and others: the devils feared that Solomon might marry her, whereupon she would disclose to him the secrets of the jinn, for her mother had been a jinnī woman. If she bore him a child, they would never cease to be subjected to Solomon and his descendants after him. They therefore spoke ill of her in order to make him lose interest in her, saying, “There is something deficient in her intellect; her foot is like a donkey’s hoof; and her calves are hairy.” Solomon therefore wished to test her intelligence by altering her throne and to look at her feet by constructing the lofty palace. (1)

“So when she came, she was asked, ‘Is your throne like this?’ She said, ‘It is as though it were the same.’ And we were given knowledge before this, and we were Muslims. (42) What she used to worship besides Allah had prevented her; indeed, she was from a disbelieving people. (43)”

Regarding His saying, “So when she came, she was asked, ‘Is your throne like this?’ She said, ‘It is as though it were the same,’” Muqatil said: She recognized it, but she made the matter ambiguous to them just as they had made it ambiguous to her. Ikrimah said: She was wise. She did not say, “Yes,” for fear of lying, nor did she say, “No,” for fear of being proven false. Rather, she said, “It is as though it were the same.” Thus Solomon recognized the soundness of her intellect, since she neither affirmed nor denied it.

It was also said that the matter of the throne confused her, since she had left it in a house behind seven locked doors, while the keys were with her. She was then told, “It is your throne; so of what benefit was locking the doors to you?” She then said, “And we were given knowledge”—of the truthfulness of Solomon’s prophethood, through the preceding signs concerning the gift and the envoys—“before this,” that is, before the sign involving the throne, “and we were Muslims,” submissive and obedient to Solomon’s command.

It was also said that the words, “And we were given knowledge before this,” were spoken by Solomon. That is, “We were given knowledge of Allah and of His power over whatever He wills before this woman, and we were Muslims.” This was the view of Mujahid. (2)

It was also said to mean: We were given knowledge of her submission to Islam and of her coming willingly before she came, and we were Muslims, obedient to Allah, Exalted is He.

Regarding His saying, Exalted is He, “What she used to worship besides Allah had prevented her”: that is, what she worshipped besides Allah—namely, the sun—prevented her from worshipping Allah. In other words, sun worship prevented her from tawhid and from worshipping Allah. According to this interpretation, the relative pronoun “what” is in the nominative position. (3)