narrated to him from Sulayman ibn Yasar, from Aishah, who said: “I never saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, laugh heartily enough for me to see his uvula; rather, he would only smile.” (1)
Abdullah ibn Abd al-Samad al-Jawzajani informed us; Abu al-Qasim al-Khuzaʿi informed us; al-Haytham ibn Kulayb informed us; Abu Isa related to us; Qutaybah ibn Saʿid related to us; Ibn Lahiʿah related to us from Abdullah ibn al-Mughirah, from Abdullah ibn al-Harith ibn Jazʾ, who said: “I never saw anyone smile more often than the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him.” (2)
Muqatil said: Solomon’s laughter at the ant’s words was one of amazement, for when a person sees something unfamiliar to him, he is amazed and laughs. Then Solomon praised his Lord for the favor He had bestowed upon him.
“And he said, ‘My Lord, inspire me to be thankful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to do righteous deeds that please You; and admit me, by Your mercy, among Your righteous servants.’”
That is: include me among them, establish my name alongside their names, and gather me in their company. Ibn Abbas said: He meant alongside Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets who came after them. It was also said: Admit me into Paradise, by Your mercy, among Your righteous servants.
“And he inspected the birds and said, ‘Why is it that I do not see the hoopoe? Or is he among the absent?’ (20)”
His saying, exalted is He, “And he inspected the birds,” means: he sought them and searched for them. Inspection means seeking what is missing. Thus, the meaning of the verse is that he sought the birds that were absent. “Why is it that I do not see the hoopoe?” means: What is the matter with the hoopoe that I do not see him? The Arabs say, “Why do I see you looking sorrowful?” meaning, “What is the matter with you?” The hoopoe is a well-known bird.
As for the reason Solomon inspected the hoopoe and inquired about it, it was said that it had failed to take its turn. Whenever Solomon halted at a place, the birds would shade him and his army from the sun. But sunlight reached him through the hoopoe’s place, so he looked and found its position vacant.
It is related from Ibn Abbas that the hoopoe was Solomon’s guide to water: it knew the location of water and could see water beneath the earth as one sees through glass. It knew whether it was near or far, and would peck at the ground; then the devils would come, dig it up, and extract the water. Saʿid ibn Jubayr said: When Ibn Abbas mentioned this, Nafiʿ ibn al-Azraq said to him, “O you who describe such things, consider what you are saying! One of our boys sets a trap and throws dust over it, then the hoopoe comes and does not see the trap until it is caught around its neck,”