529 – ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAbbād al-Makkī narrated to us; Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah reported, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Sulamī, who said: Ashras ibn al-Ḥasan informed me, from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said:

—He—so I take it to have been the prophet Jeremiah—said: “My Lord, You chose Your servant David, peace be upon him, and he built a mosque for You. Matters unfolded between You and him until he came to resemble a bride in all her finery, yet You then empowered over him one who afflicted him.

“It was said to him: ‘Suppose you were ordered to bundle up a parcel of the sun, or to measure out a bushel of the wind, or to return tomorrow; or suppose you were asked: Do you know how many gates the heaven has, how many treasure-houses belong to Allah, or how many springs lie within the sea? Or imagine the sea itself came to you to litigate against the land: the sea would say, “My waves have become many, and my springs abundant; I desire to sweep over the land.” And the land would say, “My trees have multiplied, my mountains increased, my beasts are plentiful, and my rivers abundant; I desire to lean over the sea.” Between the two of them, for which would you give judgment?’”