Do you know who Sulaiman, alayh as-salaam, was? He was one of the great Prophets of Allah, who was given the most amazing gifts and blessings by Allah. But before we say anything about the gifts that Allah gave to this Prophet, let us look at how fondly Allah mentions him in the Qur’an. Allah says about him:
“And We gave to Daoud Sulaiman, most excellent the servant! Surely he was frequent in returning [to Allah].”
To be mentioned so lovingly by Allah, the Most High, in the Holy Qur’an for all the people to read forevermore — how excellent and blessed a person must be to be given such an honor!
Miraculous Gifts from Allah
Some of the great and miraculous gifts that Allah gave to Sulaiman, alayh as-salaam, were: Great wisdom and knowledge, command over the wind, so that it blew at his order, many Devils and Jinns were made obedient to him so that they built buildings for him and dived into the waters to gather pearls, knowledge of the speech of the birds and ants was given to him, and he was given a great kingdom in the land.
On one occasion, Sulaiman, alayh as-salaam, overheard the ants alerting each other to his approaching army, saying that they, that is, the ants, should hide in their little homes in the ground so that they would not be accidentally run over by the army. Sulaiman, alayh as-salaam, was very amused at hearing this and immediately asked Allah to show him how to thank Allah for the great blessing that he had been given, and asked Allah to grant him to do good deeds that would lead to Allah’s pleasure!
At no point did he become arrogant about the great kingdom and the many miracles he was given. Instead, we always find him thanking Allah for all His bounties, and begging Allah most humbly to make him even more thankful and even more righteous. The lesson, then, is that whenever we are blessed by Allah, we must never forget to thank Him and we must never become arrogant just because we have something.(Isn’t it just plain silly to be proud of ourselves when it is really Allah who gives us everything, and if He had wished, we wouldn’t have received any of it?)
And if the miraculous things that Sulaiman, alayh as-salaam, was given seem way too marvelous and way too wonderful and just way too amazing for us ordinary people to even imagine having, just think: Isn’t it amazing how Allah created the eye, which is smaller than an egg, and yet one can see huge mountains and the vast sky with this superb little instrument, and the sense of smell with which we can tell apart so many different scents, and the mind and the memory with which we understand all this input and remember it for years to come? These things are wondrous too, if you think about it. And for these, and all the other wonderful gifts, we must be thankful to Allah, just like this great Prophet, Sulaiman, alayh as-salaam, always was.