As Sattih was strange in form, and celebrated for soothsaying, some of his sayings have just been narrated, but a further notice of him will not be unacceptable. Accordingly, we state that chroniclers inform us of the birth of the soothsayer Sattih having taken place during the time of the inundation of A’rem,* and that he lived till the rising of the star of prophecy, the length of his existence amounting to six hundred years. Some say that A’rem was the name of the dam erected by Balqis,* the spouse of Suleimân—u. w. b.—in the country of Saba, which information is authentic. The Bountiful Giver had looked with a favourable eye on the inhabitants of Saba, and had blessed them with pleasant habitations, delightful gardens, and the most varied fruits. He also sent to them inspired messengers, but they were unable to appreciate Divine grace and rejected the instructions of apostles, wherefore they incurred the wrath of God, in consequence of which the inundation of A’rem overtook them, destroyed the people, and eradicated the trees, the roots whereof had been firm and the branches whereof grew skywards. Sattih had abandoned that country with a select company and had gone to Syria. According to tradition, there were no bones in his stature except the skull, the hands, and fingers. Some say that his face was on his breast, and that he had no power to rise nor to sit down except when he expanded himself and thus squatted down. When he was required to prophesy, or to give information about hidden things, he was shaken like a skin full of oil, folded up like a garment, and thus carried into the assembly. It is related of him that he said: ‘One of the genii who, at the time when the Lord —who knows all secrets—was conversing with Mûsa on Mount Tûr, had stealthily listened and thus obtained information about secret matters, is giving me notice of concealed events, and I am conveying them to men.’ It is written in some books that after Sattih’s death the science of soothsaying ceased to exist; this is, however, contrary to the assertion of historians. It is, nevertheless, plain that at the mission of the chief of creatures the soothsayers were unable to give information about hidden matters.*