There is no heritage of wealth among the prophets

وَوَرِ‌ثَ سُلَيْمَانُ دَاوُودَ (And Sulaiman inherited Dawud - 27:16). The inheritance mentioned in this verse is not the inheritance of wealth and property, because the Holy Prophet ﷺ has clearly declared that the prophets do neither inherit the property of anyone nor does their property is inherited by anyone. Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud have reported from Sayyidna Abu darda' ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said, ` Ulama' (men of knowledge) are the inheritors of prophets, but the prophets did not leave dirhams or dinars (wealth) as their inheritance; instead, they have left knowledge as their heritage. Al-Kulaini, the famous Shiite scholar, has reported from Sayyidna Ja'far As-sadiq that he said, "Sayyidna Sulaiman علیہ السلام was the inheritor of Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) ، and the Holy Prophet ﷺ was the inheritor of Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) . (Ruh from al-Kulaini). This statement makes the issue very clear that the inheritance is used here in the sense of heritage of knowledge (because nobody can claim that the Holy Prophet ﷺ inherited the property of Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) . Rationally speaking also, here inheritance cannot mean wealth, because when Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) died he had 19 sons, hence if inheritance of wealth was meant to be distributed, then all these sons would have been entitled for the inheritance, and it cannot be exclusive to Sayyidna Sulaiman علیہ السلام alone. It is, therefore, quite clear that the inheritance meant here is the one in which the brothers were not included and only Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) was the inheritor. This could only be the inheritance of knowledge and prophethood. Along with that inheritance, Allah Ta’ ala also graced him with the empire of Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) and furthermore control over the Jinns, birds, animals and the wind. In the light of these proofs, the narration of Tabrasi is proved to be wrong in which he has regarded inheritance as that of wealth on authority of some Imams of Ah1-ul-Bait. (Ruh)

The period between the death of Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) and the birth of the last of the prophets the Holy Prophet ﷺ was seventeen hundred years, while Jews calculate this period as fourteen hundred years. The life span of Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) was a little over fifty years. (Qurtubi)

It is permissible to use plural form for one's own self, provided it is not out of arrogance

عُلِّمْنَا مَنطِقَ الطَّيْرِ‌ وَأُوتِينَا (27:16). Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) has used plural form for himself as a regal idiom, although he was alone. It was to impress his subjects, so that they do not indulge in indolence in the obedience of Allah Ta’ ala and in following him. Similarly, there is no harm if the rulers and officials also use plural form for themselves while they are in the company of their subjects, provided it is for the esteem of the office they are holding and not out of arrogance.

Birds and animals also have sense and intelligence

There is sense and intelligence to some degree in all animals and birds. However, it is not developed to such an extent that they were made to follow any injunctions of the Shari'ah. But the humans and jinns are bestowed with such perfected sense and intelligence that they are made the addressee and followers of the injunctions of Allah Ta’ ala. Imam Shafi` i (رح) has said that dove is the cleverest of all the birds, and Ibn ` Atiyyah has said that ant is very intelligent animal; its smelling power is very strong . If it gets hold of a grain it breaks it into two, so that it does not germinate, and thus it stock its food for the winters. (Qurtubi)

Special Note

The expression "speech of birds" is used in the verse because of the incident of the hoopoe which is a bird, otherwise Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) was taught languages of all the beasts, birds and the insects, as mentioned in the next verse about understanding the language of the ant. Imam Qurtubi has mentioned in his Tafsir different incidents in which Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) told the people how different birds chirped and what did they mean. The chirping of each bird was a word of advice.

وَأُوتِينَا مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ (and we have been given of everything -16). The word كُلِّ (every) applies to everything of a kind, but sometimes its application is not universal but pertains to a specific purpose. Here also it is used in that sense and "everything" refers to those things only which are needed by the government or an empire. Otherwise it is obvious that they did not have aeroplanes, motor cars or railways in those days.

رَ‌بِّ أَوْزِعْنِي (My Lord, enable me - 27:19). It is derived from ) وَزع (waz' ), which lexically means to stop or restrain. Here it means ` enable me with Divine help so that I should have the trait of gratitude with me all the time and do not part with it ever', which will result in restraint. In the earlier verse فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ (27:17) (translated as "kept under control" it was also used in the same sense, that in order to save them from confusion because of their large number the armies were restrained.