King David purposed to build a temple at Jerusalem, but was forbidden to do so by a divine voice, because he had been a man of blood. But, it was added, the work should be accomplished by his son Solomon, and Solomon's work would be reckoned the same as David's, in accordance with the texts, "The faithful are brethren," and "Sages are as a single soul," and "We make no distinction between any of the apostles." Accordingly, when Solomon came to the throne, he set about the building, which was attended with many miraculous circumstances, e.g., the stones in the quarry crying out and moving of themselves to the site of the temple. Bilqis, Queen of Saba, sent Solomon a present of forty camels laden with ingots of gold; but Solomon would not receive them, and sent her messengers back with a letter commanding her to abandon the worship of the sun and embrace Islam. At the same time he charged the messengers to report fully to the Queen all they had seen in his kingdom, and to urge her to comply with his commands to renounce her sovereignty and present herself in all humility at his court. As she delayed to come, Solomon again sent to assure her that he had no sinister views regarding her, and desired her attendance at his court solely for her own spiritual benefit. At last Bilqis renounced her royal state and cast away all care for worldly things, and, impelled by earnest desire to learn the true faith, presented herself at the court of King Solomon. Then Solomon commanded that the throne of Bilqis should be brought from Saba, and an 'Afrit offered to fetch it, but Asaf, the vizier anticipated him. Afterwards Solomon proceeded with the building of the temple, wherein he was assisted by devils and fairies. Then God tried Solomon by placing on his throne a false counterpart of him. His miracle working signet was stolen by a devil named Sakhar who thereupon assumed his shape and personated him for forty days, during which Solomon had to wander about and beg his bread. After this he regained his throne, and having completed the temple, began to worship therein. One day he observed that a tuft of coarse grass had sprung up in a corner of the temple, and he was greatly distressed because he thought it portended the ruin of the building, but he took comfort from the thought that while he himself lived the temple would not be allowed to fall into ruin; so long as he lived, at least, he would root up all evil weeds that threatened the safety of the temple, as well the temple built with hands as the spiritual temple in his heart. In the course of this story, which is told at great length, there occur anecdotes of the beginning of the reign of 'Othman, of the miracles of 'Abdullah Moghrabi, and others, of which abstracts are given below.

Though philosophers call man the microcosm, divines call him the macrocosm. In outward form thou art the microcosm, Seemingly the bough is the cause of the fruit, Were he not impelled by desire of fruit, Therefore in reality the tree is born from the fruit, For this cause Mustafa said, "Adam and all prophets Though to outward view I am a son of Adam, In reality I am his first forefather, Because the angels worshipped him for my sake, And 'twas in my footsteps that he ascended to heaven. Hence in reality our first parent was my offspring,

As in reality the tree is born of its own fruit." This product goes forth from heaven very swiftly, 'Tis not a long road that this caravan travels; Can the desert stop the deliverer? The heart travels to the Ka'ba every moment, Distance and nearness affect only the body, What do they matter in the place where God is? When God changes the body, Press on like a lover, and cease vain words, O son! Part of Soloman's message to Bilqis.

Report to Bilqis what marvels ye have seen, And what plains of gold belong to Solomon; How ye beheld forty mansions faced with gold, And how ye were ashamed of your presents; That she may know Solomon is not covetous of gold; The moment he wills it, every grain of earth's dust For this cause, O thou that lovest gold, Quit thy wealth, even if it be the realm of Saba; What thou callest a throne is only a prison; Thou thinkest thyself enthroned, but art outside the door.

Thou hast no sovereignty over thine own passions, How canst thou sway good and evil? Thy hair turns white without thy concurrence, Whoso bows his head to the King of kings Will receive a hundred kingdoms not of this world; But the delight of bowing down before God Will seem sweeter to thee than countless glories." Haste to renounce thy kingdom, like Ibrahim bin Adham, To obtain, like him, the kingdom of eternity. At night that king would sleep on his throne,

With his guards of state surrounding his palace, Though he needed no guards for the purpose Of warding off robbers and vagabonds; For he who is a just king knows everything, Justice is the guardian of his steps, His purpose in having this band of music was this, The wailing of horn and the thunder of drum Resemble in some sort that dread "trumpet blast." Wherefore philosophers say that we have learned The song of the spheres in their revolutions

The faithful hold that the sweet influences of heaven As we are all members of Adam, We have heard these melodies in Paradise; Though earth and water have cast their veil upon us, But while we are thus shrouded by gross earthly veils, How can the tones of the dancing spheres reach us? Hence it is that listening to music is lovers' food, The inward feelings of the mind acquire strength, Nay, are shown outwardly, under influence of music. The fire of love burns hotter under stimulus of music,

Ibrahim's abdication. Once that noble Ibrahim, as he sat on his throne, Heard a clamour and noise of cries on the roof, He said to himself, "Whose heavy feet are those?" He shouted from his window, "Who goes there? 'Tis no man's step; surely 'tis a fairy." His guards, filled with confusion, bowed their heads, Saying, "It is we who are going the rounds in search." He said, "What seek ye?" They said "Our camels" He said, "Who ever searched for camels on a housetop?"

They said, "We follow thy example, Who seekest union with God while sitting on a throne." This was all, and no man ever saw him again, His substance was hid from men, though he was with them, For what can men see save the outward aspect and dress? As he was removed from the sight of friends and strangers, His fame was noised abroad like that of the 'Anka. For the soul of every bird that reaches Mount Qaf Confers glory on the whole family of birds. l3 Solomon's preaching to the people of Bilqis. The art of preaching.

I tell the tale of Saba in lovers' style. When the breeze bore Solomon's words to that garden, 'Twas as when bodies meet souls at the resurrection, The people of love are hidden amongst the peoples, Souls are disgraced by union with bodies, Arise, O lovers; this sweet draught is yours; Ye are they that endure; eternal life is yours. Ho! ye that seek, arise and take your fill of love, Snuff up that perfume of Yusuf! Approach, O Solomon, thou that knowest birds' language,

Sound the note of every bird that draws near; When God sent, thee to the birds, To the predestinarian bird talk predestination, To the bird with broken wings preach patience, To the patient well-doer preach comfort and pardon, To the spiritual 'Anka relate the glories of Mount Qaf, To the pigeon preach avoidance of the hawk, To the lordly hawk mercy and self-control; As for the bat, who lingers helpless in the dark, Acquaint him with the society of the light;

To the fighting partridge teach peace, Solomon's admonitions to Bilqis. Ah! Bilqis, bestir thyself now the market is thronged, Flee away from them whose traffic is unprofitable! Arise, Bilqis, now that thou hast the choice, Soon will death pull thy ears, as if thou wert How long wilt thou steal shoes from asses of the world? If thou must steal, steal pearls of the world above. Thy sisters have found the kingdom that lasts forever, Happy is he who quits this earthly kingdom,

Arise! O Bilqis, at least behold The kingdom of the royal kings of the faith! In reality they are seated in the garden of the spirit, That spiritual garden accompanies them everywhere, Yet it is never revealed to the eyes of the people, Its fruits ever asking to be gathered, Its fount of life welling up to be drunk! Go round about the heavens without aid of wings, Like sun or full moon or new moon! Thou wilt move as a spirit without aid of feet,

No crocodile of sorrow will attack thy bark, Thou wilt be at once queen, army, and throne, Thou sayest thou art a great queen of good fortune; But thy fortune is apart from thee and will soon fade, Thou wilt be left like a, beggar without sustenance; Therefore, O chosen one, become thy own fortune. When, O spiritual one, thou hast become thy own fortune, Then, being thyself thy fortune, thou wilt never lose it. How. O fortunate one, canst thou ever lose thyself, When thy real self is thy treasure and thy kingdom?

When Solomon laid the foundations of the temple, Men and Jinns came and lent their aid to the work, Some of them with good-will, and others on compulsion, Men are as demons, and lust of wealth their chain, It causes them to engage in labor and the chase, It forces them to toil in mines and on the sea, God saith, "On their necks is a rope of palm fibre," And "Verily on their necks have we placed ropes,'' "We make this rope out of their own dispositions; There is none either impure or intelligent,

But we have fastened his work about his neck." Thy lust is even as fire burning in thy evil deeds; The black coal of these deeds is lighted by the fire; The blackness of the coal is first hidden by the fire, But, when it is burnt, the blackness is made visible. The building of the prophets was without lust, Yea, many are the noble temples they have raised, Though all were not named "The Most Remote Temple." The Ka'ba, whose renown waxes greater every moment, Its glory is not derived from stones and mortar,

Neither are the prophets' writings like other writings; Nor their temples, nor their works, nor their families; Nor their manners, nor their wrath, nor their chastisements; Nor their dreams, nor their reason, nor their words. Each one of them is endued with a different glory, Each soul's bird winged with different feathers. Ho! pious ones, build the lively temple of the heart, That the Divine Solomon may be seen, and peace be upon you! And if your demons and fairies be recalcitrant, If your demons go astray through guile and fraud,

Be like Solomon, so that your demons Be like Solomon, free from evil thoughts and guile, Your heart is as Solomon's signet; take good care That it falls not a prey to demons, Guard then your signet from the demons, and be at peace. Yea, all the fish in the seas, And all feathered fowl in the air above, All elephants, wolves, and lions of the forest, All dragons and snakes, and even little ants, Yea, even air, water, earth, and fire,

Draw their sustenance from Him, both winter and summer. Every moment this heaven cries to Him, saying, "O Lord, quit not Thy hold of me for a moment! The pillar of my being is Thy aid and protection; The whole is folded up in that right hand of Thine." And earth cries, "O keep me fixed and steadfast, Thou who hast placed me on the top of waters!" All of them are waiting and expecting His aid, Every prophet extols this prescription, "Seek ye help with patience and with prayer."

Ho! seek aid of Him, not of another than Him Seek water in the ocean, not in a dried-up channel. On cleansing the inward temple of the heart from self-conceit and reliance on carnal reason. When the body bows in worship, the heart is a temple, And where there is a temple, there bad friends are weeds When a liking for bad friends grows up in you, Flee from them, and avoid converse with them. Root up those weeds, for, if they attain full growth, O beloved, this weed is deviation from the "right way," You crawl crookedly, like infants unable to walk.

Fear not to acknowledge your ignorance and guilt, When you say, "I am ignorant; O teach me," O ingenuous one, learn of our father Adam, Who said of yore, "O Lord, we have dealt unjustly." He made no vain excuses and prevaricated not, On the other hand, Iblis raised arguments, saying, "I used to be honorable; Thou hast disgraced me. My stain is owing to Thee; Thou art my dyer; Thou hast caused my sin and transgression." Read the text, "Lord, Thou hast caused me to err,"

That you plead not compulsion, and so err (like Iblis). How long will you climb into that tree of compulsion? How long cast out of sight your own freewill? How long, like Iblis and his evil crew, Throw the blame of your own sins upon God? How were you compelled to sin when you took such pleasure And pride in engaging in those sins? Does a man feel such pleasure in acting on compulsion As he exhibits when committing wrong actions? You battle like twenty men against those

Who give you good advice not to do that act; Saying to them, "This is right and quite proper; Who dissuades me from it but men of no account?" Does a man acting on compulsion talk like this? Or rather one who is erring of his own freewill? Whatever your lust wills you deem freewill, Whoso is wise and prudent knows this, That cleverness comes from Iblis, but love from Adam. Cleverness is like Canaan's swimming in the ocean; 'Tis no river or small stream; 'tis the mighty ocean.

Away with this attempt to swim; quit self-conceit. 'Twill not save you; Canaan was drowned at last. Love is as the ark appointed for the righteous, Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment; Cleverness is mere opinion, bewilderment intuition. Make sacrifice of your reason at the feet of Mustafa, Say, "God Sufficeth me, for He, is sufficient for me." Do not, like Canaan, hang back from entering the ark, He said, "I will escape to the top of high mountains, Why need I put myself under obligation to Noah?"

Ah! better for him had he never learnt swimming! Then he would have based his hopes on Noah's ark. Would he had been ignorant of craft as a babe! Would he had been less full of borrowed knowledge! When, with inspiration at hand, you seek book-learning, Your heart, as if inspired, loads you with reproach. Traditional knowledge, when inspiration is available, Make yourself ignorant, be submissive, and then For this cause, O son, the Prince of men declared, "The majority of those in Paradise are the foolish."

Cleverness is as a wind raising storms of pride; Be foolish, so that your heart may be at peace; Not with the folly that doubles itself by vain babble, But with that arising from bewilderment at "The Truth." Those Egyptian women who cut their hands were fools Fools as to their hands, being amazed at Yusuf's face. Make sacrifice of reason to love of "The Friend," Men of wisdom direct their reason heavenwards, Vain babblers halt on earth where no "Friend" is. If through bewilderment your reason quits your head,