King Solomon 3

(34:15-19)(21:79-82)(27:15-19/ 36-44)(38:36)

King Solomon 3

Another memorable event in King Solomon’s life was his encounter with Queen Sheba.  One day his horses were marching in front of him for inspection; he ordered the military officer to bring the disappearing array of horses back so he could pat them.  While he was looking at their manes, his heart swelled with gratitude for God, who had bestowed such a marvelous army upon him.  In those times, the army of swift horses was a terror for enemies.  The mere name of Solomon’s horse- battalion struck terror in the hearts of the enemies; they used to disperse in the wilderness and never dared to face him on the battlefield.  Furthermore, King Solomon proclaimed that he loved his horses because they helped him to work for God. 

During the inspection, King Solomon noticed that a high-ranking officer, Hoopoe, was absent during the parade.  Not to be present at the time of the king’s inspection was a great breach of discipline; it infuriated King Solomon.  He declared that there was no place for such an irresponsible individual in his army.  He further added that if Hoopoe would not be able to give a justifiable cause for his absence he would have to face dire consequences.

But Hoopoe came with an amazing story.  He told King Solomon that a woman was ruling a neighboring territory.  Her name was Sheba.  She was a very wise ruler with an up-to-date means of irrigation.  The people of her country had built a dam to store water and many canals to irrigate the land.  Sheba had concentrated on commerce and the capital city was a hub for the merchants from all over the world, especially Indians who brought merchandise to be sent to Africa and other parts of the Arabian Peninsula.  International trade brought a lot of wealth into the country, and the queen along with her countrymen multiplied it by investing it in agricultural products of fertile land.

The wise Queen Sheba and her nation were very proud of their gods.  They worshipped the sun god and were unwilling to take cognizance of Allah, the mighty creator of the universe. The prosperity and wealth made them very proud and selfish; they discouraged competition and wanted to restrict the international trade to themselves only.

          King Solomon listened to the statement of Hoopoe with great interest and sent his other agents to verify it.  After verification, he sent a messenger to Queen Sheba’s court with a letter, telling her to mend her ways and not to disobey his mandate.

         Queen Sheba gathered all her ministers in the court and said, “I have received a polite letter from King Solomon; in it he writes about acting on the program of Rabubiyyat, which would make the means of livelihood available to all the people in the land.  If I reject his proposal and do not join his court, it may result in war with the powerful armies of King Solomon, so give me your advice because I would not take any step without consulting you.”                              The courtiers replied, “Act as you think is proper for us and our land; if King Solomon has a great army, you need not fear it because we are neither cowards nor afraid of fighting.  We will fight till death for our land and queen.”  The queen was delighted with the ardent reply from her courtiers and smilingly replied, “I knew that you would not hesitate to fight, but when war comes to a country it completely changes the structure of its society. The nobles become lowly and the spineless folks emerge as the nobles; I would like to take a step of diplomacy before declaring war against King Solomon.  I am going to send a messenger with rich presents to gage the depth and sincerity of his program.”

          All the courtiers agreed with the proposal of the queen and an ambassador with rich presents was sent to his court.   When King Solomon saw pearls, diamonds, silk, incense, precious stones, and other expensive items, he said, “Do you people want to bribe me with wealth?  What God has already given me is much superior to yours.”  After this conversation, the messenger failed to reach a compromise and the mission was aborted.