Page 132 - Perished Nations

And the Queen of Saba

She was asked to enter the lofty Palace: but when she saw it, she tho-
ught it was a lake of water, and she (tucked up her skirts), uncovering
her legs. He said: "This is but a palace paved smooth with slabs of
glass." She said: "O my Lord! I have indeed wronged my soul: I do
(now) submit (in Islam), with Sulayman, to the Lord of the Worlds."
(Surat an-Naml: 44)

istorical records regarding the meeting of Sulayman (as) and the
Queen of Saba were brought to light by investigations made in
H the old country of Saba in South Yemen. Examinations made on
the ruins revealed that a "queen" lived in the region between 1000 and 950
BC and travelled towards the north (to Jerusalem).
What happened between these two rulers, the economical and political
power of their countries, their regimes and some other information are all
explained in the Surat an-Naml. The story, which is narrated in a large part
of Surat an-Naml, begins its reference to the Queen of Saba with the news
which the Hudhud (a Hoopoe bird), a member of Sulayman’s (as) army,
gives to Sulayman (as):
But the Hoopoe tarried not far: he (came up and) said: "I have compassed
(territory) which thou hast not compassed, and I have come to thee from
Saba with tidings true. I found (there) a woman ruling over them and pro-
vided with every requisite; and she has a magnificent throne.
I found her and her people worshipping the sun besides Allah: Satan has
made their deeds seem pleasing in their eyes, and has kept them away

Harun Yahya
124