The Sulayman-Namas of Persian Literature

Abstract

The story of the Prophet Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, originating in the Qur’anic accounts presented in Surahs al-Naml and Sabaʾ, constitutes one of the significant narrative motifs in Persian literature. The story extended beyond scattered allusions in classical poetry and was recreated in independent narrative poems bearing titles such as Sulayman-nama, Bilqis and Solomon, Solomon and Bilqis, and Dawud-nama. This article aims to introduce and classify twelve extant independent mathnawis belonging to this literary tradition and to examine their formal and thematic characteristics. The study employs a descriptive-analytical method and is based on an examination of verse narratives, Qur’anic commentaries, Qisas al-Anbiyaʾ literature, and bibliographical reports. The findings demonstrate that Persian-speaking poets, drawing upon Qur’anic and exegetical sources, produced religious, ethical, romantic, and occasionally didactic retellings of the story. In these narrative poems, elements such as Solomon’s miracles, the hoopoe, the throne of Bilqis, epistolary exchanges, and the interrelationship between love and prophethood were reworked through diverse structures reflecting the individual literary sensibilities of the poets. Adopting a comparative approach, this article clarifies the position of the Sulayman-namas within the Persian tradition of narrative poetry and demonstrates their relationship with literary developments in Iran and the Indian subcontinent.