The Inheritance
“And Sulaymān inherited Dāwūd,” the Qur'an says — and the classical commentators are unanimous that what is meant is prophethood, knowledge, and rule, not property, since prophets do not bequeath wealth as ordinary men do.1 What Sulaymān did with the inheritance is stated in the same verse: he announced it publicly and credited it entirely. “O people, we have been taught the language of birds, and we have been given from all things. Indeed, this is evident bounty.”1
The gifts that followed have no parallel in the Qur'an's other prophetic biographies. The wind was subjected to him — “its morning [journey was that of] a month and its afternoon [journey was that of] a month” — and a spring of molten copper was made to flow for him. Jinn were set to work under his command, building “elevated chambers, statues, bowls like reservoirs, and stationary kettles,” and diving in the sea; and among them were those who would have escaped his authority had they been able.23
The Qur'an also uses Sulaymān's name to correct a slander. Against those who claimed he had ruled by sorcery, it states flatly: “And Sulaymān did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic.” His power was a grant from God, not a bargain with anything else.4
The Valley of the Ants
Marching with forces the Qur'an describes as “of jinn and men and birds, and they were [marching] in rows,” Sulaymān's army came upon a valley of ants, and an ant called out a warning to its colony: “O ants, enter your dwellings that you not be crushed by Sulaymān and his soldiers while they perceive not.”5
“So he smiled, amused at her speech.” And then — this is the part the commentators dwell on — the king with an army of jinn, men, and birds turned the moment into a prayer: “My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favour which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to do righteousness of which You approve. And admit me by Your mercy into [the ranks of] Your righteous servants.”5 The Qur'an sets the smallest creature in scripture directly beside the largest dominion in it, and lets the king's greatness be measured by what moved him to thank God.
The Hoopoe's Report
Reviewing his birds, Sulaymān found the hoopoe absent and threatened it with severe punishment or slaughter “unless he brings me clear authorisation” — the standard of a ruler who applies discipline but demands evidence.6 The bird returned with intelligence no ground scout could have gathered: “I have encompassed [in knowledge] that which you have not encompassed, and I have come to you from Sabaʾ with certain news. Indeed, I found a woman ruling them, and she has been given of all things, and she has a great throne. I found her and her people prostrating to the sun instead of God.”6
Sulaymān's reply was to withhold judgement pending verification — “We will see whether you were truthful or were of the liars” — and to send a letter.6 Its opening is the formula every Muslim still uses: “Indeed, it is from Sulaymān, and indeed, it is: 'In the name of God, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. Be not haughty with me but come to me in submission.'”7
The Queen of Sabaʾ
The queen — unnamed in the Qur'an, called Bilqīs in later tradition — is given one of the most flattering portraits any non-prophet receives in scripture. She consulted her council rather than acting alone; she observed, on reading the letter, that “kings, when they enter a city, ruin it and render the honoured of its people humbled”; and she tested Sulaymān with a gift before risking a war, to learn whether she faced a king who wanted tribute or a prophet who wanted something else.8
Sulaymān refused the gift outright — “Do you provide me with wealth? But what God has given me is better than what He has given you” — and sent the envoys back with a warning.8 Before she arrived, he asked his court who could bring him her throne; a jinn offered to do it before he rose from his seat, and “one who had knowledge from the Scripture” said, “I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you.” Seeing it settled before him, Sulaymān's response was again to turn the miracle back on himself: “This is from the favour of my Lord to test me whether I will be grateful or ungrateful.”9
She was shown the throne, disguised, and answered carefully — “It is as though it were it” — and was then ushered into a courtyard floored with glass over water. Mistaking it for a pool, she uncovered her shins to wade; told what it was, she drew the conclusion the whole sequence had been designed to produce, and drew it in her own words: “My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, and I submit with Sulaymān to God, Lord of the worlds.”10
The Horses, and the Prayer
The Qur'an records one lapse, and records it briefly. Reviewing fine horses one afternoon until the sun set, Sulaymān said, “Indeed, I gave preference to the love of good [things] over the remembrance of my Lord” — and had the horses brought back, turning immediately from the distraction to the One he had been distracted from.11 The commentators differ over the details; the Qur'an gives only the pattern, which is the same pattern it gives for Dāwūd: a lapse recognised at once and repented at once.
“And We certainly tried Sulaymān and placed on his throne a body; then he returned” — a verse the exegetes have read in several ways and none with certainty.12 What follows is unambiguous: the prayer that defines him. “My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after me. Indeed, You are the Bestower.”12 The scholars note that the request begins with forgiveness and only then asks for sovereignty — and that a kingdom belonging to no one after him is, by definition, a kingdom that ends.
A Death the Jinn Did Not Notice
Sulaymān's end is unlike any other prophet's in the Qur'an, and it is told in a single verse. “And when We decreed for him death, nothing indicated to them his death except a creature of the earth eating his staff.” He had died standing, leaning on it, and the jinn labouring under his command went on working — for how long the Qur'an does not say — because from a distance nothing had changed.13
“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.”13 The Qur'an draws the lesson itself, and it is aimed at a specific and very old superstition: the jinn were widely credited with knowledge of hidden things, and here they are shown labouring for a dead man because they did not know he was dead. The greatest kingdom ever granted ends with a worm, a staff, and a demonstration that no creature but God knows the unseen.
The Prophet ﷺ preserved one further thing about him: that Sulaymān had asked God for three things — judgement in accordance with God's judgement, a kingdom belonging to no one after him, and that no one who came to his mosque intending only prayer should leave except forgiven of sins. “Two he was given,” the Prophet ﷺ said, “and I hope he was given the third.”14