Stories
Dawud and Sulayman
Two prophet-kings
4 min, Intro
Dawud (David) and his son Sulayman (Solomon) were prophets who also ruled. The Qur'an praises their worship and justice. It tells too of Sulayman's command over wind and jinn, of an ant, and of the Queen of Sheba.
Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review
The thread
Dawud kills Goliath and becomes a king, told by God to judge with truth. His son Sulayman inherits the kingdom. He smiles at an ant. He writes to a queen who worships the sun. She chooses talk before war, and submits to God with him.
Dawud: a giant, the psalms and a trust
The story begins with a fight. The Qur'an tells that Dawud killed Jalut, Goliath, and God gave him kingship and wisdom.
He received the Zabur, the Psalms. The mountains and the birds echoed his praises of God. Iron was made soft in his hands, to make coats of mail.
The Qur'an tells of two adversaries who climbed the wall of his chamber. He was frightened. They had a dispute, they said. One had ninety-nine ewes. The other had one, and the first wanted that one too. Dawud said the one with a single ewe had been wronged. Then he understood that he was being tested, and fell down asking forgiveness.
With the power came a charge. God told him: O Dawud, We have made you a successor on earth, so judge between people with truth, and do not follow desire.
Muslims also remember Dawud for his fasting: every other day.
يَٰدَاوُۥدُ إِنَّا جَعَلۡنَٰكَ خَلِيفَةࣱ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَٱحۡكُم بَيۡنَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلۡحَقِّ وَلَا تَتَّبِعِ ٱلۡهَوَىٰ فَيُضِلَّكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَضِلُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ لَهُمۡ عَذَابࣰ شَدِيدُۢ بِمَا نَسُواْ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡحِسَابِ ٢٦
26 “O David, We have made you a ruler on earth, so judge between people with justice, and do not follow your desires lest they lead you astray from Allah’s way. Those who go astray from Allah’s way will have a severe punishment because of their forgetting the Day of Reckoning.”
۞ وَلَقَدۡ ءَاتَيۡنَا دَاوُۥدَ مِنَّا فَضۡلࣱاۖ يَٰجِبَالُ أَوِّبِي مَعَهُۥ وَٱلطَّيۡرَۖ وَأَلَنَّا لَهُ ٱلۡحَدِيدَ ١٠
10 Indeed, We bestowed favors upon David: “O mountains, echo Allah’s praise with him, and the birds too!” And We made iron malleable for him:
Dawud's kingship came as a trust: judge with truth, not desire.
Sulayman and the ant
Sulayman inherited his father Dawud's prophethood and kingdom. He was taught the language of birds, and the wind and the jinn were put at his service.
Now picture that king marching with his army through a valley of ants. One ant called out: ants, go into your homes, so Sulayman and his soldiers do not crush you without knowing.
Sulayman smiled, laughing at her words, and prayed to be grateful. The surah an-Naml, the Ant, takes its name from her.
حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَآ أَتَوۡاْ عَلَىٰ وَادِ ٱلنَّمۡلِ قَالَتۡ نَمۡلَةࣰ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّمۡلُ ٱدۡخُلُواْ مَسَٰكِنَكُمۡ لَا يَحۡطِمَنَّكُمۡ سُلَيۡمَٰنُ وَجُنُودُهُۥ وَهُمۡ لَا يَشۡعُرُونَ ١٨ فَتَبَسَّمَ ضَاحِكࣱا مِّن قَوۡلِهَا وَقَالَ رَبِّ أَوۡزِعۡنِيٓ أَنۡ أَشۡكُرَ نِعۡمَتَكَ ٱلَّتِيٓ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَٰلِدَيَّ وَأَنۡ أَعۡمَلَ صَٰلِحࣱا تَرۡضَىٰهُ وَأَدۡخِلۡنِي بِرَحۡمَتِكَ فِي عِبَادِكَ ٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ ١٩
18 until when they reached a valley of ants, an ant said, “O ants, get into your dwellings, so Solomon and his armies do not crush you unknowingly.”
19 So he smiled in amusement at its words and said, “My Lord, inspire me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and my parents, and to do righteous deeds that please you. And admit me, by Your mercy, among Your righteous slaves.”
Sulayman, a king with the wind and the jinn at his service, stopped for an ant.
The Queen of Sheba
Sulayman understood birds, and the next news came from one. He checked the birds one day and found the hoopoe missing. He would punish it, he said, unless it brought a good reason. It did. The hoopoe told him of a wealthy kingdom, Saba (Sheba), ruled by a woman whose people worshipped the sun.
Sulayman sent her a letter beginning "In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful". What would she do? She consulted her advisers and chose diplomacy, sending gifts. Kings ruin a town when they enter it, she said.
At last she visited. Her own throne was waiting for her, brought there in the blink of an eye and disguised. Was her throne like this? It looked as if it was the same, she said. Then she saw a floor of glass so clear she thought it was water. She said: my Lord, I have wronged myself, and I submit with Sulayman to God.
The Qur'an does not name her. Later tradition calls her Bilqis.
قِيلَ لَهَا ٱدۡخُلِي ٱلصَّرۡحَۖ فَلَمَّا رَأَتۡهُ حَسِبَتۡهُ لُجَّةࣱ وَكَشَفَتۡ عَن سَاقَيۡهَاۚ قَالَ إِنَّهُۥ صَرۡحࣰ مُّمَرَّدࣰ مِّن قَوَارِيرَۗ قَالَتۡ رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمۡتُ نَفۡسِي وَأَسۡلَمۡتُ مَعَ سُلَيۡمَٰنَ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَٰلَمِينَ ٤٤
44 It was said to her, “Enter the palace.” But when she saw it, she thought it was a body of water, so she uncovered her calves. He said, “This is a palace paved with crystal.” She said, “My Lord, I have wronged myself, and now I submit along with Solomon to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.”
The Queen of Sheba was wise: she chose talk before war.