one of the scholars of the Children of Israel.
Others maintained that it was Solomon himself, but this is exceedingly strange, and al-Suhaylī judged the report weak, saying that it does not fit the flow of the narrative.
He added: A fourth view is that it was Gabriel who said, “I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you.” The phrase has been explained to mean: before you could dispatch a messenger to the furthest spot your eye can reach on earth and he comes back to you; or, before the most distant person you can see could reach you; or, before your eye grows weary from prolonged staring, before you blink; or, before your sight returns to you after you look toward the farthest horizon and close your eyelid—the last being the closest interpretation.

“When he saw it set firmly before him” (40) means: when Solomon beheld the throne of Bilqīs resting before him—transported from Yemen to Jerusalem in the twinkling of an eye—he said, “This is by my Lord’s bounty, to test me whether I give thanks or am ungrateful. Whoever gives thanks, gives thanks only for himself; and whoever is ungrateful—surely my Lord is Self-Sufficient, Most Generous” (al-Naml 27:40). That is, this favor comes from Allah to test His servants; whoever is grateful benefits only himself, and Allah is independent of the thanks of the grateful and unharmed by the disbelief of the ungrateful.

Solomon, peace be upon him, then ordered that the ornaments of that throne be altered and disguised so as to test her perception and intelligence. Hence he said, “We shall see whether she is guided aright or is of those who are not guided” (41). When she arrived it was said, “Is your throne like this?” She replied, “It is as though it were exactly the same” (42). This shows her quick wit and keen understanding, for she deemed it unlikely to be her own throne—she had left it in Yemen and could not imagine anyone capable of such an astonishing feat.

Allah, recounting Solomon and his people, says, “We had been given knowledge before her, and we were already Muslims. But that which she worshipped other than Allah had diverted her; she was indeed from a disbelieving people” (42–43). In other words, the worship of the sun to which she and her people prostrated instead of Allah impeded her, being merely the religion of their fathers with no proof to guide or compel them.

Solomon had also ordered the construction of a palace of glass with water flowing beneath its transparent floor; he roofed it with glass and stocked it with fish and other aquatic creatures. She was commanded to enter the palace while Solomon sat upon his throne inside. “When she saw it she thought it a pool of water and bared her calves. He said, ‘It is a palace paved smooth with glass.’ She said, ‘My Lord, I have wronged myself, and I submit together with Solomon to Allah, Lord of all worlds’” (44).

Some say the jinn wished to make her appear repulsive to Solomon by having her uncover her legs so that he would see the hair upon them and be dissuaded from marrying her; they feared that, since her mother was a jinn, she might gain ascendancy over them if he wed her. Others claimed her foot was like an animal’s hoof—this is weak, and the first report too is questionable; Allah knows best.

It is further said that when Solomon decided to marry her he wanted the hair removed. He asked mankind about the matter, and they mentioned the razor, which she refused. He then asked the jinn, who produced for him the depilatory paste (nūra)(1) and prepared the bathhouse; he was the first to enter a bathhouse. When he felt its heat he exclaimed, “Ah, from torment—ah, ah—before the time when ‘ah’ will avail nothing”(2). This is related by al-Ṭabarānī with a raised chain, though its authenticity is doubtful.

al-Thaʿlabī and others report that after Solomon married her he confirmed her as queen over Yemen and would visit her