How can one reconcile God's forgiveness of polytheism with the fact that every soul shall taste death, and God has a soul, and with the fact that the hoopoe's speech in the Qur’an is the word of God that we worship through?

The Quran is truth and certainty; there is no discrepancy in it nor contradiction. Any perceived discrepancy by some stems from ignorance of the Book of Allah.

The polytheism (shirk) that Allah does not forgive is the polytheism upon which its perpetrator dies without repentance. However, if one repents from polytheism before their death, Allah accepts their repentance, as was the case with those who worshipped the calf and then repented.

Allah's saying: "Every soul will taste death" means every created soul. The word "every" does not always signify absolute comprehensiveness. For instance, Allah's saying: "and she was given from every thing" does not mean absolutely everything, but rather what befits the kingdom of kings.

The hoopoe's statement: "Indeed, I found a woman ruling them, and she was given from every thing" is Allah Almighty informing us of what the hoopoe said. We are rewarded for reciting it because it is from the words of Allah, not because the hoopoe said it.

The questioner is advised to seek Islamic knowledge to dispel ignorance from themselves and protect against the whispers of Satan.