all of that.” She said, “It is as you say; but whenever I remember him, the grief you see comes over me. If only you would command the devils to fashion an image of him in the house where I live, so that I might look upon it morning and evening, I would hope that this would remove my sorrow and console me for some of what I feel within myself.”

So Solomon commanded the devils, saying, “Fashion for her an image of her father in her house, so that she will find nothing unfamiliar in it.” They fashioned it for her, until she beheld her father with her own eyes, except that there was no soul in it. When they had made it, she clothed it in a waist-wrapper, a shirt, and a turban, and dressed it in garments like those he used to wear.

Then, whenever Solomon left [her house] (1), she would come to it in the morning with her slave-girls, until she and they prostrated before it, just as she had done before him during his reign. Every evening she would return and do the same. Solomon knew nothing of this for forty mornings.

This reached Asaf ibn Barkhiya, who was a man of great truthfulness. He was never refused access at Solomon’s doors: whenever he wished to enter any of his houses, he entered, whether Solomon was present or absent. He came to him and said, “O Prophet of Allah, I have grown old, my bones have become frail, my lifespan is nearly spent, and my departure is at hand. Before death, I would like to address an assembly in which I may mention the Prophets of Allah who have gone before, praise them according to my knowledge of them, and teach people some of the many matters concerning them which they do not know.”

Solomon said, “Do so.” So Solomon gathered the people for him, and he rose to address them. He mentioned the Prophets of Allah, exalted is He, who had gone before, praising every prophet for the virtues Allah had granted him, until he came to Solomon. He said, “How forbearing you were in your youth; ⦗103/a⦘ how scrupulous you were in your youth; how excellent you were in your youth; how sound your judgment was in your youth; and how far removed you were in your youth from everything you detested.” Then he departed.

Solomon, peace be upon him, took this so much to heart that he was filled with anger. When Solomon entered his house, he sent for him and said, “O Asaf, you mentioned the Prophets of Allah who had gone before and praised them well throughout every period of their lives and in every state of their affairs. But when you mentioned me, you began praising me for the good in my youth, and said nothing of the rest of my affairs in my old age. What have I done in the latter part of my life?”

He replied, “Other than Allah has been worshipped in your house for forty mornings, in compliance with a woman’s desire.”

He said, “In my house?”

He replied, “In your house.”

He said, “To Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return. I knew that you only said what you said because something had reached you.” Then Solomon returned to his house, broke that idol, and punished that woman and her slave-girls. He then ordered the garments of ritual purity to be brought. These were garments spun only by virgins, woven only by virgins, and washed only by virgins; no woman who had menstruated had touched them.

He put them on and went alone into a desolate tract of land. He ordered ashes to be spread out for him, then turned to Allah, exalted is He, in repentance. He sat upon those ashes and rolled in them while clothed, humbling himself before Allah, exalted is He, and beseeching Him. He wept, supplicated, and sought forgiveness for what had taken place in his house. He remained thus throughout the day until evening, then returned to his house.

He had a slave-concubine who had borne him a child, called al-Aminah. Whenever he entered the privy, or wished to have relations with one of his wives, he would leave his ring with her until he had purified himself. He would not touch his ring unless he was in a state of ritual purity, for his kingdom was bound to his ring. One day he left it with her and entered the privy. Then the devil of the sea, whose name was Sakhr, came to her in the likeness of Solomon, with nothing about him that she found unfamiliar. He said, “My ring, Aminah!” So she handed it to him. He placed it on his hand and went out until he sat upon Solomon’s throne. The birds, jinn, and men gathered around him.

Solomon came out and approached al-Aminah, but his condition and appearance had been altered in the sight of everyone who saw him. He said, “O Aminah, my ring!”

She said, “Who are you?”

He said, “I am Solomon son of David.”

She said, “You are lying. Solomon has come, taken his ring, and is sitting upon the throne of his kingdom.”

Solomon then knew that his sin had caught up with him. He went out and stood at the door of each house among the houses of the Children of Israel, saying, “I am Solomon son of David.” But they threw dust at him, insulted him, and said, “Look at this madman! What is he saying? He claims to be Solomon.”

When Solomon saw this, he went to the sea. There he carried fish for the fishermen to the market, and they gave him two fish each day. In the evening, he would sell one of the two fish for loaves of bread, roast the other, and eat it. He remained in this state for forty mornings, corresponding to the period during which the idol had been worshipped in his house.

Asaf and the leading men of the Children of Israel disapproved of the judgments issued by the enemy of Allah, the devil, during those forty days. Asaf said, “O assembly of the Children of Israel, have you observed, as I have, how the judgments of the son of David have changed?”

They replied, “Yes.”

He said, “Give me time until I enter upon his wives and ask them whether they have noticed in his private conduct what we have noticed in his public conduct and dealings with the people.” So he entered upon his wives and said, “Woe to you! Have you noticed concerning the son of David what we have noticed?”

They replied, “The worst of it is that he has relations with us while we are menstruating, and he does not bathe after sexual impurity.”

He said, “To Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return. This is indeed the manifest trial.” Then he went out to the Children of Israel and said, “What is found in his private conduct is graver than what is found in his public conduct.”

When forty mornings had passed, the devil flew away from his seat. He then passed over the sea and threw the ring into it. A fish swallowed it, and one of the fishermen caught that fish. Solomon had worked for that fisherman earlier that day, and when evening came, he gave him his two fish, one of them being the fish that had swallowed the ring. Solomon left with his two fish, sold the one in whose belly there was no ring for loaves of bread, then took the other fish and cut it open in order to roast it. There, in its belly, he found his ring. He took it, placed it on his hand, and fell prostrate. The birds and jinn gathered around him, and the people came to him. He understood that the affliction which had befallen him was due to what had occurred in his house.

He returned to his kingdom and openly repented of his sin. He commanded the devils, saying, “Bring me Sakhr.” The devils searched for him until they seized him. He was brought before Solomon, and they brought him a rock. Solomon hollowed it out, placed him inside it, covered it with another rock, and bound them securely with iron and lead. Then he commanded that he be cast into the sea. This is Wahb’s account. (2)

Al-Hasan said, “Allah would not have given the devil power over his wives.”

Al-Suddi said: The cause of Solomon’s trial was that he had one hundred wives. One of them, called Jaradah, was the most beloved of his wives and the one he trusted most. He would entrust his ring to her whenever he went to relieve himself. One day she said to him, “My brother has a dispute with so-and-so, and I would like you to judge in his favor when he comes before you.”

He said, “Yes,” but did not do so, and thus he was tested because of his statement. He gave her his ring and entered the privy. Then the devil came in his likeness (3), took it, and sat in Solomon’s seat. Solomon, peace be upon him, came out and asked her for his ring. She said, “Did you not take it?” He said, “No,” and went away.

The devil remained for forty days judging between the people, and they disapproved of his judgments. The reciters and scholars of the Children of Israel gathered until they entered upon his wives and said, “We have found this objectionable. If this is Solomon, then he has lost his mind.” At that, the women wept. Then they came and surrounded him, opened the Torah, and read it. He flew away from before them until he landed upon a parapet, carrying the ring with him. He then flew away to the sea, and the ring fell from him into it. A great fish swallowed it.

Solomon came to one of the sea fishermen, suffering from severe hunger, and asked him for food from his catch, saying, “I am Solomon.” One of them rose against him, struck him with a staff, and wounded his head. He began washing his blood at the seashore. The fishermen reproached the man who had struck him and gave him two fish of those that had spoiled among them. (4) He split open their bellies and began washing them, when he found his ring in the belly of one of them. He put it on, and Allah restored to him his kingdom and splendor.

The birds hovered above him, and the people recognized that he was Solomon. They rose to apologize for what they had done. He said, “I neither commend you for your apology nor blame you for what you did. This was a matter destined to occur; there was no escaping it.” Then he came to his kingdom and ordered that the devil who had taken his ring be brought. He placed him in an iron chest, locked it with a lock, sealed it with his ring, and commanded that he be cast into the sea alive, where he will remain until the Hour. (5)

In some ⦗103/b⦘ reports, it is related that when Solomon was tried, the ring in which his kingdom lay fell from his hand. Solomon put it back on his hand, but it fell again, and he became certain of the trial. He went to Asaf, who said to him, “You have been tried because of your sin, and the ring will not remain secure on your hand [for fourteen days]. Flee to Allah in repentance, for I shall take your place and conduct affairs according to your way until Allah accepts your repentance.”

So Solomon fled to his Lord, while Asaf took the ring and placed it upon his finger, where it remained secure; and so he was—