The story
Sulayman inherited Dawud's throne and asked for something audacious: 'My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after me' (38:35). It was granted in full. The wind ran errands of a month in a morning (34:12); jinn dove for pearls and built him sanctuaries and basins like reservoirs; molten copper flowed for him; and he was taught the speech of the birds (27:16).
The Qur'an's most beloved scene of him is small: an army of men, jinn and birds halts because one ant warned her colony to take cover. Sulayman smiled, amused at her words, and prayed the ruler's masterpiece: 'My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor... and admit me by Your mercy among Your righteous servants' (27:19). Power that can hear an ant, and laughs, and immediately checks its own gratitude, is power passing its test.
With the hoopoe's report began the story of Saba: a sun-worshipping queen, a noble letter, a throne carried across the world in the blink of an eye by one with knowledge of the Book (27:40), and a hall of glass that led Bilqis from illusion to Islam: 'I submit, with Sulayman, to the Lord of the worlds' (27:44). His death was as instructive as his life: he remained standing on his staff, the jinn toiling on in fear, until a humble termite ate the stick and the great king fell, proving no one holds the unseen (34:14).