“She said...

“She said: ‘Verily the kings, when they enter a township, despoil it, and make the noblest of its inhabitants the meanest; and thus they (always) do’.” We should not rely only on our power; we must also keep the potentialities of others in mind. Those who were around Bilqiys said: “We possess force and we possess great might”. But Bilqiys warned them not to take the power of Solomon so little.

Then, when the Queen understood their willing for fighting, while she had not inwardly any inclination for this job, in order to quench this thirst and to encounter this matter calculatedly, she said as follows: “She said: ‘Verily the kings, when they enter a township, despoil it, and make the noblest of its inhabitants the meanest…” This sentence means that the kings may kill a group of people, captivate another group, and finally they make others homeless, and they spoil their properties as much as they can.

Then for the sake of some further emphasis, she said: “…and thus they (always) do’.” In fact, the Queen of Sheba, who was a king herself, knew the kings well that their program was summarized in too things: ‘despoil’, and ‘making the noblest into meanest’, because the kings used to think only over their own interests, not over the interests of nations and exalting them. These two things always contrast to each other.

So, the Queen of Sheba added implying that before anything else, they should test Solomon and those around him to see, indeed, what was their condition. Was Solomon a king, or a prophet? Was he a destroyer, or a reformer? Did they use to drug nations to meanness, or to honour? So, for this aim they might use of some presents.

That was why she said: “And verily I am going to send a present unto them, and (wait to) see with what (answer) the messengers return.” Kings are often interested in presents very much, and their weakness is found in this very point. They can be made submit by precious presents. The Queen announced if Solomon submit by these presents, it will be known that he is a ‘king’, and we will stand against him, applying our power, because we are powerful.