Surah Sad, Ayah 20

Allah tells us that His servant and Messenger Dawud, peace be upon him, was endued with power

Al-Ayd means strength in knowledge and action. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd said, "Al-Ayd means strength." Mujahid said, "Al-Ayd means strength in obedience to Allah." Qatadah said, "Dawud, peace be upon him, was given strength in worship and the proper understanding of Islam." He told us that he, peace be upon him, used to spend a third of the night in prayer, and he fasted for half a lifetime. This was reported in the Two Sahihs, where it is recorded that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«أَحَبُّ الصَّلَاةِ إِلَى اللهِ تَعَالَى صَلَاةُ دَاوُدَ، وَأَحَبُّ الصِّيَامِ إِلَى اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ صِيَامُ دَاوُدَ، كَانَ يَنَامُ نِصْفَ اللَّيْلِ، وَيَقُومُ ثُلُثَهُ، وَيَنَامُ سُدُسَهُ، وَكَانَ يَصُومُ يَوْمًا وَيُفْطِرُ يَوْمًا، وَلَا يَفِرُّ إِذَا لَاقَى، وَأَنَّهُ كَانَ أَوَّابًا»

The word: الْحِكْمَةَ (al-hikmah) appearing in verse 38:20: وَآتَيْنَاهُ الْحِكْمَةَ وَفَصْلَ الْخِطَابِ (and gave him wisdom, and a decisive speech), as obvious, means wisdom, that is, 'We had blessed him with the precious assets of reason, insight and vision.' Some elders have suggested that it means 'nubuwwah', the station and mission of a prophet. As for the second gift: فَصْلَ الْخِطَابِ (fasl al-khitab: translated here as: a decisive speech), it has been explained in different ways by commentators. Some have said that it means power of oration - and the fact is that Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) was a great orator. He was the first one who started saying اَمَّا بَعد (amma bad: after that) following hamd and Salah in his religious sermons. Some others have said that it means the ability to make a decision at its best, 'that is, Allah Ta’ ala had given him the ability and power to resolve disputes and decide matters comprehensively. The truth of the matter is that the words used in the Qur'an seem to have ample room for both meanings, and both are meant. Incidentally, the translation done by Mau1ana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi (رح) - 'Faisla kar denay wali taqrir' - helps accommodate both meanings. (And so does the English translation given above.)

God also blessed David with a very strong empire. The secret of this strength was his wisdom (hikmah) and his decisiveness (fasl al-khitab) which made him capable of taking right decisions at the right time. These two attributes make a ruler efficient. His innate wisdom ensures that he does not take any action which will bring more harm than good. And his ability to distinguish between right and wrong ensures that his decisions will always be based on justice.