And when the decree was that he arrived at the dwelling he intended, he dismounted and checked on the conditions of his troops as is required by the care for matters of kingship. That is, he avoided losing any of them by knowing who among them was present and who was missing. It was necessary that none of them should be absent: ﴿And he checked on the birds﴾ since it was one of the pillars of his army, and he missed the hoopoe. ﴿He said, 'What is wrong with me?﴾ That is, what has happened to me while I am ﴿not seeing the hoopoe﴾? That is, is he present, and is there something concealing him from me? And his saying: ﴿Or is he among the absent?﴾ indicates what I have estimated, which shows that he lost a group of the troops. So he confirmed their absence and doubted his own absence. His mention of it without them indicates the great status of the hoopoe in what it has with him of benefit, [and that the absence of others was by his command, peace be upon him.