The King Solomon Ring Story Behind "This Too Shall Pass"
The King Solomon ring story goes like this. A king wants a sentence that will be true in every season of his life, so his advisors give him a ring engraved with "this too shall pass."
When he reads it in grief, it comforts him. When he reads it at a celebration, it humbles him. One sentence, doing two opposite jobs.
The story is real folklore. The ring itself is not a historical object, and no ancient text records Solomon wearing one.
The oldest version is Persian, not Jewish
The earliest written form comes from 12th century Persian poetry. Attar of Nishapur tells it in his Ilāhī-Nāma as "The Padishah and the Ring," and Sanai records a version too.
In Attar's telling there is no Solomon. There is a powerful, unnamed king who asks his wise men for a ring that will make him happy when he is sad.
The sages debate, then hand him something plain with a single line etched on it. The oldest surviving illustrated manuscript of that poem, from 1458, sits in the National Library of Israel.
How Solomon got written into it
Jewish storytellers adopted the fable and cast Solomon in it, which makes sense. He is the tradition's wisdom figure, so a story about a wise saying naturally drifts toward him.
Jewish versions split into two shapes. In one, Solomon is the king who gets humbled by the ring. In the other, he is the sage who hands the ring to someone else.
Many of these variants were collected by the Israel Folklore Archive at the University of Haifa, which is the main reason we can trace the Jewish branch at all.
The version English speakers actually inherited
Edward FitzGerald, the English poet best known for translating the Rubaiyat, published a compressed retelling in 1852 titled "Solomon's Seal."
His version is four lines long. A sultan asks Solomon for a signet motto good for prosperity and adversity, and Solomon answers "this also shall pass away."
That is the version almost every modern quote traces back to, including the one on your friend's tattoo.
Timeline of the story
| When | Who | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 12th century | Sanai and Attar of Nishapur | Earliest written fable, Persian, unnamed king |
| 1458 | Illustrated manuscript | "The Padishah and the Ring," now in the National Library of Israel |
| Folk tradition | Jewish retellings | Solomon added, variants archived at Haifa |
| 1813 | Walter Scott | Describes the tale in a letter to Lord Byron |
| 1852 | Edward FitzGerald | "Solomon's Seal," the version English inherited |
| 1859 | Abraham Lincoln | Retells it, then argues some good things should not pass |
Lincoln's pushback is the interesting part
In an 1859 address Lincoln recounted the story, then refused to fully accept it. He argued for building something whose course "shall not pass away."
That is a useful counterweight. The phrase is a comfort in a hard season, not a philosophy that nothing is worth building.
Wearing the story
The reason this became jewelry rather than a poster is that the original story is about a ring. The object is the whole point of the fable.
In Hebrew the phrase is Gam Zeh Ya'avor, גַּם זֶה יַעֲבֹר. There is also a three letter shorthand, גַּזַ"י, which is what we reach for when a signet face or narrow band cannot hold the full line at a readable size.
We are a Jewish owned shop, we cut real Hebrew letterforms rather than a decorative font, and we proof every engraving with you before production. The Eli Spinner Ring carries the Hebrew, the This Too Shall Pass spinner ring and bangle carry the English, and everything sits together in the This Too Shall Pass collection.
Common questions
Did King Solomon have a ring that said this too shall pass?
Not in any historical or scriptural record. It is a folk story that attached his name to a Persian fable centuries after his lifetime.
Who said "this too shall pass" first?
No single person. The oldest written source is 12th century Persian poetry. Read more in what "this too shall pass" means.
Is the story in the Bible?
No. We cover that fully in is "this too shall pass" in the Bible.
What is Solomon's Seal?
Two different things share the name. One is FitzGerald's 1852 poem. The other is an old symbol, a six pointed star, unrelated to this phrase.
