SOLOMON 
 
 
[dead] body fell d6wn, the genii plainly perceived 
that if they had known that which is secret, they 
would not have continued in a vile punishment.- 
Al Kordn, xxxiv. 
  Solomon's Favorite Wife. Prior, in his 
epic poem called Solomon (bk. ii.), makes 
Abra the favorite. 
The apples she had gathered smelt most sweet; 
The cake she kneaded was the savory meat; 
All fruits their odor lost and meats their taste, 
If gentle Abra had not decked the feast; 
Dishonored did the sparkling goblet stand, 
LUless received from gentle Abra's hand; ... 
Nor could my soul approve the music's tone, 
Till all was hushed, and Abra sung alone." 
  Al Beidfwi, Jallhlo'ddin, and Abulfeda, 
give Amina, daughter, of JerAda, king of 
Tyre, as his favorite concubine. 
  Solomon Kills His Horses. Solomon 
bought a thousand horses, and went to 
examine them. The examination took 
him the whole day, so that he omitted the 
prayers which he ought to have repeated. 
This neglect came into his mind at sunset, 
and, by way of atonement, he slew all the 
horses except a hundred of the best "as 
an offering to God;" and God, to make 
him amends for his loss, gave him the 
dominion of the winds. Mahomet refers 
to this in the foliowing passage:- 
  When the horses, standing on three feet, and 
touching the ground with the edge of the fourth 
foot, swift in the course, were set in parade be- 
fore him [SolomoniI in the evening, he said, "Ver- 
ily I have loved the love of earthly good above 
the remembrance of my Lord; and I have spent 
the time in viewing these horses till the sun is hid- 
den by the veil of night. Bring the horses back 
unto me." And when they were brought back, 
he began to cut off their legs and their necks.- 
Al Kordn, xxxvii. 
  Solomon's Mode of Travelling. Solomon 
had a carpet of green silk, on which his 
throne was placed. This carpet was large 
enough for all his army to stand on. When 
his soldiers had stationed themselves on 
his right hand, and the spirits on his left, 
Solomon commanded the winds to convey 
 
 
him whither he listed. Whereupon the 
winds buoyed up the carpet, and trans- 
ported it to the place the king wished to 
go to, and while passing thus through the 
air, the birds of heaven hovered overhead 
forming a canopy with their wings to ward 
off the heat of the sun. Mahomet takes 
this legend as an historic fact, for he says 
in reference to it: 
  Unto Solomon We subjected the strong wind, 
and it ran at his command to the land whereon 
We had bestowed our blessing.-Al Kordn, xxi. 
  And again: 
  We made the wind subject to him, and it ran 
gently at his command whithersoever he desired. 
-Al Kordn, xxxviii,             I 
  Solomon's Signet-Ring. The rabbins say 
that Solomon wore a ring in which was 
set a chased stone that told him everything 
he wished to know. 
  Solomon Loses His Signet-Ring. Solo- 
mon's favorite concubine was Amina, 
daughter of JerOda, king of Tyre, and 
when he went to bathe, it was to Amina 
that he entrusted his signet-ring. One 
day the devil, Sakhar, assumed the like- 
ness of Solomon, aid so got possession of 
the ring, and for forty days reigned in Je- 
rusalem, while Solomon himself was a wan- 
derer living on alms. At the end of the 
forty days, Sakhar flung the ring into the 
sea; it was swallowed by a fish, which was 
given to Solomon. Having thus obtained 
his ring again, Solomon took Sakhar cap- 
tive, and cast him into the sea of Galilee. 
-Al Kordn (Sale's notes, ch. xxxviii.). 
(See JOVIAN.) 
  *** Mahomet, in the Kordn, takes *this 
legend as an historic fact, for he says: 
"We [God], also tried Solomon, and 
placed on his throne a counterfeit body 
[i.e., Sakhar, the Devil]."-Ch. xxxviii. 
  Uffan, the sage, saw Solomon asleep, 
and wishing to take off his signet-ring, 
gave three arrows to Aboutaleb, saying, 
                                    IV 
 
 
SOLOMON 
 
 
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