Sulaiman was the son of Prophet Dawud (David). Dawud was the wise King of Israel and a noble Prophet of Allah (SWT). Sulaiman learnt from his father’s vast knowledge and judgement and often joined his father during hearings.
Prophet
Dawud appointed his son Sulaiman to take charge following his death. So, with
the passing of time Sulaiman inherited the kingdom of Israel and was elected by
Allah to continue his Prophethood. He beseeched his Lord for a kingdom that
would occur to none after him.
Allah granted Sulaiman his wish and
bestowed upon him many miracles, like the ability to control the wind which he
used to travel at incredible speeds; the jinns which were under his command and
a copper mine with which he used to make weaponry.
He was even blessed with the ability to communicate with
animals. The Quran makes mention of this:
Prophet
Sulaiman and his battalion of men, jinns and birds, “came upon the valley of
the ants, an ant said, “O ants, enter your dwellings that you not be crushed by
Sulaiman and his soldiers while they perceive not.”
So Solomon
smiled, amused at her speech, and said, “My Lord, enable me to be grateful for
Your favor 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.”
Dome of the Rock built by Prophet Solomon
In his mission as a Prophet of Allah, Sulaiman built a prominent
place of worship—the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. From there Sulaiman and his
followers made pilgrimage to Makkah.
On
completion of their Hajj, they travelled to Yemen where Sulaiman witnessed the
Yemeni’s incredible water channeling mechanism. He desired to replicate this
system in his own land, but knew that they had insufficient springs.
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Hoopoe was missing
Determined
to find a way, Sulaiman set about looking for the Hoopoe bird, which had the ability
to detect water underground. But the bird was nowhere in sight.
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| Bird Hoopoe (Bird Hud Hud) |
Sulaiman
who grew increasingly impatient exclaimed, “Why do I not see the Hoopoe bird–
or is he among the absent? I will surely punish him with a severe torment, or
slaughter him, unless he brings me a clear reason!
Before
long, the Hoopoe returned to his master with great news. But the hoopoe stayed
not long and said, “I have encompassed [in knowledge] that which you have not
encompassed, and I have come to you from Sheba with certain news.
Indeed,
there 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 Allah.
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| Queen Sheba |
And
Satan has made their deeds pleasing to them and averted them from His way, so
they are not guided.
So
they do not prostrate to Allah, who brings forth what is hidden within the
heavens and the earth and knows what you conceal and what you declare -Allah –
there is no deity except Him, Lord of the Great Throne.”
Message of Prophet Solomon to Queen Sheba
Prophet
Sulaiman said, “We will see whether you were truthful or were of the liars.
Take this letter of mine and deliver it to them. Then leave them and see what
answer they will return.”
The Hoopoe bird flew back to Bilkis’s (Sheba’s) palace and dropped Suleiman's letter before her. He soon hid and watched what happened.
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| Queen Sheeba reading message of Solomon |
Having
noticed the letter, Blikis (Sheba) began reading it, “Verily! It is from Solomon. It
reads: ‘In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful; be you
not exalted against me, but come to me as Muslims.”
Bilkis (Sheba) immediately summoned her chiefs and sought their
advice.
They
replied, “We have great strength, and great ability for war, but it is for you
to command; so think over what you will command.” Bilkis, however, was not in
favour of war as they were unaware of the size of Sulaiman’s army.
She
answered, “Verily! Kings, when they enter a town, they despoil it, and make the
most honourable amongst its people low.” She decided, as a token of friendship,
to send Sulaiman some valuable gifts through her messengers, who could also
bring back information about Sulaiman’s army.
Sulaiman
immediately learnt of Bilkis’s response through the Hoopoe. He decided to
display the might of his army to her messengers.
When the messengers
arrived, all of Suleiman's army complete with animals, such as lions and
tigers, birds, men and jinn, gathered before them.
Bilkis’s
messengers were indeed stunned by the size and variety of Sulaiman’s battalion.
His incomparable strength was eminent.
The messengers eagerly presented Bilkis’s gift to Sulaiman with a pledge of friendship.
Sulaiman
replied, “Will you help me in wealth? What Allah has given me is better than
that which He has given you! Nay, you rejoice in your gift!” Sulaiman then
turned to the chief of her messengers and instructed: “Go back to them.
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| Meeting of Solomon and Queen Sheba |
We
verily shall come to them with hosts that they cannot resist, and we shall
drive them out from there in disgrace, and they will be abased.” Shocked, the
messengers soon returned to their Queen and conveyed Sulaiman’s message
together with an account of the magnificence of Sulaiman’s kingdom.
Bilkis (Sheba) decided to meet Sulaiman in person, together with
her officials.
On
receiving this news, Sulaiman decided to show Bilkis and her officials the
power of the miracles bestowed to him by Allah.
He asked his army, “Which of you can
bring me Bilkis’s throne before they come to me, surrendering themselves in
obedience?” Ifrit, one of the powerful jinns, immediately responded to Prophet
Sulaiman, “I will bring it to you before you rise from your place. And verily,
I am indeed strong and trustworthy for such work.”
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| Solomon and Queen Sheba |
But
Sulaiman remained silent, awaiting a better offer. Another jinn with knowledge
of the scriptures spoke up, “I will bring it to you before your glance returns
to you.” And when Solomon saw it placed before him, he said, “This is from the
favor of my Lord to test me whether I will be grateful or ungrateful.
In a split second the throne of Bilkis was brought from across
2,000 miles to Prophet Sulaiman.
“I
will bring it to you within the twinkling of an eye!” And in a split second the
throne of Bilkis was brought from across 2,000 miles to Prophet Sulaiman.
Sulaiman himself was amazed by the miracle Allah had given him and praised his
Lord immensely.
Sulaiman then instructed the jinn, “Disguise for her throne; we
will see whether she will be guided or will be of those who is not guided.” He
then ordered the jinns to build a palace with floors made of thin but solid
glass, underneath through which rivers flowed.
A Palace was built by jinns with floors made of thin but solid
glass, underneath through which rivers flowed.
When
Blikis arrived, her throne immediately caught her attention. Having noticed
Bilkis’s reaction to the throne, Sulaiman asked, “Is your throne like this?”
Blikis was thoroughly confused.
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| Queen Sheba In Court of Prophet Solomon |
She
wondered if her throne actually got here or if it was possible that someone
replicated it. She replied cautiously, “it is as though it was the very
same.”
Sulaiman judged her to be intelligent and
diplomatic so he then invited her to his palace. When Bilkis was about to enter
she mistook the glass floor for water and lifted her skirts.
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| Solomon and Queen Sheba |
There is a story that King
Solomon tricked the Queen of Sheba into spending the night with him.
After the banquet, the king invited her to
stay in his palace for the night. The queen agreed, on the condition that he
would not take her by force.
Solomon agreed to that, on the condition
that the queen would not take anything from him by force.Makeda (Sheba), though
slightly offended, agreed.
In the middle of the night, Makeda (Sheba) woke
up, as she was very thirsty, and reached for a jar of water close to her bed.
Solomon appeared, warning the queen that if she drank the water she would be
breaking her oath.
Makeda’s thirst, however, was too
strong and she drank the water, thus freeing Solomon from his oath. The two
ended up spending the night together. Makeda became pregnant, and when she
returned to her kingdom, gave birth to a son, Menelik, who became the first
emperor of Ethiopia.
Bilkis
realized that Sulaiman’s kingdom was indeed unlike any palace she had seen
before. She witnessed his wisdom and humility along with his mighty power and
accepted him as the messenger of Allah. She repented and embraced Islam along
with her nation.
Prophet Sulaiman’s death
Prophet
Sulaiman lived and reigned in glory. Much of his public work was performed by
the jinns as a punishment for making people believe that jinns had knowledge of
the unseen.
Sulaiman taught his people that Allah alone had such knowledge.
Even Prophet Suleiman's death was a lesson in this regard.
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| The Flying Carpet of Prophet S |
The future is not known neither by the
jinns nor by the prophets, but by Allah alone.
Sulaiman was seated, holding his staff,
while he oversee some jinns working in a mine. The jinns, who were terrified of
Sulaiman, were heavily focused on the building when Allah decided to take
Sulaiman’s life.
No one was aware of his death
Until
days later, a hungry ant began nibbling on his wooden staff. As it ate on, the
staff broke and Prophet Sulaiman’s body that was leaning on it fell to the floor.
People ran to their Prophet, and soon realized that he had died long ago.
Thus
everyone learned that had the jinn's possessed the knowledge of the unseen, they
wouldn’t have tormented themselves working hard, thinking Sulaiman was watching
them.
The life and death of Sulaiman is indeed full of miracles from
which mankind can derive incredible lessons.
“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.”
The Queen of Sheba appears
as a prominent figure in the Kebra Nagast (“Glory of King”), the Ethiopian
national epic and foundation story.
The
Kebra Nagast, var. Kebra Negast or The Glory of the Kings, is a 14th-century
national epic from Ethiopia.
The text, in its existing form, is at least
700 years old and although clearly legendary is considered by many Ethiopian
Christians to be a historically reliable work.It is considered to hold the
genealogy of the Solomonic dynasty, which followed the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church.
The
text contains an account of how the Queen of Sheba (Queen Makeda of Ethiopia)
met King Solomon and about how the Ark of the Covenant came to Ethiopia with
their son Menelik I (Menyelek).
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| Queen Sheba |
It also discusses the conversion of
Ethiopians from the worship of the Sun, Moon, and stars to that of the
"Lord God of Israel". As the Ethiopianist Edward Ullendorff explained
in the 1967 Schweich Lectures, "The Kebra Nagast is not merely a literary
work, but it is the repository of Ethiopian national and religious
feelings".
On the last night of her visit, he tricked her into his bed, and she became pregnant. She returned to her kingdom, where she bore Solomon a son, Menelik.
Menelik I was made king by his father,
thus founding the royal Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia, which ruled until the
deposition of Haile Selassie I in 1974.
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