RECORD OF THE BUILDING OF THE HOLY HOUSE AND OF THE
CONSTRUCTION OF THE FARTHER MOSQUE.

After the decease of Dâud—u. w. b., etc.—the Lord Sulimân was determined to finish the Farther Mosque, and to build a city around it. He engaged men and genii to perform duties appropriate to them, ordered skilled architects first to lay out the foundations of the city of marble stones, and to divide it into twelve ramparts, between which the twelve tribes were to dwell. The Holy House was finished in a certain time.* He commanded genii to betake themselves to mines, and to bring rubies, sapphires, topazes, emeralds, gold, silver, and the like; he despatched them to the sea to bring pearls and corals, and appointed another company of them to transport stones. When all the materials and tools were ready, the stone-cutters had to cut tables and surfaces; the masons placed white, green, and yellow stones over each other until they had completed the walls of the mosque. They built its columns of pure transparent stone; they incrusted the ceiling and walls with a variety of precious gems, the splendour whereof made that place of worship as bright in dark nights as in plain daylight. After the edifice had been completed, Sulimân gave an opulent banquet, to which he invited all the nobles and grandees of the children of Esrâil, and said: ‘This house has been constructed solely and exclusively for the worship of God the Most High—w.n.b.e.—it must not remain empty for a single hour of the theologians of God, and of readers about the blessings of the next world.’ The Holy House and the Farther Mosque were for a long time building and being ornamented. When Bakhtanasar [Nebuchad­nezzar] conquered Syria, he destroyed the city, and tear­ing off from the ceiling [of the temple] all the gems and pearls, carried them off to the metropolis of his own country.*

It is related that when, by order of Sulimân—u.w.b. etc.—the Satans had constructed forts and citadels around [the city], they built also several very strong ones in the country of Yaman, and fashioned in them figures of angels, prophets, saints, heroes, birds, and wild animals, which they constructed of gold, silver, brass, agate, and crystal. It is recorded that they constructed two lions, upon whose backs the throne of Sulimân was placed. It is said that they made also a talisman, by means of which, every time his lordship desired to ascend the throne, the lions raised their forefeet and placed them near each other, whereon Sulimân placed his blessed feet upon them, and was lifted upon the throne. After the decease of Sulimân, a king had taken the notion to mount the throne in this manner and to sit in his place; but when he made the attempt, the said two lions struck the leg of the king with their forefeet so that it was broken. The place of great men cannot be occupied with impunity. After that, no one dared to approach the throne; the [true] knowledge, however, is with Allah!

It is said that the Satans made the cooking-pots and other vessels of his lordship’s kitchen so capacious and high that they could not be moved, and that, when the food was cooked, heavy steps were placed against them, for the purpose of reaching the food and taking it out. It is related that the Most High vouchsafed greatness to Sulimân, and admonished the family of Dâud to be grate­ful: ‘O family of Dâud be thankful, for but few of my servants are so!’ Sulimân was constantly engaged in thanksgivings for the Divine blessings he had received, and informed the people likewise thereof, saying: ‘O men, we have been taught the language of birds!’ The voices of birds informed Sulimân of their intentions, so that one day when his lordship heard the cooing of a dove in the assembly, and asked those present whether they knew what the pigeon was saying, the people replied: ‘God and His prophet know it.’ He then informed them that the dove had uttered the words: ‘You have been born for death, and you are building for ruin.’

It is related in several histories, and has come to the notice of the author of these pages, that Sulimân—u. w. b., etc.—had constructed in front of the hall in which he sat a terrace twelve farsakhs long, and twelve broad, concern­ing which he had received the following injunction in the language of the circumstances:

Distich:For this palace which will remain after thee,
Take a brick of silver, and a brick of gold.

To the vision of his aspirations, no difference appeared to exist between a brick of mud or of gold; he, neverthe­less, ordered the pavement of that surface to be composed of alternate gold and silver bricks. He possessed a throne of pure gold inlaid with rubies and pearls, which was day by day conveyed from the hall to the just-mentioned plain, and, after the dispersion of the assembly, again carried back to its place; many chairs, all of which were of gold and of silver, stood around the throne. The Lord Asaf [i.e., wazier of Sulimân] was accustomed to sit on a chair placed near the throne, and thus engaged in administering the affairs of the state, or regulating the affairs of the subjects. There were other chairs, four thousand in number, whereon many learned men and priests of the children of Esrâil took their seats. In the rear of the royal throne four hundred courtiers, four thousand genii, and four thousand fairies were standing ready for service. For the protection of his peerless body from injury, birds formed over his head a canopy, by intertwining their wings, thus keeping off the heat of the sun. Sulimân sat daily in the judgment-seat from sunrise till sunset, and then returned to the hall. He spent some of his time in weaving baskets; but after gain­ing a competency to support life, he ceased to engage in this occupation. He had an appointed time for worship, but spent the greater portion of the night in reading the Psalms.

It is related that in his kitchen every day seven hundred loaves of flour-bread were baked, and other victuals cooked in proportion, although he himself consumed [only] oat-bread in the company of a poor man, and books are filled with similar information. When the power, dignity, and circumstance of Sulimân the prophet had attained their highest degree, he conceived the idea of once giving a repast to all the tribes of men, genii, birds, fishes, and to all the creatures of God, for the purpose of progressing one step in the plain of thanksgivings for the benefits he had received. He first obtained the permission of the Lord of Lords, then selected an extremely spacious prairie adjoining the sea, ordered genii to make two thousand seven hundred pots, the diameter of each whereof from border to border is said to have been one thousand cubits. It is related in the Benaqiti that for the said banquet, among other animals, twenty-two thousand kine were slaughtered, and the amount of the other victuals is to be calculated accord­ing to this datum. When all sorts of creatures had assembled from every region and country in the said plain, and the food had been got ready, the Divine Will determined to show to Sulimân His omnipotence and grandeur in the allotment of daily support to His creatures, and sent one of the maritime animals on land to speak to Sulimân as follows: ‘Thou art giving a banquet to all creatures, and my maintenance for this day devolves upon thy kitchen; order, therefore, my portion to be given me.’ Sulimân replied: ‘Go to the kitchen, and eat thy fill.’ The beast complied, but devoured everything that had been prepared for the meal, and, returning to Sulimân, exclaimed: ‘Feed me, O Sulimân!’ When his lordship per­ceived that all the eatables accumulated for some time by his laborious cooks had been consumed by one creature, which was still shouting, ‘Is there anything more?’ he felt overwhelmed with astonishment and apprehension how to satisfy the others. The animal then said: ‘O Sulimân, I have obtained one-third of my daily food; to whom wilt thou send me to get the remaining two portions?’ Sulimân replied: ‘What thou hast at once swallowed had been col­lected during a long time for the repast of the various tribes of beings, but by the blessing of thy advent in this plain all the eatables have vanished.’ The monster said: ‘It would not be fair to allow me to return hungry this day, on which Allah the magnificent and glorious has sent me to be thy guest. If thou art unable to satisfy one creature, why hast thou attempted to feed genii, men, animals, birds, and reptiles?’ Sulimân, having been warned by these words, took refuge with the Lord, repented, craved His pardon, and said: ‘I made my request on account of my ignorance. O Lord, have mercy upon my ignorance!’ After that he was forgiven by the Lord of Glory.