Overall meaning : Allah, Exalted be He, says: Solomon inspected the birds and, not having seen the hoopoe, he said, ‘How is it that I cannot see the hoopoe? Is he present but I have failed to spot him, or is he absent without leave? I swear by Allah, I will punish him severely or slaughter him unless he brings me a valid excuse.’
It was not long, however, before the hoopoe presented himself to Solomon and said, ‘I learned something that you do not know, and I have brought you truthful news from Sheba in Yemen! I found a woman ruling over the people of Sheba; she has been given an abundance of all things, and she has a mighty throne. I found her and her people prostrating to the sun and worshipping it instead of Allah. Satan has made sun worship and other evil deeds seem good and fair to them to them, and has thus turned them away from the path of truth, so they cannot find their way to it. Should they not prostrate themselves to Allah who brings forth what is hidden in the heavens and the earth, and knows what you conceal and keep to yourselves as well as all the words and actions that you reveal and make public? He is Allah! There is no god worthy of worship except Him, the Lord of the Mighty Throne.’
Solomon said, ‘We will look into this matter to see out if you have told the truth or you are a liar. Go with this letter of mine and drop it to them; then draw back from them a little and see how they will respond and what they will say amongst themselves.’