Solomon inherited David. He said: “O people! We have been taught the speech of birds, and have been given of all good things. This is indeed a manifest favor (from God).
Before Solomon were marshaled his troops of jinn, humans and birds; and they were all lined in orderly ranks. (The Ants; Al-Naml: 27: 16-17)
We mentioned last week the emphasis the surah places on knowledge, and highlighted the special knowledge God gave to Solomon as He taught him the language of birds. We mentioned that all species have their own means of communication by which they understand one another. These are languages that enable them to live and cooperate at different levels, as suits each species.
Yet this is only one part of the miracle God granted to Solomon, His servant. The other part was that a number of the jinn and birds were placed under his command, serving him like his own human soldiers. Moreover, the birds thus placed under him were given special faculties far greater than ordinary birds of the same species. This is clearly apparent in the story of the hoopoe that was able to understand the situation at the Queen of Sheba’s court as clearly as a most intelligent and religious person. This is again a miraculous aspect.
It is a fact that the law God has set for His creation allows birds a measure of understanding that may vary, but this measure remains well below what man understands. That birds have their type of form is merely part of the overall balance maintained in the universe. It is subject to the general law of creation.
Another fact is that a hoopoe living today is exactly the same as other hoopoes that have lived on earth for a very long time. Its genes are such that they make it practically a clone of the first hoopoe. Whatever adaptation the hoopoe goes through does not enable it to move up to a higher species. This is clearly part of the system and balance God has set for His creation.
The two facts mentioned above cannot preclude the working of a miracle whenever God, the Creator of all species and laws governing them wants it. The miracle itself may be a part of the overall law of creation, which we do not know in full. If it is, then this part occurs at the time appointed for it, which is known only to God. As it occurs, it transcends the natural laws familiar to man, but it thus complements the divine laws of creation and balance. This explains how Solomon’s hoopoe came into existence, and perhaps all the birds that were placed under Solomon’s command at that time.
A Majestic Procession
for Solomon
“Before Solomon were marshaled his troops of jinn, humans and birds; and they were all lined in orderly ranks.” (Verse 17) It is a big procession in which are marshaled troops of different varieties, including jinn, human and bird. Naturally, men are well known to us, but the jinn are creatures about whom we know nothing more than what God has told us about them in the Qur’an. They were created out of a mix of flames of fire, and that they see us while we cannot see them: “Surely, he and his tribe watch you from where you cannot perceive them.” (7: 27)
The reference in this verse is to Iblis, or Satan, who belongs to the jinn.
They are able to prompt people and tempt them to take action, which is normally evil and sinful. We do not know how this takes place. We also know that a group of them believed in God’s Messenger (peace be upon him). He did not meet or see them, but God informed him of what happened: “Say: It has been revealed to me that a group of the jinn listened (to the Qur’an), and said: ‘We have listened to a wonderful discourse that guides to what is right, and so We have come to believe in it. We shall never associate any partners with our Lord.’” (72: 1-2)
We also know that God made some of them serve Solomon, making for him whatever he wished of sanctuaries, statues, and large cauldrons for cooking. They also dived in the sea for him, and did his bidding. Some of them were in his procession side by side with their human and bird colleagues.
We say that God placed under Solomon’s command a section of the jinn and a section of the birds, as also a section of human beings. It is clear that not all people on earth were his subjects, because his kingdom stretched over an area that includes today’s Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, up to the Euphrates. Similarly, not all the jinn or all the birds were under his command. It was a section of each type.
In support of this view concerning the jinn we cite the fact that Iblis, or Satan, and his offspring belong to the jinn as the Qur’an states: “When We said to the angels: ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam,’ they all prostrated themselves. Not so Iblis, who belonged to the jinn and he disobeyed his Lord’s command.” (18: 50) God also says about Iblis: “Who whispers in the hearts of mankind, from among jinn and mankind.” (114: 5-6)
Thus Iblis and his offspring who belonged to the jinn continued to whisper in people’s hearts tempting them to sin during Solomon’s reign. Had they been placed under his command, they could not do so since he was a prophet advocating what is right. Hence, it is clear that only a section of them were loyal to him.
And in support of our view concerning the birds we say that Solomon learned of the hoopoe’s absence when he inspected the birds. Had all birds, including all hoopoes, been placed under him, they would have been marshaled in his procession, and he would have never been able to discover the absence of one hoopoe among millions of hoopoes, and many millions of birds. He would not have wondered: “Why is it that I do not see the hoopoe?” (Verse 20) Indeed, this question suggests that it was a particular hoopoe that he identified. It might be that it was the only hoopoe under Solomon’s command, or that it was the one in a group of hoopoes whose duty was to take part in that particular procession. What supports this view is that we soon realize that the hoopoe in question was gifted with understanding that transcends what hoopoes and all birds normally have. Such gifts must have been granted to the section placed under Solomon’s command, and not hoopoes and birds in general. Indeed the hoopoe in the story appears to have a gift of understanding matched only by intelligent and God-fearing humans.
