The Bible does not tell us the circumstances of Solomon’s death. He simply “slept with his fathers” (I Kings 11:43), and Jewish legend is also strangely silent on the subject. The Muslims, however, relate a fascinating story. Solomon had a foreboding that his death was near at hand; but the Temple had not yet been completed, and he knew that after his death the jinn [evil spirits] whom he had pressed into service would immediately stop work on the Temple.
Every day in Solomon’s garden a new tree would grow, and it was his habit to ask the tree its name and purpose. One day the new tree said, “I shall be used for the destruction of the Temple. Make a staff out of me, and lean on me.” Solomon knew that his end was near. He did as he was bidden, and went into the Temple, and leaned on the staff. He prayed that God would not let the jinn know of his death.
This prayer was granted. Solomon died crouched over his staff. Everyone who passed by, including the jinn, thought that he was deep in prayer, as was his habit, and they would not disturb him. Days, weeks, and months went by, and all this while a white ant gnawed its way into the staff and began eating it little by little from the inside. After a year had passed the staff collapsed into powder and Solomon fell, and the people and the jinn realized that he was dead. But by that time the Temple, Solomon’s great masterpiece, stood finished in all its glory.
Goldstein, Jewish Folklore and Legend