[27].Surah Al-Naml [The Ants]: Ayat 22-23

২২. কিছুক্ষণ পড়েই হুদ এসে বলল, আপনি যা অবগত নন, আমি তা অবগত হয়েছি।  আমি আপনার কাছে সাবা থেকে নিশ্চিত সংবাদ নিয়ে আগমন করেছি।

২৩. আমি এক নারীকে সাবাবাসীদের উপর রাজত্ব করতে দেখেছি। তাকে সবকিছুই দেয়া হয়েছে এবং তার একটা বিরাট সিংহাসন আছে।

Ayat 22. But the hoopoe stayed not long, he (came up and) said: "I have grasped (the knowledge of a thing) which you have not grasped and I have come to you from Saba' (Sheba) with true news.

Ayat 23. "I found a woman ruling over them, and she has been given all things that could be possessed by any ruler of the earth, and she has a great throne.

Tafseer of Surah Al Naml (The Ants) Ayat 22 & 23. But the Hoopoe tarried not far: he (came up and) said: "I have compassed (territory) which thou hast not compassed, and I have come to thee from Saba'(3263) with tidings true. Saba ' may reasonably be identified as the Biblical Sheba, (1 Kings 10:1-10). It is further referred to in the Surah called after its name: 34:15-20. It was a city in Yemen, said to have been three days journey (say 50 miles) from the city of Sana’a'. A (recent) German explorer, Dr. Ham Helfritz, claims to have located it in what is now Hadramawt territory. The famous dam of Marib made the country very prosperous, and enabled it to attain a high degree of civilization ("provided with every requisite" in the next verse). The Queen of Sheba therefore rightly held up her head high until she saw the glories of Solomon."I found (there) a woman ruling over them and provided with every requisite; and she has a magnificent throne. The Queen of Sheba (by name Bilqis in Arabian tradition) came apparently from Yemen , but she had affinities with Abyssinia and possibly ruled over Abyssinia also. The (Habashah) tribe (after whom Abyssinia was named) came from Yemen . Between the southern coast of Yemen and the northeastern coast of Abyssinia there are only the Straits of Bab al Mandab, barely twenty miles across. In the 10th or 11 century B.C. there were frequent invasions of Abyssinia from Arabia , and Solomon's reign of 40 years is usually synchronized with B.C. 992 to 952. The Sabaean and Himyarite alphabets in which we find the south Arabian pre-Islamic inscriptions, passed into Ethiopic, the language of Abyssinia The Abyssinians possess a traditional history called "The Book of the Glory of Kings" ( Kebra Negast). which has been translated from Ethiopic into English by Sir E.A. Wallis Budge (Oxford. 1932). It gives an account of the Queen of Sheba and her only son Menyelek I, as founders of the Abyssinian dynasty. (R). Provided with every requisite: I take this to refer not only to the abundance of spices and gems and gold in her country, but to sciences and arts, and perhaps the spiritual possibilities which made her accept the religion of Unity and Truth (27:44).  

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah[SAWW](PBUH) said, "A Muslim, male or female, continues to remain under trial in respect of his life, property and offspring until he faces Allah, the Exalted, with no sin record".  [At-Tirmidhi, Hadith # 2399].  

Lesson : We come to know from this Hadith that Muslims are special targets of trials, but a redeeming feature of these trials is that Muslims' sins are pardoned through them provided they remain firm in their Faith and patience.