﴿ فَلَمَّا جَآءَ سُلَيْمَٰنَ قَالَ أَتُمِدُّونَنِ بِمَالٍۢ فَمَآ ءَاتَىٰنِۦَ ٱللَّهُ خَيْرٌۭ مِّمَّآ ءَاتَىٰكُم بَلْ أَنتُم بِهَدِيَّتِكُمْ تَفْرَحُونَ ﴾

“Now when [the Queen’s messenger] came unto Solomon, he said: “Do you people mean to add to my wealth? But that which God has given me is [so much] better than all that He has given you! Nay, it is [only such as] you that would rejoice in this gift of yours!”

In comparison with the invaluable wealth, which Solomon had received in the shape of prophethood and the realisation of God, every other kind of wealth was worthless in his eyes. So, when gifts of gold and silver were presented to him on behalf of the Queen of Sheba, he did not even look at them. In the way he conducted himself, Solomon gave the emissaries of the Queen of Sheba the impression that his real concern was that of principle and not of self-interest. The Quranic commentator Ibn Kathir, by way of explanation, paraphrases Solomon’s words, ‘Do you want to influence me with your wealth so that I should let you off along with your polytheism and allow you to keep your kingdom?’ The power and empire of Solomon were the gifts of God. Similarly, the manner in which he dealt with the kingdom of the Sabeans was also a godly matter. Shah Abdul Quadir (Dehlavi) writes in connection with verse 37, ‘No other prophet spoke like this. Soloman had the force of God Almighty’s empire behind him, so he spoke like this.’