THE MARRIAGE OF QUEEN BARKÎS WITH
KING SOLOMON SON OF DAVID.
The reign of Queen Balkîs very nearly coincided with the commencement of the Christian era. She was, according to Abuʾl-Fedâ, the twenty-second sovereign of the family of Kahtân, and the eighteenth in the descent from Himyar the son of Sába, the founder of the Himyarite dynasty. The existence of this princess has given rise to numerous fables, amongst others that she was the Queen of Sheba who was contemporary with and married Solomon. The following account of her marriage with that monarch I translated from a copiously annotated Kurân belonging to my sheikh. The real name of Balkîs was Balkáma or Yalkáma, and Caussin de Perceval states that she was the daughter of Hodhád, or of el-Israh the son of Zhu-Jadán, not of Sharahîl, as stated in the text. The same author also states that she killed her husband by means of poison.
GOD taught King Solomon, son of David, the language of all created things. And over all created things He gave him power—men and genii, and the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the water. And the armies of King Solomon
