Dear Student,
As-salaam alaikum,
I find it somehow inappropriate responding to your questions which are mostly specifically directed to Br. Joseph. Yet, am just giving this as a kind contribution which you may wish to ignore at your own discretion, sorry for any possible inconvenience. I hope Br. Joseph will be giving you pertinent replies when he is available where necessary.
In my humble view, I think I concur with what you cite as an understanding proffered by Dr. Shabbir. ‘wakashafat 'an saqayha’ in 27:44 literally translates to ‘and she uncovered her shins.’ As an idiom, it has a deeper meaning not obvious from the literal wording, which, as you may agree, is always the case with idioms.
Though ‘kashafa’ would imply ‘uncover/lay open/remove’ (50:22) and ‘suqin’ means ‘calves’ (38:33), as used in 27:44, the combination of the two words is classically understood to form an idiom which based on the context of its usage, could mean ‘become spell bound, dumbfounded, gobsmacked’ or ‘become prepared to meet the difficulty, become perplexed/taken aback’ [1]. The combination is also used somewhere else in the Qur’an in 68:42 where the context is well attested as that of ‘being taken aback,’ ‘overwhelmed with astounding truth’ and ‘prepared to meet the difficulty’ such that the disbeliever will be humiliated, confounded with truth, unable/ashamed to actually bow down.
“The Day the shin will be uncovered (yukshafu an saqin) and they are invited to prostration but the disbelievers will not be able, their eyes humbled, humiliation will cover them. And they used to be invited to prostration while they were sound.” (Qur’an, Al-Qalam 68:42-43)
Reading the above together with 36:51-52 and 22:2, the context above is clearly that of ‘impending difficulty’ unfolding and through which those addressed will be bound to face the situation. The phrase ‘...and you will see the people intoxicated while they are not intoxicated...’ (watara nasa suqara wama hum bi suqara) - 22:2 actually depicts a heavy situation/scene. You may want to appreciate how those ‘appearing drunk/bewildered/pertubed’- ‘suqara’ (22:2) due to what has dawned on them would compare to those ‘spellbound/perplexed’ - ‘yukshafu an saqin’ (68:42) due to what is unfolding and yet to still confront the impending difficulty.
Therefore, similarly, the queen of Saba 'thought it was a body of water and was taken aback/spellbound (wakashafat 'an saqayha)' by the amazing palace that was ‘paved with glass (mumarradu min qawarira).’
Hopefully that gives some little insight.
Regards,
Athman.
REFERENCE:
[1]. LANE. E.W, Edward Lanes Lexicon, Williams and Norgate 1863; Librairie du Liban Beirut-Lebanon 1968, Volume 4, Pages 1470-1473