Aslam

Sulayman inherited from his father Dawud — not wealth, but prophethood and wisdom. Allah gave him a kingdom unlike any before or after: he could command the wind, which would travel a month's journey in a morning and a month's journey in an evening. He understood the speech of birds and ants. Jinn worked under his command, building for him palaces, statues, basins like reservoirs, and cooking pots fixed in place.

Once, while marching with his armies of jinn, men, and birds, an ant cried out: "O ants, enter your dwellings so that Sulayman and his soldiers do not crush you unknowingly." Sulayman smiled at her words and prayed: "My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favour which You have bestowed upon me."

The hoopoe bird once came to Sulayman with extraordinary news: in the land of Sheba, a queen ruled a mighty people who worshipped the sun. Sulayman sent a letter inviting her to submit to Allah. The Queen of Sheba came to visit, and Sulayman had her throne brought to him in the blink of an eye by one who had knowledge of the Scripture. When she arrived and saw her own throne, she was amazed. Then she was asked to enter his palace — and seeing the glass floor, she thought it was a pool of water and uncovered her shins. Sulayman told her it was a palace paved with crystal. She declared: "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, and I submit with Sulayman to Allah, Lord of the worlds."

Sulayman's death itself was remarkable. He died while leaning on his staff, and the jinn continued working, not realising he had passed away. It was only when a small creature of the earth gnawed through his staff and his body fell that they knew. Had the jinn known the unseen, they would not have remained in the humiliating punishment of hard labour. This was a clear sign that the jinn have no knowledge of the unseen.