The Queen of Sheba (Bilqis) and the hoopoe, Solomon's
messenger, a drawing
Safavid dynasty, about AD 1590-1600
From Qazvin, Iran
When Islam was founded in the seventh century AD, there was
considerable Jewish influence in Arabia. Many Old Testament stories
and their Jewish elaborations were incorporated into the
Qur'an.
Solomon (Sulaiman) is portrayed in the Qur'an as not only a
great and wealthy king with power over birds, animals and djinn,
but also a prophet of God. Believing that the Queen of Sheba
worshipped the sun instead of God, Solomon wrote to her, calling
her to come to him 'in humble submission' (Qur'an Sura
27:31). The Queen responded with a letter and gifts and set off to
visit Solomon in his crystal palace.
This drawing depicts the moment when the hoopoe bird delivers
the letter from Solomon to the Queen of Sheba, or Bilqis as she is
known in the Muslim world. Bilqis is shown reclining beside a
stream, gazing at the hoopoe perched on the tree stump at the
right, with the rolled letter in its beak. Clothed in a remarkable
robe, covered in an inhabited arabesque or 'waq-waq' design,
Bilqis' sinuous form echoes the meander of the stream next to
her.
According to the Qur'an, once the Queen reached Jerusalem,
Solomon welcomed her in a courtyard with a glass floor. This was an
elaborate plan to trick her into showing her legs, for according to
interpreters of the Qur'an, Solomon feared that the Queen was a
female devil, having been convinced by his djinns that under her
clothes she was concealing the hooves of a donkey. The glass was so
smooth it looked like water and the Queen lifted her skirts to
avoid getting her hem wet, revealing a pair of beautiful legs.
Astounded by the illusion, the Qur'an reports that the Queen
exclaimed 'My Lord! surely I have been unjust to myself, and I
submit with Sulaiman to Allah, the Lord of the worlds'
(Sura 27:44).
St J. Simpson (ed.), Queen of Sheba: treasures from (London, The British Museum Press, 2002)