Solomon, his army of birds and a hoopoe

Solomon, the wise son of David, according to Islam was also a prophet of Allah:

"Surely We gave knowledge to Dāwūd and Sulaimān, and they said, “Praise belongs to Allah who made us excel many of His believing servants." Quran 27:15, Usmani

According to the Bible, Solomon was blessed with unimaginable wisdom.   According to the Quran, Solomon was apparently also given another gift, understanding of the speech of birds and animals:

'And Sulaimān inherited (the traits of) Dāwūd and said, “O people we have been taught the speech of birds, and all sorts of things are given to us. Indeed, this is the evident grace (of Allah).” ' Quran 27:16, Usmani

Now Solomon had an army with a mixture of humans, jinns (genies) and birds:

"And mustered for Sulaimān were his forces from among the Jinns and the humans and the birds. So all of them were kept under (his) control," Quran 27:17, Usmani

In Surah 27:18-19, Solomon then encountered "the valley of the ants":

"until when they reached the valley of the ants, one of the ants said, “O ants, enter your dwelling places, lest Sulaimān and his armies crush you unknowingly.” " Quran 27:18, Usmani

Solomon, hearing the ant speak, talks with her:

So he (Sulaimān) smiled, laughing on her speech and said, “My Lord, enable me to become grateful to Your favor that you have bestowed on me and on my parents, and to do good deeds that You like, and admit me, with Your mercy, among Your righteous servants.” Quran 27:19, Usmani

Solomon could apparently understand the language of ants.  This is very funny.

Solomon also supposedly had been taught by Allah the language of birds.  In this story, Solomon inspects his army of birds.  He could not find one of his birds, the hoopoe:

"And (once) he (Sulaimān) checked the birds and said, “How is it with me that I do not see the hudhud (hoopoe)? Rather he has disappeared."  Quran 27:20, Usmani

This picture shows a hoopoe.

In the next verse, Solomon promises to punish the absent bird, with a "severe torment", and to execute the poor hoopoe unless the bird gives Solomon a good reason for his absence.

Soon after this, the hoopoe appears with a spy report from the land of Sheba.  Solomon listens to the bird's report but does not fully believe the hoopoe:

"He (Sulaimān) said, “We shall see whether you have told the truth or you are one of the liars."  Quran 27:27, Usmani

Poor hoopoe.

One problem in the above story is that ants can't speak.  It is physically impossible for them to generate speech.  Ants communicate by transmitting vibration and leaving chemical scent (pheromones).  Biologists have found they also at times generate sounds by rubbing together their hind legs, but this is far from speaking.

The obvious problem, who honesty believes that anyone can communicate in the language of the ants and birds?  This is Islam.  Many myths like this have found their way into the Islamic literature.  The Bible has no such obvious fabrications in its account of the life of Solomon.