Part 18

We bestowed on David and Solomon knowledge _in judging men and in the language of the birds and other matters_; and they said, Praise be to God who hath made us to excel many of His believing servants, _by the gift of prophecy and by the subjection of the jinn and mankind and the devils_. And Solomon inherited from David _the gift of prophecy and knowledge_; and he said, O men, we have been taught the language of the birds,[315] and have had bestowed on us of everything _wherewith prophets and kings are gifted_. Verily this is manifest excellence.—And his armies of jinn and men and birds were gathered together unto Solomon, and they were led on in order, until, when they came unto the valley of ants, (_which_ [was] _at Eṭ-Ṭáïf or in Syria, the ants whereof_ [were] _small or great_,) an ant (_the queen of the ants_), _having seen the troops of Solomon_, said, O ants, enter your habitations, lest Solomon and his troops crush you violently, while they perceive not. And _Solomon_ smiled, _afterwards_ laughing at her saying, _which he heard from the distance of three miles, the wind conveying it to him: so he withheld his forces when he came in sight of their valley, until the ants had entered their dwellings: and his troops were on horses and on foot in this expedition_. And he said, O my Lord, inspire me to be thankful for Thy favour which Thou hast bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to do righteousness which Thou shalt approve, and admit me, in Thy mercy, among Thy servants, the righteous, _the prophets and the saints_.

And he examined the birds,[316] _that he might see the lapwing, that saw the water beneath the earth, and directed to it by pecking the earth, whereupon the devils used to draw it forth when Solomon wanted it_ [to perform the ablution] _for prayer; but he saw it not_: and he said, Wherefore do I not see the lapwing? Is it [one] of the absent?—_And when he was certain of the case he said_, I will assuredly punish it with a severe punishment, _by plucking out its feathers and its tail and casting it in the sun so that it shall not be able to guard against excessive thirst_; or I will slaughter it; or it shall bring me a manifest convincing proof _showing its excuse_.—And it tarried not long _before it presented itself unto Solomon submissively, and raised its head and relaxed its tail and its wings: so he forgave it; and he asked it what it had met with during its absence_; and it said, I have become acquainted with that wherewith thou hast not become acquainted, and I have come unto thee from Seba (_a tribe of El-Yemen_) with a sure piece of news. I found a woman reigning over them, _named Bilḳees_, and she hath been gifted with everything _that princes require_, and hath a magnificent throne. _(Its length was eighty cubits; and its breadth, forty cubits; and its height, thirty cubits: it was composed of gold and silver set with fine pearls and with rubies and chrysolites, and its legs were of rubies and chrysolites and emeralds: upon it_ [were closed] _seven doors: to each chamber_ [through which one passed to it was] _a closed door_.) I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of God, and the devil hath made their works to seem comely unto them, so that he hath hindered them from the _right_ way, wherefore they are not rightly directed to the worship of God, who produceth what is hidden (_namely the rain and vegetables_) in the heavens and the earth, and knoweth what they [that is, mankind and others] conceal _in their hearts_, and what they reveal _with their tongues_. God: there is no deity but He, the Lord of the magnificent throne, _between which and the throne of Bilḳees is a vast difference_.

_Solomon_ said _to the lapwing_, We will see whether thou hast spoken truth or whether thou art of the liars. _Then the lapwing guided them to the water, and it was drawn forth_ [by the devils]; _and they quenched their thirst and performed the ablution and prayed. Then Solomon wrote a letter, the form whereof was this:—From the servant of God, Solomon the son of David, to Bilḳees the queen of Seba. In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Peace be on whomsoever followeth the right direction. After_ [this salutation, I say], _Act ye not proudly towards me; but come unto me submitting.—He then sealed it with musk, and stamped it with his signet, and said unto the lapwing_, Go with this my letter and throw it down unto them (_namely Bilḳees and her people_): then turn away from them, _but stay near them_, and see what _reply_ they will return. _So the lapwing took it, and came unto her, and around her were her forces; and he threw it down into her lap; and when she saw it, she trembled with fear. Then she considered what was in it, and_ she said _unto the nobles of her people_, O nobles, an honourable (_sealed_) letter hath been thrown down unto me. It is from Solomon; and it is _this_:—In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Act ye not proudly towards me: but come unto me submitting.—She said, O nobles, advise me in mine affair. I will not decide upon a thing unless ye bear me witness.—They replied, We are endowed with strength and endowed with great valour; but the command [belongeth] to thee; therefore see what thou wilt command _us to do, and we will obey thee_. She said, Verily kings, when they enter a city, waste it, and render the mighty of its inhabitants abject; and thus will they do _who have sent the letter_. But I will send unto them with a gift, and I will see with what the messengers will return, _whether the gift will be accepted, or whether it will be rejected. If he be_ [merely] _a king, he will accept it; and if he be a prophet, he will not accept it.—And she sent male and female servants, a thousand in equal numbers_ [five hundred of each sex], _and five hundred bricks of gold, and a crown set with jewels, and musk and ambergris and other things, by a messenger with a letter.[317] And the lapwing hastened unto Solomon, to tell him the news; on hearing which, he commanded that bricks of gold and silver should be cast, and that a horse-course should be extended to the length of nine leagues from the place where he was, and that they should build around it a wall with battlements, of gold and silver, and that the handsomest of the beasts of the land and of the sea should be brought with the sons of the jinn on the right side of the horse-course and on its left._

And when _the messenger_ came _with the gift, and with him his attendants_, unto Solomon, he [Solomon] said, Do ye aid me with wealth? But what God hath given me (_namely the gift of prophecy and the kingdom_) is better than what He hath given you, _of worldly goods_; yet ye rejoice in your gift, _because ye glory in the showy things of this world_. Return unto them _with the gift that thou hast brought_; for we will surely come unto them with forces with which they have not power [to contend], and we will surely drive them out from it, (_that is, from their country, Seba, which was named after the father of their tribe_,) abject and contemptible, _if they come not unto us submitting. And when the messenger returned unto her with the gift, she placed her throne within seven doors, within her palace, and her palace was within seven palaces; and she closed the doors, and set guards to them, and prepared to go unto Solomon, that she might see what he would command her to do. She departed with twelve thousand kings, each king having with him many thousands, and proceeded until she came as near to him as a league’s distance; when he knew of her_ [approach,] he said, O nobles, which of you will bring unto me her throne before they come unto me submitting? An ´efreet, of the jinn, answered, I will bring it unto thee before thou shalt arise from thy place _wherein thou sittest to judge from morning until mid-day_; for I am able to do it, [and] trustworthy _with respect to the jewels that it compriseth and other matters. Solomon said, I desire it more speedily._ [And thereupon] he with whom was knowledge of the _revealed_ scripture (_namely_ [his Wezeer] _Áṣaf the son of Barkhiya, who was a just person, acquainted with the most great name of God, which ensured an answer to him who invoked thereby_[318]) said, I will bring it unto thee before thy glance can be withdrawn _from any object. And he said unto him, Look at the sky. So he looked at it; then he withdrew his glance, and found it placed before him: for during his look towards the sky, Áṣaf prayed, by the most great name, that God would bring it; and it so happened, the throne passing under the ground until it came up before the throne of Solomon._ And when he saw it firmly placed before him, he said, This is of the favour of my Lord, that He may try me, whether I shall be thankful or whether I shall be unthankful. And he who is thankful is thankful for _the sake of_ his own soul, _which will have the reward of his thankfulness_; and [as to] him who is ungrateful, my Lord is independent [and] bountiful.

[Then Solomon] said, Alter ye her throne so that it may not be known by her, that we may see whether she be rightly directed _to the knowledge thereof_, or whether she be of those who are not rightly directed _to the knowledge of that which is altered. He desired thereby to try her intelligence. So they altered it, by adding to it, or taking from it, or in some other manner._ And when she came, it was said _unto her_, Is thy throne like this? She answered, As though it were the same. (_She answered them ambiguously like as they had questioned her ambiguously, not saying, Is this thy throne?—and had they so said, she had answered, Yes._) _And when Solomon saw her knowledge, he said_, And we have had knowledge bestowed on us before her, and have been Muslims. But what she worshipped instead of God hindered her _from worshipping Him_; for she was of an unbelieving people.—It was said unto her _also_, Enter the palace. _It had a floor of white, transparent glass, beneath which was running water, wherein were fish. Solomon had made it on its being said unto him that her legs and feet were_ [hairy] _like the legs of an ass._ And when she saw it, she imagined it to be a great water, and she uncovered her legs, _that she might wade through it; and Solomon was on his throne at the upper end of the palace, and he saw that her legs and her feet were handsome_. He said _unto her_, Verily it is a palace evenly spread with glass. _And he invited her to embrace El-Islám_, [whereupon] she said, O my Lord, verily I have acted unjustly towards mine own soul, _by worshipping another than Thee_, and I resign myself, with Solomon, unto God, the Lord of the worlds. _And he desired to marry her; but he disliked the hair upon her legs; so the devils made for him the depilatory of quick-lime, wherewith she removed the hair, and he married her; and he loved her, and confirmed her in her kingdom. He used to visit her every month once, and to remain with her three days; and her reign expired on the expiration of the reign of Solomon. It is related that he began to reign when he was thirteen years of age, and died at the age of three and fifty years. Extolled be the perfection of Him to the duration of whose dominion there is no end!_

(xxvii. 15-45.)

_We subjected_ unto Solomon the wind, which travelled in the morning (_unto the period when the sun began to decline_) _the distance of_ a month’s _journey_, and in the evening _from the commencement of the declining of the sun into its setting_ a month’s _journey_. And We made the fountain of molten brass to flow for him _three days with their nights_ [in every month], _as water floweth;[319] and the people worked until the day_ [of its flowing], _with that which had been given into Solomon_. And of the jinn [were] those who worked in his presence, by the will of his Lord; and such of them as swerved from _obedience to_ Our command We will cause to taste of the punishment of hell _in the world to come_ (_or, as it is said by some, We cause to taste of its punishment in the present world, an angel beating them with a scourge from hell, the stripe of which burneth them_). They made for him whatever he pleased, of lofty halls (_with steps whereby to ascend to them_), and images (_for they were not forbidden by his law_[320]), and large dishes, like great tanks for watering camels, _around each of which assembled a thousand men, eating from it_, and cooking-pots standing firmly _on their legs, cut out from the mountains in El-Yemen, and to which they ascended by ladders_. _And We said_, Work, O family of David, _in the service of God_, with thanksgiving _unto Him for what He hath given you_:—but few of My servants are the thankful. And when We decreed that he (_namely, Solomon_) should die, _and he died, and remained standing, and leaning upon his staff for a year, dead, the jinn meanwhile performing those difficult works as they were accustomed to do, not knowing of his death, until the worm ate his staff, whereupon he fell down_, nothing showed them his death but the eating reptile (_the worm_) that ate his staff.[321] And when he fell down, the jinn plainly perceived that if they had known things unseen (_of which things was the death of Solomon_), they had not continued in the ignominious affliction (_that is, in their difficult works_), _imagining that he was alive, inconsistently with their opinion that they knew things unseen. And that the period was a year was known by calculating what the worm had eaten of his staff since his death in each day and night or other space of time._ (xxxiv. 11-13.)

_JONAH._

Verily Jonah [Yoonus] was one of the apostles. [Remember] when he fled unto the laden ship, _being angry with his people, because the punishment wherewith he had threatened them did not fall upon them; wherefore he embarked in the ship; and it became stationary in the midst of the sea: so the sailors said, Here is a slave who hath fled from his master, and the lot will discover him_:—and he cast lots _with those who were in the ship_, and he was [the] one upon whom the lot fell. _They therefore cast him into the sea_, and the fish swallowed him; and he was reprehensible, _for having gone to the sea, and embarked in the ship, without the permission of his Lord_. And had he not been of those who glorified God (_by his saying often in the belly of the fish, There is no god but Thou! I extol Thy perfection! Verily I have been of the offenders!_), he had remained in his belly until the day of resurrection.[322] And We cast him on the plain land, _the same day, or after three or seven days, or twenty or forty days_; and he was sick; and We caused a gourd plant[323] to grow up over him, _to shade him_. _It had a trunk, contrary to what is the case of gourds in general, being miraculously produced for him._[324] _And a wild she-goat came to him evening and morning, of whose milk he drank until he became strong._ And We sent him _after that, as before_, unto _his people in Nineveh, in the land of El-Moṣil_, a hundred thousand, or they were a greater number by _twenty or thirty or seventy thousand_; and they believed _on beholding the punishment wherewith they had been threatened_;[325] wherefore We allowed them enjoyment _of their goods_ for a time, _until the expiration of their terms of life_.

(xxxvii. 139-148.)

_EZRA._

[Hast thou not considered] him who passed by a city (_which was Jerusalem_), _riding upon an ass, and having with him a basket of figs and a vessel of the juice of grapes_ (_and he was ´Ozeyr_ [Ezra]), and it was falling down upon its roofs, _Nebuchadnezzar having ruined it_? He said, _wondering at the power of God_, How will God quicken this after its death?—And God caused him to die for a hundred years. Then He raised him to life: [and] He said _unto him_, How long hast thou tarried _here_?—He answered I have tarried a day, or part of a day.—_For he slept in the first part of the day, and was deprived of his life, and was reanimated at sunset._ He said Nay, thou hast tarried a hundred years: but look at thy food and thy drink: they have not become changed by time: and look at thine ass.—_And he beheld it dead, and its bones white and shining.—We have done this that thou mayest know_, and that We may make thee a sign _of the resurrection_ unto men. And look at the bones _of thine ass_, how We will raise them; then We will clothe them with flesh.—_So he looked at them, and they had become put together, and were clothed with flesh, and life was breathed into it, and it brayed._ Therefore when it had been made manifest to him he said, I know that God is able to accomplish everything. (ii. 261.)

_THE MESSIAH._

_Remember_ when the wife of ´Imrán[326] said, (_when she had become aged, and desired offspring, wherefore she supplicated God, and became sensible of pregnancy_,) O my Lord, verily I devote unto Thee what is in my womb, to be dedicated _to the service of Thy holy house_: then accept [it] from me; for Thou art the Hearer _of prayer_, the Knower _of intentions_. _And ´Imrán perished while she was pregnant._ And when she gave birth to it, (_namely her daughter; and she was hoping that it might be a boy; since none but boys were dedicated_,) she said, O my Lord, verily I have brought forth a female, (and God well knew what she had brought forth,) and the male is not as the female, _the latter not being fit for the service_ [of the temple]; and I have named her Mary [Maryam]; and I beg thy protection for her and her offspring from the accursed devil.[327] (_In the traditions_ [it is said], _No child is born but the devil hath touched it at the time of its birth, wherefore it first raiseth its voice by crying, excepting Mary and her son._[328]) And her Lord accepted her (_that is, He accepted Mary from her mother_) with a gracious acceptance, and caused her to grow with an excellent growth, _as though she grew in a day as a child_ [generally] _groweth in a month_. _Her mother took her to the doctors, the keepers of the Holy House, and said, Receive ye this devoted child. And they eagerly desired her, because she was the daughter of their chief. But Zechariah said, I am more worthy of having her; for her maternal aunt is with me. They however replied, Nay, but we will cast lots.—So they departed (and they were nine and twenty) to the river Jordan, and cast their divining arrows on the understanding that he whose arrow should become steady in the water and rise should be_ [acknowledged] _most worthy of her; and the arrow of Zechariah became steady, and he took her, and built for her a chamber in the temple, with stairs to which no one ascended but himself. And he used to bring her her food and her drink and her ointment; and used to find with her the fruits of winter in summer, and the fruits of summer in winter, as He—whose name be exalted!—hath said_, And Zechariah maintained her. Whenever Zechariah went in to her in the chamber, he found with her provisions. He said, O Mary, whence came to thee this? She answered, (_being then a little child_,) It is from God: _He bringeth it to me from Paradise_: for God supplieth whom He pleaseth without reckoning.

Then, _when he saw this, and knew that He who was able to produce a thing out of its season was able to give a child in old age, (and the people of his house had become extinct,)_ Zechariah supplicated his Lord, _when he had entered the chamber to pray in the latter part of the night_. He said, O my Lord, give me from Thee a good offspring (_a righteous son_); for Thou art the Hearer of prayer.—And the angels (_by which is meant Gabriel_) called to him as he stood praying in the chamber (_that is, the temple_), saying, God promiseth thee John [Yaḥyá], who shall be a verifier of [the] Word _which cometh_ from God, (_that is, Jesus_ [´Eesa]; _for he is the Spirit of God, and was named_ [the] _Word because he was created by the word Be_,) and a chief, (_or one followed_,) and chaste, and a prophet, of the righteous. (_It is related that he neither did any sin nor intended any._)—He said, O my Lord, how shall I have a son, when old age hath come upon me, _when I have attained the utmost age, a hundred and twenty years_, and my wife is barren, _and hath attained the age of eight and ninety_?—He answered, _It shall be_ thus. God will do what He pleaseth.—He said, O my Lord, give me a sign.—He replied, Thy sign [shall be] that thou shalt not speak unto men for three days, except by signal; but remember thy Lord often, and glorify [Him] in the evening and in the morning.

(iii. 31-36.)

And he went forth unto his people from the chamber, and made a sign unto them, [as though he would say] Glorify [God] in the morning and in the evening _as usual_. _And he knew by his being prevented from speaking unto them that his wife had conceived John. And after his birth, by some years, God said unto him_, O John, receive the book (_that is, the Law_) with resolution. And We bestowed on him wisdom (_the gift of prophecy_) [when he was yet] a child, _three years of age_, and compassion from Us _for mankind_, and [a disposition to bestow] alms _upon them_. And he was pious, and dutiful to his parents, and was not proud [nor] rebellious _toward his Lord_; and peace _from Us_ [was] on him on the day when he was born, and on the day of his death, and [shall be] on the day when he shall be raised to life. (xix. 12-15.)

And _remember_ when the angels (_that is, Gabriel_) said, O Mary, verily God hath chosen thee and hath purified thee and hath chosen thee above the women of the peoples _of thy time_. O Mary, be devout towards thy Lord and prostrate thyself and bow down with those who bow down: _pray with those who pray_.—This is [one] of the announcements of things unseen _by thee_: We reveal it unto thee, _O Moḥammad_; for thou wast not with them when they cast their divining arrows _that it might appear to them_ which of them should rear Mary, and thou wast not with them when they disputed together _as to rearing her_.—_Remember_ when the angels (_that is, Gabriel_) said, O Mary, verily God promiseth thee [the] Word from Him, whose name [shall be] the Messiah [El-Meseeḥ], Jesus the son of Mary, honourable in this world _by his prophetic office_, and in the world to come _by his intercession and high stations_, and of those admitted near _unto God_; and he shall speak unto men in the cradle, and when of full age,[329] and [he shall be] of the righteous.—She said, O my Lord, how shall I have a son, when a man hath not touched me?—He answered, _It shall be_ thus; God will create what He pleaseth: when He determineth a thing, He only saith unto it, Be,—and it is. And He will teach him writing and wisdom and the Law and the Gospel, and _constitute him_ an apostle to the children of Israel, _in youth or after adolescence_. _And Gabriel breathed into the bosom of her shift; whereupon she conceived; and those events of her history which are related in the Soorat Maryam_ [Ḳur. xix.] _happened_.

(iii. 37-43.)