and a crown studded with lofty pearls and rubies. She also sent him musk, ambergris, and aloeswood. Then she took a casket and placed in it a precious, unpierced pearl and a drilled onyx bead whose hole was crooked. She summoned a nobleman of her people named al-Mundhir ibn Amr, appointing with him several men of sound judgment and intelligence from among her people. She sent with him a letter listing the gifts, in which she wrote:

“If you are a prophet, distinguish the maidservants from the male servants; tell what is in the casket before opening it; pierce the pearl with a straight hole; and pass a thread through the drilled bead without the aid of any human or jinn.”

Bilqis then instructed the male servants, saying: “When Solomon speaks to you, address him in soft, effeminate speech resembling the speech of women.” She instructed the maidservants to address him in a coarse manner resembling the speech of men.

She then said to the envoy: “Observe the man when you enter upon him. If he looks at you with an angry gaze, then know that he is a king; do not be overawed by his appearance, for we are mightier than he. But if you find the man cheerful and gracious, then know that he is a messenger-prophet. Understand what he says and deliver the reply.”

The envoy set out with the gifts, while the hoopoe hastened back to Solomon and informed him of the entire matter. Solomon commanded the jinn to make bricks of gold and silver, and they did so. He then commanded them to lay out, from where he was to a distance of nine farsakhs, a single expanse paved with bricks of gold and silver, and to build a wall around it whose battlements were of gold and silver.

He then said: “What are the finest creatures you have seen on land and sea?” They replied: “O Prophet of Allah, we have seen creatures in such-and-such a sea, girdled and of diverse colors, with wings, manes, and forelocks.” He said: “Bring them to me at once.” So they brought them, and he said: “Tether them on the right and left sides of the expanse, upon the bricks of gold and silver, and place their fodder there.”

Then he said to the jinn: “Bring me your offspring.” A great multitude assembled, and he stationed them on the right and left sides of the expanse. Solomon then sat in his assembly on his throne, and four thousand chairs were set to his right and an equal number to his left. He commanded the devils to stand in ranks extending for farsakhs, and he commanded the humans, who likewise formed ranks extending for farsakhs. He also commanded the wild beasts, predatory animals, creeping creatures, and birds, and they formed ranks for farsakhs to his right and left.

When the people drew near to the expanse ⦗57/a⦘ and beheld Solomon’s dominion, and saw creatures the like of which their eyes had never seen relieving themselves upon the bricks of gold and silver, their spirits sank, and they cast down the gifts they had brought with them.

In some reports, when Solomon commanded that the expanse be paved with bricks of gold and silver, he ordered them to leave along their route an empty space equal to the place required for the bricks they had brought. When the envoys saw the place for the bricks empty while all the land was paved, they feared that they would be accused of taking them, so they threw what they had with them into that spot. When they saw the devils, they beheld an astonishing sight and were frightened. But the devils said to them: “Pass through; there is no harm for you.” Thus they were