Commentary

Did Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) marry Bilqis?

The story of Bilqis has ended in the above verses on the statement that she converted to Islam after coming to Sayyidna Sulaiman ۔ (علیہ السلام) What happened after that? The Qur'an is silent on this. It is for this reason that when someone asked ` Abdullah ibn ` Uyaynah whether Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) had married Bilqis, he answered that her case has finished on this أَسْلَمْتُ مَعَ سُلَيْمَانَ لِلَّـهِ رَ‌بِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (I submit, along with Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) ، to Allah, the Lord of the worlds - 44). The idea behind this answer was that when Qur'an has not divulged anything after that, it is not for us to probe any further. But Ibn ` Asakir has reported on the authority of Sayyidna ` Ikrimah ؓ that Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) had married Bilqis after that, and she was retained as the sovereign of her country. She was then sent back to Yemen, and Sayyidna Sulaiman (علیہ السلام) used to visit her every month for three days. He got three palaces made for her in Yemen, which had no parallel of their kind. (Only God knows best)