The number of Sulaymaan’s wives
Question

                Could you please inform me on the truth about Suleman (AS...pbuh) having 999 or so wifes and the reasons for this?
Praise be to Allah.
    The highest number of wives of Sulaymaan (peace be upon him) 
    that is mentioned in the saheeh ahaadeeth is one hundred, as was narrated by 
    al-Bukhaari in his Saheeh (5242) from Abu Hurayrah who said: 
    “Sulaymaan ibn Dawood (peace be upon them both) said: ‘Tonight I will go 
    around to one hundred women, each of whom will give birth to a boy who will 
    fight for the sake of Allaah.’ The angel said to him, ‘Say in sha Allaah (if 
    Allaah wills).’ But he did not say it, as he forgot. He went around to them 
    but none of them gave birth, apart from one woman who gave birth to half a 
    child. The Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: 
    ‘If he had said in sha Allaah, he would not have broken his oath and he 
    would have had more hope of fulfilling his wish.’” (Narrated by Muslim, 
    1654). According to another report narrated by Muslim, he said ninety women. 
    According to a mu’allaq report narrated by al-Bukhaari in his Saheeh, 
    in the Chapter on seeking a son for jihad (Man talaba al-walad 
    li’l-Jihaad), he said ninety-nine women. 

    Perhaps the one who said one hundred was rounding up the figure, and the one 
    who said ninety was rounding it down, as was suggested by al-Haafiz ibn 
    Hajar in his commentary on this hadeeth. 

    But al-Haafiz ibn Hajar narrated in his story of Sulaymaan 
    (peace be upon him) in al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah, vol. 2, from many 
    of the salaf, that the number of Sulaymaan’s wives was one thousand. 
    Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar said likewise in Fath al-Baari, in his commentary 
    on hadeeth no. 3424. 

    This number was narrated from the Children of Israel [i.e., the Jews], so we 
    neither believe it nor disbelieve it. There is nothing in the ahaadeeth 
    quoted above to either prove or disprove that. 

    With regard to the reason for that, Allaah gives to those 
    whom He wills among His slaves whatever He wills of worldly power and 
    enjoyment. This is according to His great wisdom and grace. He is not to be 
    questioned about what He does, may He be glorified and praised. He gave to 
    Sulaymaan exclusively great power which He did not give to anyone after him. 
    So it is not far-fetched to suggest that He also gave him this great 
    strength which enabled him to marry this number of women. It should not 
    cross the mind of any Muslim that this matter implies any form of 
    belittlement towards this Prophet, rather it is a reflection of his perfect 
    power, virtue and manhood, and thus he hoped that Allaah would bless him, in 
    a single night, with one hundred sons, all of whom would go out as knights, 
    fighting for the sake of Allaah. But first and last we must believe that 
    Allaah creates whatever He wills and chooses, and none can overturn His 
    ruling or ward off His decree.

     And Allaah knows best.