on the flying carpet; for had that been the case not a single ant would have been harmed or trampled. The carpet would have carried everything they needed—troops and horses, camels and baggage, tents and livestock—while the birds hovered above it all, as we shall detail later, God Most High willing.
The point is that Solomon—peace be upon him—understood the sound counsel and commendable directive with which that ant addressed her colony. He smiled with gladness and delight at the exclusive knowledge God had shown him, knowledge denied to others. It is not, as some ignorant folk allege, that beasts used to converse with people before Solomon and that Solomon son of David then bound them by covenant and muzzled them so they never again spoke to humans. Only those who lack understanding say such things. Had that been true, Solomon’s comprehension of their languages would not have been a distinctive honor, for everyone would already have understood them. Likewise, if he had merely bound them not to speak with anyone but him while he alone could still understand them, there would be no real benefit worth noting either (1).
For this reason he said: “My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, to do righteous deeds that please You, and admit me, by Your mercy, among Your righteous servants.” He asked God to dispose him to gratitude for what He had granted him and the special distinction He enjoyed over others, to make righteous deeds easy for him, and, when He took him in death, to gather him among His righteous servants. God, exalted is He, answered his prayer.
By “my parents” he meant David—peace be upon him—and his mother, who was one of the devoutly righteous. Sunayd ibn Dāwud related from Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Munkadir, from his father, from Jābir, that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:
“The mother of Solomon son of David said, ‘My dear son, do not sleep too much at night, for excessive night-time sleep leaves a servant poor on the Day of Resurrection.’”
Ibn Mājah narrated it (2) through four of his teachers with the same chain and wording.
ʿAbd al-Razzāq also transmitted—from Maʿmar, from al-Zuhrī—that Solomon son of David, peace be upon him, once went out with his companions to seek rain. He saw an ant standing, raising one of its legs in supplication for rain. He said to his companions, “Return; you have been granted rain. This ant has prayed for rain and her prayer has been answered.”
Ibn ʿAsākir (3) remarked that the report has also come down as a Prophetic (marfūʿ) ḥadīth in which Solomon is not mentioned. He then cited it through the chain of Muḥammad ibn ʿAzīz, from Salāmah ibn Rūḥ ibn Khālid, from ʿUqayl, from Ibn Shihāb: “Abū Salamah told me, on the authority of Abū Hurayrah, that he heard the Messenger of God—”