The King of All Things

Sulaiman inherited from his father Dawud the kingship, the prophethood, and the gift of understanding the speech of birds and animals. But what set him apart from all other kings in history was his prayer: "My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom the like of which shall not belong to anyone after me." And God granted it.

رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَهَبْ لِي مُلْكًا لَّا يَنبَغِي لِأَحَدٍ مِّن بَعْدِي

""My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after me.""

— Surah Sad, 38:35

God made the wind obedient to Sulaiman — it carried him and his armies wherever he commanded, morning a month's journey, evening a month's journey. The Jinn were bent to his service: they built for him great structures, statues, basins large as water reservoirs, and cooking pots fixed into the ground. Armies of men, birds, and Jinn marched under his banner — a dominion that no human king before or since has matched.

One day, Sulaiman was marching his host of Jinn, humans, and birds through the valley of the ants. An ant called to her colony: "Ants — enter your dwellings, so that Sulaiman and his armies do not crush you without noticing!" Sulaiman, who understood her perfectly, smiled — the Quran says he smiled and laughed at her words. He then prayed: "My Lord, inspire me to be grateful for Your blessings upon me and upon my parents, and to do good deeds that please You."

The hoopoe bird was missing from its place in the formation. Sulaiman noticed immediately. When the bird returned, it brought news: "I have seen something you have not seen. I come from Sheba, where a woman rules — she has been given everything, and she has a magnificent throne. But I found her and her people prostrating to the sun instead of God."

Sulaiman sent a letter to the Queen through the hoopoe: "In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful — do not exalt yourselves above me, but come to me in submission." The Queen gathered her advisors. They offered military power. She chose wisdom: she sent gifts first, to see what kind of man this king was.

When her emissaries arrived with gifts, Sulaiman sent them back. "Are you offering me wealth? What God has given me is better than what He gave you." He then asked: "Who among you can bring me her throne before she arrives?" One of the Jinn said he could bring it before Sulaiman rose from his seat. But a man with knowledge of the Book said: "I will bring it to you in the blink of an eye." And the throne appeared before him instantly — transported across a kingdom by a miracle of divine knowledge.

قَالَتْ رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي وَأَسْلَمْتُ مَعَ سُلَيْمَانَ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

"She said: "My Lord, I have wronged myself, and I submit with Sulaiman to God, Lord of the Worlds.""

— Surah An-Naml, 27:44

Sulaiman's palace had a floor of polished glass over water beneath it. When the Queen arrived and saw the floor, she thought it was a pool and lifted her skirts to walk through it. Sulaiman told her it was glass — a palace of illusions that revealed a deeper truth about appearances and reality. In that moment, everything fell into place for the Queen of Sheba. She who had ruled one of the greatest kingdoms on Earth surrendered — not to Sulaiman, but to the Lord of the Worlds.