Then the one who possessed knowledge of the Scripture said, “I can bring it to you before your glance returns to you” (al-Naml 40):
• According to the majority of commentators, this was a righteous man who had been granted the Greatest Name (al-ism al-aʿẓam); whoever calls upon Allah by it is answered. He invoked Allah, and the throne arrived before Solomon could blink.
• It may also be that the man who had knowledge of the Scripture had access to some of the means Allah had subjected to Solomon—means that enabled rapid transport and the drawing-near of distant objects.

In any case, this was a sovereign of tremendous power: in an instant that massive throne was placed before him. When Solomon saw it set firmly in front of him, he praised Allah and said, “This is by the grace of my Lord, that He may test me whether I give thanks or show ingratitude. Whoever is thankful is thankful only for his own soul, and whoever is ungrateful—my Lord is Self-Sufficient, Generous.”

He then said to those around him, “Disguise her throne for her—alter it by adding and removing—and we shall see whether she is rightly guided or one of those who are not guided.” Her acumen and sound judgment had been commended to him, and he wished to verify the report. When she arrived, it was said to her, “Is your throne like this?” It was shown to her; she recognised it, yet noticed the alterations and therefore disavowed certainty. Weighing both possibilities, she replied, “It looks very much like it.” She did not say, “It is,” because of the changes, nor did she deny that it was, for she knew it. She chose words that allowed for both options, and Solomon perceived the sharpness of her mind.

“We were given knowledge before her, and we had already submitted.”
• If this sentence is Solomon’s, it means: We had already been informed of her intelligence and knew of it before this incident, and we confirmed it when we put her to the test.