She said: 'O Council, let me hear your counsel, concerning my affairs, for I am not used to deciding an affair until you bear me witness' 32 They said: We are lords of might and lords of great prowess, but it is for thee to command; so consider what thou wilt command. 33 She said: "Verily! Kings, when they enter a town (country), they despoil it, and make the most honourable amongst its people low. And thus they do. 34 And surely I am going to send a present to them, and shall wait to see what (answer) do the apostles bring back. 35 So when (the envoy) came unto Solomon, (the King) said: What! Would ye help me with wealth? But that which Allah hath given me is better than that which He hath given you. Nay it is ye (and not I) who exult in your gift. 36 Return to them, for we will surely come to them with soldiers that they will be powerless to encounter, and we will surely expel them therefrom in humiliation, and they will be debased." 37 Solomon asked his people, "Who among you can bring her throne before (she, the queen of Sheba) comes to me submissively?" 38 Said a bold one of the invisible beings [subject to Solomon]: "I shall bring it to thee ere thou rise from thy council-seat - for, behold, I am powerful enough to do it, [and] worthy of trust!" 39 One with whom was knowledge of the Scripture said: I will bring it thee before thy gaze returneth unto thee. And when he saw it set in his presence, (Solomon) said: This is of the bounty of my Lord, that He may try me whether I give thanks or am ungrateful. Whosoever giveth thanks he only giveth thanks for (the good of) his own soul; and whosoever is ungrateful (is ungrateful only to his own soul's hurt). For lo! my Lord is Absolute in independence, Bountiful. 40 He said, 'Disguise her throne for her, and we shall behold whether she is guided or if she is of those that are not guided.' 41 When she arrived, they asked her: "Is your throne like this?" She said: "As though this is it. We had come to have knowledge and already submitted." 42 And (all) that she was wont to worship instead of Allah hindered her, for she came of disbelieving folk. 43 It was said to her, 'Enter the pavilion.' But when she saw it, she supposed it was a spreading water, and she bared her legs. He said, 'It is a pavilion smoothed of crystal. She said, 'My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, and I surrender with Solomon to God, the Lord of all Being.' 44