Bring Me Her Throne

Sulaymān, when she was on her way, said to his chiefs: O chiefs, which of you can bring me her throne before they come to me surrendering themselves in obedience?

What did the hoopoe describe in the kingdom of Sabaʾ? He described the throne. The throne was the symbol of their kingdom; the throne was their pride; this was a unique thing that only the kingdom of Sabaʾ had; it was the symbol of their kingdom. Sulaymān said: bring it to me — before they come to me.

Now you might ask the question: how come Sulaymān wanted to bring the throne? What is the reason? And the mufassirūn have responded to that. They said that Sulaymān wanted to show her a miracle. The anbiyāʾ exhibit their miracles in front of the people to prove the authenticity of the message; one of the methods they do that is through miracles, presenting the miracles to the society. And we know that something unique about Sulaymān was his kingdom: hab lī mulkan lā yanbaghī li-aḥadin min baʿdī — O Allah, give me a kingdom that will occur to nobody after me. So the kingdom of Sulaymān was his miracle. And he wanted to present to her some of the powers that are under his control, by the will of Allah (swt), to show her that he is a nabī of Allah (swt), and he is not just a king — because this was something out of the capability of kings in that time. So he wanted to bring the throne before she arrives.