Surah An-Naml (27) — Ayah 44

(Ayah 44) ➊ {قِيْلَ لَهَا ادْخُلِي الصَّرْحَ …:’’ قَوَارِيْرَ ‘‘ ’’قَارُوْرَةٌ‘‘} is the plural of 'qārūrah', meaning glass. {’’ لُجَّةً ‘‘} means very much and deep water. {’’ مُمَرَّدٌ ‘‘} “Made smooth and polished.” {’’ الصَّرْحَ ‘‘} means palace as well as courtyard. This was the final thing that opened the queen’s eyes. The first thing was the letter of Sulaiman (peace be upon him) and its strange and unique way of being delivered, in which she was ordered to come in submission. The second thing was Sulaiman (peace be upon him) returning her precious gifts and threatening to march with his army. The third thing was her throne arriving from a distance of about fifteen hundred miles before her arrival. After the initial meeting and conversation, she was asked to walk into the palace of Sulaiman (peace be upon him). When she saw the courtyard, she thought it was deep water and lifted her garment from her shins, just as someone crossing deep water would lift their trousers. Because it was a crystal floor, constructed in such a way that instead of glass, it appeared to be deep water. Sulaiman (peace be upon him) said that this is not water but a smooth, polished floor made by joining glasses together with great cleanliness.

➋ From this incident of entering the palace, the perfect wisdom of Sulaiman (peace be upon him) is evident, which he adopted to invite the Queen of Sheba to Islam. Sulaiman (peace be upon him) arranged this glass palace and courtyard so that the queen would realize that the luxury and possessions she and her people were proud of were far surpassed here, and at the same time, she would understand that being dazzled by the brightness of the sun and stars and considering them as Lord is just as much a deception as mistaking shining glass for water. Shah Abdul Qadir (may Allah have mercy on him) says: “She realized her own lack of intellect and the perfection of their (i.e., Sulaiman’s) intellect, and understood that what they believe in religion is the authentic one.” (Muwadhih) This compelled her to make the confession that follows. In this, along with the perfect wisdom of Sulaiman (peace be upon him), the perfect intelligence and understanding of the queen is also evident, as she understood what Sulaiman (peace be upon him) wanted to convey to her in this way. The truth is that conversation according to each person’s mental level is what truly affects them.

➌ { قَالَتْ رَبِّ اِنِّيْ ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِيْ …:} The awareness of the reality of the floor became a means for the queen to become aware of monotheism. Thus, she said, O my Lord! I have wronged myself that until now I remained involved in polytheism and neglected You, and now I have submitted with Sulaiman (peace be upon him) to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and have become His completely obedient servant.

Note: Many things have been inserted into the story of Sulaiman (peace be upon him) from Isra’iliyyat, for example, that the mother of the Queen of Sheba was from the jinn, and that when Sulaiman (peace be upon him) intended to marry her, he was told that her feet were like those of a donkey and that there was much hair on her shins. So he had this glass palace built so that when she lifted her garment, her feet and shins could be seen. When she lifted her garment and Sulaiman (peace be upon him) saw that she was very beautiful, but yes, there was hair on her shins, he asked the jinn what to do about the hair, so they invented a hair removal powder, and thus Sulaiman (peace be upon him) married her, etc. All these things are completely baseless, rather they are vile accusations against a person like Sulaiman (peace be upon him), about whom Allah testifies: «{ نِعْمَ الْعَبْدُ اِنَّهٗۤ اَوَّابٌ }» [ صٓ : ۴۴ ] “(Sulaiman) was an excellent servant, indeed he was ever turning (to Allah).” The real truth is that whatever Sulaiman (peace be upon him) did was to spread the call of Islam and to raise its word, and all these events are lessons for us.

44-1 This was a palace made of glass, whose courtyard and floor were also of glass. After displaying the miraculous signs of his prophethood, Prophet Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) deemed it appropriate to show her a glimpse of his worldly grandeur as well, in which Allah had distinguished him in the history of mankind. Therefore, she was ordered to enter this palace. When she was about to enter, she lifted her garment. The glass floor appeared to her as water, so to protect her clothes, she gathered them up.

44-2 That is, when the reality of the floor became clear to her, she also realized her shortcoming and mistake, and, admitting her fault, she announced her acceptance of Islam. Smooth, polished stones are called "mumarrad," and the term is also used for a handsome boy whose face has not yet grown a beard or mustache. A tree without leaves is called "shajaratun marda’." Fath al-Qadeer. But here, this expression is in the sense of "inlaid" or "adorned," meaning a palace made of or inlaid with glass. Note: What happened after the Queen of Sheba, Bilqis, became Muslim? There is no detail about this in the Quran or in any Sahih hadith. In the exegetical narrations, it is mentioned that they were married to each other, but since the Quran and hadith are silent on this matter, it is better to remain silent about it as well. And Allah knows best what is correct.

44. It was said to her, "Enter the palace." But when she saw it, she thought it was a pool of water, so she lifted her skirt over her legs [42]. Solomon said, "This is a smooth floor of glass." She said, "My Lord! I have indeed wronged myself [43], and now I submit with Solomon to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds [44]."

[42]
The Second Test: The Courtyard Pool:

This was the second test of Bilqis’s intellect. Prophet Sulaiman (peace be upon him) had his palace courtyard constructed in such a way that glass was laid over it. But when a person entered the palace, the angle of view was such that the courtyard appeared to be a deep pool of water, with waves rippling across it. Its appearance was such that, just as from a distance a sand dune or a mirage appears to be surging water, so did this courtyard. He said to Bilqis, “Come, let us enter the palace now.” When Bilqis saw this scene in the courtyard, she thought it was a deep pool of water and lifted her garments from her shins. Then Sulaiman (peace be upon him) told her that there was no need to lift her garments; this was not a pool of water but a smooth glass floor. Thus, she was deceived in this test.

[43] That is, just as I mistook the glass courtyard for a deep, rippling pool of water and was mistaken, in the same way, I and my people, seeing the brilliance and radiance of the sun, began to consider it a deity—this too was our grave mistake and an injustice to ourselves.

[44]
The Faith of the Queen of Sheba Was Based on Insight:

When Bilqis believed in Allah, the Lord of all worlds, it was based on insight. Several incidents had already occurred which increasingly convinced her that Sulaiman (peace be upon him) was truly upon the truth, was a Prophet of Allah, and that her own religion was based on falsehood. First of all, from the content of the letter, she deduced that the sender of such a letter could not be an ordinary ruler. Then, the way the letter was delivered to her was also extraordinary. From the return of the gifts, she also realized that he was not a worldly ruler, and that she would never be able to withstand him in confrontation. Furthermore, the delegation that brought the gifts described the humble nature and pure character of the great ruler, which had deeply impressed her. Then, when she arrived before Prophet Sulaiman and saw the throne she had left behind now placed before her, she became convinced in her heart of Sulaiman’s prophethood. Now, at the time of entering the palace, what impressed her most was that such a great ruler, who possessed many times more wealth and luxury than she did, could be so grateful to Allah, so humble, and so modest. All these things together compelled her to openly declare her faith before Prophet Sulaiman.

The Rationalists’ Interpretation of ﴿وَكَشَفَتْ عَن سَاقَيْهَا﴾ and Its Response:

Regarding Bilqis entering Sulaiman’s palace and lifting her garments from her shins, rationalists have presented many unreasonable interpretations. For example, they say that Bilqis did not lift her garments from her shins, but rather lifted the cloths that were hanging on the walls of the glass palace, and that the meaning of ﴿لُجَّةٌ﴾ is not only deep water but also the brilliance and radiance like water, which was present in this glass palace. This is not the place for a detailed analysis of these unreasonable interpretations; I will briefly mention a couple of points. Allah the Exalted says: ﴿فَلَمَّا رَأَتْهُ حَسِبَتْهُ لُجَّةً وَكَشَفَتْ عَن سَاقَيْهَا﴾ (Bilqis saw the palace and thought it was deep water and lifted her garments from her shins), so the masculine pronoun is used for the palace. And although the word “wall” is not present here, even if it is assumed, it is also used in the masculine form [18: 82], but for the one whose shins the garment was lifted from, the feminine pronoun is used. Furthermore, a palace or any room has four walls, not two, whereas here the dual form is used. Thirdly, the word “saq” (shin) is used for the shin or the trunk of a tree, not for a wall or for the lower part of anything that is uniform throughout, where it cannot be determined where the “shin” begins.