The story of the Kingdom of Saba (Sheba) was mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, as one of the stories that teach us about the wisdom of this life and the Hereafter. These stories are about what happened to the old nations who stopped worshipping Allah, The Creator, for the sun, planets or fire instead. Allah punished them severely as a lesson to other nations.
This is an account about one of the greatest nations who had many blessings, but were then punished for their disbelief and denial of Allah, The Almighty.The name Sheba comes from Abd Shams Ibn Yashjub Ibn Ya`rub Ibn Qahtan. He was the first to make slaves of his enemies, and yet he was generous to his subjects. Scholars say he was the first king, and was also a Muslim. Some Muslims asked the Prophet Mohammed, Peace be Upon Him, about Sheba, whether it was a man, a woman, or a name of a land. The Prophet replied that he was a man to whom ten sons were born. Six of them inhabited the Yemen and four travelled and lived in Sham (Syria).
The Kingdom of Sheba was famous for its power and strength, where people enjoyed wealth and prosperity. They grew rich by trading in perfumes, jewellery, incense and frankincense. Sheba was also known for its fertile land and delicious fruits because of their considerable supplies of water. It had a valley with orchards and gardens on both sides. The Qur’an mentioned that Aden had two heavens. Many scholars say that these refer to two groups of gardens with many tall and flourishing trees that all together seems like heaven because of its density and overabundance.
Scholars said that the Kingdom of Sheba enjoyed a fertile soil and good harvest, fresh air, a temperate climate, and tranquil weather. It was free of flies, mosquitoes and fleas because of its pure and healthy weather. Allah, the Almighty, blessed the people with the best fresh water and good lands for agriculture. This was why there was a variety of delicious and fresh fruits that they used to enjoy. Scholars also said that a person could walk from the start to the end of its borders without facing the sun, because of the thick and heavy trees’ shadow. They also added that if a woman would go through its roads putting a basket on her head, it would be filled with a selection of fresh, ripe fruits, without needing to pick them from the trees. There were plenty of water sources in the land of Sheba, from the mountains and the rain to support the land.
To save these precious waters and their lands, the kings of Sheba, issued orders to their skilled workers who had built dams, to build a great one called the dam of Marib. This boosted the prosperity to the lands, and its people.
Allah, The Almighty, sent the people of Sheba many messengers to call them to enjoy their blessings while worshiping God to show him their appreciation, which they accepted and followed for years before they turned their back on God, and started to worship the sun and the planets. They also became so proud of the dam that they had built that, they boasted of their greatness to others. They started to take their blessings for granted and prayed for God to make life harder. They also asked God to keep long distances between them and the places where they wanted to travel to, to have more adventures during their journeys and to face more dangers to feel more excited. Therefore, they wanted to replace the good with the bad. Afterward they denied God, and stopped believing in Him and refused to worship Him. Allah, in return punished them by sending rats to the base of the dam to weaken it and finally the dam collapsed. Allah sent Sail Al Arim a terrible and destructive flood. This caused water to drown everything in its way: homes, lands and gardens. The delicious fruit trees were destroyed and it was replaced with bad trees that produces bad, and inedible fruits. Their good health turned into weakness and illness, and their strength and power turned into weakness, while their safety and prosperity turned into fear and hunger. This happened to people who used to travel from one place to another without taking any water or food as the distance between the villages was too short and the land between it was a heaven full of fresh fruits, vegetables and pure water. However, this heaven turned into a dry desert, which has no food or water, just bad trees with inedible fruits. So, the water that was the reason for their prosperity became the cause of their punishment and poverty.
