And when We decreed for Solomon death, nothing indicated to the jinn his death except a creature of the earth eating his staff. But when he fell, it became clear to the jinn that if they had known the unseen, they would not have remained in humiliating punishment.
Tafseer
{ فلما قضينا عليه } على سليمان { الموت } أي مات ومكث قائما على عصاه حولا ميتا والجن تعمل تلك الأعمال الشاقة على عادتها لا تشعر بموته حتى أكلت الأرضة عصاه فخرّ ميتا { ما دلهم على موته إلا دابة الأرض} مصدر أرضت الخشبة بالبناء للمفعول أكلتها الأرضه { تأكل منسأته } بالهمز وتركه بألف عصاه لأنها ينسأ يطرد ويزجر بها {فلما خرَّ } ميتا { تبينت الجن } انكشف لهم { أن } مخففة أي أنهم { لو كانوا يعلمون الغيب } ومنه ما غاب عنهم من موت سليمان { ما لبثوا في العذاب المهين } العمل الشاق لهم لظنهم حياته خلاف ظنهم علم الغيب وعلم كونه سنة بحساب ما أكلته الأرضة من العصا بعد موته يوما وليلة مثلا .
{So when We decreed for him} Solomon {death}, that is, he died and remained standing on his staff for a year, dead, and the jinn were doing those hard jobs as usual, not noticing his death until the termites ate his staff and he fell down dead. {Nothing informed them of his death except a creature of the earth}, the source of the verb adrata, in the passive form, eaten by the termites {eating his staff} with a hamza and leaving it with the alif of his staff because it is used to drive away and repel. {So when he fell down} dead, {the jinn realized} it was revealed to them that {had they known the unseen}, including what was hidden from them about Solomon’s death {they would not have remained in the humiliating punishment}, the hard work for them because they thought he was alive, contrary to their thought. Knowledge of the unseen and knowledge that it is a year, based on the calculation of what the termites ate of the staff after his death, for example, a day and a night.