16218 - Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us, al-'Abbas informed us, Yazid narrated to us, Sa'id narrated to us, from Qatadah regarding His saying: "And he inspected the birds and said: 'Why do I not see the hoopoe? Or is he among the absent?'" He said: It was mentioned to us that the Prophet of Allah, Solomon, wanted to traverse a desert, so he called for the hoopoe—and it was the leader of the hoopoes—to know for him the distance of the water. It had been given regarding that [skill] of insight something that had not been given to any other bird.

16219 - 'Abdullah ibn Sulayman ibn al-Ash'ath narrated to us, al-Husayn ibn 'Ali narrated to us, 'Amir narrated to us, Asbat narrated to us, from al-Suddi, concerning: "And he inspected the birds and said: 'Why do I not see the hoopoe? Or is he among the absent?'" He said: Nafi' ibn al-Azraq asked 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas about it, and he said: "When Solomon rode, he would command his chair to be placed. It was surrounded by the chairs of the believers from among the humans; then it was surrounded by the chairs of the believers from among the jinn; then it was surrounded by the chairs of the disbelievers from among the humans; then it was surrounded by the chairs of the disbelievers from among the jinn. He would ride on one hundred thousand chairs. Then he would take hold of the ring of the wind and command it to carry them. He would command the birds to shade them from the sun. Solomon—peace be upon him—loved to stop in a desert to drink from water that no one had drunk from before, and the hoopoe would guide him. He rode that day and sought the hoopoe but did not find it, so he said: 'Why do I not see the hoopoe? Or is he among the absent?'"

16220 - 'Ubayd ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Hamzah informed us in what he wrote to me, Abu al-Jamahir narrated to us, Sa'id narrated to me, from Qatadah, regarding His saying: "And he inspected the birds and said: 'Why do I not see the hoopoe?'" He mentioned to us that it had been given some of its knowledge that had not been given to any other bird; it knew the extent of the water's distance. It was mentioned to us that it could see the water in the earth just as one of you sees an image behind a glass.

His saying, the Almighty: "He said: 'Why do I not see the hoopoe?'"

16221 - My father narrated to us, Ibn Abi 'Umar narrated to us, Sufyan said: When Solomon sat, the birds were lined up over his head to shade him from the sun. The hoopoe was above them. It used to travel in this place of his—meaning the right shoulder. He felt the heat of the sun had reached him from that spot, so he raised his head and inspected the hoopoe and asked about it, saying: "Why do I not see the hoopoe? Or is he among the absent?"

16222 - 'Ali ibn al-Husayn narrated to us, Hisham ibn 'Ammar narrated to us, Sadaqah ibn 'Amr al-Ghassani narrated to us, 'Abbad ibn Maysarah al-Minqari narrated to us, from al-Hasan, he said: The name of Solomon's hoopoe was 'Anbar.