soul. But David spent all his time in reading the Law. The angel stood
before him, and watched that his lips should cease moving, for he might
not interrupt him in this sacred work. But David made no pause. Then
the angel went into the garden which was behind the house, and shook
violently one of the trees. David heard the noise, and turned his head,
and saw that the branches of one of his trees were violently agitated,
but no leaf stirred on the other trees; so he closed the book of the
Law, and went into his garden, and set a ladder against the tree and
ascended into it, that he might see what was agitating the leaves. Then
the angel withdrew the ladder, but David knew it not; so he fell and
broke his neck, and died. It was the Sabbath day. Then Solomon doubted
what he should do, for the body of his father was exposed to the sun,
and to the dogs; and he did not venture to remove it, lest he should
profane the Sabbath; so he sent to the Rabbis, and said, “My father is
dead, and exposed to the sun, and to be devoured by dogs; what shall I
do?”
They answered, “Cast the body of a beast before the dogs, and place
bread or a boy upon thy father, and bury him.”[647]
David had such a beautiful voice, that, when he sang the praises of
God, the birds came from all quarters and surrounded him, listening
to his strains. The mountains even and the hills were moved at his
notes.[648] He could sing with a voice as loud as the most deafening
peal of thunder, or warble as sweetly as the tuneful nightingale.
He divided his time, say the Mussulmans, into three parts. One day
he occupied himself in the affairs of his kingdom, the second day he
devoted to the service of God, and the third day he gave up to the
society of his wives.
As he was going home from prayer, one day, he heard two of his servants
discussing him and comparing him with Abraham.
“Was not Abraham saved from a fiery furnace?” asked one.
“Did not David slay the giant Goliath?” asked the other.
“But what has David done that will compare with the obedience of
Abraham, who was ready to offer his only son to God?” asked the first.
When David reached home, he fell down before God and prayed: “Lord!
Thou who didst give to Abraham a trial of his obedience in the pyre,
grant that an opportunity may be afforded me of proving before all the
people how great also is mine.”[649]
But others relate this differently. They say that David besought the
Lord to endue him with the spirit of prophecy. Then God answered, “When
I give great gifts, he who receives them must suffer great trials.
I proved Abraham by the fire, and by the sacrifice of one son, and
separation from others; Jacob by his children; Joseph by the well
and the prison; Moses by Pharaoh; Job by the worms. I afflicted all
these, but thee have I not afflicted.” But David said, “O Lord, prove
me and try me also, that I may obtain the same degree of celebrity as
they.”[650]
One day, as David sang psalms before God and the congregation, a
beautiful bird appeared at the window, and it attracted his whole
attention, so that he could scarcely sing. David concluded his
recitation of the psalms earlier than usual, and went in pursuit of the
bird, which led him from bush to bush, and from tree to tree, till it
suddenly disappeared near a secluded lake. Now this bird was Eblis, and
he came to tempt David into evil.
When the bird vanished, David saw in the water a beautiful woman,
bathing, and when she stood up, her hair covered her whole person.
David hid behind the bushes, that he might not startle her, till she
was dressed; then he stood forth, and asked her her name.
“My name,” said she, “is Bathsheba,[651] daughter of Joshua, and wife
of Uriah, son of Hanan, who is with the army.”[652]
Then David departed, but his heart was inflamed with love, and he sent
a message to Joab, the captain of his host, to set Uriah before the
ark in every battle. Now those who went before the ark must conquer or
fall. Three times Uriah came out of battle victorious, but the fourth
time he was killed.
Then David took Uriah’s wife to his own house and made her his own
wife. And she consented upon the condition that should she bear him a
son, that son was to succeed him in the kingdom. Now David had, before
he married her, ninety-nine wives. The day after his marriage, Michael
and Gabriel appeared before him in human form, as he was in his court,
and Gabriel said to him; “This fellow here possesses ninety and nine
sheep, but I have only one, and that I love, and cherish in my bosom.
This man claims my little ewe lamb, and will take it from me, and, if
I will not give it him, he says that he will slay me; and take my lamb
from me by force.”
Then David’s anger was kindled against Michael, and he said, “Thou who
hast so many sheep, wherefore lustest thou after the poor man’s ewe
lamb? Thou hast an evil heart and an insatiable spirit.”
Then Michael exclaimed, “Thou hast given judgment against thyself: what
thou rebukest in this man, thou hast allowed thyself to do!”[653]
And David knew that God had sent His angels to rebuke him, and he fell
upon his face to the ground. But, some say, he drew his sword and
rushed upon Michael: then Gabriel held him back, and said, “Thou didst
ask to be tried; now thou hast fallen under the temptation.”[654]
Then the angels vanished, and David fell to the ground, tore off his
purple robe, cast aside his golden crown, and wept, for forty days and
forty nights. And his tears flowed in such abundance, that every now
and then he plunged a cup into them and drank it off.
At the expiration of forty days Gabriel came to him, and said, “The
Lord salutes thee!” But David felt this was an additional reproach, and
he wept still more. It is said that during the ensuing forty days and
nights David shed more tears than Adam and all his descendants had, and
will, shed from the day of the Fall to the day of the Resurrection.
Then God sent Gabriel to him again, and Gabriel said, “The Lord salutes
thee!” But David lifted his tearful face and said, “O Gabriel, what
will Uriah say to me on the day of the general Resurrection?”
Gabriel answered, “The Lord will give him so great an inheritance in
Paradise, that he will not have the heart to reproach thee.”
Then David knew that he was pardoned, and he rejoiced greatly. But he
never forgot his sins. He wrote them on the palm of his hand, that he
might have them always before him; therefore he says, “My shame is ever
before mine eyes.”
Nevertheless David’s heart was lifted up with pride, when he considered
that he was a king, a prophet, and a great general. And one day he said
to Nathan, “I think I am perfect, I have every thing.”
“Not so,” answered Nathan, “thou exercisest no handicraft.”
Then David was ashamed, and he asked God to teach him a craft; and God
made him skilful in fabricating coats of mail of rings twined together;
his trade therefore was that of an armorer, and his disgrace was wiped
away.
After his judgment between the two angels, David had no confidence in
giving sentence in cases pleaded before him; therefore God sent him, by
the hand of Gabriel, a reed of iron and a little bell, and the angel
said to him, “God is pleased with thy humility, and He has sent thee
this reed and this bell to assist thee in giving judgment. Place this
reed in thy judgment-hall, and hang up the bell in the middle, and
place the accuser on one side, and the accused on the other, and give
sentence in favor of him who makes the bell to tinkle when he touches
the reed.”
David was highly pleased with his gift, and he gave such righteous
judgment, that men feared, throughout the land, to do wrong to one
another.
One day, two men came before David, and one said, “I left a goodly
pearl in the charge of this man, and when I asked for it again, he
denied it me.”
But the other said, “I have returned it to him.”
Then David bade each lay his hand on the reed, but the bell gave the
same indication for both. Then David thought, “They both speak the
truth, and yet that cannot be; the gift of God must err.”
Then he bade the men try again, and the result was the same. However,
he observed that the defendant, when he went up to the reed to lay his
hand upon it, gave his walking staff to the plaintiff to hold, and
this he did each time, so that David’s suspicion was awakened, and he
took the staff, and examined it, and found that it was hollow, and the
stolen pearl was concealed in the handle. Thus the bell had given right
judgment, for when the accused touched the reed, he had returned the
pearl into the hand of the accuser; but David by his doubt in the reed
displeased Him who gave it, and the reed and the bell were taken from
him.
After that, David often gave wrong judgment till Solomon, his son, was
of age to advise him.
One day, when Solomon was aged thirteen, there came two men before
the king. The first said, “I sold a house and cellar to this man,
and on digging in the cellar he found a treasure hidden there by my
forefathers. I sold him the house and cellar but not the treasure. Bid
him restore to me what he has found.”
But the other said, “Not so. He sold me the house, the cellar, and all
its contents.”
Then King David said, “Let the treasure be divided, and let half go to
one, and half go to the other.”
But Solomon stood up and said to the plaintiff, “Hast thou not a son?”
He said, “I have.”
Then said Solomon to the defendant, “Hast thou not a daughter?” He
answered, “I have.”
“Then,” said Solomon, “give thy daughter to the son of this man who
sold thee the house, and let the treasure go as a marriage gift to thy
daughter and his son.” And all applauded this judgment.
On another occasion, a husbandman came before the judgment-seat to lay
complaint against a herdsman, whose sheep had broken into his field,
and had pastured on his young wheat.
Then King David said, “Let some of the sheep be given to the
husbandman.”
But Solomon stood up, and said, “Not so; let the husbandman have the
wool, and the milk of the flock, till the wheat is grown up again as it
was before the sheep destroyed it.”
And all wondered at his wisdom.
But the king’s elders and councillors were filled with envy, because
this child’s opinion was preferred before theirs; and they complained
to King David.
Then David said, “Call an assembly of the people, and prove Solomon
before them, whether he be learned in the Law, and whether he have
understanding and wit.”
So the people were assembled, and the elders took council together how
they might perplex him with hard questions. But or ever they asked him,
he answered what they had devised, and they were greatly confounded,
so that the people supposed this was a preconcerted scene arranged
by the king. Then, when the elders were silenced, Solomon turned to
their chief, and said, “I too will prove you with questions. What you
have asked me have been trials of my learning, but what I will ask you
shall put to proof the readiness of your wits. What is all, and what is
nothing? What is something, and what is naught?”
The elder was silent; he thought, but he knew not what was the answer.
And all the people perplexed themselves to discover the riddle, but
they could not. Then said Solomon, “God is all, and the world He made
is as nothing before Him. The faithful is something, but the hypocrite
is naught.”
Thereupon he turned to a second, and he said: “What are most and what
are fewest? What is the sweetest, and what is the bitterest?” But
when the second could find no solution to these questions, Solomon
answered, “Most men are unbelievers, the fewest have true faith. The
sweetest thing is the possession of a virtuous wife, good children,
and a competence; the bitterest thing is to have a disreputable wife,
disorderly children, and penury.”
Then Solomon turned to a third elder and asked: “What is the most
odious sight, and what is the most beautiful sight? What is the surest
thing, and what is that which is most insecure?”
And when this elder also was unable to give an answer, Solomon
interpreted his riddle once more, “The most odious sight is to see a
righteous man fall away; the most beautiful sight is to see a sinner
repent. The surest thing is death, the most insecure thing is life.”
After that Solomon said to all the people, “Ye see that the oldest
and the most learned men are not always the wisest. True wisdom comes
not with years, nor is derived from books, but is a gift of God the
All-wise.”
Solomon by his words threw the whole assembly into astonishment, and
all the heads of the people cried with one voice, “Praised be the Lord,
who has given to our king a son who surpasses all in wisdom, and who is
worthy to ascend the throne of his father David.”
And David thanked God that He had given him such a wise son, and now he
desired but one thing further of God, and that was to see him who was
to be his companion in Paradise; for to every man is allotted by God
one man to be his friend and comrade in the Land of Bliss.
So David prayed to God, and his prayer was heard, and a voice fell
from heaven and bade him confer the kingdom upon his son Solomon, and
then to go forth, and the Lord would lead him to the place where his
companion dwelt.
David therefore had his son Solomon crowned king, and then he went
forth out of Jerusalem, and he was in pilgrim’s garb, with a staff in
his hand; and he went from city to city, and from village to village,
but he found not the man whom he sought. One day, after the lapse
of many weeks, he drew near to a village upon the borders of the
Mediterranean Sea, and alongside of him walked a poorly dressed man
laden with a heavy bundle of fagots. This man was very old and reverend
of aspect, and David watched him. He saw him dispose of his wood and
then give half the money he had obtained by the sale of it to a poor
person. After that he bought a piece of bread and retired from the
town. As he went, there passed a blind woman, and the old man broke his
bread in half, and gave one portion to the woman; and he continued his
course till he reached the mountains from which he had brought his load
in the morning.
David thought, “This man well deserves to be my companion for eternity,
for he is pious, charitable, and reverend of aspect: I must ask his
name.”
He went after the old man, and he found him in a cave among the rocks,
which was lighted by a rent above. David stood without and heard the
hermit pray, and read the Tora and the Psalms, till the sun went down.
Then he lighted a lamp and began his evening prayers; and when they
were finished, he drew forth the piece of bread, and ate the half of it.
David, who had not ventured to interrupt the devotions of the old
hermit, now entered the cave and saluted him.
The hermit asked, “Who art thou? I have seen no man here before, save
only Mata, son of Johanna, the companion destined to King David in
Paradise.”
David told his name, and asked after this Mata. But the aged man could
give him no information of his whereabouts. “But,” said he, “go over
these mountains, and observe well what thou lightest upon, and it may
be thou wilt find Mata.”
David thanked him, and continued his search. For long it was
profitless. He traversed the stony dales and the barren mountains, and
saw no trace of human foot. At last, just as hope was abandoning him,
on the summit of a rugged peak he saw a wet spot. Then he stood still
in surprise. “How comes there to be a patch of soft and sloppy ground
here?” he asked; “the topmost peak of a stony mountain is not the place
where springs bubble up.”
As he thus mused, an aged man came up the other side of the mountain.
His eyes were depressed to the earth, so that he saw not David. And
when he came to the wet patch, he stood still, and prayed with such
fervor, that rivulets of tears flowed out of his eyes, and sank into
the soil; and thus David learnt how it was that the mountain-top was
wet.
Then David thought, “Surely this man, whose eyes are such copious
fountains of tears, must be my companion in Paradise.”
Yet he ventured not to interrupt him in his prayer, till he heard him
ask, “O my God! pardon King David his sins, and save him from further
trespass! for my sake be merciful to him, for Thou hast destined him to
be my comrade for all eternity!”
Then David ran towards him, but the old man tottered and fell, and
before the king reached him he was dead.
So David dug into the ground which had been moistened by the tears of
Mata, and laid him there, and said the funeral prayer over him, and
covered him with the earth, and then returned to Jerusalem.
And when he came into his harem, the Angel of Death stood there and
greeted him with the words, “God has heard thy supplications; now has
thy life reached its end.”
Then David said, “The Lord’s will be done!” and he fell down upon the
ground, and expired.
Gabriel descended to comfort Solomon, and to give him a heavenly shroud
in which to wrap David. And all Israel followed the bier to Machpelah,
where Solomon laid him by the side of Abraham and Joseph.[655]
It will doubtless interest the reader to have an English version of
the Psalm supposed to have been composed by David after the slaying of
Goliath, which is not included in the Psalter, as it is supposed to be
apocryphal.
PSALM CLI. (_Pusillus eram_).
1. I was small among my brethren; and growing up in my father’s house,
I kept my father’s sheep.
2. My hands made the organ: and my fingers shaped the psaltery.
3. And who declared unto my Lord! He, the Lord, He heard all things.
4. He sent His angel, and He took me from my father’s sheep; He
anointed me in mercy with His unction.
5. Great and goodly are my brethren: but with them the Lord was not
well pleased.
6. I went to meet the stranger: and he cursed me by all his idols.
7. But I smote off his head with his own drawn sword: and I blotted out
the reproach of Israel.
This simple and beautiful psalm does not exist in Hebrew, but is found
in Greek, in some psalters of the Septuagint version, headed “A Psalm
of David when he had slain Goliath.” S. Athanasius mentions it with
praise, in his address to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the
Psalms, and in the Synopsis of Holy Scripture. It was versified in
Greek in A. D. 360, by Apollinarius Alexandrinus.[656]
[Illustration]
The subjoined shield of David is given in a Hebrew book on the
properties and medicaments of things. It is said to be a certain
protection against fire. A cake of bread must be made, and on it must
be impressed the seal or shield of David, having in the corner the
word ט״יר, and in the middle אנ״לא (Thou art mighty to everlasting, O
Jehovah); and it must be cast aside into the fire with the words of
Psalm cvi. 30, “_Then stood up Phinees and prayed; and so the plague
ceased_;” and also Exod. xii. 27, “_It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s
passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in
Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our homes._”[657]
XXXVIII.
SOLOMON.[658]
1. HOW SOLOMON OBTAINED POWER.
After Solomon had executed the last offices for his father, he rested
in a dale betwixt Hebron and Jerusalem, and fell asleep. As he returned
to himself, there stood before him eight angels, each with countless
wings, diverse in kinds and colors; and the angels bowed themselves
before him three times.
“Who are ye?” asked Solomon, with eyes still closed.
“We are the angels ruling over the eight winds of heaven,” was their
reply. “God hath sent us to give thee dominion over ourselves and
over the winds subject to us. They will storm and bluster, or breathe
softly, at thy pleasure. At thy command they will swoop down on earth,
and bear thee over the highest mountains.”
The greatest of the angels gave him a jewel inscribed with “God is
Power and Greatness,” and said, “When thou hast a command for us, then
raise this stone towards heaven, and we shall appear before thee as thy
servants.”
When these angels had taken their departure, there appeared four more,
of whom each was unlike the other. One was in fashion as a great whale,
another as an eagle, the third as a lion, and the fourth as a serpent.
And they said, “We are they who rule over all the creatures that move
in the earth, and air, and water; and God hath sent us to give thee
dominion over all creatures, that they may serve thee and thy friends
with all good, and fight against thine enemies with all their force.”
The angel who ruled over the winged fowls extended to Solomon a
precious stone, with the inscription, “Let all creatures praise the
Lord!” and said, “By virtue of this stone, raised above thy head, canst
thou call us to thy assistance, and to fulfil thy desire.”
Solomon immediately ordered the angels to bring before him a pair of
every living creature that moves in the water, flies in the air, and
walks or glides or creeps on the earth.
The angels vanished, and in an instant they were before Solomon once
more, and there were assembled in his sight pairs of every creature,
from the elephant to the smallest fly.
Solomon conversed with the angels, and was instructed by them in the
habits, virtues, and names of all living creatures; he listened to
the complaints of the beasts, birds, and fishes, and by his wisdom he
rectified many evil customs among them.
He entertained himself longest with the birds, both on account of their
beautiful speech, which he understood, and also because of the wise
sentences which they uttered.
This is the signification of the cry of the peacock: “With what measure
thou judgest others, thou shalt thyself be judged.”
This is the song of the nightingale: “Contentment is the greatest
happiness.”
The turtle dove calls, “Better were it for some created things that
they had never been created.”
The peewit pipes, “He that hath no mercy, will not find mercy himself.”
The bird syrdar cries, “Turn to the Lord, ye sinners!”
The swallow screams, “Do good, and ye shall receive a reward.”
This is the pelican’s note: “Praise the Lord in heaven and earth.”
The dove chants, “The fashion of this world passeth away, but God
remaineth eternal.”
The kata says, “Silence is the best safeguard.”
The cry of the eagle is, “However long life may be, yet its inevitable
term is death.”
The croak of the raven is, “The further from man, the happier I.”
The cock crows before the dawn and in the day, “Remember thy Creator, O
thoughtless man!”
Solomon chose the cock and the peewit to be his constant
companions--the first because of its cry, and the second because it can
see through the earth as through glass, and could therefore tell him
where fountains of water were to be found.
After he had stroked the dove, he bade her dwell with her young in the
temple he was about to build to the honor of the Most High. This pair
of doves, in a few years, multiplied to such an extent, that all who
sought the temple moved through the quarter of the town it occupied
under the shadow of the wings of doves.
When Solomon was again alone, an angel appeared to him, whose upper
half was like to earth, and whose lower half was like to water. He
bowed himself before the king, and said, “I am created by God to do His
will on the dry land and in the watery sea. Now, God has sent me to
serve thee, and thou canst rule over earth and water. At thy command
the highest mountains will be made plain, and the level land will rise
into steep heights. Rivers and seas will dry up, and the desert will
stream with water at thy command.” Then he gave to him a precious
stone, with the legend engraved thereon, “Heaven and earth serve God.”
Finally, an angel presented to him another stone, whereon was cut,
“There is no God save God, and Mohammed is the messenger of God.”
“By means of this stone,” said the angel, “thou shalt have dominion
over the whole world of spirits, which is far greater than that of
men and beasts, and occupies the space between earth and heaven. One
portion of the spirits is faithful, and praises the One only God; the
other portion is unfaithful: some adore fire, others the sun, others
worship the planets, many revere winter. The good spirits surround the
true believers among men, and protect them from all evil; the evil
spirits seek to injure them and deceive them.”
Solomon asked to see the Jinns in their natural and original shape. The
angel shot like a column of flame into heaven, and shortly returned
with the Satans and Jinns in great hosts: and Solomon, though he had
power over them, shuddered with disgust at their loathsome appearance.
He saw men’s heads attached to the necks of horses, whose feet were
those of an ass; the wings of an eagle attached to the hump of a
dromedary; the horns of a gazelle on the head of a peacock.[659]
2. HOW SOLOMON FEASTED ALL FLESH.