Author’s Note

In my favourite verses of the Qur’an, a woman reads out loud, to a gathering of men, or mostly men, a letter she has just received. The woman is Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba; she is addressing her royal court and the letter she holds in her hand was written by King Solomon and delivered by his special messenger, the Hoopoe bird. Bilqis reads the letter without omitting the heading. ‘Nobles,’ she says. ‘A distinguished letter has been delivered to me. It is from Solomon and it says, In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, do not rise against me and come to me in submission to God.’ In the background, the Hoopoe hovers, awaiting the answer it will carry back, Bilqis’s response.

It was the Hoopoe who had first alerted Solomon to the existence of Bilqis. More than a courier, it is King Solomon’s intimate, a scout and an explorer, a fearless traveller and a trustworthy source. In Sheba, the Hoopoe had found a woman sitting on a magnificent throne, ruling a prosperous nation. But she and her people worship the sun instead of God, the Hoopoe tells Solomon. ‘Should they not bow down to Allah who brings to light what is hidden in the heavens and earth and knows what you conceal and reveal?’ This verse is one of fifteen instances in the Qur’an when the reciter is required to stop reading and respond to the words by bowing down in prostration. It is always a stirring experience. Instead of continuing to read, there is a pause, a space to interact, a physical reply to the Hoopoe’s rhetorical question. The only species of bird mentioned in the Qur’an, the Hoopoe has opinions, insight and a voice that rings eternally in the sacred text.