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Story Of The City Of BrassIdol of Red Carnelian
Idol of Red Carnelian
There belonged to one of the sons of Iblis an idol of red carnelian, of
which I was made guardian; and there used to worship it one of the Kings of
the sea, of illustrious dignity, of great glory, leading, among his troops of
the Jann, a million warriors who smote with swords before him, and who
answered his prayer in cases of difficulty. These Jann who obeyed him were
under my command and authority, following my words when I ordered them: all of
them were in rebellion against Suleyman the son of Da`ud (on both of whom be
peace!); and I used to enter the body of the idol, and command them and forbid
them. Now the daughter of that King was a frequent adorer of the idol,
assiduous in the worship of it, and she was the handsomest of the people of
her age, endowed with beauty and loveliness, and elegance and perfection; and
I described her to Suleyman, on whom be peace!
So he sent to her father, saying to him, Marry to me thy daughter and
break thy carnelian-idol, and bear witness that there is no deity but God,
and that Suleyman is the Prophet of God. If thou do so, thy due shall be the
same as our due, and thy debt as our debt. But if thou refuse, I bring against
thee forces with which thou hast not power to contend: therefore prepare an
answer to the question,^6 and put on the garment of death; for I will come to
thee with forces that shall fill the vacant region, and leave thee like
yesterday that hath passed. - And when the messenger of Suleyman (on whom be
peace!) came to him, he was insolent and contumacious, and magnified himself
and was proud. Then he said to his wezirs, What say ye respecting the affair
of Suleyman the son of Da`ud? For he hath sent demanding my daughter, and
commanding me to break my carnelian-idol, and to adopt his faith. - And they
replied, O great King, can Suleyman do unto thee that, when thou art in the
midst of this vast sea? If he come unto thee, he cannot prevail against thee;
since the Marids of the Jinn will fight on thy side; and thou shalt seek aid
against him of thine idol that thou worshippest; for he will aid thee against
him and will defend thee. The right opinion is, that thou consult thy lord
(and they meant by him the red carnelian-idol), and hear what will be his
reply: if he counsel thee to fight him, fight him; but otherwise, do not. -
And upon this the King went immediately, and, going in to his idol, after he
had offered a sacrifice and slain victims, fell down before it prostrate, and
began to weep, and to recite these verses: -
[Footnote 6: On the day of judgment.]
O my lord, verily I know thy dignity; and, behold, Suleyman desireth to break
thee.
O my lord, verily I seek thy defence: command then; for I am obedient to thy
command.
(Then that `Efrit, the half of whom was in the pillar, said to the sheykh
`Abd-Es-Samad, while those around him listened,) And thereupon I entered
the body of the idol, by reason of my ignorance, and the paucity of my sense,
and my solicitude respecting the affair of Suleyman, and recited this
couplet: -
As for me, I am not in fear of him; for I am acquainted with everything.
If he wish to wage war with me, I will go forth, and I will snatch his soul
from him.
So when the King heard my reply to him, his heart was strengthened, and he
determined to wage war with Suleyman the Prophet of God (on whom be peace!)
and to fight against him. Accordingly, when the messenger of Suleyman came, he
inflicted upon him a painful beating, and returned him a shameful reply; and
he sent to threaten Suleyman, saying to him, by the messenger, Thy mind hath
suggested to thee desires. Dost thou threaten me with false words? Either come
thou to me, or I will go to thee.
Then the messenger returned to Suleyman, and acquainted him with all that
had occurred and happened to him. And when the Prophet of God, Suleyman, heard
that, [it was as though] his resurrection took place;^7 his resolution was
roused, and he prepared his forces, consisting of Jinn and men, and wild
beasts, and birds and reptiles. He commanded his Wezir Ed-Dimiryat, the King
of the Jinn, to collect the Marids of the Jinn from every place: so he
collected for him, of the Devils, six hundred millions. He also commanded Asaf
the son of Barkhiya [his Wezir of men] to collect his soldiers of mankind; and
their number was one million or more. He made ready the accoutrements and
weapons, and mounted, with his forces of the Jinn and of mankind, upon the
carpet, with the birds flying over his head, and the wild beasts beneath the
carpet marching, until he alighted upon his enemy`s coast, and surrounded his
island, having filled the land with the forces. He then sent to our King,
saying to him, Behold, I have arrived: therefore repel from thee that which
hath come down, or else submit thyself to my authority, and acknowledge my
mission, and break thine idol, and worship the One, the Adored God, and marry
to me thy daughter according to law, and say thou, and those who are with
thee, I testify that there is no deity but God, and I testify that Suleyman is
the Prophet of God. If thou say that, peace and safety shall be thy lot. But
if thou refuse, thy defending thyself from me in this island shall not prevent
thee: for God (whose name be blessed and exalted!) hath commanded the wind to
obey me, and I will order it to convey me unto thee on the carpet, and will
make thee an example to restrain others. - So the messenger came to him, and
communicated to him the message of the Prophet of God, Suleyman, on whom be
peace! But the King said to him, There is no way for the accomplishment of
this thing that he requireth of me: therefore inform him that I am coming
forth unto him. Accordingly the messenger returned to Suleyman, and gave him
the reply. The King then sent to the people of his country, and collected for
himself, of the Jinn that were under his authority, a million; and to these he
added others, of the Marids and Devils that were in the islands of the seas
and on the tops of the mountains; after which he made ready his forces, and
opened the armouries, and distributed to them the weapons. And as the Prophet
of God, Suleyman (on whom be peace!), he disposed his troops, commanding the
wild beasts to form themselves into two divisions, on the right of the people
and on their left, and commanding the birds to be upon the islands. He ordered
them also, when the assault should be made, to tear out the eyes of their
antagonists with their beaks, and to beat their faces with their wings; and he
ordered the wild beasts to tear in pieces their horses; and they replied, We
hear and obey God and thee, O Prophet of God! Then Suleyman, the Prophet of
God, set for himself a couch of alabaster adorned with jewels, and plated with
plates of red gold, and he placed his Wezir Asaf the son of Barkhiya on the
right side, and his Wezir Ed-Dimiryat on the left side, and the Kings of
mankind on his right, and the Kings of the Jinn on his left, and the wild
beasts and the vipers and serpents before him.
[Footnote 7: I. e., his passion rose.]
After this, they came upon us all together, and we contended with him in
a wide tract for a period of two days; and calamity befell us on the third
day, and the decree of God (whose name be exalted!) was executed among us. The
first who charged upon Suleyman were I and my troops; and I said to my
companions, Keep in your places in the battlefield while I go forth to them
and challenge Ed-Dimiryat. And, lo, he came forth, like a great mountain,
his fires flaming, and his smoke ascending; and he approached, and smote me
with a flaming fire; and his arrow prevailed over my fire. He cried out at me
with a prodigious cry, so that I imagined the heaven had fallen and closed
over me, and the mountains shook at his voice. Then he commanded his
companions, and they charged upon us all together: we also charged upon them,
and we cried out, one to another: the fires rose and the smoke ascended, the
hearts of the combatants were almost cleft asunder, and the battle raged. The
birds fought in the air; and the wild beasts in the dust; and I contented with
Ed-Dimiryat until he wearied me and I wearied him; after which I became
weak, and my companions and troops were enervated, and my tribes were routed.
The Prophet of God, Suleyman, cried out, Take ye this great tyrant, the ill -
omened, the infamous! And the men charged upon the men, and the Jinn upon the
Jinn; defeat befell our King, and we became unto Suleyman a spoil. His troops
charged upon our forces, with the wild beasts on their right and left, and the
birds were over our heads, tearing out the eyes of the people, sometimes with
their talons and sometimes with their beaks, and somhtimes they beat with
their wings upon the faces of the combatants, while the wild beasts bit the
horses and tore in pieces the men, until the greater portion of the party lay
upon the face of the earth like the trunks of palm-trees. As to me, I flew
from before Ed-Dimiryat; but he followed me a journey of three months, until
he overtook me. I had fallen down through fatigue, and he rushed upon me, and
made me a prisoner. So I said to him, By Him who hath exalted thee and abased
me, pity me, and take me before Suleyman, on whom be peace! But when I came
before Suleyman, he met me in a most evil manner: he caused this pillar to be
brought, and hollowed it, and put me in it, and sealed me with his signet;
after which, he chained me, and Ed-Dimiryat conveyed me to this place, where
he set me down as thou seest me; and this pillar is my prison until the day of
resurrection. He charged a great king to guard me in this prison, and I am in
this condition tortured as thou seest me.
The party therefore wondered at him, and at the horrible nature of his
form; and the Emir Musa said, There is no deity but God! Suleyman was endowed
with a mighty dominion! - And the sheykh `Abd-Es-Samad said to the `Efrit,
O thou, I ask thee concerning a thing of which do thou inform us. The `Efrit
replied, Ask concerning what thou wilt. And the sheykh said, Are there in this
place any of the `Efrits confined in bottles of brass from the time of
Suleyman, on whom be peace? He answered, Yes, in the Sea of El-Karkar, where
are a people of the descendants of Nuh (on whom be peace!), whose country the
deluge reached not, and they are separated there from [the rest of] the sons
of Adam. - And where, said the sheykh, is the way to the City of Brass, and
the place wherein are the bottles? What distance is there between us and it? -
The `Efrit answered, It is near. So the party left him, and proceeded; and
there appeared to them a great black object, with two [seeming] fires
corresponding with each other in position, in the distance, in that black
object; whereupon the Emir Musa said to the sheykh, What is this great black
object, and what are these two corresponding fires? The guide answered him, Be
rejoiced, O Emir; for this is the City of Brass, and this is the appearance of
it that I find described in the Book of Hidden Treasures; that its wall is of
black stones, and it hath two towers of brass of El-Andalus,^8 which the
beholder seeth resembling two corresponding fires; and thence it is named the
City of Brass. - They ceased not to proceed until they arrived at it; and, lo,
it was lofty, strongly fortified, rising high into the air, impenetrable: the
height of its walls was eighty cubits, and it had five and twenty gates, none
of which would open but by means of some artifice; and there was not one gate
to it that had not, within the city, one like it: such was the beauty of the
construction and architecture of the city. They stopped before it, and
endeavoured to discover one of its gates; but they could not; and the Emir
Musa said to the sheykh `Abd-Es-Samad, O sheykh, I see not to this city
any gate. The sheykh replied, O Emir, thus do I find it described in the Book
of Hidden Treasures; that it hath five and twenty gates, and that none of its
gates may be opened but from within the city. - And how, said the Emir, can we
contrive to enter it, and divert ourselves with a view of its wonders?
[Footnote 8: Spain; not merely Andalusia.]
Then the Emir Musa ordered one of his young men to mount a camel, and
ride round the city, in the hope that he might discover a trace of a gate, or
a place lower than that to which they were opposite. So one of his young men
mounted, and proceeded around it for two days with their nights, prosecuting
his journey with diligence, and not resting; and when the third day arrived,
he came in sight of his companions, and he was astounded at that which he
beheld of the extent of the city, and its height. Then he said, O Emir, the
easiest place in it is this place at which ye have alighted. And thereupon the
Emir Musa took Talib the son of Sahl, and the sheykh `Abd-Es-Samad, and they
ascended a mountain opposite the city, and overlooking it; and when they had
ascended that mountain, they saw a city than which eyes had not beheld any
greater. Its pavilions were lofty, and its domes were shining; its mansions
were in good condition, and its rivers were running; its trees were fruitful,
and its gardens bore ripe produce. It was a city with impenetrable gates,
empty, still, without a voice or a cheering inhabitant, but the owl hooting in
its quarters, and birds skimming in circles in its areas, and the raven
croaking in its districts and its great thoroughfare-streets, and bewailing
those who had been in it. The Emir Musa paused, sorrowing for its being devoid
of inhabitants, and its being despoiled of people and dwellers; and he said,
Extolled be the perfection of Him whom ages and times change not, the Creator
of the creation by his power! And while he was extolling the perfection of God
(to whom be ascribed might and glory!), he happened to look aside, and, lo,
there were seven tablets of white marble, appearing from a distance. So he
approached them, and, behold, they were sculptured and inscribed; and he
ordered that their writing should be read; therefore the sheykh `Abd-Es-Samad
advanced and examined them and read them; and they contained admonition, and
matter for example and restraint, unto those endowed with faculties of
discernment. Upon the first tablet was inscribed, in the ancient Greek
character, -
O son of Adam, how heedless art thou of the case of him who hath been
before thee! Thy years and age have diverted thee from considering him.
Knowest thou not that the cup of death will be filled for thee, and that in a
short time thou wilt drink it? Look then to thyself before entering thy grave.
Where are those who possessed the countries and abased the servants of God and
led armies? Death hath come upon them; and God is the terminator of delights
and the separator of companions and the devastator of flourishing dwellings;
so He hath transported them from the amplitude of palaces to the straitness of
the graves.
And in the lower part of the tablet were inscribed these verses: -
Where are the Kings and the peoplers of the earth? They have quitted that
which they have built and peopled;
And in the grave they are pledged for their past actions: there, after
destruction, they have become putrid corpses.
Where are the troops? They repelled not, nor profited. And where is that which
they collected and hoarded?
The decree of the Lord of the Throne surprised them. Neither riches nor refuge
saved them from it.
And the Emir Musa fainted; his tears ran down upon his cheeks, and he said, By
Allah, indifference to the world is the most appropriate and the most sure
course! Then he caused an inkhorn and a paper to be brought, and he wrote the
inscription of the first tablet; after which he drew near to the second
tablet, and the third, and the fourth; and, having copied what was inscribed
on them, he descended from the mountain; and the world had been pictured
before his eyes.
And when he came back to the troops, they passed the day devising means
of entering the city; and the Emir Musa said to his Wezir, Talib the son of
Sahl, and to those of his chief officers, who were around him, How shall we
contrive to enter the city, that we may see its wonders? Perhaps we shall find
in it something by which we may ingratiate ourselves with the Prince of the
Faithful. - Talib the son of Sahl replied, May God continue the prosperity of
the Emir! Let us make a ladder, and mount upon it, and perhaps we shall gain
access to the gate from within. - And the Emir said, This is what occurred to
my mind, and excellent is the advice. Then he called to the carpenters and
blacksmiths, and ordered them to make straight some pieces of wood, and to
construct a ladder covered with plates of iron. And they did so, and made it
strong. They employed themselves in constructing it a whole month, and many
men were occupied in making it. And they set it up and fixed it against the
wall, and it proved to be equal to the wall in height, as though it had been
made for it before that day. So the Emir Musa wondered at it, and said, God
bless you! It seemeth, from the excellence of your work, as though ye had
adapted it by measurement to the wall. - He then said to the people, Which of
you will ascend this ladder, and mount upon the wall, and walk along it, and
contrive means of descending into the city, that he may see how the case is,
and then inform us of the mode of opening the gate? And one of them answered,
I will ascend it, O Emir, and descend and open the gate. The Emir therefore
replied, Mount. God bless thee! - Accordingly, the man ascended the ladder
until he reached the top of it; when he stood, and fixed his eyes towards the
city, clapped his hands, and cried out with his loudest voice, saying, Thou
art beautiful! Then he cast himself down into the city, and his flesh became
mashed with his bones. So the Emir Musa said, This is the action of the
rational. How then will the insane act? If we do thus with all our companions,
there will not remain of them one; and we shall be unable to accomplish our
affair, and the affair of the Prince of the Faithful. Depart ye; for we have
no concern with this city. - But one of them said, Perhaps another than this
may be more steady than he. And a second ascended, and a third, and a fourth,
and a fifth; and they ceased not to ascend by that ladder to the top of the
wall, one after another, until twelve men of them had gone, acting as acted
the first. Therefore the sheykh `Abd-Es-Samad said, There is none for this
affair but myself, and the experienced is not like the inexperienced. But the
Emir Musa said to him, Thou shalt not do that, nor will I allow thee to ascend
to the top of this wall; for shouldst thou die, thou wouldst be the cause of
the death of us all, and there would not remain of us one; since thou art the
guide of the party. The sheykh however replied, Perhaps the object will be
accomplished by my means, through the will of God (whose name be exalted!) And
thereupon all the people agreed to his ascending.
Then the sheykh `Abd-Es-Samad arose, and encouraged himself, and, having
said, In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful! - he ascended the
ladder, repeating the praises of God (whose name be exalted!), and reciting
the Verses of Safety, until he reached the top of the wall; when he clapped
his hands, and fixed his eyes. The people therefore all called out to him,
and, said, O sheykh `Abd-Es-Samad, do it not, and cast not thyself down! And
they said, Verily to God we belong, and verily unto Him we return! If the
sheykh `Abd-Es-Samad fall, we all perish! - Then the sheykh `Abd-Es-Samad
laughed immoderately, and sat a long time repeating the praises of God (whose
name be exalted!), and reciting the Verses of Safety; after which he rose with
energy, and called out with his loudest voice, O Emir, no harm shall befall
you; for God (to whom be ascribed might and glory!) hath averted from me the
effect of the artifice and fraudulence of the Devil, through the blessing
resulting from the utterance of the words, In the name of God, the
Compassionate, the Merciful. - So the Emir said to him, What hast thou seen, O
sheykh? He answered, When I reached the top of the wall, I beheld ten damsels,
like moons, who made a sign with their hands, as though they would say, Come
to us. And it seemed to me that beneath me was a sea (or great river) of
water; whereupon I desired to cast myself down, as our companions did: but I
beheld them dead; so I withheld myself from them, and recited some words of
the book of God (whose name be exalted!), whereupon God averted from me the
influence of those damsel`s artifice, and they departed from me; therefore I
cast not myself down, and God repelled from me the effect of their artifice
and enchantment. There is no doubt that this is an enchantment and an artifice
which the people of this city contrived in order to repel from it every one
who should desire to looksdown upon it, and wish to obtain access to it; and
these our companions are laid dead.
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