Bilqis was a woman endowed with extraordinary intelligence, profound wisdom, and courage that a thousand men could not match, to the point that it was said she was the daughter of the jinn. She was a great queen who ruled the Kingdom of Sheba in Yemen, famous for the great dam of Ma'rib that contained vast amounts of water behind it.
One day, a sorceress came seeking the jinn to know hidden matters that humans cannot perceive, and she said to the king:
"Indeed, the dam of Ma'rib will collapse!"
The king was amazed and said to him:
"If you speak the truth, I will grant you gifts and everything you ask for, and if you lie, I will cut your head from your body!"
The king sent engineers to verify the matter, and they came with the certain news: the dam would indeed collapse! At that moment, the king decided to flee with his wealth, children, and entourage to a safe place without informing his people about the impending catastrophe, leaving them to their inevitable fate.
But his daughter Bilqis refused to flee with him, and she was astonished by her father's behavior in abandoning his people. After his departure, she warned the people about the imminent disaster and offered them a plan for salvation, saying:
"Take your belongings, your wealth and your children, and everything you can carry, and move to high places in the mountains!"
She warned them not to delay, and she stayed with them until the end. The dam, indeed, collapsed and swept everything in its path, but the people were saved thanks to the wisdom and courage of Bilqis.
After saving her people, the people loved her and named her their queen, and they obeyed her blindly. But she ruled a people who worshiped the sun instead of Allah.
When the striped bird learned of this, it informed the Prophet of God, Solomon, peace be upon him, who ordered the bird to deliver a message to Bilqis. The queen was astonished when she found the message beginning with "In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful," as it was the first time she had seen something like that.
Despite his amazement, he did not rush to make a decision, but gathered the elders of the people to consult, as stated in the Holy Quran:
(She said: "Oh assembly, indeed, a noble book has been thrown to me. Indeed, it is from Solomon, and indeed, it is in the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Do not show arrogance against me and come to me in submission.")
The leaders said to him:
"We are a people of great strength and power, but the decision is yours, so see what you command!"
If Bilqis had been arrogant or reckless, she would have ordered war, but with her wisdom, she wanted to test the Prophet of God, Solomon, to know if he was an ordinary king or a prophet sent by God.
She said:
(Indeed, when kings enter a village, they corrupt it and make the honorable among its people humiliated. Thus do they act. And indeed, I am sending them a gift, and I will wait to see with what the messengers return.)
When the gift reached Solomon, peace be upon him, he said, as stated in the Holy Quran:
(When Solomon arrived, he said: "Will you help me with wealth? What Allah has given me is better than what He has given you. Rather, it is you who rejoices in your gift. Return to them, and we will come to them with armies that they cannot resist, and we will expel them from there humiliated while they are subdued.")
When Bilqis read this message, she realized that Solomon was a prophet and not an ordinary king, and she decided to go to him herself.
Meanwhile, Solomon wanted to bring her throne before she arrived, so he said:
(He said: "Oh assembly, who among you will bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?")
Then a jinn said:
"I will bring it before you rise from your place!"
But a man with knowledge of the Book said:
"I will bring it before your gaze returns to you!"
And indeed, Solomon found the throne before him in the blink of an eye. He said:
(This is from the grace of my Lord, to test me whether I give thanks or act with disbelief.)
Then Solomon ordered to change the appearance of the throne to test the intelligence of Bilqis.
When Bilqis arrived, Solomon, peace be upon him, asked her about the throne, and she said:
(It was said to her: "Is this your throne?" She replied: "It is as if it is him.")
Observe her diplomacy! She neither claimed it was her throne nor denied it, but responded intelligently.
Then Solomon invited her to Islam, and it was said to her:
(Enters the palace.)
And when she saw it, she thought it was water, so she uncovered her legs, and Solomon said to her:
(Indeed, it is a magnificent crystal palace.)
At that moment, she realized the greatness of Allah and believed, saying:
(My Lord, indeed, I have wronged myself and have surrendered with Solomon to Allah, Lord of the worlds.)
Here, we observe the pride of Bilqis even when she announced her Islam, as she said:
"I have surrendered to Solomon," which means she placed herself on the same rank as him, indicating her great intelligence.
This was the great story of Bilqis, in which she demonstrated wisdom, intelligence, and unique courage.#