Queen of Sheba (Introduction to Surah 27 - An-Naml) References

 

People of Saba

 

Saba were a well-known commercial people of southern Arabia whose capital city of Ma'rib lay about 55 miles to the north-east of San'a, the present capital of Yaman.  They rose to power after the decline of the Miaean kingdom in about 1100 B.C. and flourished for a thousand years in Arabia.  Then in 115 B.C. they were replaced by the Himyarites, other well-known people of southern Arabia, who ruled Yaman and Hadramaut in Arabia and Habasha in Africa.  The Sabaeans controlled the whole trade that passed between eastern Africa, India the Far East and Arabia itself, on the one hand, and Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome on the other.  That is why they were famous for their wealth in the ancient times; so much so that according to the Greek historians they were the richest people of the world.  Besides trade and commerce, another great reason of their prosperity was that they had built dams here and there in their country to store rainwater for irrigation purposes, which had turned their whole land into a veritable garden.  The Greek historians have made mention of the unusual greenery of their country; and the Quran also refers to it in Surah Saba.

 

Hud-hud Informs about Queen of Sheba:

 

The armies of Prophet Solomon included the troops of the men, jinns, and birds.  It is just possible that the Prophet Solomon had employed birds for communicating messages, hunting and performing other such services.  He expressed his gratitude to Allah for His that bounty that he had been taught the speech of the birds. During review of the birds, Prophet Solomon found the hud-hud missing.  He said that he would punish him severely, or even slaughter him, unless he presented a reasonable excuse.  Prophet Solomon was aware of a people who ruled the southern shores (Yaman) of the Red Sea who also controlled an important part of the international trade. 

 

Hud-hud said the knowledge of the things he had seen with his eyes in the central city of the Sabaeans had not yet reached him.  The people of Saba at that time followed the religion of sun-worship.  Satan has made them believe that earning the worldly wealth and making their lives more and more grand and pompous was the only real and fit use of their mental and intellectual and physical powers.  Apart from these, they did not need to think seriously on anything else.  They could have perceived that the hot burning sphere of the sun which has no sense of its own existence, did not deserve to be worshipped but worship was due to Him alone Who is the All-Knowing and the All-Wise Being, and Whose power is bringing into existence new and ever new phenomena every moment.  Hud-hud informed that the community was ruled by a queen, who had a splendid throne.

 

Hud-hud takes the letter to Sheba

 

The Prophet Solomon sent the same hud-hud with a letter to the queen of Sheba and told him to cast that before her.  When the hud-hud arrived with the Prophet Solomon's letter, the queen of Sheba was going for the worship of the sun-god, and it threw the letter on the way before the queen.

 

Queen described the letter to her courtiers.  The letter was important for several reasons: (1) it has reached herin an unusual way.  Instead of an envoy it had been brought and dropped at her by a bird.  (2) It was from Solomon, the great ruler of Palestine and Syria.  (3) It had begun with the name of Allah, the Compassionate, and Merciful, which was an unusual way of correspondence and was not followed by any kingdom in the world. (4) Then, it was also unusual that a letter should be written only in the name of Allah, the Exalted, apart from all other gods and goddesses.  (5) Most importantly, it was quite clearly and plainly inviting  them to give up rebellion and adopt obedience and present themselves before Solomon in submission (or as Muslims). Present yourselves in submission”; and (2) “present yourselves as Muslims (after embracing Islam).”  The same sort of invitation has always been extended by Islam to independent nations and governments that they should either accept Islam and become equal partners in the Islamic system of life, or surrender political independence and submit to the system of Islam and pay jizyah.

 

She regarded their presence necessary when she would take a decision in important matters, and also that whatever decision she take they should be there to testify that it was right and correct.  Though the system of government among Saba was kingship, it was not tyrannical; but the ruler of the time decided matters in consultation with the important people in the government.

 

Queen Sheba Send Presents for Prophet Solomon

 

Queen sent gifts to Prophet Solomon.  He said that he had no desire for their   wealth; he only desired that they should believe, or at least submit to a righteous system.  If they agreed to neither of these alternatives, it was not possible for him to accept the bribes of wealth and leave them free in the matter of a polytheistic and wicked system of life.  What his Lord has given him is enough for him to cherish any desire for theirr wealth.  He asked those messengers to  take those gifts back to the people who have sent them.  They should come before him as Muslims, or they will bring forces against them.

 

Prophet Solomon Returns the Gift

 

The envoys returned to the queen with the gift and made a report of what they had seen and heard; the queen decided on the basis of what she heard about the Prophet Solomon to make a visit to Jerusalem to see him personally; she left Saba for Palestine accompanied by her royal entourage and sent a message to Solomon 's court that she herself was coming to personally hear the invitation from the king himself and to have a direct talk with him.  The queen had reached near Jerusalem and was going to appear before Solomon in a day or two.

 

Prophet Solomon asks Sheba's Throne to be Fetched:

 

Prophet Solomon wanted to show a miracle also to the queen and her courtiers besides preaching his message so that she might know what extraordinary powers Allah, Lord of the worlds, had granted to His Prophet so that she might be convinced that Solomon was surely a Prophet of Allah.  Prophet Solomon wanted the queen's own throne to be brought from Yaman to Jerusalem and that too before the queen's arrival.

 

From this it becomes obvious whether the jinns under the Prophet Solomon were from among the hidden creation commonly known as jinns.  Obviously, the sitting of the Prophet Solomon's court would be at the most be of three to four hours, and the distance of Ma'rib, capital of Saba, from Jerusalem was, even as the crow flies, not less than 1500 miles.  To fetch a splendid throne of a queen from such a distant place in such a short time could not be possible for a man, even if he be a very strong and robust person.  This task cannot be performed by a jet plane of today.  The throne was not lying in a jungle from where it had just to be fetched.  It lay in a queen's palace, which must have been kept in a secure place.  If a man had gone to fetch it, he should have been accompanied by a commando force so that he could overwhelm the guards and snatch away the throne.  How could all this be accomplished before the rising of the court?  This thing can be conceived only in connection with a real jinn!

 

That is, "You can trust me in that I will not carry it away, nor steal any valuable thing from it."

 

Nothing is known with certainty as to who this person was, what special knowledge he had and what Book is referred to here, whose knowledge he had.  No explanation of these things has been given either in the Quran or in any authentic Hadith.  In any case the person was not from among the jinns, and possibly he was a man.  He possessed some extraordinary knowledge, which had been derived from some Divine Book.  The jinn had claimed to fetch the throne within a few hours by means of his physical strength; this man fetched it in a moment by the power of his knowledge.

 

The word of the Quran are very clear in this regard.  This person's claim did not remain a claim like the jinns's, but, in fact, as soon as he made the claim the throne was seen placed before the Prophet Solomon the next moment.  This event was extraordinary. He feared that the prompt arrangement of a throne for the honorable gust might cause him to become ungrateful to Allah instead of being grateful.   As far the question as to how a royal throne was fetched over a distance of 1500 miles in the twinkling of an eye, it can be briefly answered thus: "The concepts of time and space, and matter and movement, that we have formed on the basis of our experiments and observations, are only applicable to us.  These concepts are not correct in respect to God, nor is He bound by these.  The God Who by His one command brought this huge universe into being, had the power to have moved the throne of the queen of Sheba at a speed greater than the speed of light.

 

That is, He does not stand in need of somebody's gratefulness. His Godhead is neither enhanced by an iota by somebody's gratefulness nor diminished by that amount by somebody's ingratitude of thankfulness.  He is a Sovereign in His own right.  His Sovereignty is not dependent on His creation's acknowledgement or rejection.

 

As how the queen reached Jerusalem and how she was received, has been omitted.  The story is resumed from the time when she had arrived at the palace to see Prophet Solomon.

 

This is a meaningful sentence, which means: (1) "Whether she understands or not that her own throne which has been fetched in no time from her capital to a distant place like Jerusalem;" and also (2) "whether she is guided aright after seeing this wonderful miracle, persists in her error."  Here Prophet Solomon clearly says that he had done this in order to help the queen see Guidance.

 

Queen Sheba Meets Prophet Solomon:

 

Solomon ordered the throne to be fetched before him, and when it had been fetched, ordered his servants to set it before the queen casually, and then when she arrived, she was asked whether her throne was like that, and she answered, that was just the same.  Even before they saw that miracle they had been convinced by what they had heard of Solomon (pbuh) that he was a Prophet of Allah, and not merely a ruler of a kingdom.  She was not obdurate and stubborn.  She had been an unbeliever till then mainly because she came of an unbelieving people.  As she had accustomed to bowing down before a false deity since her childhood, it had become a hindrance for her to the right way.  As soon as she came in contact with the Prophet Solomon, she discerned the right way and the hindrance was removed forthwith.

 

Queen of Sheba becomes Muslim

 

There were many eye-openers for her.  The first thing was Solomon's letter that had begun with the name of the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful Allah, a very different from the common custom prevalent among the customs.  The second was his rejection of her gifts, which made the queen understand that he was different kind of a king.  The third was the report made by the king's envoys from which she came to know about Solomon's pious life, his wisdom and his message of the Truth.  These things had induced her to travel to Jerusalem herself to personally meet the Prophet Solomon, and to this she had referred when she said, "We had already known this and we had become Muslims, " The  fourth thing was the removal of her throne from Ma'rib to Jerusalem in no time, from which the queen realized that he had Allah's power at his back.  Now this was the last thing that removed every doubt from her mind regarding the unique and great personality of the Prophet Solomon.  When she saw that in spite of possessing every means of comfort and ease and a grand palace for a dwelling, he was so free from every conceit, so God-fearing and righteous and so grateful to God that he bowed before Him for every small favor and his life so different from the life of those who were enamored of the world, she exclaimed, "O my Lord! I have been unjust to myself, now I submit myself, with Solomon, to Allah, Lord of the worlds."

 

References

 

(On another occasion) Solomon reviewed his birdsEN27:27 and said, ”How is it that I do not see the hoopoe? Has he disappeared somewhere? 27:20

 

EN27:27 That is, the birds whose troops, as mentioned above, were included in the armies of Prophet Solomon like the troops of the men and jinns.  It is just possible that the Prophet Solomon had employed them for communicating messages, hunting and performing other such services.

 

I will punish him severely, or even slaughter him, unless he presents before me a reasonable excuse.”EN27:28 27:21

 

EN27:28 Some people of the modern time say that the hud-hud (hoopoe) is the name of a man who was an officer in the army of Solomon.  We do not think so.  First of all, the Prophet Solomon expresses his gratitude to Allah for His this bounty: "We have been taught the speech of the birds."  In this sentence, firstly, the words jinn, ins (men), and tairī have been used as names for three well known and distinct species denoted by these words in Arabic.  Then they have been used absolutely and there is nothing in the context that may point to any of them being used metaphorically, or as a simile, because of which one may take them in another meaning than their well-known lexical meaning.  Then the word ins has occurred between the words jinn and tair, which does not allow taking it in the meaning that the jinn and tair were, in fact, two groups included in the species of ins (men).  The, Quran says that the Prophet Solomon said this when during his review of the birds he found the hud-hud missing.  Then the Prophet says, "I will punish him severely, or even slaughter him, unless he presents me a reasonable excuse."  A man is killed, or hanged, or sentenced to death, but never slaughtered.  Some hard-hearted person may even slaughter another person out of vengeance, but it cannot be expected of a Prophet that he would sentence a soldier of his army to be slaughtered only for the offence of desertion, and Allah would mention this heinous act of the Prophet without a word of disapproval.

 

A little further on we shall see that the Prophet Solomon sends the same hud-hud with a letter to the queen of Sheba and tells him "to cast it before her".  Obviously, such an instruction can be given to a bird but not at all to a man when he is sent as an envoy or messenger.  Only a foolish person will believe that a king would send his envoy with a letter to the queen and of another country and tell him to cast or throw it before her.  Should we suppose that the Prophet Solomon was not aware of the preliminary social etiquette which even common people like us also observe when we send our servant to a neighbor?  Will a gentleman tell his servant to carry his letter to the other gentleman and throw it before him?

 

All of these things show that the word hud-hud here has been used in its lexical meaning, showing that he was not a man but a bird.  Now, if a person is not prepared to believe that a hud-hud can speak those things that he have been ascribed to it in the Quran, he should frankly say that he does not believe in this narrative of the Quran.

 

The bird did not take long when it came and said, “I have obtained knowledge of things which you have no knowledge.  I have brought sure information about Saba.”EN27:29 27:22

 

EN27:29 Saba were a well-known commercial people of southern Arabia whose capital city of Ma'rib lay about 55 miles to the north-east of San'a, the present capital of Yaman.  They rose to power after the decline of the Miaean kingdom in about 1100 B.C. and flourished for a thousand years in Arabia.  Then in 115 B.C. they were replaced by the Himyarites, other well-known people of southern Arabia, who ruled Yaman and Hadramaut I Arabia and Habasha in Africa.  The Sabaeans controlled the whole trade that passed between eastern Africa, India the Far East and Arabia itself, on the one hand, and Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome on the other.  That is why they were famous for their wealth in the ancient times; so much so that according to the Greek historians they were the richest people of the world.  Besides trade and commerce, another great reason of their prosperity was that they had built dams here and there in their country to store rainwater for irrigation purposes, which had turned their whole land into a veritable garden.  The Greek historians have made mention of the unusual greenery of their country; and the Quran also refers to it in Surah Saba: 15.

 

The statement of the hud-hud, "I have obtained knowledge of things which you have no knowledge", does not imply that the Prophet Solomon was wholly unaware of Saba'.  Obviously, the ruler of Syria and Palestine whose kingdom extended to the northern shores of the Red Sea (Gulf of 'Aqabah), could not be unaware of a people who ruled the southern shores (Yaman) of the same Red Sea, and who also controlled an important part of the international trade.  What the hud-hud means to say is this: "The knowledge of the things I have seen with my eyes in the central city of the Sabaeans, has not yet reached you."

 

There I have seen a woman ruling over her people; she has been given all sorts of provisions, and she has a splendid throne.  27:23. I saw that she and her people prostrate themselves before the sun, instead of Allah,”EN27:30 – SatanEN27:31 made their deeds seem fair to them,EN27:32 and hindered them from the highway; therefore, they do not find the right path 27:24

 

EN27:30 This shows that the people of Saba at that time followed the religion of sun-worship.  According to ancient traditions when the hud-hud arrived with the Prophet Solomon's letter, the queen of Sheba was going for the worship of the sun-god, and it threw the letter on the way before the queen.

 

EN27:31 The style shows that the sentences from here to the end of the paragraph are not a part of the hud-hud's speech but its speech ended with: "they prostrate themselves before the sun", and these words are an addition by Allah to its speech.  This opinion is supported by the sentence: "He knows all that you conceal and reveal."  These words give the impression that the speaker and the addressees here are not the hud-hud and the Prophet Solomon and his courtiers respectively, but the Speaker is Allah and the addressees the mushriks of Makkah, for whose admonition this story has been related.

 

EN27:32 That is, “Satan has made them believe that earning the worldly wealth and making their lives more and more grand and pompous is the only real and fit use of their mental and intellectual and physical powers.  Apart from these, they need not think seriously on anything else: they not bother themselves to see whether there was any factual reality behinds the apparent life of the world or not, and whether the basis of their religion, morality, culture and system of life accorded with that Reality or went utterly against it.  Satan satisfied them with that when they were making adequate progress in respect of wealth and power and worldly grandeur, they had no need to see whether their beliefs and philosophies and theories were correct or not, for the only proof of their being correct was that they were earning wealth and enjoying life to their hearts’ content.”

 

That they may prostrate themselves before that God Who brings to light the hidden things of the heavens and the earthEN27:33 and knows all that you conceal and reveal.EN27:34 27:25 Allah none but He is worthy of worship: He is the Owner of the glorious Throne.EN27:35 27:26

 

EN27:33 That is, He is bringing continuously into existence those things which before their birth were hidden here and there:  He is bringing out continuously countless kinds of vegetation and minerals from the bowels of the earth:  He is manifesting from upper space such things as could not even be conceived by human mind before their manifestation.

 

EN27:34 That is, His knowledge embraces everything; the open and hidden are alike for Him; He is aware of everything.

 

By citing these two attributes of Allah the object is to impress that if they had not been deluded by Satan, they could have seen the right way clearly: they could have perceived that the hot burning sphere of the sun which has no sense of its own existence, did not deserve to be worshipped but worship was due to Him alone Who is the All-Knowing and the All-Wise Being, and Whose power is bringing into existence new and ever new phenomena every moment.

 

EN27:35 This is one of those verses of the Quran, whose recital makes it obligatory for one to perform a Sajdah (prostration), and there is a consensus on this of the Muslim jurists.  The object of performing a Sajdah here is that a believer should set himself apart from the sun-worshippers and should declare by his action that he does not regard the sun but Allah Almighty alone as his Deity and Lord.

 

Solomon said, “We shall now see whether what you say is true, or that you are a liar.  27:27 Take this letter of mine and cast it before them; then get aside and see what reaction they show.”EN27:36 27:28

 

EN27:36 Here ends the role of the hud-hud (hoopoe).  The rationalists deny its being a bird.  Now, when Allah, Who has is the Creator of these animals, tells us that He had taught the speech of the birds to one of His Prophets and blessed him with the ability to speak to them, and the Prophet’s taming and training had so enabled a hud-hud that it could make certain observations in the foreign lands and could report them to the Prophet, we should, in fact be prepared to revise our little knowledge about the animals in the light of Allah’s statement.

 

The queen said, “O chiefs: a very important letter has been cast before me. 27:29 It is from Solomon, and it begins with the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.” 27:30 It says, “Do not adopt a rebellious attitude against me and present yourselves as Muslims before me’.”EN27:37 27:31

 

EN27:37 That is, “The letter is important for several reasons: (1) it has reached me in an unusual way.  Instead of an envoy it has been brought and dropped at me by a bird.  (2) It is from Solomon, the great ruler of Palestine and Syria.  (3) It has begun with the name of Allah, the Compassionate, and Merciful, which is an unusual way of correspondence and is not followed by any kingdom in the world. (4) Then, it is also unusual that a letter should be written only in the name of Allah, the Exalted, apart from all other gods and goddesses.  (5) The most important thing in it is that it is quite clearly and plainly invites us to give up rebellion and adopt obedience and present ourselves before Solomon in submission (or as Muslims).”

 

“Present yourselves as Muslims” can be have two meanings: (1) “Present yourselves in submission”; and (2) “present yourselves as Muslims (after embracing Islam).”  The first meaning is in accordance with the Prophet Solomon’s position as a ruler, and the second with his position as a Prophet.  Probably this comprehensive word was used in order to convey both the meanings through the letter.  The same sort of invitation has always been extended by Islam to independent nations and governments that they should either accept Islam and become equal partners in the Islamic system of life, or surrender political independence and submit to the system of Islam and pay jizyah.

 

(Having read out the letter) the queen said, “O chiefs: counsel me in this matter; I do not take a decision in any matter without (consulting) you.”EN27:38 27:32

 

EN27:38 The words used in the Text are: “hatta tash-hu-dun (unless you are present, or unless you bear witness).  That is: “I regard your presence necessary when I take a decision in important matters, and also that whatever decision I take you should be there to testify that it is right and correct.”  This shows that though the system of government among Saba was kingship, it was not tyrannical; but the ruler of the time decided matters in consultation with the important people in the government.

 

They replied, “We are a powerful people, and good fighters.  The decision, however, rests with you.  You may yourself consider as to what command you should give.” 27:33 The queen said, “When the kings enter a land, they ruin it and debase its honorable people;EN27:39 they do just the same.EN27:40 27:34

 

EN27:39 In this one sentence a thorough criticism has been made of imperialism.  The king's invasion of the other countries and the victorious nations' violence against the oppressed nations has never been for the sake of reform and goodwill.  The object has been to control and exploit the means and resources of sustenance granted to the other nation by God, and make it so helpless that it should never be able to rise in resistance and demand its share.  For this purpose they block up all its means of prosperity, power and honor, crush down all self-respecting elements, instill in its members attitudes of slavery, flattery, treachery and spying against one another, imitation of the conqueror and the respect of his civilization, contempt of their own civilization and other such mean qualities of character.  Thus, gradually they bring them down to such a low level of character where they may not hesitate even to sell off any of their most sacred objects of heritage and be ready to perform any wretched service on payment.

 

EN27:40  This sentence has two meanings and both are equally probable: (1) It may be a part of the queen of Sheba's speech, which she might have added in order to emphasize her foregoing words; and (2) it may be Allah's words which have been added as a parenthesis in support of the queen's speech.

 

I shall send to them a gift, and then wait to see with what reply my envoys return.” 27:35 When (the envoy of the queen) came to Solomon, the king said, “Do you want to help me with wealth? What God has given me is much more than what He has given you.EN27:41 May you yourselves rejoice in your gift! 27:36

 

EN27:41  This sentence is not meant to express pride and vanity.  What it means to say is this: "I have no desire for your wealth; I only desire that you should believe, or at least submit to a righteous system.  If you agree to neither of these alternatives, it is not possible for me to accept the bribes of wealth and leave you free in the matter of a polytheistic and wicked system of life.  What my Lord has given me is enough for me to cherish any desire for your wealth."

 

(O messengers,) go back to your people; we shall bring against them such forcesEN27:42 which they will not be able to withstand, and we shall drive them out (of their land) humbled and disgraced.” 27:37

 

EN27:42 There is a subtle gap between this and the previous sentence, which one can easily fill up by careful study of the discourse.  It means this: "O messengers, take this gift back to the people who have sent you.  They will either have to yield to our first proposal, i.e., they should come before us as Muslims, or we shall bring forces against them."

 

To his courtiers SolomonEN27:43 said, “Which of you can fetch me her throne before these people come to me in submission?EN27:44 27:38

 

EN27:43 The details of the story that have been omitted are to the effect: The envoys returned to the queen with the gift and made a report of what they had seen and heard; the queen decided on the basis of what she heard about the Prophet Solomon to make a visit to Jerusalem to see him personally; she left Saba for Palestine accompanied by her royal entourage and sent a message to Solomon 's court that she herself was coming to personally hear the invitation from the king himself and to have a direct talk with him.  Here the story is resumed from the time when the queen had reached near Jerusalem and was going to appear before Solomon in a day or two.

 

EN27:44 That is, the same throne about which the hoopoe (hud-hud) had reported, "She has a splendid throne."  Prophet Solomon wanted to show a miracle also to the queen and her courtiers besides preaching his message so that she might know what extraordinary powers Allah, Lord of the worlds, had granted to His Prophet so that she might be convinced that Solomon was surely a Prophet of Allah.  Prophet Solomon wanted the queen's own throne to be brought from Yaman to Jerusalem and that too before the queen's arrival.

 

A mighty one from among the jinns submitted, “I shall fetch it to you even before you rise from your placeEN27:45: I posses the necessary power for it and am trustworthy.”EN27:46 27:39

 

EN27:45  From this it becomes obvious whether the jinns under the Prophet Solomon were from among the hidden creation commonly known as jinns.  Obviously, the sitting of the Prophet Solomon's court would be at the most be of three to four hours, and the distance of Ma'rib, capital of Saba, from Jerusalem was, even as the crow flies, not less than 1500 miles.  To fetch a splendid throne of a queen from such a distant place in such a short time could not be possible for a man, even if he be a very strong and robust person.  This task cannot be performed by a jet plane of today.  The throne was not lying in a jungle from where it had just to be fetched.  It lay in a queen's palace, which must have been kept in a secure place.  If a man had gone to fetch it, he should have been accompanied by a commando force so that he could overwhelm the guards and snatch away the throne.  How could all this be accomplished before the rising of the court?  This thing can be conceived only in connection with a real jinn!

 

EN27:46 That is, "You can trust me in that I will not carry it away, nor steal any valuable thing from it."

 

He who possessed knowledge of the Book, spoke out, “I will fetch it to you in the twinkling of an eye.”EN27:47 As soon as Solomon saw the throne placed before him, he exclaimed: “This is by the Grace of my Lord so that He may test me (to see) whether I am grateful or ungrateful!EN27:48 And the one who is grateful is grateful only for the good of his ownself; as for the one who is ungrateful, my Lord is All-Sufficient and Self-Exalted.”EN7:49 27:40

 

EN27:47 Nothing is known with certainty as to who this person was, what special knowledge he had and what Book is referred to here, whose knowledge he had.  No explanation of these things has been given either in the Quran or in any authentic Hadith.  In any case the person was not from among the jinns, and possibly he was a man.  He possessed some extraordinary knowledge, which had been derived from some Divine Book.  The jinn had claimed to fetch the throne within a few hours by means of his physical strength; this man fetched it in a moment by the power of his knowledge.

 

EN27:48 The word of the Quran are very clear in this regard.  This person's claim did not remain a claim like the jinns's, but, in fact, as soon as he made the claim the throne was seen placed before the Prophet Solomon the next moment.  This event was extraordinary. He feared that the prompt arrangement of a throne for the honorable gust might cause him to become ungrateful to Allah instead of being grateful.   As far the question as to how a royal throne was fetched over a distance of 1500 miles in the twinkling of an eye, it can be briefly answered thus: "The concepts of time and space, and matter and movement, that we have formed on the basis of our experiments and observations, are only applicable to us.  These concepts are not correct in respect to God, nor is He bound by these.  The God Who by His one command brought this huge universe into being, had the power to have moved the throne of the queen of Sheba at a speed greater than the speed of light.

 

EN27:49 That is, He does not stand in need of somebody's gratefulness. His Godhead is neither enhanced by an iota by somebody's gratefulness nor diminished by that amount by somebody's ingratitude of thankfulness.  He is a Sovereign in His own right.  His Sovereignty is not dependent on His creation's acknowledgement or rejection.

 

Solomon said,EN27:50Set her throne before her casually; let us see whether she reaches the truth, or she is one of those who are not guided aright."EN27:51 27:41

 

EN27:50 As how the queen reached Jerusalem and how she was received, has been omitted.  The story is resumed from the time when she had arrived at the palace to see Prophet Solomon.

 

EN27:51 This is a meaningful sentence, which means: (1) "Whether she understands or not that her own throne which has been fetched in no time from her capital to a distant place like Jerusalem;" and also (2) "whether she is guided aright after seeing this wonderful miracle, persists in her error."  Here Prophet Solomon clearly says that he had done this in order to help the queen see Guidance.

 

When the queen arrived, she was asked, "Is your throne like this?" She replied, "It is just the same.EN27:52 We had already known this and we had surrendered (or we had become Muslims)."EN27:53 27:42

 

EN27:52 Solomon ordered the throne to be fetched before him, and when it had been fetched, ordered his servants to set it before the queen casually, and then when she arrived, she was asked whether her throne was like that, and she answered, "It is just the same." 

 

EN27:53 That is, "Even before we saw this miracle we had been convinced by what we had heard of Solomon (pbuh) that he was a Prophet of Allah, and not merely a ruler of a kingdom."  After seeing the throne and saying, "It is just the same", what could be the relevance of adding this sentence if it is supposed that the Prophet Solomon had got a throne manufactured and set the same before her?  Even if it is supposed that no effort was spared to have a throne manufactured closely resembling the queen's what special excellence it could have to make a sun-worshipping exclaim: "We had already known this and we had become Muslims!"

 

The worship of the deities whom she served instead of Allah had hindered her (from believing), for she came of an unbelieving people.EN27:54 27:43

 

EN27:54 This sentence has been added by Allah to clarify the queen's position, saying that she was not obdurate and stubborn.  She had been an unbeliever till then mainly because she came of an unbelieving people.  As she had accustomed to bowing down before a false deity since her childhood, it had become a hindrance for her to the right way.  As soon as she came in contact with the Prophet Solomon, she discerned the right way and the hindrance was removed forthwith.

 

She was asked to enter the palace.  When she saw it, she thought it was a pool of water, so she tucked up her skirt to enter it.  Solomon said, "It is the glossy floor of glass."EN27:55 At this she exclaimed, "O my Lord! I have (hitherto) been unjust to myself; now I submit myself, with Solomon, to Allah, Lord of the worlds."EN27:56 27:44

 

EN27:55 This was the lat thing that opened the queen's eyes.  The first thing was Solomon's letter that had begun with the name of the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful Allah, a very different from the common custom prevalent among the customs.  The second was his rejection of her gifts, which made the queen understand that he was different kind of a king.  The third was the report made by the king's envoys from which she came to know about Solomon's pious life, his wisdom and his message of the Truth.  This very ting had induced her to travel to Jerusalem herself to personally meet the Prophet Solomon, and to this she had referred when she said, "We had already known this and we had become Muslims, " The  fourth thing was the removal of her throne from Ma'rib to Jerusalem in no time, from which the queen realized that he had Allah's power at his back.  Now this was the last thing that removed every doubt from her mind regarding the unique and great personality of the Prophet Solomon.  When she saw that in spite of possessing every means of comfort and ease and a grand palace for a dwelling, he was so free from every conceit, so God-fearing and righteous and so grateful to God that he bowed before Him for every small favor and his life so different from the life of those who were enamored of the world, she exclaimed word that follows.

 

EN27:56 This story of the Prophet Solomon and the queen of Sheba has been related in the Old and the New Testaments and the Israeli traditions in different ways.  In rabbinical traditions, these wicked people have accused Prophet Solomon of having committed Solomon of having committed adultery, God forbid, with the queen of Sheba, giving rise to an illegitimate race, which gave birth to Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, who destroyed Jerusalem.  The fact of the matter is that a section of the Jewish learned men have been critical of the Prophet Solomon.  They have accused him of heinous crimes like violating the Commandments of Torah, of pride of government, pride of wisdom, of being a hen-pecked husband, and of luxurious living, polytheism and idol-worship.  It is due to this propaganda that the Bible presents him only as a king instead of a Prophet, a king who was lost in the love of polytheistic women against the Divine Commandments, whose heart was turned away from God, and was turned to other gods and goddesses.  Against this it can be seen what great favor has the Quran done to the Israelites by cleansing the personalities of their elders of the filth thrown at them by themselves, and yet the Israelites, ungrateful as they are, look upon the Quran and him who brought it as their enemies.