His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And he inspected the birds and said, 'What is the matter with me that I do not see the hoopoe? Or is he among the absent?" "I will surely punish him with a severe punishment or slaughter him, or he will bring me a clear authority.'" "So he stayed not long and said, 'I have encompassed that which you have not encompassed, and I have come to you from Sheba with certain news.'" "Indeed, I found a woman ruling over them, and she has been given everything, and she has a great throne."

People have differed in the meaning of "his inspecting the birds." A group said: This is according to what is required by the care for the affairs of the kingdom and the concern for every part of it.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The apparent meaning of the verse is that he inspected all the birds. Another group said: Rather, he inspected the birds because the sun had entered upon the king from the direction of the hoopoe when it was absent, and that was the reason for inspecting the birds to clarify from where the sun had entered. Abdullah ibn Salam said: He sought the hoopoe because he needed to know the water's location in relation to the surface of the earth; for he had descended in a desolate area where water was forbidden. And because the hoopoe could see the belly of the earth and its surface, it would reveal to him, and it would inform Solomon, blessings and peace be upon him, of the location of the water. Then the jinn would bring it forth in a short time, stripping it from the surface of the earth as a sheep is sheared, as narrated by Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, in what was reported from Abu Salam and others. And he said in the book of al-Naqqash: The hoopoe was an engineer. It was narrated that Nafi' ibn al-Azraq heard Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, saying this, so he said to him: Stop, O one who stops, how can the hoopoe see the belly of the earth while it does not see the trap when it falls into it? Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said to him: When the decree comes, the sight becomes blind. And Wahb ibn Munabbih said: The birds would visit Solomon, blessings and peace be upon him, every day, each type taking its turn, and he missed the hoopoe.

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "What is the matter with me that I do not see?" The intended meaning is that the hoopoe was absent, but he took the necessary implication of its absence, which is that he does not see it. So he inquired - in the manner of seeking clarification - about the necessary implication, and this is a type of brevity and inquiry, which in his words "What is the matter with me" takes the place of the letter that is needed for "Or." Then he threatened him, blessings and peace be upon him, with punishment, and it has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Ibn Jurayj that his punishment of the bird was to pluck all its feathers. And Yazid ibn Ruman said: Its wing. It was narrated from Wahb that it was to pluck some of it and leave part of it. And "the authority": the proof wherever it occurs in the Qur'an, as said by Ikrimah from Ibn Abbas. And Ikrimah read alone: "He will surely bring me" with two noon letters. And Solomon, blessings and peace be upon him, did this to the hoopoe alone as a reprimand for the disobedient, and for its neglect of its turn and rank.

The majority of the reciters read: "فَمَكُثَ" with a dammah on the kaf, while only Aasim read: "فَمَكَثَ" with a fatha on it. Its meaning in both readings is: he stayed. The fatha on the kaf is better because it is the language of the Qur'an in His saying: "ماكِثِينَ"; since it is from "مَكَثَ" with a fatha on the kaf. If the one who read "مَكُثَ" with a dammah on the kaf were correct, the plural would be "مَكِيثٌ." The pronoun in "مَكَثَ" could refer to Sulayman, peace be upon him, or the hoopoe. In the reading of Ibn Mas'ud: "فَتَمَكَّثَ ثُمَّ جاءَ فَقالَ," and in the reading of Ubayy: "فَتَمَكَّثَ ثُمَّ قالَ أَحَطْتَ." His saying: "غَيْرَ بَعِيدٍ" as in the manuscripts of the majority refers to time and duration. His saying: "أحَطْتُ" means: I have complete knowledge that is not in your knowledge.

The reciters disagreed about "سَبَأٍ." The majority read: "سَبَأٍ" with inflection, while Ibn Kathir and Abu Amr read: "سَبَأ" with a fatha on the hamzah and without inflection. Al-Amash read: "مِن سَبَإٍ" with a kasrah and without inflection. Ibn Habib narrated from Al-Yazidi: "سَبَأْ" with a silent alif. Qanbal read - from Al-Nabal - with a silent hamzah. The first is on the basis that it is the name of a man, and upon this is the saying of the poet:

The ones arriving and Taym in the heights of Saba, the skin of the buffaloes has bitten their necks.

And the other said:

From Saba, the present ones have needs...

This is based on it being a tribe, and the second is based on it being a city. This was said by Al-Hasan and Qatadah. Both sayings have been mentioned, but it has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, from the hadith of Furwah ibn Musayk and others that he "had ten children, six of whom were fortunate and four were unfortunate." This hadith has been reported on Al-Zajjaj, and he mixed it up. The third is based on construction. The fourth and fifth are for the succession of the seven movements, so it was made silent for the sake of easing the burden of the succession of movements. This reading is not based on the first, but rather it is either based on the second or the third. A group read without tanween on the addition, and a group read "بِنَبى" with a short alif.

His saying: "وَأُوتِيَتْ مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ" is an exaggeration, meaning: from what the kingdom needs. Al-Hasan said: from every matter of the world. He described her throne as great in form and rank of authority. It has been narrated from Nafi' that the stopping is on [عَرْشٍ], so "عَظِيمٌ" - on this - is related to what follows it. This woman is Bilqis, the daughter of Sharahil according to what some have said, and it is said: the daughter of Al-Qashrah, and it is said: her mother was a jinn. Many people have exaggerated in her stories based on what I have seen, shortening it due to its lack of authenticity. What is necessary from the verse is that she was a woman who was made queen over the cities of Yemen, and she had great authority, and she was an unbeliever from a people of disbelievers.