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Surah 27. An-Naml, Ayah 42

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فَلَمَّا جَآءَتْ قِيلَ أَهَـٰكَذَا عَرْشُكِ ۖ قَالَتْ كَأَنَّهُۥ هُوَ ۚ وَأُوتِينَا ٱلْعِلْمَ مِن قَبْلِهَا وَكُنَّا مُسْلِمِينَ
Falamm a j a at qeela ah a ka tha AAarshuki q a lat kaannahu huwa waooteen a alAAilma min qablih a wakunn a muslimeen a
And so, as soon as she arrived, she was asked: "Is thy throne like this?" She answered: "It is as though it were the same!"37 [And Solomon said to his nobles: "She has arrived at the truth without any help from us,38 ] although it is we who have been given [divine] knowledge before her, and have [long ago] surrendered ourselves unto God!
  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "and yet not quite the same": thus, she expresses doubt - and doubt is the first step in all spiritual progress. She realizes that the "altered throne" is outwardly the same as that which she has left behind; but she percieves intuitively that it is imbued witha spiritual quality which the other did not possess, and which she cannot quite yet understand.

Thus Tabari, Zamakhshari and Ibn Kathir, on whose interpretation of this passage my rendering and the above interpolation are based.

So when the queen arrived, she was asked: "Is your throne like this?" She replied: "It looks as if it is the same; we had come to know that Sulaiman is not only a king but also a Prophet, therefore we have already become Muslims."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
So when she arrived, it was said 'to her', 'Is your throne like this?' She replied, 'It looks to be the same. We have 'already' received knowledge 'of Solomon's prophethood'1 before this 'miracle',2 and have submitted 'to Allah'.'
  - Mustafa Khattab

 Because he had refused her tribute.

 Bringing her well-guarded, mighty throne all the way from Sheba, Yemen.

So, when she came, it was said (unto her): Is thy throne like this? She said: (It is) as though it were the very one. And (Solomon said): We were given the knowledge before her and we had surrendered (to Allah).
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
So when she arrived she was asked "Is this thy throne?" She said "It was just like this; and knowledge was bestowed on us in advance of this and we have submitted to Allah (in Islam)." 3279
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Bilqis stands the test. She knows it was her throne, yet not exactly the same, for it was now much better. And she is proud of her good fortune, and acknowledges, for herself and her people, with gratitude, the light which was given to them by Allah, by which they recognised Allah's prophet in Solomon, and received the true Religion with all their will and heart and soul.

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