Asif ibn Barkhiya: Who Brought Sheba's Throne in a Blink?
A jinni offers to fetch the Queen of Sheba's throne before Solomon can stand. A man with knowledge of the Book does it in the blink of an eye.
In Surah 27, a jinni offers to bring the Queen of Sheba's throne before Solomon stands up, but a man with knowledge of the Book brings it in the blink of an eye. Commentators named him Asif ibn Barkhiya.
Surah 27 tells how Solomon, before the Queen of Sheba arrives, asks his court who can bring him her throne. A powerful jinni, an ifrit, offers to bring it before Solomon rises from his seat. Then "One with whom was knowledge of the Scripture said: I will bring it thee before thy gaze returneth unto thee." And it is there. Solomon sees it set before him and says: "This is of the bounty of my Lord."
The Quran does not name the man. Commentators such as Ibn Kathir, citing Ibn Abbas, identified him as Asif, Solomon's scribe and vizier, the son of Barkhiya. Many said his power came from knowing the Greatest Name of God. The point of the scene is a contrast: a jinni's strength is fast, but knowledge is faster. The same chapter then has the Queen step onto a floor she thinks is a pool of water, lifting her skirts, only to be told it is a hall paved smooth with glass (27:44).
Asif matches a real biblical name. 1 Chronicles 6:39 mentions "Asaph the son of Berachiah," a Levite singer of David's time, and twelve psalms are attributed to Asaph. Later Islamic and Jewish lore made him a sage and even a physician; a medieval Hebrew medical text is attributed to an Asaph.
Modern readers of the site's themes often describe this as teleportation by information rather than by force. In the text it is presented as a gift from God to a learned servant. A few writers compare the scene to the Kebra Nagast, where Solomon's own vehicles cross great distances in a day. The Quran frames it differently: the jinni offers raw power, and the scholar offers something faster, grounded in knowledge of revelation. Solomon's reaction is humility rather than pride, treating the feat as a test of whether he will be grateful.
In the same chapter the Queen of Sheba lifts her skirts to cross what she thinks is water, but is a floor of glass.
The Quran leaves the man unnamed; his identity as Asif comes from later commentary, and scholars read the scene as a lesson that God-given knowledge outranks the power of jinn.
