سورة سبإ

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): The ant said: "O Sulayman! Do you know why Allah, from among all His creation, has made the wind subservient to you?" He said: "I have no knowledge of its cause." She said: "[I know its cause]; what Allah the Mighty and Majestic means by this is that if Allah had made all His creation subservient to you as He has made the wind subservient to you, they would surely all pass out of your hand just as the wind passes and vanishes." At that moment Sulayman (peace be upon him) smiled at the ant's words.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ لِسُلَیْمَانَ الرِّیحَ غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌ [And to Sulayman (We subjected) the wind, its morning course was a month]: the wind would carry the throne of Sulayman (peace be upon him) and in the morning move it a distance that would take a month to cover, and in the evening a distance that would take a month to cover.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): A man from the Jewish scholars of Sham entered a gathering in which the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) were present and said: "O Ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! You have not left any rank or station for any prophet without claiming all of them for your own Prophet. Will you answer my questions?" The people turned away from him. But Ali (peace be upon him) said: "Yes! Allah has not given any rank to any prophet nor any excellence to any messenger except that He has gathered all of them in our Prophet and has granted His Eminence (peace be upon him and his family) many times more than the other prophets." The Jew said: "Will you answer me?" He said: "Yes!" The Jew said: "... Sulayman was such that Allah placed the wind at his disposal, so that in one day it would travel through the lands a distance of a month and in one night a distance of a month." He said: "That is so, but Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) was granted better than this. In one night he was taken from Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa, which is a month's journey, and in less than one-third of the night he was raised into the malakut (dominion) of the heavens which is a distance of fifty thousand years, until he reached the leg of the Throne, and by means of knowledge he drew near to Allah and reached the station of nearness, and a green carpet from paradise was spread for him, and the light dazzled his eye. He witnessed the greatness of Allah with the eye of the heart, but not with the eye of the head. He came to be at the distance of the string of two bows or less than that from Allah, and Allah revealed to him whatever He willed."

Ali ibn Ibrahim: وَ أَسَلْنَا لَهُ عَیْنَ الْقِطْرِ [And We made a fountain of molten copper flow for him] — what is meant is copper. مَحَارِیبَ وَ تَمَاثِیلَ [arches and statues] — what is meant is trees. وَ جِفَانٍ کَالجَوَابِ [and bowls like reservoirs], meaning vessels like a pit. وَ قُدُورٍ رَّاسِیَاتٍ [and firmly fixed cauldrons], meaning fixed cauldrons.

The Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) was asked: "How did the satans ascend to the heavens, when in their creation and density they are like these very people, while they built for Sulayman ibn Dawud (peace be upon him) such structures as the rest of mankind are incapable of building?" He said: "They were made dense and heavy for Sulayman (peace be upon him), just as they were made subservient, even though they are of a subtle creation and their food is the breeze. The proof of this is their very ascent to the heavens to eavesdrop; otherwise, how could this dense body ascend to the heaven except by a ladder or some other means?"