any thing, until'ye be witnefles and approve thereof. The nobles anfwered
We are indued with ftrength, and art indued with rgreat prowefs in war-
but the command appertained unto thee : fee therefore what thou wilt
command*. She faid, Verily kings, whenthey enter a city by -force, wafle
the fame, and abafe the molt powerful of the inhabitants hereof : and fo will
thefe do with us. But I will fend gifts unto them ; and will wait for what
farther information thofe who (hall be fent, fhall bring back. And when
the queen's embaffador came unto S o l o m o n b, that prince faid, Will ye prefent
me with riches ? Verily that which G o d hath given me, is better than what
he hath given you: but ye do glory in your gifts. Return unto the people of
Sa b a . We will furely come unto them with forces, which they fhall not
be able to withftandand we w-ill drive them out from their city, humbled;
and they Jhall become contemptible. And Solomon faid, O nobles, which
of you will bring unto me her throne, before they come and furrender
themfelves unto me ? A terrible genius * anfwered, I will bring it unto
thee, before thou arife from thy place 4 : for I am able to perform it, and
may be trailed. And one with whom was the knowledge of the fcriptures!
faid, I will bring it unto thee, in the twinkling of an eyef. And when
S olomon faw the throne placed before him, he faid, This is a favour of my: L o r d , that he may make trial of me, whether I will be grateful, or whether
I will be ungrateful : and he who is grateful, is grateful to his own
advantage, but if any fna.ll be ungrateful, verily my L o r d is felf-fufficient
and munificent. And Solomon faid unto his fervants, Alter her throne, that
fhe may not know it, to the end we may fee whether fhe be rightly direfted, ot
whether
receive-them 3.
c A terrible genius;] This was an I f At, or
one of the wicked and rebellious genii ; and his
name, fays al Beidawi, was Dhacwan or
Sakhr.
d Before thou arife from thy place I] i. e.
From thy feat of juftice. For Solomon ufed to
fit in judgment every day till noon 4.
e One with whom was the knowledge of the
fcriptures fj This perfon, as is generally fuppof-
ed, was A fa f the fon of Barachia, Solomons
wazir (or vifir), who knew the great or ineffable
name of G od, ' by pronouncing of which he
performed this wonderful exploit5. Others
however fuppofe it was al Kbedr» or elfe Gabriel,
or fome other angel; and fome imagine
it to have been Solomon himfeJf6.
f In the twinkling o f an eye ;] The original
is, 'Before thou canft look at any objeSl, and tale
thy eye off it. It is faid' that Solomon, at Afafs
defire, looked up to heaven, and before he call
his eye downwards, the throne made its way
under ground, and appeared before him.
a What thou wilt command;] i. e. Whether
thou wilt obey the fummons of Solomon, or give
us orders to make’ head againft him.
b When the embaffador came unto ‘Solomon j]
Bearing the prefents, which they fay were five
hundred young Haves of each fex, all habited in
the fame manner, five hundred bricks of gold,
a crown inriched with precious ftones, befides
a large quantity of musk, amber, and other
things of value *. Some add, that Balkis, to
try whether 'Solomon. was a prophet or no, dreft
the boys like girls, arid the girls like boys, and
fent him, in a casket, a pearl.not drilled, and an
onyx drilled with a crooked hole ; and that Solomon
diftinguilhed the boys from the girls by the
different manner of their taking water, and ordered
one Worm to bore the pearl, and another
to pafs a thread through the onyx z . They alfo
tell us,- that Solomon, having notice- of this embaf-
fy, by means of the lapwing, even before they
fet out, ordered a large fquare to be inclofed
with a wall built of gold and filver bricks,
wherein he ranged his forces and attendants to
1 ;Ja l l a l o ’d di-n.
* Ja l l a l o ’ d din.
z ^ B bidaw-i. 6 ^/Beidawi.
3 Jallalo’ddin. 4 'ftdem Interp.
whether fhe be one of thofe who are not rightly directed. And when fhe was
come unto S olomon *, it was faid unto her, Is thy throne like this ? She anfwered,
As though it were the fame. And we have had knowledge beftowed
on us before this, and have been refigned unto G od b. But that which fhe wor-
fhipped, befides G o d , had turned her afide from the truth ; for fhe was of an unbelieving
people. It was faid unto her, Enter the palacec. And when fhe faw
it, fhe imagined it to be a great water -, and fhe difcovered her legs, by lifting up
btr robe to pafstbrough it*. Whereupon Solomon {aid unto her, Verily this is a palace
evenly floored with glafs. Then faid the queen, O L o r d , verily I have:dealtunjuftly
with my own foul; and I refign my felf, together with S o lom on , unto G od, the
L ord of all creatures8. Alfo we heretofore fent unto the tribe of T h am u d
their brother S a l e h ; who faid unto them, Serve ye G o d . And behold, they
were divided into two parties, who difputed among themfelves s. Sa l e h faid,
O my people, why do ye haften evil rather than good * ? Unlefs ye afk pardon
of G o d , that ye may obtain mercy, ye are loft. They anfwered, We prefage
evil from thee, and from thofe who are with thee. Sa l e h replied, The evil
which ye prefage is with G od h : but ye are a people who are proved by a
vicijjitude of profperity and adverfity. And there were nine men in the city,
who adted corruptly in the earth, and behaved not with integrity. And they
faid unto one another, Swear ye reciprocally by G o d , that we will fall upon
Saleh and his family by night: and afterwards we will fay unto him who
hath right to avenge his blood, We were not fo much as prefent at thede-
ftra&ion of his family 5 and we certainly lpeak the truth. And they devifed
a. plot againft him: but we devifed a plot againft them; and they perceived
S f it
a When Jhe was come unto Solomon j] For, on
the return of her ambaflador, file determined to
go and fubmit herfelf to that prince; but before
her departure, lhe fecured her throne, as lhe
thought, by locking it up in a ftrong caftle, and
letting a guard to defend i t ; after which lhe fet
out, attended by a vaft army x.
b We have had knowledge bejlowed on us 'before
this, &c.] It is uncertain whether fhefe be the
words of Balkis, acknowledging her convi&ion
'by the wonders lhe had already feen j or of Solomon
and his people, acknowledging the favour
of God, in calling them to the true faith before
‘her.
c Enter the palace;] Or, as fome underftand
the word, the court before the palace, which Solomon
had commanded to be built againft the arrival
of Balkis ; ihe floor or pavement being of
tranfparent glafs, laid over running water, in
which lilh were fwimming. Fronting this pavement
was placed the royal throne, on which
Solomon fat to receive the queen *.
| She difcovered her legs, &c.] Some Arab
Writers tell us, Solomon had been informed that
Balkis's legs and feet were covered with hair,
like thofe of an afs, of the truth of which he had
hereby an opportunity of being fatisfied by ocular
demonftration.
e ƒ refign my f e lf unto God j] The queen of
Saba having by thefe words profefled IJlam, and
renounced idolatry, Solomon had thoughrs of
making her his wife j but could not refolve to
do it, till the devils had, by a depilatory, taken off
the hair from her legs 3. Some * however will
have it that lhe did not marry Solomon, but a
prince of the tribe of Hamdan.
{ Who dijputed among themfelves j] Concerning
the do&rine preached by Saleh; one party believing
on him, and the other treating him g,s
an impoftor.
g Why do ye haften evil rather than good.?] i. e.
Why do ye urge and defy the divine vengeance
with which ye are threatned, inftead of averting
it by repentance ?
h We prefage evil from tbee, &c.] See chap.
7. p. 130. where the Egyptians in the fame
manner accufe Mofes as the caufe of their calamities.