The Queen of Sheba

The Queen of Sheba ruled over a prosperous people who worshipped the sun. Informed of her existence by the hoopoe, Sulayman invited her to submit to God. A woman of great political intelligence, she was able to recognise the truth and eventually embraced the faith.

Sulayman's hoopoe, his scout, reported having discovered a people governed by a powerful queen, blessed with everything and possessing a magnificent throne, but who was prostrating before the sun instead of God.

Sulayman entrusted her with a letter calling her not to be proud and to come to him submitted to God. The queen, wise and cautious, consulted her advisors, then chose first to send gifts to test Sulayman. But he refused them: it was not wealth he sought, but faith.

The queen then came to him. Sulayman, through the knowledge God had given him, had her throne brought before her arrival, and invited her to enter a palace with a crystal floor she took for water. Before these signs, she understood that Sulayman's power came from God. She then acknowledged: 'Lord, I have wronged myself; I submit, with Solomon, to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.'

The Queen of Sheba teaches intelligence placed at the service of truth: she does not dig in, she observes, tests, then recognises the truth when she sees it. The Quran honours in her a ruler who was able to put faith before her pride and power.

أَلَّا تَعْلُوا عَلَيَّ وَأْتُونِي مُسْلِمِينَ

Ne vous opposez pas à moi avec orgueil, mais venez me faire acte de soumission. »

27:31

قَالَتْ رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي وَأَسْلَمْتُ مَعَ سُلَيْمَانَ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

La reine fut alors invitée à faire son entrée dans la cour du palais. Persuadée de pénétrer dans de l’eau profonde, elle releva son habit et découvrit ses jambes. Salomon dit : « Il s’agit, en réalité, d’une cour pavée de cristal. » La reine dit : « Seigneur ! J’ai été injuste envers moi-même. Je me soumets donc, avec Salomon, à Allah, Seigneur de la Création. »

27:44