Restore, Great Father, Thy instructed son,
And in my act may Thy great will be done!
Solomon is called king of the ginn and fairies. This is probably a mere blunder. The monarch of these spirits was called “suleyman,” and this title of rank has been mistaken for a proper name.
Solomon died standing. Solomon employed the genii in building the Temple, but, perceiving that his end was at hand, prayed God that his death might be concealed from the genii till the work was completed. Accordingly, he died standing, leaning on his staff as if in prayer. The genii, supposing him to be alive, toiled on, and when the Temple was fully built, a worm knawed the staff, and the corpse fell prostrate to the earth. Mahomet refers to this as a fact:
When We [God] had decreed that Solomon should die, nothing discovered his death unto them [the genii] except the creeping thing of the earth, which gnawed his staff. And when his [dead] body fell down, the genii plainly perceived that if they had known that which is secret, they would not have continued in a vile punishment.--Al Korân, 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;