religion. They therefore acquainted him with their state; and he said to them, No harm shall befall you. And when he asked them respecting their religion, each of them was of some one of the religions prevailing before the manifestation of El-Islam, and be-fore the mission of Mohammad, may God bless and save him!wherefore the people of the ship said, We know not what thou sayest. Then the King said to them, There hath not come to us any one of the sons of Adam before you. And he entertained them with a banquet of the flesh of birds and of wild beasts and of fish, beside which they had no food. And after this, the people of the ship went down to divert themselves in the city, and they found one of the fishermen who had cast his net in the sea to catch fish, and he drew it up, and lo, in it was a bottle of brass, stopped with lead, which was sealed with the signet of Suleyman the son of Da'ud, on both of whom be peace! And the fisherman came forth and broke it; whereupon there proceeded from it a blue smoke, which united with the clouds of heaven; and they heard a horrible voice, saying, Repentance! repentance! O Prophet of God!Then, of that smoke there was formed a person of terrible aspect, of terrific make, whose head would reach [as high as] a mountain; and he dis-appeared from before their eyes. As to the people of the ship, their hearts were almost eradicated; but the blacks thought nothing of the event. And a man returned to the King, and asked him respecting this; and the King answered him, Know that this is one of the Jinn whom Suleyman the son of Da'ud, when he was incensed against them, imprisoned in these bottles, and he poured lead over them, and threw them into the sea. When the fisherman casteth his net, it generally bringeth up these bottles; and when they are broken, there cometh forth from them a Jinni, who imagineth that Suley-man is still living; wherefore he repenteth, and saith, Repentance! O Prophet of God!
And the Prince of the Faithful, 'Abd-El-Melik the son of Mar-wan, wondered at these words, and said, Extolled be the perfection of God! Suleyman was endowed with a mighty dominion!And among those who were present in that assembly was En-Nabighah Edh-Dhubyani;[1] and he said, Talib hath spoken truth in that which
- ↑ An Arab poet, who, however, died before Islam.
