Prophet Sulaiman (AS)

    Hazrat Daud (AS.) was a prophet of Allah and a king. He had nineteen sons and every one of them wanted to inherit his throne. He agreed with one of his wives to nominate their eldest son to the throne. Allah commanded him not to appoint anyone but to wait for His order.

    One day, he was asked to decide in a dispute between Elia who was a cultivator and his neighbour Yohanna who was a herdsman. Elia complained that the sheep belonging to Yohanna had grazed in his cornfield and had eaten the fruits causing him a great loss.

    Yohanna admitted that it had happened at night while he was asleep. By the command of Allah, Prophet Daud called all his sons and told them that whoever decided the case correctly, would be his heir.

    Sulaiman, who was the youngest son, ruled that Yohanna would have to surrender to Elia the milk and the wool that he would obtain from his sheep during that year. Prophet Daud asked him how he had decided in this manner. Sulaiman replied, "The sheep did not eat the plants, but only the fruits; thus only the produce from the sheep should make up for the loss."

    Allah informed Prophet Daud that the ruling given by Sulaiman was the best and he should be made his heir. Prophet Daud gathered all his sons in the presence of the learned people and chiefs of tribes and declared, by Allah's command, Sulaiman to be a prophet of Allah and his heir to the throne.

    Prophet Daud died and Sulaiman became a king at the age of thirteen. Once Prophet Sulaiman said that he would have a son from each of his wives. Since he did not leave the fulfilment of his desire upon the will of Allah by saying Insha-Allah, only one of his wives bore him a child and even then it was still-born.

    When Prophet Sulaiman realised his mistake, he became very sorry and asked Allah to forgive him and to grant him a kingdom which no one else would have after him. Allah accepted his prayers and granted him a mighty kingdom. He also gave him power over the jinn's, Satan's, birds, animals and the wind. They all had to obey his orders.

    And He taught him the languages of every living creature on the earth. At the command of Prophet Sulaiman. they built huge temples, fortresses, towers palaces made of glass, large basins of water reserves and immovable cooking pots.

    Once Prophet Sulaiman and his army of jinn's and animals were passing over the valley of the ants. Seeing the pomp and glory of the army, the chief of the ants alerted all the ants to get into their holes so that the army would not trample over them. With the help of the wind, Prophet Sulaiman heard what the chief of the ants had said. He smiled and ordered his army not to move forward until the ants had got into their holes.

    He then addressed the chief of the ants, "How could my army harm you and your kind when we were passing well above you in the air? And don't you know that I am the prophet of Allah and would never hurt anyone unjustly?"

    The ant replied, "O Prophet of Allah, I did not warn them because of any harm that they would suffer, but I was afraid they would forget the glory of Allah after seeing your army." Inspite of his wealth, glory and vast empire, Prophet Sulaiman remained a humble and devoted servant of Allah.

    He spent his nights in prayers and fasted during the days. He used his power and might only in the way of Allah to bring mankind to the right path. For his livelihood, he used to make baskets and sell them in the market and with the money he obtained, he bought food and shared it with the poor. One day, when he was inspecting the birds, he noticed that a bird called Hudhud was not present.

    He said, "Where is Hudhud? I will punish him severely if he remains absent without a good reason." Shortly after that, Hudhud arrived and told Prophet Sulaiman that he had flown over the land of Saba where he had seen a beautiful woman ruling over the people. Her name was Bilqees.

    She had plenty of wealth, a strong army and a throne made of gold, diamonds and other precious stones. He saw her and the people worshipping the sun, instead of Allah. Prophet Sulaiman was very pleased with Hudhud and gave him a letter to deliver to Bilqees. Hudhud flew to the land of Saba and dropped the letter in the lap of Bilqees while she was in the palace.

    When Bilqees received the letter, she called her advisors and said, "I have received an honourable letter from Sulaiman. It begins "IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL" and it reads:

    "Accept Allah and worship only Him. I am His prophet, believe in what I say and accept my command."

    She then asked them to advise her what she should do. They replied, "We are very strong and have a powerful army to fight against Sulaiman, but the decision is yours and we will obey your order. Bilqees was wise and decided not to fight Prophet Sulaiman. Instead, she sent him valuable gifts to see what he would do.

    When the messengers of Bilqees arrived in the land of Prophet Sulaiman and saw his glory and his wealth, they were struck with wonder. They thought the gifts they had brought were worthless. Prophet Sulaiman became very angry when he was presented with the gifts and said, "What! Do you offer me wealth? What Allah has given me is more superior to all the wealth on this earth. Go back to your queen with her gifts and tell her that I will soon march to conquer her land with a huge army."

    When Bilqees heard what had happened, she decided to surrender herself to Prophet Sulaiman and made preparations to go to meet him. Meanwhile, on the orders of Prophet Sulaiman, a palace of glass was built in honour of the visit of Bilqees. Even the floor was made of glass and water was put under it with different kinds of fish.

    The whole floor looked like a pool of water without the glass showing on top. He then asked who could bring the throne of Bilqees to him. A jinn stepped forward and said, "I will bring the throne before you rise from your seat."

    One man who was given a little spiritual knowledge by Allah, said, "I will bring it in the twinkling of an eye." When Prophet Sulaiman saw the throne before him, he praised Allah and thanked Him for His favours.

    When Bilqees arrived, she was amazed to see her throne and realised what power Allah had given to Prophet Sulaiman. She then entered the palace through the courtyard whose floor was made of glass. Thinking that it was a pool of water, she raised her clothes to pass through it.

    When Prophet Sulaiman informed her what it was, she was overwhelmed with wonder and accepted him to be a prophet of Allah.

    She said, "O Lord, I have wronged myself in worshipping the sun instead of you. I therefore give in myself with Sulaiman to You, the Lord of the worlds." Prophet Sulaiman then married Bilqees and thereafter she returned to her land where he visited her frequently.

    The people of Saba who were sun-worshippers, were converted to believe in Allah and to worship none other than Him. One day, Prophet Sulaiman told his attendants that he was going to the top of his palace and no one was to enter without permission. While Prophet Sulaiman, with the staff in his hand, was viewing the kingdom around him, he saw a young man approaching him.

    He was surprised and asked him, "Who are you and who gave you permission to enter the palace?" The visitor replied, "I have come in with the permission of Allah, the Owner of the universe. I am the angel of death and Allah has sent me to take your life away" Prophet Sulaiman said, "Then discharge your duty."

    While Prophet Sulaiman stood leaning on his staff, his soul left him. His body remained standing for such a long time that people and the jinn's believed him to have become a god or a magician. They carried on with the work entrusted to them by Prophet Sulaiman, until Allah caused the ants to eat away the staff he was leaning on and his body fell on the ground. Prophet Sulaiman ruled for forty years and died at the age of fifty three.