۡنُ لَهُ الۡمُلۡكُ عَلَيۡنَا وَنَحۡنُ اَحَقُّ بِالۡمُلۡكِ مِنۡهُ وَلَمۡ يُؤۡتَ سَعَةً مِّنَ الۡمَالِ​ؕ قَالَ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ اصۡطَفٰٮهُ عَلَيۡکُمۡ وَزَادَهٗ بَسۡطَةً فِى الۡعِلۡمِ وَ الۡجِسۡمِ​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ يُؤۡتِىۡ مُلۡکَهٗ مَنۡ يَّشَآءُ ​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيۡمٌ‏ ﴿2:247﴾ وَقَالَ لَهُمۡ نَبِيُّهُمۡ اِنَّ اٰيَةَ مُلۡکِهٖۤ اَنۡ يَّاۡتِيَکُمُ التَّابُوۡتُ فِيۡهِ سَکِيۡنَةٌ مِّنۡ رَّبِّکُمۡ وَبَقِيَّةٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ اٰلُ مُوۡسٰى وَاٰلُ هٰرُوۡنَ تَحۡمِلُهُ الۡمَلٰٓـئِكَةُ​ ؕ اِنَّ فِىۡ ذٰلِكَ لَاٰيَةً لَّـکُمۡ اِنۡ كُنۡتُمۡ مُّؤۡمِنِيۡنَ‏ ﴿2:248﴾

(2:247) And their Prophet said to them: “Indeed Allah has sent forth Saul (Talut) as your king.”²⁶⁹ They said: “By what right shall he rule over us when we are more worthy than he to dominion, for he is not very wealthy?” He said: “Allah has chosen him over you and has endowed him abundantly with both intellectual and physical capacities. Allah indeed has the power to bestow dominion upon whomsoever He wills. Allah is All-Resourceful, All- Knowing.” (2:248) And their Prophet said to them: “The Sign of his dominion is that in his reign the Ark, wherein is inner peace for you, will be brought back to you, and the sacred relics left behind by the house of Moses and the house of Aaron borne by angels.²⁷⁰ Truly in that is a Sign for you, if indeed you are people of faith.” 

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Notes

269. In the Bible he is called Saul. He was a thirty-year-old Benjaminite youth. ‘There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he; from his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people’ (1 Samuel 9: 2). He went out in search of the lost asses of his father. During this search, he passed through the house of Samuel and God informed Samuel that this was the person who had been chosen to govern the people of Israel. Samuel brought Saul to his house, took a vial of oil, poured it on his head,. kissed him and said: ‘Has not the Lord anointed you to be the prince over His people of Israel? ‘ (1 Samuel 10: 1). Samuel later called the people of Israel together and proclaimed Saul to be their king (1 Samuel 10: 17). 

This was the second Israelite to be anointed by God’s command to a position of leadership. Earlier, Aaron had been anointed as the chief priest. The third case of anointment was that of David, and the fourth that of Jesus. There is no clear statement in the Qur’an regarding the designation of Talut (the Saul of the Bible) to prophethood. The mere fact of his being appointed a ruler does not necessarily warrant considering him a Prophet as well. 

270. The Biblical version of this incident is different from the Qur’anic one. The former sheds light, however, on certain details of the incident. It shows that during a military engagement the pagan Philistines had captured the ‘Ark of the covenant’. Terrified of the scourge and pestilence which spread wherever they carried the Ark, these pagans placed it on a cart driven by milk cows, and sent it off. (1 Samuel 5-6 – Ed.) Perhaps the Qur’an alludes to this when it mentions angels, since the cart was driverless and it was the angels who kept it in their custody and brought it to the Israelites. The Qur’anic statement, that in the Ark ‘lies inward peace for you’, can be understood in the light of the Biblical statements that the Israelites regarded the Ark as highly auspicious, and as an emblem of their triumph and victory. When they were deprived of it, they began to feel that they had been deprived of the mercy of God. The return of the Ark, therefore, had a highly salutary effect on them as it strengthened their sagging morale and raised their spirits. 

The Qur’anic mention of ‘the sacred relics left behind by the house of Aaron’ seems to allude to the Tablets of Law bequeathed to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Ark is also said to have contained the original copy of the Torah, which Moses himself had had transcribed and which he had himself handed over to the Levites. The Ark is also supposed to have contained a golden urn holding the manna (Hebrews 9: 2 ff – Ed.), in order that the coming generations might recall God’s benevolence to their forefathers during their wandering in the desert. The Ark also probably contained the rod of Moses which was one of the great miracles of God. (Hebrews 9: 5 mentions the rod of Aaron – Ed.)