Prophet Sulayman (Solomon) (سليمان) — Complete Story in the Quran

A separate report from Muhammad ﷺ in Sahih al-Bukhari tells of another judgement by Dawud and Sulayman. Two women are together with their two sons. A wolf comes and takes the son of one of them.

The women contradict each other: each tells the other that the wolf took her son. They seek judgement from Dawud over the remaining child. He awards him to the older woman.

They then go to Sulayman son of Dawud and tell him the case. He calls for a knife and announces that he will divide the child between them. The younger woman answers: “Do not do that. May Allah have mercy on you. He is her son.”

Her stated relinquishment changes the judgement. Sulayman awards the child to the younger woman. The announced division leads in this sequence not to a divided gift but to judgement in her favour.

The turn lies in the recorded words. First the women contradict one another; then one gives up her claim when division is announced. Sulayman’s judgement follows this answer.

The report stands as its own transmitted account beside the field case. Both direct attention to judgement before the narrative unfolds Sulayman’s extraordinary rule.

Allah gives Sulayman to Dawud and names the son an excellent servant. He repeatedly turns to his Lord. Before further gifts appear, his standing as a servant is named.

At evening the swift horses are presented to him, raising a hoof as they stand. Sulayman’s words connect love of the good with remembrance of his Lord. The scene reaches disappearance behind the veil. He then asks for the horses to be brought back to him.

He turns to their legs and necks. Attention remains on the animals presented and his turning towards them. Over the scene stands the judgement with which the Quran introduced him: an excellent servant returning to Allah.

Another trial follows. It concerns not the horses presented but Sulayman’s throne.

Allah tests Sulayman. A body is placed upon his throne. Afterwards Sulayman turns back to his Lord. The throne where rule becomes visible now stands in a sequence whose decisive answer is turning back.

Sulayman asks forgiveness. He also asks for a kingdom fitting no one after him. He names his Lord the generous Giver. The plea for extraordinary power begins not with a declaration of independence but with forgiveness and recognition of the gift’s source.

Allah subjects the wind to him. At Sulayman’s command it flows gently where he directs it. Builders and divers among the devils are also subjected to him; others are bound together in fetters.

The gift is identified as Allah’s gift. Sulayman may give or withhold without account for that. His nearness to Allah and a beautiful return are also named. His standing is not described only by the reach of his commands.

This sequence joins throne, trial, return, prayer for forgiveness and granted rule. Sulayman’s resources point towards his Lord. The king served by extraordinary powers is remembered precisely as the servant who returns.

Further Quranic passages show the work possible under this rule. There too the account does not end with power alone but leads to gratitude.

The wind serves Sulayman. One Quranic passage calls it stormy and describes its course at his command towards the land Allah blessed. Allah knows all things. Beings among the devils also dive for Sulayman and do other work; Allah watches over them.

Another passage describes the wind’s extraordinary reach. Its morning course corresponds to a month’s journey, and its evening course likewise. Allah also makes a spring of molten metal flow for Sulayman.

Jinn work before him by his Lord’s permission. Their service is not outside Allah’s command. Those departing from it are warned of punishment in blazing fire.

The works are named concretely: sanctuaries and images, bowls as large as reservoirs, and fixed cauldrons. The gifts make extraordinary buildings and vessels possible. But the account does not end with a list of impressive objects.

The family of Dawud is commanded to work in gratitude. Few of Allah’s servants are grateful. The response to the gift is to become visible in those building and working.

Wind, metal and workers under command describe this kingdom’s reach. The command to gratitude describes its direction. With that measure the account now turns to Sulayman’s ordered forces — and a voice coming not from a powerful enemy.

Dawud and Sulayman receive knowledge. They answer with shared praise for Allah, who favoured them above many of His believing servants. Sulayman inherits from Dawud and addresses the people about their gifts: the speech of birds has been taught to them, and they have been given of all things. He calls this manifest grace.

Sulayman’s forces are then assembled. Jinn, humans and birds belong to them, held in ordered divisions. The picture encompasses a power far beyond an ordinary human company.

On reaching the valley of ants, another perspective becomes audible. An ant warns the others to enter their homes lest Sulayman and his forces crush them without noticing.

The danger is named from the ants’ perspective. The warning does not claim Sulayman intends to hurt them. It concerns what the great host might do unknowingly.

Sulayman smiles, amused at its words. He then turns to his Lord in prayer. He asks to be inspired to gratitude for the favour given to him and his parents, to do righteousness pleasing to Allah, and through His mercy to enter among the righteous servants.

The answer to this small voice is therefore a prayer. The king does not name his gifts as grounds for owing nothing anymore. Among the ordered forces he speaks of gratitude and the mercy through which he wishes to be admitted.

Attention now turns to the birds. There what stands out is not the presence of a mighty being but the absence of one.

Sulayman inspects the birds. He does not see the hoopoe. He asks why he cannot see it and whether it is among the absentees.

His next announcement is serious. He will punish the bird severely or slaughter it unless it brings a clear justification. Its absence is not merely an incidental gap among the forces. An explanation is required.

The hoopoe is not away long. Its news then stands against the threatened consequence: “I have understood what you have not understood. I bring you reliable news from Saba.”

The bird whose absence Sulayman questioned now speaks of knowledge the king does not yet possess. Attention moves from the absence to the news it has brought.

Sulayman’s wide rule does not mean every fact is already known to him. In this scene information reaches him through the individual bird. But the claim to report reliably is not verified merely by the hoopoe stating it.

First its report unfolds. It concerns a woman ruling a people, her great throne and worship directed contrary to the prophetic message.

The hoopoe reports that a woman rules the people of Saba. She has been given of all things and possesses a magnificent throne. The news describes rule supplied with great gifts.

But the throne’s size is not the decisive contrast. The bird saw the woman and her people prostrating to the sun instead of Allah. Satan made their deeds attractive to them and obstructed the path. They thus do not follow guidance.

The report leads from the visible sun to the Lord who brings forth what is hidden in the heavens and earth. Allah knows what people conceal and declare. They are to prostrate before Him.

There is no god but Him; He is Lord of the majestic Throne. Beside the ruler’s great throne therefore stands more than another, greater human claim to power. The call is directed to Allah.

The Saba report joins wealth and false worship, existing gifts and absent guidance. The bird carries it to Sulayman. The king answers with verification and a letter: he intends to see whether the hoopoe spoke truthfully.

Sulayman answers the hoopoe: they will see whether it spoke truthfully or belongs among the liars. Verification thus stands between the report and subsequent action.

He gives the bird a letter and commands it to deliver it to the people of Saba. It is then to withdraw and observe their answer. News from Saba leads to news sent to Saba. This time it comes from Sulayman himself.

The ruler addresses her chiefs. A noble letter has been delivered to her. It comes from Sulayman and begins in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

Its substance requires them not to act arrogantly against Sulayman and to come to him in submission. The message does not ask a price for a new friendship or request a larger gift. It names an attitude and requires an answer.

The letter is now with the ruler. The place described by the hoopoe is no longer merely the subject of someone else’s report. The call itself is heard there. The woman will not respond with an immediate decision alone. She asks her chiefs for advice.

The ruler asks her chiefs for advice about her affair. She says she decides no matter without their presence. The letter has arrived; a possible answer is now discussed together.

The chiefs invoke their strength and fighting power. But they do not claim the final command themselves. The decision belongs to her. She is to consider what she will order.

The woman sets a warning against this appeal to military strength. When kings enter a city, they ruin it and turn its powerful inhabitants into the humbled. That is how they act. Her words consider not only their own forces but also the consequences of possible conquest.

She then announces her step. She will send a gift and wait to see the answer brought back by the envoys. Counsel is followed not by an executed war but by a delegation whose return is to bring information.

The route of messages continues: first the hoopoe’s report, then Sulayman’s letter, now the envoys with a gift. The ruler intends to see the answer before the sequence proceeds.

But Sulayman’s call did not make a gift’s value its measure. When the delegation reaches him, precisely this boundary becomes audible. The envoys will not return with wealth accepted as the solution.

The delegation reaches Sulayman. He asks whether they intend to support him with wealth. What Allah gave him is better than what they were given. Rather, they are the ones delighting in their gift.

His answer does not turn the messenger’s call into a demand for greater possessions. The woman announced a gift as her next step. Sulayman sets the source of his own gifts against that step.

He then commands the envoy to return. He announces forces they cannot resist and says he will drive them out humbled and disgraced.

These are the words of a serious threat. The delegation does not produce a negotiated agreement over the gift’s value. The answering conversation sharpens the situation.

Sulayman now asks his chiefs a question concerning the woman’s throne and the time before her arrival in submission. From the rejected gift the movement leads to a favour he himself will call a test of his gratitude.

Sulayman asks his chiefs who can bring the ruler’s throne before they come to him in submission. The object through which the Saba report described her great power now stands at the centre.

A powerful jinn offers to bring it before Sulayman rises from his place. He describes himself as strong enough and trustworthy. His answer names capability and reliability.

Then someone possessing knowledge from Scripture speaks. He will bring the throne before Sulayman’s glance returns to him. The proposed span is shorter still.

Sulayman sees the throne standing firmly beside him. His answer first names the giver: this is favour from his Lord. The extraordinary gift was given to test whether he will be grateful or ungrateful.

Those giving thanks do so for their own benefit. Ingratitude subtracts nothing from their Lord’s freedom from need and generosity. Sulayman therefore does not make the event’s speed the only measure. His own answer to the gift becomes the measure.

The throne described by a bird now stands before him. The king does not name it as proof that his power has no boundary. He speaks of his test before his Lord.

Something is next done to the throne concerning the ruler’s arrival. Sulayman has its appearance changed. The question is no longer only who can bring it but whether she recognises it.

Sulayman has the woman’s throne altered. He intends to see whether she finds her way or not. The object describing her rule becomes part of her encounter with the messenger.

When she arrives, she is asked whether her throne is like this. “It is as though it were the same,” she answers. Her response preserves the resemblance without making a simple assertion from its changed appearance.

The passage also names knowledge previously given and submission already established. What she formerly worshipped instead of Allah held her back from the path. She belonged to a people rejecting faith. The encounter therefore concerns more than recognising a throne.

She is then invited to enter the lofty hall. On seeing it she takes it for deep water and uncovers her lower legs. Sulayman explains that it is a smooth building paved with glass. What her sight first interprets as water receives another explanation.

In the end the ruler speaks for herself. Before her Lord she acknowledges having wronged herself. With Sulayman she submits to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

The Saba movement has led from a report to this answer of her own. A letter followed the report, a gift followed counsel, and the throne question followed rejection. Now the ruler speaks of her wrong and her submission.

The woman consulted about her rule and sent envoys. Now she names her Lord. Her submission is not to Sulayman as a god. She speaks of submission with him to Allah. They stand in this answer not as two deities or as god and creature. They stand before the Lord of the worlds.

Sulayman’s extraordinary gifts do not make his account a justification for magic. The Quran explicitly rejects the claim that Sulayman disbelieved. It was not he but the devils teaching people magic who disbelieved.

People followed what the devils related about Sulayman’s rule. The same passage names Harut and Marut, the two angels in Babel. They taught nobody without first warning that they were only a trial and that the person must not reject faith.

Nevertheless people learned what they used to divide husband and wife. The supposed power brings harm rather than benefit. Even harm is not independent of Allah: nobody can be harmed through it except by His permission.

The learners acquire what harms them and does not benefit them. They know that whoever purchases it has no share in the Hereafter. Their exchange is called evil.

Sulayman’s granted gifts and the magic taught by devils thus do not stand on the same side. The servant’s rule comes from Allah. Using his name does not make a harmful teaching his message.

At the end of his own account, another boundary of extraordinary beings becomes visible. It concerns not their work’s reach but their knowledge of the unseen.

Allah decrees Sulayman’s death. The jinn initially receive no indication of it. They remain in humiliating labour while the king’s death is hidden from them.

Then a creature of the earth becomes the indication. It eats at his staff. When Sulayman falls, his death becomes visible. The staff in this final scene brings the boundary of their knowledge to light.

The jinn realise that, had they known the unseen, they would not have remained in humiliating labour. The abilities with which they worked did not give them this knowledge. The unseen was not their possession.

The king served by the wind and extraordinary workers has died. His life stood under Allah’s decree, just as his rule was a granted gift.

The earlier question about gratitude thereby receives its final weight. Neither independence nor limitless knowledge carries Sulayman’s remembrance. It is carried by his Lord’s gifts and his answer to them: understanding, verification, turning back and thanks.

In the valley of ants he asked to enter among the righteous servants through Allah’s mercy. His great kingdom did not abolish that servanthood. At the end a falling body shows what extraordinary labour could not change.