Tafsir of Surah An-Naml - Verse 22

How the Hoopoe came before Sulayman and told Him about Saba'

Allah says:

فَمَكَثَ غَيْرَ بَعِيدٍ

(But (the hoopoe) stayed not long,) meaning, he was absent for only a short time. Then he came and said to Sulayman:

أَحَطتُ بِمَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ

(I have grasped which you have not grasped) meaning, `I have come to know something that you and your troops do not know.'

وَجِئْتُكَ مِن سَبَإٍ بِنَبَإٍ يَقِينٍ

(and I have come to you from Saba' with true news.) meaning, with true and certain news. Saba' (Sheba) refers to Himyar, they were a dynasty in Yemen. Then the hoopoe said:

إِنِّى وَجَدتُّ امْرَأَةً تَمْلِكُهُمْ

(I found a woman ruling over them,) Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "This is Bilqis bint Sharahil, the queen of Saba'." Allah's saying:

وَأُوتِيَتْ مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ

(she has been given all things,) means, all the conveniences of this world that a powerful monarch could need.

وَلَهَا عَرْشٌ عَظِيمٌ

(and she has a great throne.) meaning, a tremendous chair adorned with gold and different kinds of jewels and pearls. The historians said, "This throne was in a great, strong palace which was high and firmly constructed. In it there were three hundred and sixty windows on the east side, and a similar number on the west, and it was constructed in such a way that each day when the sun rose it would shine through one window, and when it set it would shine through the opposite window. And the people used to prostrate to the sun morning and evening. This is why the hoopoe said:

وَجَدتُّهَا وَقَوْمَهَا يَسْجُدُونَ لِلشَّمْسِ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَـنُ أَعْمَـلَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ

(I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of Allah, and Shaytan has made their deeds fair seeming to them, and has prevented them from the way,) meaning, from the way of truth,

فَهُمْ لاَ يَهْتَدُونَ

(so they have no guidance.) Allah's saying:

وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَـنُ أَعْمَـلَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ فَهُمْ لاَ يَهْتَدُونَأَلاَّ يَسْجُدُواْ للَّهِ

(and Shaytan has made their deeds fair seeming to them, and has prevented them from the way, so they have no guidance, so they do not prostrate themselves before Allah.) They do not know the way of truth, prostrating only before Allah alone and not before anything that He has created, whether heavenly bodies or anything else. This is like the Ayah:

وَمِنْ ءَايَـتِهِ الَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَالشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ لاَ تَسْجُدُواْ لِلشَّمْسِ وَلاَ لِلْقَمَرِ وَاسْجُدُواْ لِلَّهِ الَّذِى خَلَقَهُنَّ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ

(And from among His signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Prostrate yourselves not to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate yourselves to Allah Who created them, if you indeed worship Him.) (41:37)

الَّذِى يُخْرِجُ الْخَبْءَ فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ

(Who brings to light what is hidden in the heavens and the earth,) `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said: "He knows everything that is hidden in the heavens and on earth." This was also the view of `Ikrimah, Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Qatadah and others. His saying:

وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تُخْفُونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ

(and knows what you conceal and what you reveal.) means, He knows what His servants say and do in secret, and what they say and do openly. This is like the Ayah:

سَوَآءٌ مِّنْكُمْ مَّنْ أَسَرَّ الْقَوْلَ وَمَنْ جَهَرَ بِهِ وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِالَّيْلِ وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ

(It is the same whether any of you conceals his speech or declares it openly, whether he be hid by night or goes forth freely by day) (13:10). His saying:

اللَّهُ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ

(Allah, La ilaha illa Huwa, the Lord of the Supreme Throne!) means, He is the One to be called upon, Allah, He is the One other than Whom there is no god, the Lord of the Supreme Throne, and there is none greater than Him in all of creation. Since the hoopoe was calling to what is good, and for people to worship and prostrate to Allah alone, it would have been forbidden to kill him. Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet forbade killing four kinds of animals: ants, bees, hoopoes and the sparrow hawks. Its chain of narration is Sahih.

أَحَطتُ بِمَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ (I have discovered what you did not - 27:22). That is, the hoopoe. said while offering its excuse that it knew something which he did not know. What it meant was that it had brought information, which he (Sulaiman علیہ السلام) did not know before.

The prophets do not have the knowledge of the unknown

Imam Qurtubi has deduced from this incident that the prophets do not have the knowledge of the unseen (` Ilm ul-ghayb), so that they could know all about everything. It is quite evident from this verse.

وَجِئْتُكَ مِن سَبَإٍ بِنَبَإٍ يَقِينٍ

"And have brought to you a sure information from Saba' (Sheba) ". 27:22

Saba' (Sheba) (سَبَاء) is a well-known city of Yemen, and its other name is Ma'arib (مَآرِب). The distance between San` a', the capital of Yemen, and Saba' is three day's journey.

Is it proper for a junior to say to his senior that he knows more than him?

On the basis of this conversation by the hoopoe, some people have deduced that it is appropriate for a pupil to say to his teacher or for a common man to say to a knowledgeable person that he knows more than the latter on the subject, provided he is absolutely confident that his knowledge on that subject is really more than others. But it is argued in Ruh ul-Ma’ ani that such an assertion before the elders and scholars is against the etiquettes, and should be avoided. This argument, however, does not apply to the conversation of the hoopoe, because it made that statement to save itself from the punishment and to justify its excuse for the absence. The hoopoe actually wanted to place before Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) the exact position, so that he could understand the reason for its absence. In such situations it is not improper if something is said against the normal etiquettes.

The Sabeans were a wealthy community of ancient times (1100 B.C. to 115B.C.). Their country was located in Ma‘arib (Yemen), where its grand ruins are still in existence. During Solomon’s period, this area was under the rule of a queen called Sheba (Bilqis). The people of this place used to worship the sun, Satan having taught them that the only thing worth worshipping was whatever was most prominent. As the sun was the most prominent of all visible things, only the sun, therefore, deserved to be considered a god and worshipped. Solomon received detailed information about the Sabeans through the hoopoe bird. This hoopoe perhaps belonged to Solomon’s army of birds and possibly received regular training.