The Wisdom of Solomon
The Qur’an
“The Wisdom of Solomon”
Sura 27
The Ant
15. And certainly We gave knowledge to Dawood and Sulaiman, and they both said: Praise be to Allah, Who has made us to excel many of His believing servants.
16. And Sulaiman was Dawood’s heir, and he said: O men! we have been taught the language of birds, and we have been given all things; most surely this is manifest grace.
17. And his hosts of the jinn and the men and the birds were gathered to him, and they were formed into groups.
18. Until when they came to the valley of the Naml, a Namlite said: O Naml! enter your houses, (that) Sulaiman and his hosts may not crush you while they do not know.
19. So he smiled, wondering at her word, and said: My Lord! grant me that I should be grateful for Thy favor which Thou hast bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I should do good such as Thou art pleased with, and make me enter, by Thy mercy, into Thy servants, the good ones.
Sura 34
The Saba
12. And (We made) the wind (subservient) to Sulaiman, which made a month’s journey in the morning and a month’s journey m the evening, and We made a fountain of molten copper to flow out for him, and of the jinn there were those who worked before him by the command of his Lord; and whoever turned aside from Our command from among them, We made him taste of the punishment of burning.
13. They made for him what he pleased of fortresses and images, and bowls (large) as watering-troughs and cooking-pots that will not move from their place; give thanks, O family of Dawood! and very few of My servants are grateful.
14. But when We decreed death for him, naught showed them his death but a creature of the earth that ate away his staff; and when it fell down, the jinn came to know plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in abasing torment.
Sura 38
Suad
36. Then We made the wind subservient to him; it made his command to run gently wherever he desired,
37. And the shaitans, every builder and diver,
38. And others fettered in chains.
39. This is Our free gift, therefore give freely or withhold, without reckoning.
40. And most surely he had a nearness to Us and an excellent resort.
The Bible
“The Wisdom of Solomon”
First Kings
Chapter 3
3. And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.
4. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
5. In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
6. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
7. And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
8. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
9. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
10. And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11. And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
12. Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
13. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
14. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
First Kings
Chapter 4
29. And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
30. And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
31. For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.
32. And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.
33. And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
34. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.
First Kings
Chapter 5
1. And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
13. And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
14. And he sent them to Lebanon ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy.
15. And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;
16. Beside the chief of Solomon’s officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
17. And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
18. And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
First Kings
Chapter 6
1. And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
14. So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
37. In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month Zif:
38. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.
First Kings
Chapter 7
1. But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
13. And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.
14. He was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.
First Kings
Chapter 8
1. Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.
10. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,
11. So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.
12. Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in thick darkness.
13. I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.
COMMENTARY
In the Qur’an:
1. God enabled Solomon to understand the language of birds. The ants knew Solomon by sight as well as Israelites, and were able to recognize him while he was riding a horse nearby.
2. Jinns and birds were working as servants for Solomon. The wind was under his command as well.
3. When Solomon died, the Jinns did not realize this and kept working for a man already dead. (Perhaps they were finishing the building of the Temple while Solomon was already dead without knowing that fact, otherwise they might have stopped working).
In the Bible:
1. God made Solomon the wisest man on earth but there is no mention of any supernatural ability to understand the language of animals.
2. Many Israelites and Lebanese were working for Solomon but only for the purpose of building the Temple. No Jinns were ever mentioned in the Bible and birds were not servants of Solomon either. The wind was under the command of Jesus only (Luke 8:22-25), not Solomon.
3. The Bible is very clear in timing: Solomon started building the Temple in the fourth year of his reign and finished it in the eleventh year. It took seven years in total to build. Solomon was king for forty years (1 Kings 11:42). Therefore, he completed building the Temple near the beginning of his reign.
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