ﳔ ﳕ ﳖ ﳗ ﳘ ﳙ ﳚ ﳛ ﳜ ﳝ ﳞ ﳟ ﳠ ﳡ ﳢ ﳣ ﳤ ﳥ ﳦ ﳧ ﳨ ﳩ ﳪ ﳫ ﳬ ﳭ ﳮ ﳯ ﳰ ﳱ ﳲ
She was told, "Enter the palace." But when she saw it, she thought it was a body of water and uncovered her shins [to wade through]. He said, "Indeed, it is a palace [whose floor is] made smooth with glass." She said, "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, and I submit with Solomon to Allah, Lord of the worlds."
Tafsir
Verse range: 27:44
"The Palace" (al-sarḥ): The castle. It is also said: the courtyard of the house. Ibn Kathīr read it as sa’qīhā (with a hamza), the rationale being that he heard the plural su’q (shanks), and applied the singular form to it.
"Smoothed" (mumarrad): Polished.
It is narrated that Solomon (peace be upon him), before her arrival, ordered a palace to be built for her on her path made of white glass. He caused water to flow beneath it, and placed in it creatures of the sea, such as fish and others. He placed his throne at the front of it, sat upon it, and was surrounded by the birds, the jinn, and mankind. He did this only to increase her awe of his authority, to confirm his prophethood, and to establish her in the faith.
It is claimed that the jinn disliked that he should marry her, fearing she might reveal their secrets to him, as she was the daughter of a jinn woman. It is also said they feared she would bear him a child who would possess both the intelligence of the jinn and of mankind, which would lead them out of Solomon’s kingdom into a rule even more severe and formidable. So, they said to him, "There is a defect in her intellect, she has hairy shanks, and her feet are like the hooves of a donkey." He tested her intellect by altering the throne, and he constructed the palace to inspect her shanks and feet. She uncovered them, and behold, she had the most beautiful shanks and feet of any person, and they were not hairy. He then averted his gaze and called out to her: "It is a palace smoothed of glass."
It is said that she is the reason for the invention of depilatory paste (nūra); he ordered the devils to make it, and they did. Solomon (peace be upon him) married her, loved her, confirmed her in her kingdom, and ordered the jinn to build her [the cities of] Silḥīn and Ghumdān. He would visit her once a month, stay with her for three days, and she bore him children.
Others say: Rather, he married her to Dhu Tab', the King of Hamdan, and gave him authority over Yemen. He ordered Zawba'a, the commander of the jinn of Yemen, to obey him, so he built him fortresses. He remained a ruler until Solomon died.
"I have wronged myself": She means by her previous disbelief. It is also said: She thought Solomon (peace be upon him) would drown her in the deep water, so she said, "I have wronged myself by my evil suspicion of Solomon (peace be upon him)."
"And We certainly sent to Thamud their brother Salih, [saying], 'Worship Allah,' and at once they were two parties conflicting. He said, 'O my people, why are you hastening the evil before the good? Why do you not seek forgiveness of Allah that you may receive mercy?'"
