And certainly We gave knowledge to Dawood and Sulaiman, and they both said: Praise be to Allah, Who has made us to excel many of His believing servants. 15 And Solomon was David's heir. And he said: O mankind! Lo! we have been taught the language of birds, and have been given (abundance) of all things. This surely is evident favour. 16 Soloman's army, consisting of human beings, jinn, and birds were gathered together in his presence in ranks. 17 Till, when they came to the valley of the ants, one of the ants said: "O ants! Enter your dwellings, lest Sulaiman (Solomon) and his hosts crush you, while they perceive not." 18 And (Solomon) smiled, laughing at her speech, and said: My Lord, arouse me to be thankful for Thy favour wherewith Thou hast favoured me and my parents, and to do good that shall be pleasing unto Thee, and include me in (the number of) Thy righteous slaves. 19 And [one day] he looked in vain for [a particular one of] the birds; and so he said: How is it that I do not see the hoopoe? Or could he be among the absent? 20 I will inflict a severe punishment on him or maybe even slaughter him unless he comes forth with a convincing reason (for his absence)." 21 But he was not long in coming, and reported: "I have been around where you have not been. I come from Saba with positive news. 22 "Behold, I found there a woman ruling over them; and she has been given [abundance] of all [good] things, and hers is a mighty throne, 23 I found her and her people worshipping the sun, instead of God. Satan has made their conduct appear good to them, and has thus diverted them from the right path, so that they might not be guided. 24 “Why do they not prostrate to Allah, Who brings forth the things hidden in the heavens and the earth, and knows all what you hide and all what you disclose?” 25 "Allah!- there is no god but He!- Lord of the Throne Supreme!" ۩ 26 ۞ He replied: 'We shall see if what you have said is true or whether you are among those who lie. 27 Take this letter of mine, deliver it to them, and then draw back from them, and observe what they do." 28 She said: "O chiefs! Verily! Here is delivered to me a noble letter, 29 Lo! it is from Solomon, and lo! it is: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful; 30 [God says:] Exalt not yourselves against Me, but come unto Me in willing surrender!'" 31