81 Preface وَلِسُلَيمانَ الرّيحَ عاصِفَةً تَجري بِأَمرِهِ إِلَى الأَرضِ الَّتي بارَكنا فيها ۚ وَكُنّا بِكُلِّ شَيءٍ عالِمينَYusuf Ali(It was Our power that made) the violent (unruly) wind flow (tamely) for Solomon,1 to his order, to the land2 which We had blessed: for We do know all things.Cf. 34:12, and 38:36-38. This has been interpreted to mean that Solomon had miraculous power over the winds, and could make them obey his order. Rationalists say that he had naval power on the Mediterranean, and through the Gulf of 'Aqaba on the Red Sea, and that he therefore figuratively commanded the winds, and we may say the same of airmen at the present day. In any case the power behind was, and is, from God, Who has granted man intelligence and the faculties by which he can tame the more unruly forces of nature.Evidently Palestine, in which was Solomon’s capital, though his influence extended far north in Syria, and perhaps far south in Arabia and Ethiopia. In the Roman ruins of Baalbek, fifty miles north of Damascus, is still shown a quarry of huge stones supposed to have been cut for Solomon. I have seen them with my own eyes. This local tradition is interesting, even if invented.