4. THE TRAVELS OF SOLOMON.
Whilst the palace was being built, Solomon made a journey to Damascus. The Jinn, on whose back he flew, carried him directly over the valley of ants, which is surrounded by such crags and precipices, that no man had hitherto seen it. The king was much astonished to see such a host of ants under him, which were as big as wolves, and which, on account of their grey eyes and grey feet, looked from a distance like a cloud. The queen of the ants, who, till this moment, had not seen a man, was filled with fear when she beheld Solomon, and she cried to her host, “Hie to your holes, fly!”
But God commanded her not to fear, and to summon all her subjects, and to anoint Solomon king of all insects. Solomon, who heard the words of God, and the answer of the queen from a distance of many miles, borne to him upon the wind, descended into the valley beside the queen. Immediately the whole valley was filled with ants, as far as the eye could see.
Solomon asked the queen, “Why didst thou fear me, being surrounded with such a countless and mighty host?”
“I fear God alone,” answered the queen; “if any danger were to threaten my subjects, at a sign from me seven times as many would instantly appear.”
“Wherefore then didst thou command the ants to fly to their holes when I appeared?”
“Because I feared they would look with wonder and reverence on thee, and thereby for a moment forget their Creator.”
“I am greater than thou,” added the queen of the ants.
“How so?” asked Solomon in surprise.
“Because thou hast a metal throne, but my throne is thy hand, on which I now repose,” said the ant.
“Before I leave thee, hast thou no word to say to me?”
“I ask nothing of thee, but I give thee a piece of advice. As long as thou livest, give not occasion to be ashamed of thy name, which signifies The Blameless. Beware also never to give the ring from thy finger, without saying first, ‘In the name of the God of all mercy.’”
Solomon exclaimed, “Lord! Thy kingdom exceeds and excels mine!” and he bade farewell to the queen of the ants.[[667]]
After Solomon had visited Damascus, he returned another way, so as not to disturb the ants in their pious contemplation. As he returned, he heard a cry on the wind, “O God of Abraham, release me from life!” Solomon hastened in the direction of the voice, and found a very aged man, who said he was more than three hundred years old, and that he had asked God to suffer him to live, till there arose a mighty prophet in the land.
“I am that prophet,” said Solomon. Then the Angel of Death caught away the old man’s soul.
Solomon exclaimed, “Thou must have been beside me, to have acted with such speed, thou Angel of Death.”
But the angel answered, “Great is thy mistake. Know that I stand on the shoulders of an angel, whose head reaches ten thousand years’ journey above the seventh heaven, and whose feet are five hundred years’ journey beneath the earth. He it is who tells me when I am to fetch a soul. His eyes are ever fixed on the tree Sidrat Almuntaha, which bears as many leaves as there are living men in the world; when a man is born, a new leaf buds out; when a man is about to die, the leaf fades, and, at his death, falls off; and, when the leaf withers, I fly to fetch the soul, the name of which is inscribed upon the leaf.”
“And what doest thou then?”
“Gabriel accompanies me, as often as one of the believers dies; his soul is wrapped in a green silk cloth, and is breathed into a green bird, which feeds in Paradise till the end of time. But the soul of the sinner is carried by me in a tarred cloth to the gates of hell, where it wanders in misery till the last day.”
Then Solomon washed the body of the dead man, buried him, and prayed for his soul, that it might be eased of the pains it would have to undergo during its purgation by the angels Ankir and Munkir.[[668]]
This journey had so exhausted Solomon, that on his return to Jerusalem he ordered the Jinns to weave him stout silk carpets on which he and all his servants, his throne, tables, and kitchen could be accommodated. When he wanted to go a journey, he ordered the winds to blow, and raise the carpet with all that was on it, and waft it whither he desired to travel.
One night, Abraham appeared to the king in a dream, and said to him: “God has given thee wisdom and power above every other child of man; He has given thee dominion over the earth and over the winds; He has suffered thee to build a house to His honour; thou hast power to speed on the backs of Jinns or on the wings of the winds where thou listest; now employ the gift of God, and visit the city of Jathrib (Medina), which will one day give shelter to the greatest of prophets; also the city Mecca, in which he will be born, and the temple which I and my son Ishmael—peace be with him!—rebuilt after the flood.”
Next morning Solomon announced his intention to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, and bade every Israelite join in the expedition. The number of pilgrims was so great, that Solomon was obliged to have a new carpet woven by the Jinns of such vast size that it could serve the whole caravan, with the camels and oxen and sheep they destined for sacrifice. When ready to start, Solomon bade the Jinns and demons fly before the carpet; his confidence in their integrity was so small, that he would not trust them out of his sight: for this reason also he drank invariably out of crystal goblets, that even when drinking he might keep his eyes upon them. The birds he ordered to fly in ranks above the carpet, to give shadow to the pilgrims with their wings.
When all was in readiness, and men, Jinns, beasts, and birds were assembled together, Solomon ordered the winds to descend and bear the carpet, with all upon it, into the air, and waft it to Medina.
When they approached this town, Solomon made a sign, and the birds depressed their wings, and the winds abated, and the carpet sank lightly to the earth. But he suffered no man to step off the carpet, as Medina was then in the hands of idolaters. He alone went to the spot where afterwards Mohammed was to erect the first mosque—it was then a cemetery—and there he offered up his noon-day prayer. Then he returned to the carpet; at a sign the birds spread their wings, the winds gathered force and lifted the carpet, and the whole caravan sailed through the air to Mecca, which was then under the power of the Djorhamides, who were worshippers of the One God, and preserved the Kaaba from desecration by idols.
Solomon, with all his company, entered the city, went in procession round the temple, performed the requisite ceremonies, and offered the sacrifices brought for the purpose from Jerusalem. Then he preached a long sermon in the Kaaba, in which he prophesied the birth of Mohammed and the future glory of Mecca.
After three days, Solomon desired to return to Jerusalem, and he remounted his throne on the carpet, and all the pilgrims resumed their places. When the birds spread their wings, and the carpet was again in motion, the king perceived one ray of sun which pierced the canopy of birds, and this proved to him that one of the birds had deserted its place.
He called to the eagle, and bade it go through the roll-call of the birds, and ascertain which was absent.
The eagle obeyed, and found that the peewit was missing. Solomon was inflamed with anger, especially as he needed the peewit during his journey over the desert, to discover for him the hidden wells and fountains.
“Soar aloft!” exclaimed Solomon to the eagle, “and seek me this runaway, that I may strip him of his feathers and send him naked forth into the sun, to become the prey of the insects.”
The eagle mounted aloft, till the earth was beneath him like a revolving bowl, and he looked in all directions, and at length he spied the peewit coming from the south. The eagle would have grasped him in his talons, but the little bird implored him, by Solomon, to spare him till he had related his history to the king.
“Trust not in the protection of Solomon,” said the eagle; “thy mother shall bewail thee.” Then the eagle brought the culprit before the king, whose countenance was inflamed with anger, and who, with a frown, signed the runagate to be brought before his throne.[[669]]
The peewit trembled in every limb, and, in token of submission, let wings and tail droop to the ground. As Solomon’s face still expressed great anger, the bird exclaimed, “O king and prophet of God! remember that thou also shalt stand before the judgment-throne of God!”
“How canst thou excuse thine absence without my consent?” asked the king.
“Sire, I bring thee news of a land and a queen of which thou hast not even heard the name—the land of Sheba, and the queen, Balkis.”
“These names are indeed strange to me. Who told thee of them?”
“A lapwing of that country whom I met in my course, to whom I spoke of thy majesty, and the greatness of thy dominion, and wisdom, and power. Then he was astonished, and he related to me that thy name was unknown in his native land; and he spake to me of his home and the wonders that are there, and he persuaded me to accompany him thither. And on the way he related to me the history of the Queen of Sheba, who commands an army generalled by twelve thousand officers.”
Solomon bade the eagle release the peewit, and bade him relate what he had heard of Sheba and its queen.