His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And indeed, I am sending to them with a gift, so I will see with what the messengers return." "So when the messengers came to Solomon, he said, 'Will you aid me with wealth? What Allah has given me is better than what He has given you. Rather, it is you who rejoice in your gift.'" "Return to them, for we will surely come to them with armies they have no power to resist, and we will drive them out of it, humbled and debased." It has been narrated that Bilqis said to her people: "I will test this man with a gift that I will give him containing precious things, and I will inquire about the affairs of the kingdom. If he is a worldly king pleased by wealth, then we will work with him accordingly. But if he is a prophet who is not pleased by wealth, and remains steadfast in matters of religion, then it is appropriate that we believe in him and follow him in his religion." So she sent to him a great gift, and some people elaborated on its details, but I found it sufficient to summarize that due to its lack of authenticity. And she tested his knowledge - as it has been narrated - by sending him a cup and said to him: "Fill it for me with that which is not from the earth nor from the sky." And she sent him a pearl with a hole made by a creature and said: "Its thread enters it without any human or jinn approaching it." And she sent another one that was not pierced and said: "This will be pierced by neither human nor jinn." So Solomon, peace be upon him, filled the cup with the sweat of the mountain, and he put a worm into the thread and a termite pierced the pearl. And Solomon, peace be upon him, responded to the gift with what is in the verse, and he expressed 'the messengers' by saying 'came' and by saying 'return' when he meant by it 'the messenger' which applies to both singular and plural, masculine and feminine. Ibn Mas'ud read: "So when they came to Solomon," and he read "return". And Solomon's threat to them is coupled with their persistence in disbelief. Mujahid also mentioned that she sent in her gift a large number of slaves among boys and maidservants, and she made their attire the same, and she tested him in distinguishing between them. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "And this is not a test in such a serious matter." Ibn Kathir and Abu Amr read: "Will you aid me?" with two noon letters and a ya in connection, and Ibn Amer, Asim, and Al-Kisai read: "Will you aid me?" without a ya in both pause and connection. Hamzah read: "Will you aid me?" with a doubled noon and the ya confirmed. Asim read: "What Allah has given me" with a kasra on the noon without a ya, and a group read: "He has given me" with a silent ya, and Abu Amr and Nafi' read: "He has given me" with an open ya. Then he threatened them with armies, victory, and expulsion, meaning: if they do not submit. Abdullah read: [they have no power against them] with the plural pronoun of the armies, and 'no power' means: no strength or resistance.