The Jinn of Sulayman, Builders and divers: The unseen in Islamic History

The unseen

The unseenBuilders and divers

The Jinn of Sulaymanجن سليمان

In the reign of SulaymanTraditional date, disputedJerusalem

Jinn put to work for Sulayman, building palaces and statues, diving for pearls, and fearing to stop.

Allah gave Sulayman command over the jinn. They built what he wished: high chambers, statues, basins like reservoirs and fixed cauldrons, and dived into the sea. When he died leaning on his staff, they kept working, until a creature of the earth gnawed the staff and he fell. Then the jinn realised they never knew the unseen.

What does the Quran say?

And when We decreed for Solomon death, nothing indicated to the jinn his death except a creature of the earth eating his staff. But when he fell, it became clear to the jinn that if they had known the unseen, they would not have remained in humiliating punishment.
Quran 34:14

34:12-14 27:17 38:37-38 21:82

The lesson

Even the jinn do not know the unseen; only Allah does.

Who else is linked?

Jerusalem Sulayman The Ifrit of Sulayman The Jinn Kingdom of Dawud and Sulayman

Who lived at the same time?

Dawud Sulayman

Source: the Quran

Everyone and everything in the timeline

People named in the Quran and the hadith, the Prophet's ﷺ family and Companions, scholars, rulers, the nations of the Quran, the world's empires and the places where it all happened. Where scholars differ, each entry says so.