22 Preface فَمَكَثَ غَيرَ بَعيدٍ فَقالَ أَحَطتُ بِما لَم تُحِط بِهِ وَجِئتُكَ مِن سَبَإٍ بِنَبَإٍ يَقينٍYusuf AliBut the Hoopoe tarried not far: he (came up and) said: “I have compassed (territory) which thou hast not compassed, and I have come to thee from Saba'1 with tidings true.Saba' may reasonably be identified as the Biblical Sheba, (1 Kings 10:1-10). It is further referred to in the Sūra called after its name: 34:15-20. It was a city in Yemen, said to have been three days journey (say 50 miles) from the city of San'a'. A (recent) German explorer, Dr. Ham Helfritz, claims to have located it in what is now Hadramawt territory. The famous dam of Ma'rib made the country very prosperous, and enabled it to attain a high degree of civilisation (“provided with every requisite” in the next verse). The Queen of Sheba therefore rightly held up her head high until she saw the glories of Solomon.