Is the story of Sulaiman (upon him be peace) and his call to feed creation authentic?
Al-Safuri mentioned a story that Sulaiman (peace be upon him) asked an ant about its sustenance for the year. It replied: "A grain of wheat." So, he confined it in a bottle and placed a grain for it. After a year, he found that it had eaten half of it. He asked it, and it replied: "My reliance was on Allah. But when you confined me, I feared that you might forget me, so I saved half."
He also mentioned that Sulaiman asked his Lord to host the animals for one day. So, Allah Almighty sent a whale that swallowed all the food and said: "Indeed, I am hungry, and my daily sustenance is many times this, as it eats seventy thousand fish daily."
And Sulaiman's food for his army every day consisted of five thousand camels, five thousand cows, and twenty thousand sheep.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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