Humility despite power; respecting all creation
What if you could talk to animals? What if every bird, every ant, every creature in the world could understand you, and you could understand them? What if the wind itself obeyed your command, and the strongest beings in creation worked under your orders? Sounds like something from a dream, doesn't it? But for Prophet Sulayman, peace be upon him, it was real. Allah gave him a kingdom unlike any the world has ever seen, and the most remarkable thing about Sulayman (AS) was not his power. It was his humility.
Sulayman (AS) was the son of Prophet Dawud (AS), the singing king whose story we heard last night. When Dawud (AS) passed away, Allah chose Sulayman (AS) to carry on his father's legacy of just rule. But Allah gave Sulayman (AS) gifts that went far beyond what any king had ever received.
The Quran tells us: "And Sulayman inherited from Dawud. He said, 'O people, we have been taught the language of birds, and we have been given from all things. Indeed, this is the clear bounty of Allah.'" Sulayman (AS) could understand the speech of every creature. When a sparrow chirped on a branch, he heard its prayer to Allah. When a lion roared in the wild, he understood its praise. The entire living world was an open book to him.
Allah also gave him command over the wind. The Quran says the wind would travel at his command, carrying his throne and his armies across vast distances in a single morning that would have taken others a month to cross. And Allah placed the jinn under his authority. These powerful, invisible beings that most people feared worked for Sulayman (AS), building palaces, diving into the sea for pearls, and crafting magnificent works of art.
But with all this power, Sulayman (AS) never became proud. He never forgot where his gifts came from. Every morning, he would look at his magnificent kingdom and say, "This is from the bounty of my Lord, to test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful."
One day, Sulayman (AS) was marching with his enormous army. It was a grand procession: rows of soldiers, ranks of jinn, and flocks of birds flying in perfect formation overhead. The ground trembled with the march. The sky was filled with the sound of wings and the movement of a great force.
They came to a valley, and something extraordinary happened. A tiny ant, standing at the entrance to her colony, saw the army approaching. She cried out to her fellow ants: "O ants! Enter your homes so that Sulayman and his soldiers do not crush you without even knowing it!"
Now think about this. A tiny ant, so small you could barely see her, speaking about the greatest king on earth. And what did Sulayman (AS) do? Did he laugh? Did he ignore her? Did he say, "I am a king; what does an ant matter?"
No. The Quran tells us: "He smiled, laughing at her words, and said, 'My Lord, inspire me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to do righteousness of which You approve. And admit me by Your mercy among Your righteous servants.'"
He smiled with tenderness, not mockery. He heard a tiny ant, and instead of feeling superior, he turned to Allah in gratitude. He asked Allah to help him be worthy of his blessings. This is the mark of true greatness: the more power you have, the more humble you become.
Then came the story of the hoopoe bird. Sulayman (AS) would review his army regularly, checking that every creature in his service was present and accounted for. One day, he noticed that the hoopoe, a small bird with a beautiful crown of feathers, was missing.
Sulayman (AS) was not pleased. "Why do I not see the hoopoe?" he said. "Or is he among the absent? I will surely punish him with a severe punishment, or I will slaughter him, unless he brings me a clear reason."
The hoopoe returned soon after, and it had remarkable news. "I have learned something you have not learned," the hoopoe said to the king. "I have come to you from Saba with certain news. Indeed, I found a woman ruling over them, and she has been given of all things, and she has a great throne. I found her and her people prostrating to the sun instead of Allah, and Shaytan has made their deeds pleasing to them."
The little hoopoe bird had discovered the kingdom of Saba, modern-day Yemen, ruled by a queen named Bilqis. Despite all her wealth and power, she and her people were worshipping the sun instead of Allah. The hoopoe was so troubled by this that it rushed back to report.
Sulayman (AS) listened carefully to the bird's report. He did not dismiss it because it came from a small creature. He treated the hoopoe's intelligence with the same seriousness he would have given a human messenger. Then he said, "We will see whether you have told the truth or whether you are of the liars."
He wrote a letter to Queen Bilqis, inviting her to the worship of the One True God, Allah. This letter, carried by the hoopoe bird, would begin a remarkable encounter between two great rulers, a story we will hear tomorrow night, insha'Allah.
The story of Sulayman (AS) with the ant and the hoopoe teaches lessons that are as important for us today as they were thousands of years ago. First, respect every creature. The ant was tiny, but Sulayman (AS) heard her and was moved. In Islam, every living being praises Allah in its own way, and every creature has its place and its rights.
Second, never let power make you arrogant. Sulayman (AS) had more power than any human being in history, yet he spent his time thanking Allah rather than boasting. Imam Ali (AS) said: "The strongest among you is the one who controls his anger, and the most patient among you is the one who forgives when he has power." Sulayman embodied this perfectly.
Third, listen to everyone, even the smallest voice. The hoopoe was a tiny bird, but it brought information that a thousand spies could not have found. In the Shia tradition, this parallels the teaching that wisdom can come from any source, and a true leader listens before acting.
Imam Sadiq (AS) taught that the knowledge of even the smallest creatures contains signs of Allah's wisdom. Every ant colony, every bird's nest, every spider's web is a masterpiece of divine design. When we learn to see Allah's signs in the smallest things, we begin to understand the vastness of His creation.
"Hatta idha ataw 'ala waadin-naml, qalat namlatun ya ayyuhan-namlu udkhulu masakinakum, la yahtimannakum Sulaymanu wa junuduhu wa hum la yash'urun" "Until, when they came upon the valley of the ants, an ant said, 'O ants, enter your homes so that Sulayman and his soldiers do not crush you while they do not perceive.'" -- An-Naml (27:18)