I read in the commentary of this ayat (The Ant: 40) from Mir Ahmed Ali's translation of the Quran, that the ' man of knowledge ' was Imam Ali who brought back the throne of Bilqis to Prophet Suleiman a.s. and that Imam Ali used to appear in different forms throughout the ages in helping all the other prophets?? I always thought it was a jin that did this. I have never thought Imam Ali was present throughout the ages helping all the prophets.

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1- There are hadiths that state Imam Ali’s (a) spirit would aid previous prophets and support them. According to these hadiths, Allah would support His prophets by sending Imam Ali’s (s) spirit to aid them.

2- Yes, the Jinn would also help some prophets. In the case of Bilqis’s throne, it wasn’t a Jinn who brought it. He offered to bring it, but Asif ibn Barkhiya (the successor of Prophet Sulayman) ended up bringing it within a blink of an eye. He had some knowledge of the “book,” so he had this supernatural power.